THE SPIRITUAL SUN.

Volume 1.

Chapter 1.

The Spiritual sun, a Spark of Grace of God.

Before we can go to the spiritual sun, we first need to know where it finds itself, how it relates to the natural sun
and what is its character.

To get a most proper view of the whole, we first need to note that it is only the spiritual which is the innermost
and simultaneously the all-penetratingly and all-determining.

Take for instance a fruit. What is the innermost thereof? Nothing but the spiritual power in the germ. What then is
the fruit, being there with all its ingredients for the protection and preservation of the internal germ? Its being is
none other than the external organ, penetrated by the power of the germ which, in all its parts, works profusely
on the present germ.

That the external fruit is an organ which is determined through the spiritual power of the germ, shows in that not
only the fruit but also the whole tree or plant, emerges from the germ.

What is then the spiritual? The spiritual is firstly the inner power in the germ from which comes forth the
existence of the whole tree with roots, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, blossoms and fruit. Yet, it is the spiritual
which penetrates all these named parts of the tree as if for itself or its own well-being.

The spiritual is, therefore, the innermost, most penetrating and most all-embracing, the most permeating and the
all-encompassing.

That this is true, you can grasp from a multitude of natural phenomenon. Take for example a bell. Where does
the sound find itself?

Would you say: more on the outside, more in the middle of the metal, or more on the inside? It is wrong! The
sound is the inner spiritual fluidim (in plants it is the viscous gasses or juices), encased in the material hulls.

If the bell should be struck, the impact is recorded by the inner fluidim, which is a very elastic and stretchy
spiritual substrate, as being something disturbing its rest. Then the whole spiritual fluidim passes into a quest for
freedom, expressing itself by means of a continuous reverberation. If the outer surface of the bell is coated with
some other material which is not permeated by such easily excitable spiritual abilities, then the vibrations of the
excitable spiritual abilities or better said - their quest for freedom, is soon subdued. Such a bell will stop being
resounding. If the bell is not coated, however, the sound will keep on resounding for quite a time. If it would also
be surrounded by a very sensitive substance, for instance, pure electrically charged air, the sound would be
amplified and thus spreads itself far and wide in such a vibrating substance.

If you would ponder this image for a while, it will become clear to you that here again, the spiritual is the
innermost, permeating and encompassing. We will look at another example.

Take a magnetic piece of steel. Where in this piece of steel is the seat of the attracting or repelling power? It is in
the innermost, that is inside the casing, which is the visible matter of the steel. Being an inner power, they
permeate the matter, not being a restriction to it, but completely encompassing it. That this magnetic fluidim also
encompasses the matter in which it finds itself, can easily be seen by everyone when such a magnetic piece of
iron would attract a piece of metal laying some distance from it. Would this not be an encompassing and working
power outside of the sphere of matter and how can it then attract an object laying some distance away?
As example, we will give a few more instances. Look at an electrical conductor or an electrical flask. If such a
conductor or electrical flask would be charged with the electricity of a rubbed glass plate, it permeates all the
matter and thus becomes the inner part and equal to its permeating element. If you would approach such a
conductor or flask, you will soon, by softly waving and pulling, feel that the fluidim is encompassing the whole
matter of the conductor or flask.

An even more telling example for you is the emanation of every person, just like other beings; of which the most
obvious is the somnambulates. The distance over which a magnetizer and a somnambulate treated by him can
exchange messages, some of you did experience. If the spirit would be only an internal and a non-permeating
being, then so-called magnetizing would not be possible at all. If the spirit were not the all-encompassing and all-
controlling, tell, how would such contact between a magnetizer and a somnambulate be possible? I think that we
have ample examples from which we can conclude where, how and in what way the spiritual is expressed
everywhere, thus surely also in, through and by the sun.

The spiritual sun is, therefore, the innermost of the sun and is a spark of mercy from Me. Then the spiritual
powerfully permeates all matter of the sun and finally, it is also encompassing the whole being of the sun.

This all taken together is thus the spiritual sun. This is the actual sun, for the visible, material sun is only a body
of the spiritual sun, being profusely influenced by and are completely dependent on the spiritual sun.

This body is formed in all its parts in such a way that the spiritual can express itself in and through it and as such
again completely gathers it in a unit.

Who wants to observe the spiritual sun, first must look at her outer appearance and then realize that this all, in
the details as well as overall, is permeated and encompassed with the spiritual sun - then he will already have a
vague image of the spiritual sun.

He also needs to ponder that the spiritual is something completely concrete, something able to completely take
hold of each other mutually, while the natural is separated into individual parts and form in and out of itself, no
fixed unit. Where it does feature as a whole, it is only because of the inner spiritual. This way you will gain
clearer insight into the spiritual sun and the difference between the natural and the spiritual suns will be even
more pronounced.

For you to understand these things even better, I will give you clear information by means of a few examples.
First, take a small stave of noble metal. If you look at it in its raw condition, it is dark and rough. If you would
polish it, however, it will look completely different as before and yet, it is still the very same stave. What then, is
the actual reason to beautify this stave? I tell you, it is very simple. By sharpening and polishing it, the parts at
the surface of the stave is pressed closer together and is in a certain way, connected to one another. It thus
becomes, even more, concrete and mutually stronger adherent to one another and thus, in a certain sense, also
completely unanimous. In the initial crude condition where it still was a loose unit, the parts stood almost in
animosity towards each other. Every loose part vied for himself to have the nourishing radiation of light, take for
himself as much as possible and leave nothing for his neighbor. In the polished state, which could be called a
refined or purified state, these parts take hold of each other. By this taking hold of each other, the light beams
become the common good, since no one particle wants to keep it for himself, but share every single bit of light
with his neighbors. What is the result?

All now have abundant light and they are by a long stretch not able to take in all the riches. The abundance of
the general beaming riches reflects as a beautiful, harmonious glow from the whole surface of the polished
golden stave.

Do you already suspect where this glow comes from? From the unity, or the unification. If then the spiritual is
perfect and united in himself, how much greater will be the glory of the spiritual than that of its body which only
consists of pieces and is therefore also selfish, full of self-interest and thus dead!

Let's have another example. You must have seen a silica stone before, of which glass is produced. Let such a
rough silica stone, just like its descendant, the glass, the rays pass through unhindered? O no, this you know
very well. Why does such a rough silica stone not let the rays through? Because its parts are still too much
separated and too little united. If the rays would fall upon it, every little part would devour the rays for himself and
will leave nothing, or in a sense only the waste of the absorbed light for his neighbor. But how is it that his
descendant, the glass, becomes so generous? Look first, the silica stone is crushed and ground. This way each
particle in a sense dies for the other or gets completely separated from the other. Then the silica powder gets
washed, then dried, mixed with salt and then put into the furnace where the separate particles become
completely mutually united through the salt and the correct temperature of the fire.

What does this work say? The selfish spirits are in a certain sense destroyed, to be completely separated from
each other. In this separated condition, they get washed, or better said, purified. After being purified, they are
dried, a condition denoting being secured. In such a condition, they are first salted with the salt of wisdom and
finally, thus prepared, united in the fire of My love. Do you understand this example? You do not yet completely
understand it. Well, I will enlighten you even more.

The outer matter world in all her parts are (associated with) the rough silica stone. The separation is the forming
of the separate beings.

The washing of the silica stone is the washing or the stepwise raising to higher potential of spirits in matter. The
drying means the freeing or securing of the spirits in unity, finding expression already in man. The salting is the
giving of the light of grace in the spirit of man. The final uniting through the heat of the fire in the furnace is the
unification of the spirits among each other as well as the fire of My love. As matter in the furnace cannot melt
together before they all acquired the same degree of heat of the fire itself, as such also the spirits cannot
become mutually of one mind and thus become eternally forbearing before they first become permeated by My
Love and thus by Myself. This is written in Scripture: “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew
5:48). And again, it is written: “.that they may be one as We are” (John 17:11). Look, from this the image should
become clear.

How then is the unification of the glass expressed? In that all the parts are absorbing the sun's rays, in the same
way, all being enlightened completely throughout, being completely saturated by light. Yet, they can let the
absorbed light through unhindered. Look, as such, you already learn by means of the window glass, how
heavenly relationships are structured and it teaches you at the same time to understand the spiritual sun on a
much more exalted level. We will not be contented even with this example, though, but we will refer to some
more things at another occasion, by which we will ascend most easily to the spiritual sun, to witness unutterable
glories there!

Chapter 2.

The whole of nature a Gospel of God's order.

After I've told you many times, I once again say: the whole of nature, through its relationships and every single
deed of animals and especially of humans, can present and reveal a gospel of the most wondrous things of My
eternal order. Yes, man surely does not have to search for some of the other comparative examples. You can
take a deliberate, obvious, simple thing and it will surely carry that gospel in himself, which will serve unto
whatever spiritual condition as if it was created for this specific purpose since eternity. I did say that we still need
a few examples to be able to completely ascend to the spiritual sun. We will therefore not be too fastidious, but
we will take the first and best example.

Imagine yourselves a house. Of what is it built? As you know, usually from quite crude, formless pieces of matter.
This matter everywhere occurs in this, you could say independent condition. This is the clay from which bricks
are made, like a certain stone from which lime is burnt. Then also sand and yet unprocessed wood. Now we
bring all the raw material together on one or the other terrain. Here lies a heap of clay, there a heap of lime, then
a chaotic heap of trees not yet processed and a huge heap of sand. A bit further lies a smaller heap of crude iron
ore, even further a heap of silica stones and not much further, a big puddle of water. Look, we have gathered
there enough raw material for a house. But say, who of you are of such clairvoyance that he could see in these
heaps of crude material a well-ordered, stately house? It looks just as little as a house than a fly looks like an
elephant or a fist like an eye. Yet, it all is destined for the building of a stately house.

What needs to happen now? Stone bakers begin to work with the clay.

The loose clay gets wetted and diligently kneaded. When it is properly combined and sticky enough, then it is
formed into the well-known bricks.

For the clay particles in the bricks to bind even closer and more lastingly, each stone is baked in the fire, by
which it gains, together with the enhanced solidity, also the well-known color. What happens now with the
limestone? Look, a bit further on a few more ovens are being built, for the burning of the limestone. You sure do
know what happens with the burnt lime. Let us go on. Carpenters have busied themselves with the tree trunks
and process them to be useful for the house. The smiths busy themselves with the ore, melt it and extract the
usable iron from it and forms it into various useful items for the building. Further, on you see how others are
crushing and grinding the silica stones and process it further in a familiar way into the pure glass.

All the raw material in the vicinity have now been cultivated. There the builder master is laying out his building
plan. The soil gets dug out, the masons and their helpers are intently busy, and we see how the crude material
begins to take the form of an orderly building under the hands of the builders. A stately house gradually begins to
grow from the soil and reaches the predetermined height. Now the carpenters get busy and in a short time, the
house has been fully provided with a roof covering. By this time the preliminary heaps of crude material have
completely vanished. We only see a bit of sand and part of the burnt lime still, but the so-called plastering and
finishing off the house has commenced and with this, also these two remaining materials vanish. Look, the
house is finished off, inside as well as out. Now still a few tradesmen come to finish smaller tasks: a carpenter, a
locksmith, a painter, oven builder and one that lays floors. These tradesmen are diligently working for yet a while
and then the house stands there, almost inspiring one to awe.

If you would now consider your feelings, seeing from the beginning of the crude material to the finishing of the
stately building, then you would surely discover a vast difference. How was this difference achieved? I tell you,
none other than by the determined and good organization and the unification of the separate crude matter to a
whole. When you first walked among the heaps of crude matter, it was discouraging to your being and your
emotions stirred chaotically. When you saw how the crude matter was made more useful and organized through
the fire and the tools of the carpenters, you felt more blissful, for you already saw the possibility for a house to
emerge from such orderly matter. Yet, you still could not properly imagine the house itself.

When you saw the builder master laying out the building plan, you felt in some sense pleasantly surprised, for
you could already say: Behold, look, this will become a magnificent building! When you saw it after the finishing
off was done, you longed for the completion. When the building was fully complete, you looked at it with great
satisfaction and when you were guided through the elegant rooms of the house, you were greatly awed and said:
who would have thought that something like this could emerge from the still crude material?

Look, thus it is with what we have seen up till now in the natural sun. It is crude matter, appearing in this
condition without coherence or relation. When one would consider the inhabitants of the sun and all their works
separately, he would find no coherence or mutual relationships. Only in the spiritual these completely crude
pieces become more and more organized. From the organization can be gathered unto which higher destination
they exist, since the innermost of all refer to one and the same being, in which their final and full organization will
find completion.

Therefore, we will only finally see the finished building in the spiritual sun, where everything will come together
and present itself when united, in abundant glory.

You now see how this plain example contains a glorious gospel and unlock an order to the introspector, of which
no mortal ever have dreamt.

With this example, I want to draw your attention to something - that the spiritual is coming closer and this
especially in the sun itself.

into the almost endless distances of space. It is not necessary to present the countless effects of the sun, for
every day on your small earth globe describes and sings its praises manifold. Would the sun have the same
wondrous effects without her surrounding light-
collection with all her innumerable parts? Oh, surely not! Ask the truly dark night, and she will literally show and
tell you to what a sun without light would amount. But we do not have to be content with such a still crass
example, for there is another one which is still much better.

You choose the clock. This example is better than you would suspect, for I would have chosen a watch.
Therefore, we will immediately consider this example critically and it will soon emerge whether it will take us a
step higher than the previous.

If you would inspect a clock, you see that this small time measuring device is made of pure cultivated matter. You
see the well-calculated mechanism, manufactured with a driving gear which grabs the teeth of another gear. You
see how the driving gear is connected with the appropriate strengthened chain, with an elastic spring which, with
her inherent power, puts the whole mechanism purposefully into motion. If we examine the works even closer,
we discover a whole lot more little gears and axles. Everything is calculated and has its purpose.

Having had a proper look at the inner works, we now look at the outer form. What do we see? A flat dial plate
with a simple set of arms. What do the arms do on such a simple dial plate? As you know, it shows the hours of
the day and night and as such, measures time. The time measured by these arms is something all-
encompassing, as well as all-permeating and is the center of everything, wherever you would look. Nobody can
say: I am at the end of time, or: Time has nothing to do with me, or: Time does not surround me. For every time
someone does something, he does it in the midst of time.

Why then? For he is constantly permeated and surrounded by time. Let us also consider the timepiece. The
arms are fixed in the middle of the dial plate, describing a circle with their extremities. Since they are
uninterruptedly stretched out from the center to the outer circle, being physical matter, they describe from the
center outwards, an innumerable amount of continuously expanding circles. It is thus clear and understandable
that this cyclic motion originates at the center of the little axle to which the arms are attached and consequently
covers the whole dial plate, thus finally, through the time they measure out, are so to speak enveloped in an
endlessly great circle.

Let us return to the inner works of the timepiece. There we will discover a fixed upper plate and the lower plate
and fixed cylinders (pillars), connecting the upper and lower plates. We will also see a lot of fixed pins, hooks
and adjusting screws. Do these fixed pieces of this tool already contain something of the final destination? Yes,
in these immovable parts already mutely are contained the foundation of the destination.

If we should look into the clockwork even more though, we would see little gears moving in different ways; first a
very lively little sling, then the adjacent little gear. The sling is still far removed from the destination, for it cannot
yet describe a full circle, but is still chased to and fro and even though it is the fastest moving part of the whole
mechanism, it does not go any further. The next gear, clearly controlled by the busy little sling, detect the happy
jumps of the sling and move forward one step with every jump, in its quick, yet incessant cyclic movement. One
still sees the jumps of the little sling, but it does not do harm to the whole. The cyclic movement has been
achieved. The next gear already shows more regular movement, describes a restful circle and is already much
closer to the final destination. The sequential gear's movement is even more smooth, more enduring, more
regular and more peaceful and is, therefore, closer to the main purpose, yes it has full connection to it.

With the last gear, the goal has been achieved;?mechanically judged, it already gives an indication of it Yet,
exactly here, where the final goal can already be revealed in obscurity in the material mechanism, from the
center of the mechanics arises an axis through the dial plate to the outside. To this axis, the arms are attached,
which would finally, in great simplicity, bring to expression the whole artfully compound mechanism.

Do you not already very clearly see where this is all going? All the yet various and compound present itself in the
final unification to a final goal; no single unattractive little pin should be missing if the final goal is to be achieved.

Now we return to our sun again. Regard this great clockwork as a measure for your unthinkably long times. We
have seen the variegated mechanism of this gigantic timepiece. We saw that My Love is the almighty, living
spring operating between the two great plates, namely eternity and infinity, putting the great work in motion. We
saw the countless teethed gears as well as all pins and pillars. We now know the mechanics. From the variety of
its parts, it is just as difficult to detect the destination as if one would want to divide the hours inaccurate fractions
by ignoring the dial plate, yet looking at the different movements of the gearing. This is true and nothing can be
said against it, many would say, yet the question remains: How then do we arrive at the great mechanism on the
central axis which erects itself out of the material above the dial plate of the final and single great destination? I
tell you, do not worry yourselves about it, for nothing is easier than exactly this, if one have already made a
thorough study and very well know all the parts. Since we now chose the clockwork as an example, we will also
elevate ourselves to the great surface by means of this same example.

Whoever has had a look at a clockwork, would see that three things practically moves in the same way. The first
is the capsule wheel which is attached to the spring, the second is the main driving wheel which is attached to
the spring capsule wheel by means of a chain. The third is the central axis wheel which moves the arms over the
dial plate.

and by this beautiful light, to at the great meaning of all the things upon the spiritual sun. With this, we'll end it for
today.

Chapter 4.

The natural and the spiritual sun, their different appearance.

You are asking: Yes, it is all well to ignite the torch with the spark of love, but where do we get it from? On this, I
can really say nothing other than that we are going to get it exactly from where it should be gotten from. It would
be ridiculous if we would not be able, having the whole fiery sun, not be able to ignite the torch's wick!! For with
the spark of love I exactly do understand the sun, which we now hold in her full-length, depth, and breadth in our
hands. If you would be able to ignite a little fungus with the aid of a magnifying glass the size of a coin with the
sun's rays while this sun in the natural is more than 22 million miles away, then this very close-by sun will also be
able to ignite our torch.

Then we will accept this very easy dare to bring the wick of our torch with the fire of the sun. Just look how easy
it is!

The torch is burning and look, in the spirit are infinite countrysides glowing in the eternal morning glow, coming
from this torch.

I am the torch Myself and I give the correct amount of light; who will investigate in this light, will see truth
everywhere and no deceit will meet his eye!

What a wonder, you say; in the natural sun, we saw giants and a great assortment of all things. Here in the
sphere of light, everything is equal.

We see nothing rise above the other. It is light, it is big and His indescribable loveliness is all over. We see a
virtually flat land; where are the natural mountains of the sun?

Endlessly content spiritual angelic beings wander in the fields of light and make no distinction between land and
water. They effortlessly elevate themselves in the light ether and hover there, drunk with joy while they emanate
blessedness upon blessedness. We only see very lovely little trees; where are the gigantic trees of the natural
surface? We also see a commonality in all the lovely foliage. Every growth spreads an unutterable feeling of
bliss, utterly enrapturing every spirit coming into its vicinity. Yes, from every little tree, from every tender blade of
grass flows a different kind of feeling of bliss, and yet at the little trees as well as the other growth, just like with
the grass, we see only one form and a perfect, unmeasurable unity.

We wander through endless landscapes. We meet countless multitudes of blissful angelic spirits, yet we
nowhere see a home. Nobody tells us: this piece of land is mine and that is my neighbor, but like extremely
merry travelers on a road, they travel around jubilating and singing praises.
Wherever we turn ourselves, we see nothing but life and more life flow.

Glowing figures meet each other and from all sides sound great shouts of joy!

But we stand by like complete laymen and have no explanation. Where is this lustrous world we now observe? Is
this the spiritual sun? This you ask with amazed faces and astonished hearts.

Yet I tell you that the spiritual sun look completely like a dial plate of a clockwork, upon which the complete artful
mechanism is expressed. You look flustered: is this the whole spiritual sun? This sure is wonderful, exalted and
very beautiful, also extremely alive, yet very simple. On the actual sun, we saw such unmentionable variety in
size, yes so much wondrous things, but here it seems as if this endless plain is only one great way for spirits,
upon which no dust is to be seen. But honestly said, because we saw so many great phenomena on the natural
sun, we expected more than this uniformity and in a certain sense this eternally conforming monotony of this
excessively lustrous world.

When you spend some time on a high mountain and that on a completely clear, sunny day - what would you
see? Some of you would be enraptured for quite a while, for the greatest, most romantic natural panorama would
present ample opportunity through the multifarious diversity to enjoy an exalting view. Someone else would have
a completely different mindset, saying from his perspective: Well, is this that extraordinary? One can see from
side to side and what then? Nothing but one mountain after the other;?one higher, the other lower. Here and
there the highest crests are covered with snow. On some other places, some clumsy rocky points stand erect
and the most distant mountains look the most acceptable, while the closer ones show nothing but traces of
perpetual destruction. This is the eternal monotony of the famous view of the mountains.

A third person also finds himself in the company on the high mountaintop.

This one is as you say it, a hero in socks, lament almost in tears that he put in so much effort to scale the
mountain. Firstly, he said, he sees nothing else than what he would on a healthy flat ground in the lowland;?
secondly, for all his effort, he only feels cold after all and thirdly would he want to bite into stones for hunger. If he
only thinks about to again descent this treacherous way back, he feels like losing his senses!

So, here we have three mountain-climbers. Why does the first find so much exaltation in his being, the other
nothing but abstract, clumsy forms and the third even becomes annoyed because he has put in so much effort
for nothing. It is not necessary to search for it, for it is in themselves. How then? The first has a more lively and
enlivened spirit; It is not the form and the tops of the high mountains that gives him the feeling of bliss, but this
mood is a rendition of the higher life corresponding with the high form of such mountains. For at other occasions
we already sufficiently learned of which life these mountains testify. Exactly from this life, the blissful experience
of the visitor is derived, who walks in these mountains with a more excited and enlivened spirit. The other's spirit
still finds himself in a deep sleep. Therefore, he detects nothing other than what his physical eyes see and what
his earthly, dry mind can perceive. If you would pay him for it and give him mathematical measuring apparatus,
he would climb all mountain crests and measure the heights with great satisfaction.

Without this stimulant, you would hardly succeed to again get him on a mountaintop. Regarding the spirit of the
third one, let us be silent about it, for in him lives only the animalistic man who finds his bliss in his stomach. If
you would ever want to get him on a mountain, then you first should ensure that he will get there effortlessly and
secondly, that he will find something good to eat and drink on top. This way he might scale a mountain - if not
with his feet, then with the aid of a well-trained pack animal. Then he will say: In such an instance, I will be part
of the expedition, for because of her purity, the mountain air will be more beneficial for digestion than the stale air
of the valleys.

Look, from this example, we can extract an important lesson that would be directly applicable to our simple,
spiritual sun. This lesson exactly corresponds with the text in the gospel, saying: For whosoever has, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even that he
has. (Matthew 13:12). In this scripture is found yet another corresponding with the above example and this text is
as follows: The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for,
behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20,21) Do you now understand how it is with the initial
simplicity of the spiritual sun? You say: We do grasp something, but do not yet have complete clarity about what
it says or want to convey.
But I tell you: Exercise only a bit more patience and everything will immediately and with few words become very
clear to you, like the sun on a bright, clear day. Why do you see the spiritual sun to be so simple?

Because you have only seen the actual outside. Yet I tell you: there exist upon the spiritual sun an infinitely
impressive and wondrous variety of which you could not yet create an image of for yourselves. This versatility is
not upon the spiritual sun, though, but it is in the innermost of the spirits. If you would want to see this, you
should see with pure spiritual eyes in the sphere of one or the other blissful spirit and you would see the
otherwise so monotonous spiritual sun world soon transform into countless wonders. For you should know that
every spirit is given one and the same basis, consisting purely of My mercy and compassion and it is
consistently expressed in the spiritual sun. The management of this given basis, which is the actual inhabitable
world for the spirit, solely depends upon the innermost of the spirit, which is only the love for Me and from this
love, the resulting wisdom. For you have even clearer insight, I will give you yet another illustrious example. One
of you find yourself on one or the other vast plain. On this plain, he finds nothing other but in the middle a tree,
under which shadow the grass lushly grows. The traveler lays down on this grass, falls asleep and becomes
invigorated. But during this sweet and strengthening rest, he was overcome with a wondrous dream. In this
dream, this lone and simple traveler found himself in the most beautiful palaces, encountered princes, spent time
with them and enjoyed exceptionally great bliss. Now I ask you: how does this man find such inner company on
this lonely, empty field?

Look, it all belongs to his spirit and is obvious in the spirit. It is a creation of his spirit through the power of the
love and this is ordered according to the wisdom, flowing as such from such a love. If you would think a bit more
about this example, it will become clear to you that everyone will be the creator of his own inhabitable world
according to his love and the forthcoming wisdom -

and this world is the actual Kingdom of God in man.

Therefore, who has the love of God in him, will also gain the wisdom in the same measure of his love. He thus
receives what he already has, namely the love. Who does not have it, but only has a parched worldly mind which
he takes for wisdom, from him it will be taken by the most natural manner of the world, namely when his worldly
or bodily life would be taken from him.

See, this is how things are! One mountain-climber ascends in love and up in the mountains is the love the
creator of his blessedness. Who ascends the mountains with his mind only, will truly find no blessed reward, but
will receive for his effort little or nothing, for it is severely prevented by his mind. The third, having absolutely
nothing, will lose everything on the mountains, for a dead one will find no joy in life, for it is insensitive for it. As
such it takes much effort to take a rock up a mountain; but if it is let free up there, it crashes down at great speed
in the depths of death. If you would put all this together, the spiritual sun will not look so simple to you anymore.
What else will still happen upon it, we will clearly see later. Therefore, enough for today.

Chapter 6.

The spiritual cosmic diorama. The sphere of the first spirit.

How will we then undertake this, to see more of our still simple, spiritual sun? Should we proceed to go on great
and far discovery excursions, or shall we position ourselves somewhere, open our mouths and eyes and wait for
the roasted birds to fly into our mouths? I say: We do neither one, nor the other, but we will proceed into a
spiritual cosmodrama and diorama and will entertain ourselves as well as possible with the wondrous views in
the heart. For you to be able to gain an even better picture of it, I want to give you better understanding with yet
another clear example. You must have once seen a so-called “optic diorama”, where one can have a good look
at a good painting mounted against a black wall, using a magnifying glass with a diameter of about half a foot. If
you would look at such a good sample, you can do what you want. You can change and temper your fantasy and
imagination according to your ability and still, you would not be able to see the painted picture as something that
was merely painted. It will still appear completely spacious and show the objects that it looks like it would in the
natural - with the provision that the images and the glass are both of excellent quality.

If you would find yourselves in a hut where about twenty of these magnifying frames are mounted, you would,
externally evaluated, find all the frames completely equal. But when you would come closer you would, in this
small room with twenty frames, within the distance of a few steps, go on a journey which you would not be able
to undertake in many years. Every frame looks just like the other, but when you look through one frame, it offers
you a whole world region. If you go to the second frame, what a completely different image you would find than
that of the first; and so forth till the last frame. Did every new view not enthrall you exceedingly?

You must confirm it, for in the one frame you see a magnificent big city with spreading landscapes in her
surrounds. In the next frame, you see an unusually romantic landscape, so perfectly presented that you feel as if
you could just break through the wall to really go into it. You could not tear yourselves away from it, but the guide
tells you: at the next frame, you will see something even more impressive. So, you find yourselves in the third
frame. At first glance you are completely overtaken, for you see an endlessly spread sea surface, bordering a
shore region in her full splendor, in a blue haze. On the vast surface of the sea you see here and there islands
and countless great and especially much small sea vessels. All of it is so exceptionally presented that you could
not help but to exclaim: Here it is no more art and it enters the realm of sheer, natural reality! Then the guide
takes you to the next frame, where you are being surprised all over again and so it continues till the last frame.

If you properly looked at everything, you would think to leave, but the guide holds you back, saying: Dear friends,
don't you want to go to the first frame again? You tell him: We did look at it.

But the guide answers: The frame is still the same, but the view has completely changed. You go to see it and
see to your utter amazement something new and completely unexpected. So it proceeds along the whole row of
twenty frames. Highly surprised you leave the last frame again and the guide again tells you: Friends, the frames
are still the same, but again there is everywhere new worlds to be seen. Full of expectation you go again and call
out already at the first frame: wonder above wonder!!! Exalted friend, you are inexhaustible in arts. He tells you:
Yes, best friends, thus I would be able to keep you busy for days with constantly new and increasingly more
beautiful, varying images.

Look, in this small, monotonous space you enjoyed panoramas of the world like many great worldly travelers
never saw. Your eyes have seen distances of hundreds of miles and even more and all this in the space of a few
square meters.

Look, this illustrious example gives us a good foretaste of the wondrous spiritual view on our spiritual sun. It lets
us see how we can have so overwhelming much to see before our spiritual eyes from a small area, just like we
saw in our little optical room with the greatest ease at least half of the surface of the earth. How would we do it
then? It has already been hinted at and on that grounds, we will launch our first small endeavor.

As you see, we still find ourselves on our simple spiritual sun, still see nothing but blissful spirits wandering
among each other, together and above each other and on the ground, our little trees, noble bushes, and the
beautiful grass. But look, a man's spirit is presently approaching us. He does not see me; Talk to him, to make
him stand still before you. If he would stand still, go to him to reach his sphere, then you will immediately see the
spiritual sun in another garment.

Well, you are in his sphere and you are mute from sheer amazement.

What do you see? Out of sheer amazement, you are not able to utter a word!

It also is not necessary for, in this case, you do not need to talk much to Me because I see the same as you do
and even much more perfectly.

You see shimmering landscapes, high, glowing mountains, vast, fruitful plains and rivers, brooks, and lakes,
glimmering in the sun like diamonds.

The clear, light blue firmament you see scattered with beautiful utterly purely glittering starry constellations. You
see a glorious sun rising. She shines unusually bright, mild and soft and still, she cannot diminish the glimmer of
the beautiful stars of the heaven. You see big, radiating temples and palaces without number, huge cities at the
shores of huge lakes. Countless most blissful beings wander over beautiful, bliss breathing countrysides. You
even hear them talk and heavenly songs of praise reach your ears. You look around you to look for some
remains of the simple spiritual sun, but nowhere can anything be found of the former simplicity; everything is
dissolved in countless wonders.

Now step out of our manly spirit's sphere again. Look, it all vanished again; we again find ourselves upon the
simple sun. Now you say: Yes, what then was this? How is something like this possible? Does such a spirit then
carry all this in such a narrow sphere; an endless world full of wondrous glories; in such a narrow circle, so much
outstretched multifarious life?

Is it reality or only an empty image?

Look, another spirit is already approaching us. He needs to be here too, for you to enter his sphere. Go have a
look, he is already waiting for you and he knows by means of an inner notion what you want to do. Now you are
already inside. Tell Me, what do you see there? I again see that you are incapable of uttering a word due to the
greatness you see.

Therefore, I will interpret on your behalf again. You stand in sheer amazement and are stupefied of astonishment
in the sphere of this spirit.

Yes, at such a sight you completely lose your senses, for you see one wonderful thing after the other; worldwide
vast, glorious rows of fields are spread out before your eyes. Everywhere you see loving people living in
beautiful, peaceful homes. Their indescribably beautiful and amiable forms keep your eyes captive, making it
rather impossible for you to let your eyes wander to any other being which catches your eyes.

You are so captivated by this lovely view that you lose yourselves in it and thousands upon thousands are
moving past you, yet you barely notice them because of this one!

On the soft, light green hills you see exceptionally radiating temples; in these temples, you see blissfully living
spirits visiting them and wandering around there. Now you are looking up to the firmament and you again see
different and even more magnificent starry constellations. Yes, you see brightly radiating crowds of blissful spirits
effortlessly and at great speed move about through the pure air. They are freely gliding, moving like shining
clouds. You look at the horizon where a big sun is hanging high. Her light is like the beautiful morning red and
everything you see radiates in the light of this sun.

Not far from this you see a rather high, yet well-rounded mountain, with a glistening temple on the crescent. The
pillars are gleaming like diamonds in the sun and instead of a roof, you notice a glowing cloud covering upon
which even more blissful spirits hover.

Now you say: Endlessly wondrous and indescribably beautiful is all we now see; only for us, it is yet not to be
and we may not yet enter this beautiful world we see, even one step. For if we should do this, we would surely
move outside the sphere of our spirit and then it is over and done with our viewing! I tell you: certainly not - let us
ascend this mountain and look at things there a bit closer. Look, here we are already on the mountain. What do
you see here?

You are again speechless and know not what to make of it, for you believed you would walk around in the temple
as you would for instance inside a big building on earth. But when you entered the temple, the inside of it got
transformed into a new, even more beautiful, immeasurable heavenly world, leaving you at your wits' end. It
does not change a thing, but the right light will explain everything soon. You ask Me whether you would
encounter different things in the spheres of the second kind of spirits as well.

Oh yes, I tell you, the transformation of this temple in a new, wonderful heavenly world, is exactly because you
entered the spheres of the spirits which are in this temple. You ask: Why do we not see these spirits in whose
spheres we find ourselves in, who are in this temple? Because you look at their center through My intervention.
Let us retreat a bit and look, there stands our former temple and we see it populated with blissful spirits, talking
to each other about things relating to Me.

Now you have convinced yourselves that one can also move freely in such spiritual spheres just like on earth.
Now we can again retreat to our previous place. Look, we are already here.
Look, the third spirit is already here, and we will immediately answer to his hospitality. Enter then into his sphere,
then we will experience what is to be seen in there. Since you already find yourselves in his sphere, let me hear
from your mouth what is here to be seen. You are again so surprised and look around you in consternation. What
is it then, which is taking your sight so strongly captive? I see it will again be necessary for Me to serve as your
interpreter, for you still have no time or rest to find words suitable to relate what you are seeing.

You are standing upon a shining cloud. With surprised eyes, you see an enormous number of supernatural
worlds floating by in great circles. You find yourselves surrounded by the greatest of miracles, being countless on
each of these worlds. Every one of these worlds appears to be infinitely big and yet you can view them from pole
to pole in one glance. You see countless crowds of happy beings walking upon these floating worlds, jubilating
intermittently. Each new world you approach is filled with some different indescribable wonders. But you say: If
only they would not float by so fast, these utterly magnificent dwellings of countless multitudes of blissful spirits!
Oh, just wait, we can even do something about it. Look, presently there is an unusually big, radiating world,
taking after a primordial middle sun. There you are already.

The strong light blinds your eyes, preventing you to see her wonderful wealth because of the too intense light -
but we can do something about this too. Look, the strong light has become milder and you see that this big world
looks like an endlessly great, indescribably beautiful garden. In this garden, you see many elegant dwellings and
around these dwellings wander blissful spirits, who happily enjoy of the exceptionally tasty fruit from this big
garden.

Over there you see spirits singing songs of praise, ascending in the glowing ether. Somewhere else you see
loved ones walking arm in arm in great friendship and happiness. Over there you see a company of the wise,
praising My great love, mercy, and compassion. On the branches of the variety of most exquisite fruit trees, you
see a shimmer as of the shining of stars.

You ask: What is that! I tell you: Watch it closely, then you will soon see what is hidden behind these stars. But
you are once again surprised, for now, you say: Great, Holy Father, what is this! The moment we took a closer
look to such a star, she expanded together with the tree to endless size. The previous great world, as likewise
this single tree, can we see no more due to the infinite surroundings, but this little star has grown into a new,
great world and in this world once again multifarious new wonders. Oh, Father, tell us more, where is the end of
Your immeasurably wonderful creations!

Yet I tell you: You are right in asking this. I tell you: The endless wealth and greatness of My creations have
neither beginning nor end, for wherever you see one, believe Me, there is hidden something infinite!

Therefore, there is nothing which you now see in the spirit having any end, but everything is infinite. Would it not
be thus, it would not have come from Me, would not be spiritual and eternal life would have been the purest lie. If
the division of natural division already shows you that their division goes through into infinity and in a grain of
seed lies hidden infinitely many seeds, why would the spiritual be subject to any fencing in?

Convince yourselves through this new world. Look, here is a spirit walking close by; enter his sphere and you
can convince yourselves immediately of what abundance of new, wonderful riches he possesses and believes
Me, this proceeds unto infinity. You can get to understand this by means of a natural example, but you can recall
it now again.

The example consists of the following: position two exceptionally well-polished mirrors over against each other
and tell Me when the reciprocal reflections end.

Look, as such, it is here as well: Every spirit carries something infinite in him and that in infinite multiplication.
Each spirit serves to the other as a mirror through his inner love for Me and towards his brother. As such, there is
an endless reciprocal reflection. Exactly this reciprocal reflection is the great, holy, almighty connection of My
love, by which all these beings relate to Me and each other in abundant bliss.

Look, he is already standing there, friendly beckoning you to come to him and enter his sphere. Feel free to go
and give special attention to what you will see in his sphere. This spirit will also see you in his sphere and will
guide you around in his world. As said, take notice of what you will see there, for it will be of great meaning to
you.
Well, you are in his sphere and is extremely happy, for you see the spirit in whose sphere you are, only with the
difference that you do not recognize him outside of his sphere. Yet, inside his sphere, you properly recognize
him, for he once was on the earth a blood brother of yours. My eloquent Anselm will properly recognize his
brother the moment he hears him speak. For this reason, I want him to guide you around and give explanation
about things himself.

Well, what do you see! You find it impossible to speak due to the too great surprise, but this time I do not want to
be the interpreter, but your guide will. So, he (Heinrich) is speaking:

Look there, my beloved brothers, to this great, impressive temple before me. Look at the indescribably glistening
beautiful pillars. Do you see brother, the pillar reaches so high that you become dizzy of it; and look straight
ahead, how this beautiful temple is surrounded by countless such pillars. Look, above the pillars rest a round
roof, shining brighter than a thousand stars and above the roof stands a huge, fiery cross, shining red like the
most glorious morning red. How do you find this temple!

You say: Brother, its greatest, unspeakable magnificence bereaves me of all words to share my feelings about it
with you. But what is in this temple? Best brother, would you not take us inside? O yes, beloved brother and
friends, but prepare yourselves for something unusual, for the magnificence inside, yes, I would want to say the
holiness of this temple is so unexpectedly exalted and so wondrously great that you would barely be able to bear
it. You do know that I, in my earthly life, was a great friend of God's Word. And because the apostle Paul was our
preferred apostle through whom the heathen would be converted, I do love him, second to the evangelist John,
the most. To let you receive it from me more clearly, and this temple is built by me out of deepest reverence for
the Word of God.

Before we enter, I want to explain the meaning somewhat: these almost immeasurable high pillars denote the
respective scriptures of the Godly Word and represent the Old Testament. If you would enter with me through the
pillars, you see before you a glistening hallway. The hallway on the inside of the pillars is bordered by a red wall.
As you will see, it is just as high as the pillars and at the top is connected with radiating, impressive arches with
the outer row of pillars. This roomy hallway between the pillars and the wall is the actual vestibule of the temple.
The rounded roof you see being so brightly shining above the pillars and the temple is the light of compassion
from on high. The cross on top of the roof depicts the being of this light of compassion, which is, in fact, the holy
of holies, namely the love of the Father and the Son!

Now that you know this, dear friends and brothers, let us proceed through this hallway to there where you see a
great light flowing from the wall, shining red like the red of the most beautiful spring rose. There is the entrance
to the temple. Do you know what this light means? This light denotes the love towards Christ and it is not
possible to enter the temple by any other means than only the strait gate of love towards Christ. Look, brothers
and friends, now we are here. Look, there is the door. You are indeed surprised that this enormously great
temple is only accessible through such a small little portal, but you also know that it is written:?who do not enter
through the strait gate, will not come to the Father, therefore also not into the Kingdom of God and just as little in
the kingdom of the angels of the heavens. Bow then as properly and deeply as you can and follow me, then we
will immediately see the inside of this temple.

Well, brothers and friends, we are in the great holy place! What do you say of this splendor? As I can see, you
are completely perplexed and speechless. I did tell you beforehand, therefore, to prepare yourselves for
something extraordinary. As you see for yourselves with astonished eyes, the inside of this temple is too great
and magnificent and even for me too exalted to interpret it for you. The most fantastic is the unexpected, endless
size of the inside.

You thought: When we get to the inside of the temple we will, just like on earth, see a treasure and ornaments.
But here you literally and truly see endless, vast spiritual worlds; and these worlds, having neither beginning nor
end, are united into a kingdom. You look with amazement over the endless distances which is strewn with
countless unexpected glories. You see trees rising to the heavens, richly endowed with delicious, juicy and
shining fruit. You see countless many beautiful temple buildings and you see that they are inhabited by great
multitudes of blissful spirits.

Do you not know this fifth spirit, who is already standing before us?

Look how amiably he is smiling for you and beckon you to enter his sphere.
Feel free to go and look at his wealth. Also, this spirit will be recognizable and visible unto you and he will guide
you around the treasures of his inner life. Go then into his sphere.

You are now in his sphere, and you once again clasp your hands together in surprise and are almost out of your
senses due to the wondrous, exalted greatness of what you are seeing. Now easily follow this friendly brotherly
spirit, then you will experience unexpected things. Just like with the previous, I will be your narrator in My Name;
now listen what your guide is saying:

Oh, dear brothers and friends, what a bliss and joy it is to me to see you back here again! You indeed know me;
follow me to my blessed sphere. I want to show you which treasures emerge from the love for the Master. Look,
dear brothers, and especially you, my beloved Anselm, over there on the glorious mountains before us, only
there will you see the treasures of my blessedness!

We have reached the summit of the mountain. Now, look at the infinite distance. As far as your spiritual eye can
reach, yes as far as your strongest and quickest thoughts can transplant themselves, all this are given unto me
to rule over.

You now ask me and say: But dear, blessed brother, are you also then the owner of all these countless beautiful
palaces, standing proud, radiating like rising suns on the round mountain, also the owner of all those
innumerable myriads of blessed spirits whom we see all over, having friendly communion with each other! Do all
the countless many beautiful gardens with all their beaming pillar towers, blinding our amazed eyes with their
bright light?

How is it then with those distant worlds, which we perceive to be rising suns? The bright firmament with its
countless, beautiful stars, are those also yours? And this magnificent sun above us, whose rays are so mild and
soft, filling the whole of infinity, how is it with her? Do you count her also among your possession?

Yes, beloved brothers, I tell you: Not only that which you see but infinitely more which you cannot see, are the
possession of my love! Dear brothers, you are astonished and you say: but dear, blessed brother, your
declaration almost sound as if selfishness and self-love have entered you, for you say: All this and infinitely more
are the possession of my love.

Yet, love also includes your own self and thus also your actual life. Do you not know that everything is the
possession of the Master? How then can you say that this all is the possession of your love?

Indeed, dear brothers, your words are pleasant to me and your thinking are truly grounded, yet not rightly placed
here. For when you judge from the outside to the inside, you could very well have a good case, but here, all
judgment must be correct and can only go from the inside outwards. Look, for that reason are your judgment not
well placed. For if I say: this all and infinitely more are the possession of my love, you need to think of it from the
inside, that my love is the Master Himself and that I have no other love and therefore no other life as that of the
Master!

For you, brothers and friends, to truly understand that your judgement of me was an external judgement, I tell
you for the sake of clarity also this: if you would say, “all this is the possession of the Master”, you would by this
give only an external confession by assigning it all to the Master;?but through such a confession, the Master is,
just like the confession, still outside of yourselves. But if you would say: All this is the possession of my love,
then you share therewith that the Master is everything to you and that He lives with His love and compassion as
the eternal life, in you. For when you say in the love of your heart to the Master: “All this is the possession of my
life”, then you say the same as did my dear old friend, the old apostle Paul have said when he still lived upon
earth: “Now I do not live anymore, but Christ lives in me!” I only tell you this that you may know our manner of
speech here for on earth only external speech exists, which must pierce inward from the external. Therefore, it is
still an unsure and seldom effective speech if not spoken after the manner of the word of the Master, through
which man is taken hold of from all sides and thus completely permeates him. Our speech is an inward speech
and has nothing external, therefore it is always effective.

is telling me: Up to here and no further may I guide you. Therefore, you can now return with me to the place
where we departed from.
Since our loving spiritual hospitable friend is here already, you can effortlessly and immediately find yourselves
in his sphere.

Well, you are already in his sphere. Why are you now suddenly looking around you with anxiety? You say:
because we find ourselves upon a high rock and am surrounded by nothing else but an endless, heaving sea. It
seethes and waves menacingly around this lonely rock on which we find ourselves and it seems to be
bottomless. What will become of us if this sea will surge over our weak rock with her mighty waves? We have
only our sure destruction before us! Where would we find rescue if all these waves would crash over us?

But I tell you: You have judged badly. Relax a bit and look in the direction of the morning, where the great water
surface is beginning to turn red, then you will immediately have a change of mind. You already are looking in the
good direction; and, what do you see?

I can see an even greater fear is taking hold of your hearts and you say with a shivering voice: Oh, Master and
Father, save us unless we completely perish! For just as high as the mountain tops, are terrible monsters rising
their heads above the endless, vast waves of the sea and they are charging towards us at great speed. Now you
are taking, even more, fright and can of sheer, foolish angst, utter not one word anymore; what then is there?
You see the water mass parting and to the sides of the wet walls in the depth, a menacing fire, surging upwards
more and more, devouring the steaming walls of the sea. In the mid of the fire, you see a great, fiery dragon. He
has seven heads and on their heads, ten horns. With his mighty tail, he splits the waves and from four heads,
who already erected themselves above the waves, he vehemently spits great fiery bullets to all sides over the
surface of the sea. You now also see how a great mass of countless bats and other nocturnal animals flee into
its four wide-open mouths and how he hastily let it descend into its flaming gullets. Around the heads, you see
hovering menacing cumulus clouds, restlessly swirling around the horns, filling it with lightning, which is being
thrust out onto the restlessness of the waves. You see it and you are oh, so afraid! But I tell you: Look very well
for the second time; you will see behind the dragon something else. Look, there is a chain around his tail and
behind it, an innumerable amount of smaller chains, being dragged along by this mighty dragon on its fiery trail.

You anxiously ask: Father, what will happen with these wretched slaves of this dragon? But I tell you: Have a
good look, then you will soon discover how these slaves behind this dragon jubilate with swords in their hands,
saying: Honor to you, mighty prince, you have conquered the peoples of the earth and made the heavens to pay
you tax! Thus, you became a mighty ruler among God and all creation. Heaven, earth and all abysses must bow
down before you and the earnings and works of the Son out of God you have defeated and you have made all
upon earth, above the earth and under the earth, taxable to you. Well, what do you say now of these adherents
of this dragon, now that you heard this? You shudder in the deepest of your being. But I tell you: Keep standing
right where you are, your eyes fixed in the direction of the evening, then you will immediately see another image
before your eyes.

You are already looking. What anxiety-inducing thing do you now see?

With hesitating voice, you say: Master, if it is going to continue like this, then we are hopelessly lost, for the
dragon have draped himself in a wide circle over the waves of the sea like a mighty, immeasurably big snake.
We are encircled by him as if with an incalculable, great, fiery ring wall. We see no escape anymore; Thus, we
are unavoidably his prey! We cannot arise from where we are standing; what will then become of us? To all
sides, we see the vast surface of the sea glowing strongly. Countless vortexes are emerging on the glowing and
violently steaming surface. Fiery volcanoes haphazardly thrushes glowing waves as high as heaven. O Father,
help us before all these threats come even closer! Then, when the glowing waves, full of pestilence and stench,
full of curse and consuming fire will devour us, will You then pull us out of the endless, eternal, abominable
abyss?

Oh, you of little faith, why are moaning so pitifully and anxiously!

Look at once to the midday and you will immediately see another scene. Do you see how there, behind the wide
and mighty glowing snake circle, gigantic angelic beings, armored with mighty swords, awaiting only a sign, a
small wink from Me, to incapacitate the snake? First, look around you at all sides and count the judging angels.
Are there not twelve? Yes, so it is! Look around you. The angels received the wink and look, the snake is lying
there, dead and cut to pieces. Her pieces are sinking into the depths of the glowing waves; the waves
thunderously crushes in on it from all sides. And now look, where is the waves, where is the sea!
Peaceful land replaces the abhorring flood. And look, from all sides come, amiable messengers, carrying My
living Word in their hands and sowing it all over like wheat kernels. Now look to the direction of the morning: a
new, glorious sun is rising! From the heavens are falling abundant dew on the new soil of My compassion and
mercy and new, delicious fruit germinates everywhere. Do you understand what you saw! I tell you, this image is
very close; it is happening right before your eyes. You should therefore not be anxious, for you have witnessed in
this image of higher spiritual truth, the end of the shameful fornication. Now look around once more and look at
the spirit in whose sphere you have seen all these. Do you know him?

Look, the seventh spirit is already waiting for you. You can immediately proceed into its sphere, that you may see
the revelation of the truthful ways of salvation and its eternal order. You are now in his sphere and you are
looking around completely overwhelmed and perplexed. What do you then see, which has put you in such a
strange state of mind, as if you do not know whether you are surrounded by something humorous or something
serious? But I do exactly see what is happening inside of you and your inner words, which you barely know
yourselves, lay open before me.

You consequently say: Whoever can, can find the explanation of the marvelous things we have previously seen
from this image, let him who can take it, take it! We see instead of an unraveling, only a not directly abhorring,
yet still an even more confusing knot! Therefore: Who can take it, how out of this, the unraveling will come forth?
We cannot. What then should this mean? Here and there arises a conical mountain. People are ascending on
one side and glide down the other side. When they slid down, they go stand there and laugh at those following
them, while they say: So, this was then true, that a fool gains ten! To the other side, we see a whole lot of
swings, each of which is hung between two rather strong, high trees, being mightily swung. Also, there stand a
multitude of spectators, mockingly laughing at the swingers, calling at them: Hey, you fools, why are you so
happy on the swing where you indeed are energetically swinging to and fro, yet staying put at one place? The
swinging length of your swing is the whole journey which you travel over and over again. This is the second
scene we are viewing, you are saying to yourselves. You continue: on the other side, we see a ring wall. Inside
of this ring wall is cyclic tracks, closing into the center in a spiral fashion, to the center, where a tent is erected.
On these tracks are people running towards the tent. When they reached it, they turn around and run to the outer
ring wall. All around this ring wall stand here and there groups of people, mockingly laughing at these cycle-
track-racers, asking them what they intend to achieve with this running. Some of them cease their running,
climbs unto the ring wall, saying: how could I have been so stupid, I have almost killed myself, running for
nothing?

At a fourth location, we see around water bowl with a diameter of about a thousand klafter (1900 m) and a depth
of about one klafter (1,9 m). In the middle of the bowl, a huge spade is put into an even motion by an attached
construction of beams. With this, the whole mass of water is forced into a uniform, cyclic movement, being the
quickest close by the wheel, yet becoming slower with increasing distance.

On the surface of the water, a great number of rowing boats are available. In the boats are people exerting
themselves to get in from the shore, closer to the spade. When they get there, they quickly tire and are pushed
to the shore of the bowl again. At the shore again stands a multitude of spectators, heartily mocking the foolish
seafarers.

The seafarers do not look as if they bother too much with this. But some of them, who have already been
washed out to the shore more than once, finally steps out of their boats onto the shore with bored and sorrowful
faces and cannot be astonished enough that they have let themselves be washed along on the surface of the
water for so long for nothing and nobody, by the water spade. Only a few of them watch this silly spectacle for a
while and laugh with the other spectators because of the still very busy seafarers. Others remove themselves,
shaking their heads and search for a peaceful spot somewhere to take a rest from their foolish and senseless
exertion. This will then be all we will see in this promising sphere of this seventh spirit. We do very well see that
such manifestations often happen, but it still stays the same. Who then can see a solution and above all, the
truthful ways of the Godly order in these manifestations, must have more light in his eyes than a whole legion of
main central suns concentrated at one point! What we can gather from this occurrence, is what the sages of old
once have said: There is nothing new under the sun, but everything follows it's old, set cycle and that all over
again, the same way again, from the beginning.

Again, I quote to you another, also old proverb, derived directly out of nature, saying: who is blind, see nothing!
Look, there is nothing to be said against this proverb, for such, it is in general in this world and especially about
the inner perception of the spirit. The whole world looks like a Thomas who said: If I cannot grab His hands and
see in bright sunlight with my eyes, it is for me as good as nothing and it tells me nothing.

I would first want to ask someone who alleges thus: can you take hold of the stars of heaven with your hands
and can you see them in bright sunlight? Look, you can do neither one nor the other. Do the stars therefore not
exist, because can do neither one nor the other? You tell Me:?at least I see the stars at night and then I can
calculate their orbit. But I tell you: your testimony does you, regarding your sharpness of mind, no great honor,
for you by this openly acknowledge that you know My order only from your night side, while the order of the day
is still hidden from you.

Would you have no night, you would exist on a bright day like a blind and would not even dream about the order
of My things. It is pitiful if you can only find your wisdom regarding the order of My things, only through your night
and not through your day. Look, it also becomes quite clear through the things you have just seen.

Two curious and sensation-hungry people scale a mountain and believe that they can grasp the secrets of the
heavens very well up there with their minds, and can tap up till the last drop of what exists from it.

They, therefore, put in much effort to climb up against the steep cliffs of this conical form mountain. The higher
they progress, the less footing they have to stand on. When they reach the very summit, they finally have no
more place to stand, become dizzy and, since they find no heavenly handle up there, they let themselves rapidly
slide down the other side, to the same plain from where they departed. At the end, they do not know the purpose
of this climbing of the mountain anymore and they can do nothing other but laugh at themselves, saying: Now we
know just as much as before;?all our efforts were foolish and silly. We tried by the climbing to aspire to pass by
others. Why! Only for all of us to slide down the other side again? What did we gain to those who never set foot
on the mountain?

Nothing, for firstly are we just as far as they are and secondly, we are getting laughed at by them because we
have put in so much effort to gain one and the same goal, while we could have gained it much easier.

Do you not yet make something out of this image? I will tell you yet another thing, then you will understand this
case better. How do you interpret this text: “My yoke is easy and My burden is light”? If I proclaimed it, who is
forcing those who want to come to Me, to scale mountains to reach me, while I am waiting on them on a flat land
and on a straight road? It is for this wise reason that human worldly wisdom must become blunt by itself in time,
for it should become obvious that at the end it can achieve nothing other than what could have been achieved a
long time before.

You must have already more than once have seen such a monotonous garden airship, very well known to you by
the name of 'swing'; you would also have taken part in such a repetitive journey. What have you felt when such
an airship was diligently pushed to and fro by an artful taskmaster?

You say: We felt anything but pleasant and when we left the vessel, we almost vomited due to the terrible
swinging journey! For this reason, we also lost any desire to ever again take part in such an airborne journey.

I say: your description is very good and we will be able to use it very well for our purpose. Have you ever
questioned yourselves what would become of such a swing if it would be brought into rapid motion by the
enthusiastic pusher? You say: oh yes, then she would tip over, with the result that it fares badly with the airborne
travelers. I say: good, also this tale we will be able to use very well. Give us regarding this yet a third question,
namely: how far do the travelers in such an airship travel?

Answer: after hours of moving to and fro, they have come so far that they get off at the same point they started
out from. What kind of journey is that? Answer: An imaginary journey, for you, are in fact put in motion, but do not
progress any further than the swinging length of such a ship and one would have to succumb to be even laughed
at by a snail, whom, even with an incomparable slow creeping motion, would make more progress in a few hours
than the full length of the swing's furthest reach.

Likewise, do we see in the sphere of our hospitable friend how a multitude of people let themselves be wildly
swung to and fro in great swings. Have a look: if the swing still swings with moderation, the swingers calls out to
the commander: swing harder, harder!

But when the swing reaches almost half a circle, all are screaming: stop, stop, otherwise the swing might top
over and then we are lost!

Do you not yet see something in this strange image? O it stands so clear before you as a sun before the eyes! If
you would just have a look at the ceremonial religious cult, you will immediately understand our image.

A child, born and baptized in such a ceremonial church are spiritually seen, already put in such a swing and
when he lays in it, the swing is gradually put into increasing motion. Because of the motion, the person thinks
that he is making heaven knows how great progress and he is going forward! At first glance can anyone see how
far such a journey will go!

This airship hangs between two pillars. The one means the so-called rock of faith doctrine, the other though, the
necessity of state and politics. Both are planted as solidly as possible and connected by crossbeams. As such
continues the journey between these two pillars and no man can move himself any further as the length of the
rope onto which this meaning full airship hangs. Some swingers quickly become nauseous and jump off at the
very first repose by which they can benefit. A very few leave such a transport device for good. Only those having
vested interest in such a device stays in it pro forma, allows themselves for appearance's sake to be restfully
pulled to and fro and praises and exalts such a device, whose movement is, according to them, exceptionally
beneficial for your health. By that they also attract strangers and tell those so foolish, to get into the traveling
device: would you want to fully experience the enjoyment and perfect satisfaction of such a journey, you must let
yourselves be blindfolded.

Since that then deceives many to go and sit in such a device blindfolded, it happens that they enthusiastically
begin to call out: Yes, only now we begin to understand how much secrets are kept behind the monotony, for the
going to and fro have stopped and we are flying through infinite space.

This just must be a wonder! Who would ever have dreamt that there would be something so great, behind
something so monotonous?

When then such blindfolded air travelers think they have traveled far enough, they will request from those who
have vested interest in the swing, to let them free again. But those parties concerned, who very well know what
consequences the freedom would have for the freed ones, urgently tries to dissuade them, saying: Woe unto you
if you would dare this for, n the sphere where you are now, you would be eternally blinded if you would ever take
off the blindfold. Only when we arrive at the great destination of life, can you remove the blindfold and then you
may see how we brought you safely, in exchange for minimal recompense which you paid for the great journey,
to the destination.

Well, a few allow themselves to be deceived and bravely hold on to their blindfold, but others, disgruntled by this
enigmatic, indefinite, blindfolded journey, tears off the blindfold and realize to their great vexation that they still
find themselves between the two pillars. They now sincerely wish to get out of the transportation device but is
still moving too strongly and they are forced, despite their resistance, to join in on the monotonous journey. If
they would begin to complain to their leaders, they are admonished because of multifarious reasons to be silent,
to not be rudely thrust out of the swing, which they would not wish to happen. And now look: to ensure that these
protesters would be compelled to subject to the verdict of those with vested interest, a fire is kindled on one side
of the swing and to the other side, a great number of spears are installed!!

What is left for these protesters? Nothing other than to allow themselves to be continuously swung to and fro,
paying for the swinging trip against their will. How do they yearningly long for the moment the swing will stop!

But how and when will this happen?

We will calculate this very easily. Look, the close-by swing is swinging very hard, almost completing a full half
circle from left to right. But look, because of this vigorous swinging, the pillars begin to sway with the rapid
movement of the swing and because of the intense friction, many threads of the swing's rope have already worn
out. This weakness of the airship is only detected by those with a vested interest.

They, therefore, cannot allow the vigorous swinging anymore, for they say: If we will let things go too high, the
ropes will break and we will end up either in the fire or on the spears, together with our passengers. Therefore,
we inconspicuously bring the swing to a halt, draw up a treaty with the protesters and unnoticed settle according
to their wishes while we let things run its course while it lasts. For we see very well that we will achieve nothing
more with violence.

Now look again. The swing is moving very irresponsibly to and fro over a much smaller distance and those not
blindfolded anymore jumps off one by one. We see almost no passengers anymore, except for those with a
vested interest and a single blindfolded. You also see that the managers of the swing put in diligent efforts to
support the swaying pillars with various props as well as possible. Paid servants climb up high along ladders to
try to fix the severely damaged rope, fastening it again to both pillars with very weak cords. Because the rope is
not hanging still, but still swings to and fro, they are not able to fasten a secure loop anywhere; it is then too long,
then too short, making it impossible to make any satisfactory contribution to the preservation of the main rope.
This is an obvious, clear characteristic of the current situation.

Those who want to regard it as only an image of empty fantasy, only should cast a cursory glance upon the
doings and actions of the current world and he will clearly recognize these fixing and knots between countries,
peoples and church denominations. I want to draw your attention to various negotiations between states among
themselves, resulting in various agreements. Who only want to investigate it with only half open eyes, will very
clearly see the meaning of the above- mentioned arts and braiding work with ropes and cords. One or the other
will now oppose Me, saying: if the situation is thus, why do the seeing protesters go accord with the fixing and
strengthening of the ropes? You have the answer clearly before you: because the swing is still vigorously
swinging and they are also still inside this swing, they are almost just as afraid as those having vested interest,
that the rope might snap prematurely. They, therefore, condone the knotting of the rope in order not to be caused
to fall hard due to a premature breakage of the rope, that is to say, together with those having vested interest.
That this continuous fixing and knotting of the swing is a clear sign of the weakness of the main rope is now
obvious to you. Would a country or people consider himself strong enough against another, it would because of
its well-known power, give orders but would not make use of any fixing materials. Since he does know his
inherent weaknesses, he takes his refuge into secretive strengthening, but despite all this, the already weakened
rope will not last one second longer, because it already has hidden weaknesses in it, due to excessive wear.

When you would investigate, our ring wall a little closer, you would see that there are inside not one, but multiple
tracks starting at the side of the inner area, spiraling inwards alongside each other, towards the closed in tent. If
you would look even closer, you will also discover that all these tracks are laid out in such a way that one can
reach with no one the entrance to the tent. Yet it is said at the entrance of this splendid terrain: whoever can find
the narrowest way and proceed on it, not deviating from it on side roads, will definitely and surely reach the tent,
where a great reward awaits him.

What would this strange course of a spiral track then mean? I will give no definitive answer; you will find it as
soon as you have had a closer look at it. Therefore, give detailed attention to this truly foolish, but in her
foolishness, meaningful playground!

Look, at every place where such a track begins at the outside to the center, a track leader is stationed, as well as
a track director and a great multitude of lackeys. Look how they all sport extremely serious and solemn faces.
On the broad wall, you see a great multitude of people of both sexes. Look how, at the onset of a track, those of
common mutual interest praise and promote their track leader to be the only correct one, saying: Everyone,
come here! This track is the only right way by which you will certainly find the entrance to the tent and also the
tent itself, where an invaluable treasure is awaiting you! But look, the track leader standing at his side, calls out,
saying to the guests: do not allow yourselves to be deceived! With us you pay much less track fees, for our track
is the oldest, therefore also the formally acknowledged one; because of her, many thousands have already
arrived at the tent and received their high reward. But the first track leader immediately comes closer, protesting
vehemently and urgently warns the guests to not follow the deceptive lures of the second track leader. The
second track leader excitedly opposes against such blasphemous speech and calls out with a mighty voice: I do
not say that you may not come here; I leave it to your free will whether you would come along my track or not,
because I very well know that my track is the oldest and only right one, I would want to drag you there by your
hair. It is lamentable enough that one should force unto fools like you such unspeakable bliss with violence! The
first track leader again raises himself and again calls out mightily: Then indeed follow my neighbor! You sure do
know that his track near the tent has a hidden and covered up abyss by which everyone who shall walk this
track, will irrevocably fall to perdition. At this declaration, the second track leader reacts even more heftily, sends
his lackeys up the wall without a word, let them forcefully herd together a multitude to walk down his track.

When they offer to pay the track fee, he magnanimously boasts: I do not receive anything from you, I only want
to ensure your bliss; therefore, walk my track. You can run or restfully wander, as you please and I will surely
guarantee that you will find nowhere on my track a baneful abyss, but that you will all reach the tent, well
preserved. My only prerequisite is that you would not leave my track. If you would leave due to error or of your
own, I will not be answerable to that, for on any other track you will, instead of ending up in the tent, find
yourselves in one or the other hidden abyss. So, we see the multitude proceed.

But see, close-by is standing yet another track leader. He creates no uproar, pulls a very amiable and
compassionate face. The guests ask him why he does that and what then is so close to his heart. He answers
with very meek and soft words: Who would not be sorrowful!! These poor people are all going the wrong way,
while only this one is the only correct way, going virtually straight to the entrance of the tent. I do not tell you to
come here, but when you would have experienced everywhere that you have achieved nothing with your
senseless, useless efforts, you would find yourselves automatically on my track. I tell you: I do not even condone
for anyone to walk on my track and by that cause jealousy in the cunning track leaders besides me. If he would
everywhere have convinced himself that he has been deceived, he will without hesitation come to me and will
willingly pay a high track fee if I would only open my track for him.

Look, a fourth track leader, slyly looking back at his neighbor, shakes his head and finally says: Just go forth!
Who laughs last, laughs longest! I tell you, my helpers, leave all these wall guests. Let the fools do what they
want, we do not invite anyone. You can go over the wall to the outside, catch them there and bring them here. As
soon as the fools are brought here from the outside, we will be well assured that they will not seek any other
track and will step on none other than ours. We only set up a banner stating: “The only right track to the goal!”,
look thereby very busy and the fat fish are all ours.

But look further! Alongside here is yet another, very narrow track, seemingly very poor. The track leader sits at
the entrance, concerning him for no one. His few helpers are following his example. See how many guests go
over to this track leader, secretly asking him: How is it with your track? He says nothing else but only these
words: My track testifies of itself. Whoever wants to walks on her, will convince himself whether she will bring
him to his goal or not. This enigmatic and secretive words surprise many and many track guests begin to follow
Him.

If they ask after the cost, He says: there is no price, but whoever wants to walk this track, gives everything he
has, for he will also find it all back. I Myself though, needs nothing. At this prerequisite, the lovers of this track
lookup strangely then pull back again into the wall.

But look, alongside this one, there is yet another track. He has a real moper as track leader. He erected a
complete house in front of the track. He invites no one, but if someone would come to him and ask: what kind of
track is this and does she lead to the inside of the tent? Then the track leader says very softly and secretively to
him: Friend, there never has been a track like this one; only this one is the oldest and is connected to the
entrance of the tent. Would you like to walk it, you will not be sorry? You only should pay the track fee, of so
much, in fine, jingling coin. You will get a bill for that same amount. If you properly follow the track and do not let
yourselves be deceived, you will, without doubt, get inside the tent and with that, you win the grand prize. Should
you get lost, all is not yet lost for, with this bill in your hand, you will receive back in jingling coins all, with interest.
As you would see, this track leader has a very significant influx of great and small, but not because of the track,
but only because of his money management. Therefore, he bursts of gold, silver, and multifarious noble stones.
He does not concern himself with the tent in the least, for his business is only money matters. As such also his
track walkers do not really concern themselves for whether they reach the tent or not, for they indeed have the
bill in their hand.

But look even further. There lies, even more, less trodden tracks. The track leaders are tolerated by the head
track leaders only up to a certain level. They, therefore, sit very restfully at their tracks. If a pilgrim comes by at
one or the other, it is good. If no one comes, they do not grow grey hair because of it. They are in a certain
sense not dependent upon the yield of the track, but they provide their sustenance by means of various stalls,
erected at their tracks. Would they secretively be asked by someone: Is your track the right one? They would
carelessly answer: If this would not be the right one, which one would? See, as such is the cyclic track terrain is
populated with pure track leaders: the great, the calling, the moping, the silent and the secretive. Apart from a
single track, namely the narrowest, you will everywhere find wanderers and seekers. But because all the tracks
are fended off at the end, all these track walkers finally end up against the outside of the tent. Nobody reaches
the entrance, for as many, as you see rushing there, just as many will find disappointment at the steep wall, will
turn around and again seek for freedom, since they achieved nothing for all their effort. Everyone jostles around
the track leader who is giving out jingling coins. And look, even other track leaders send their helpers secretly
with bags full of silver and gold and let him give out bills for that.

If you have looked well at the fourth image from the beginning, the following logical questions should have risen
in your minds: Why is water in this round bowl made to continuously swirl around by means of a scoop?

In the first instance is the answer already contained in the meaningful question, namely, for no seafarer to come
too close to the gearing, and secondly: to push out everyone who would want to get to the center of the bowl,
back out by the outwardly swirling water, despite all efforts.

A rower can put in no matter how much effort, he cannot reach the gearing to bring it to standstill, which would
enable every seafarer to get to the center, take hold of the gearing and remove it with joint effort from the bowl,
for to have the whole beautiful, restful water surface freely available for everyone's well-being.

Now another question surfaces, namely: what is then so peculiar about this center of this water bowl? Even
though the wheel exists there, there still is all around a spacious water surface available. Whoever wants to row
about on his boat, can still do it to his heart's content and do not need the center for it.

All good and well, if you do not know what the center point, above which the water gear is attached, hides. Only
when you know this, one would utter in himself the express wish: away with that wheel with its many scoops! It is
of no benefit to us. To explain that the water would not become foul because of the constant stirring by the gear,
would be completely senseless if one would measure up the immense damage of this, against the use of this
place above where the water gear is installed. To not leave you for too long breaking your heads about it, I will
immediately tell you.

This place is a source of living water. But this source has been properly secured and so to say, sealed with lead;
not a drop can bubble through. Yet, all boasters who have vested interest in the water, says that the life of this
water is only dependent on them. They have the power to make the water alive or to kill it. The gear was
supposedly given to them by God, as well as the ability to bring the water to life, if it is propelled by them. Would
the water not be driven by them, it would become dead and would serve nobody for life anymore. They also say:
This bowl is, among other similar bowls in the vicinity, the only one containing true living water. In all others, the
water is dead and its movement, imitating living water, is nothing other than pure deceit. Whoever let himself be
deceived to take his rowing boat to any of the other water bowls, will perish without fail.

The proof that this is the only bowl containing the living water, is firstly its age and secondly, its extraordinary
beauty and exaltedly built structure, serving the living gear. The third proof is its extraordinary size, showing this
bowl to be the only real one. The fourth proof is its public use, seen by the fact that its surface still has the
greatest number of rowers. The fifth, that all water bowls came forth from this one, shown by their striking
resemblance with the only, true water bowl.

Now look a bit further. More than two-thirds of the rowers, still being driven out to the shores, have long ago seen
the futility of their monotonous and useless journey on the water and therefore leave their boats. They step out
onto the shore completely dismayed and disappointed, turn their backs to it, saying: do we not have something
better to do than to let us be cheated for so long already with that living water? People have told us: Just
persevere, journey so many times, take care to exert the right amount of power, to ensure that nobody firstly
would get to the gear, secondly also not too close to the shore, but to continuously stay in the area of the water
between the gear and the shore. If one would come too close to the gearing, the intense power of it would soon
paralyze you.

Because of this, he would soon be irrevocably documented as a dead person.

Now we have wisely again ended up on the shore; what a wonder that we are still alive! Those stepping out of
these rowing boats say: would that it would also occur to the others to just have a look at the shore, to let them
see that there is much more life than on the dumb water surface. They would quickly steer their boats to this
much more joy-giving shore and would not take notice anymore of all the mighty boasting of those positioned on
the edge of the water gear.

They continue speaking: All praise and honor to the Master for giving this into us! But the question is: where
would we now get other, better water from?
Our hospitable friend is here already; go then into his sphere. Also, this spirit you will see inside of his sphere,
where you will be guided by him. Take again well notice of what he will let you see and what he will say, for from
this much will be clarified unto you, which you have not yet completely understood. You already find yourselves
in his sphere; trust him, he is a competitive guide and in him is much wisdom out of Me. Along the way, you will
indeed get to know who this spirit actually is. Listen then to him and do follow him!

The spirit has just told you: Come, come, beloved brothers, as the Master wills it; I will guide you through the
Kingdom of truth and love!

Look there, to the morning, to that exceptionally majestically beautiful mountains. Look how the Godly sun, in
which the Master dwells, already stands high above the mountains and see how beautifully her rays falls like a
lovely morning red in the valleys and other depths of the world!

Look for now also backward, then you will see a great sea, alive with the movement of many great waves. On
the waves you see many ships; some are huge, the other small. You see how the waves surges towards the
shore to absorb these delightful rays of the sun. The ships upon the great sea have also set their sails to steer
towards the shimmering shore. By this, you can recognize the latent power of the rays of the Godly sun, in which
the Master dwells.

But now we turn to the mountains. There we will see and view things of a vastly different nature, how the Godly
truth reveals Himself there. You ask, saying: but dear spiritual friend and brother, that radiating mountain still look
very far off, how can we get there so quickly? O dear friends and brothers, do not worry yourselves about that,
for our will shall take us there. You want it as I do and look, we are already here!

You say: O dear spiritual friend and brother, it is delightful here;?we would want to stay, for never have appeared
before our spiritual eyes something so enchanting, as this view from this high mountain.

There, to the midday, you see something strange and you do not know what to think of it. You see hanging from
a high firmament, a hanging golden rod, slowly swinging to and fro like the pendulum of a clock. You want to
know what it is. I tell you: let us go there, then you will soon discover.

Do you see behind this impressive sun pendulum the extraordinary big, square building, raising himself in
pyramid form step by step to its pinnacle under the high, apparently heavenly firmament? We will go there and
have a closer look. The inscription on the one side will show us the meaning thereof. You want it and look, we
are here!

Look up there. On the tenth step, you see the two great, light radiating pyramids; Look what is written on each of
them. You say: The writing is foreign to us. Well, then I will read it to you. On the pyramid is written: “This is the
great time measure for what is created”. On the other pyramid is inscribed: “Only correct movement of all things
and occurrences according to Godly order”. From these two inscriptions, you already can put together what this
appearance wants to convey.

Also, this ninth spirit you shall see and talk to in his sphere. He will guide you to different places, where you will
see and understand everything which was still strange to you up till now. Out of this, you will also see much of
what you have seen up till now, in a brighter light.

Look, our hospitable friend is already standing there; enter therefore his sphere immediately and follow his
instructions.

You already find yourselves in his sphere. Take notice of what this new guide is going to tell you. He says: Best
friend and brothers, come, come with me to see what the infinitely great Fatherly love have done and how
generous He always is. Rejoice exceedingly that the Master has delight in it to show to you new things in the
spirit; for you will see with your own eyes how unfathomable the ways of the Master is and how inscrutable the
council of His infinite, eternal wisdom!

Look around you as far as your spiritual eyes can reach and tell me what appears before your eyes. I do see that
you feel embarrassed by the magnitude of the scene, are at your wit's end with it and do not know where to
begin! Therefore, I will describe to you clearly in words everything you see.
In the direction of midnight, you see a rather barren environment;?high, steep mountain range after the other
look down like threatening judges upon beautiful plains. Here and there between the mountains and smaller hills
you discover buildings looking like your homes on earth; here and there, more in the lowland, is also a little
church. In the higher spheres of these mountains you see grey clouds drifting by and up high, the mountains
seem to consist of pure snow and ice, kind of like the high glaciers upon your earth. You also see that the whole
northerly region is cut off from where we are now, by a great and broad river.

When you follow the flow of this river, you discover that she has her origin from the region between the morning
and midnight and flows along almost in the form of half a circle, between evening and midnight. Her water
surges up in mighty waves; therefore, there is only one single ferry, or rather a ship pushed by the current,
making the passing of the river possible for the inhabitants living on the other side of the river.

You would want to know what kind of inhabitants this is? We will soon know. Come with me;?the boat is indeed
at this shore, and we will cross the river easily and effortlessly. You want it and look, we are already at the
riverbank. Step into the little boat with courage and do not fear the foaming waves, nor the dark depths of the
river. We will steer the boat so well that not even a drop will get into it.

You are sitting in the boat. See, the journey fares better than you thought, for we are already in the middle of the
river. Do not take fright of the monsters raising their heads above the river, with gaping maws looking like they
could devour whole worlds. For look, we are almost there and now we have reached the other side. Step on
shore before me and I will follow you and fasten the boat.

Look, we are on land. There, situated rather deep in a valley you see the dirty town. Let us go there and look at
what is to be seen. Here we are; how does it suit you here? You get chills of it. I tell you, this is still looking good,
but it will become even worse.

Before we will go to the other valley, I still want to give you a short answer to a question you asked Me. You
wanted to know whether what you previously have seen, is the hell. I can answer you with neither yes nor no,
but only say that what you have seen is hellish of nature, but not the actual hell. For what is to be seen, is
nothing but an independent depiction of the evil, especially regarding human desires. Where you have seen the
most emaciated beings, there the evil is in equal measure. Where the beings were still enveloped in some more
flesh and were seen to be more active, there the desire and urge for doing evil is in equal measure, the most
active. On earth, it gets clearly expressed, for you must have met people whose multiple sins have destroyed
their sensual nature to such an extent that they are not even able to keep up their artificially physical lust with
artificial stimulating means anymore. Look, such people appear here in the foreground because they now and
then indeed entertain a thought of insight about the invalidity and transience of such pleasures. But in the
background, you have seen those with whom the power of their lust still equaled the power of the deed. Just look
at these people upon earth; how they live loosely and scandalously entreats their bodies, as long as they have
these meager power in them.

By this you can gather that what you have seen have the hell, yet does not have it, but is only the hellish
character of the evil one made visible. Knowing this now, we will go to with this knowledge to the next, already
mentioned valley.

Look, this is only separated from the already known valley, by a rather filthy mountain range. We only have to
cross this mountain range, and we will immediately see the character of the other valley. You want it, and we are
already on the high plain of the mountain range. See, down there is the new town; how does it suit you? You
see: from afar it looks better than the previous; only because it is more to the evening, we cannot expect much
good from it. Yes, you are right; such it will be.

You ask me why the buildings here are so much bigger and looks much more respectable than that of the
previous town. I tell you: Let us immediately go down to the town, then you will soon find the answer to your
question. Well, we are already standing in front of the first house. It has a dirty white lime-washed wall in front;
yet, it does not have any frame or entrance in the front.

You ask: why is it so? Because this side is to the morning and is an abomination to the inhabitants of this town.
To be able to consider such a house, we should be at the backside of the building, situated a bit higher up the
mountain. There is a big frame; look inside and tell me what you see there.
Oh, you are already shrinking back. How then will it go with you at the next house? You say dumbfounded: by
God, this is unheard-of, inhumane, unthinkable! In the background is sitting a human monster on a broad bench.

He is inhumanly fat and has a repugnant hanging stomach which takes up more than half of the room. Under his
chin hangs one filthy, fleshy mass of fat upon the other. Before him stand several emaciated skeletal people,
jostling in front of this repugnant fat-gut, pleading him to eat them! The monster has indeed already put various
already cut up human skeletons on a sturdy table before him. But a few in the background is cursing the monster
and angrily wants to charge him. They are being kept back by those whom the monster promised to also eat
their flesh and convert it to his fat.

Now you indeed ask: What does this enigmatic, abominable depiction mean? Who can, may grasp it, but we do
not grasp anything of it! But I tell you, best brothers and friends, if you do not immediately understand and clearly
see it, you must be wandering upon earth completely blind!

Is this not an excellent depiction of the usurer, and especially of a selfish industry magnate, has made it his life's
purpose to grab everything in his reach which can produce interest? Indicate the limits of satisfaction of such a
usurer; does it not go into infinity? Would he have the slightest disturbance of conscience to direct all the
treasures and wealth of the whole world to himself? Would he shed a tear if he would be able to attract the life of
all widows and orphans on earth to him and digest it?

I tell you: the poor are still coming in droves to him, offering him hide and hearth; they are exhausting all their
powers, toiling for him for the most meager reward. Others bring to him the little they have and praise himself
fortunate if it is accepted at the most miserable rent. Yes, many of the deceived even go so far that they find it
inevitable to be deceived by him, for this is just how it works, them having no guilt in it.

Some equally covetous, but worldly inexperienced poor wretches, discerning the cunning wiles of this wealthy
one, threatens to destroy and kill him. Only those having vested interest in our usurer, understanding that they
would much rather die when he would die, then with his complete satisfaction, deter such an onslaught as much
as possible.

To reach the third valley, we need not do anything but to pass over this little higher mountain range. You want it
and look, we are up here already. Look down below, more to the evening and you will not miss the first
mentioned town.

You say: Best friend and brother, except for a few sturdy mounds of earth, we can discover nothing resembling a
town. Yet I tell you: you have seen well for look as far as you can down the narrowing and darkening ravine, then
you will discover many similar mounds of earth. You say: Nobody can live there, doesn't matter how desperate
the circumstances. Yet I tell you: Wait patiently till we properly reached the earthen mounds, then things will
immediately look much different. If you will, we will go down.

Well, we have reached the first mound; what do you say of it? You pull up your shoulders, but I tell you: Come a
bit closer, yet not too close, then you will let go of pulling up your shoulders. You ask why you should not get too
close to such an innocent looking earth mound. Also to this, you will if you would stay at the correct distance,
immediately get the suitable answer. Come a little closer now!

Why do you jump so frightfully back like that? I did tell you that these earth mounds are not so empty as it looked
like at first glance. You now say: in heaven's name! What is this? When we went only a few steps closer to this
earth mound, several poisonous snakes suddenly poked their heads through the small, invisible holes and
opened their venomous jaws.

Truly, if we did not jump back as quickly as we did, they would have thrust themselves upon us and caused us
harm. Are these earth mounds then pure viper nests? Is here nothing looking like humans?

I tell you: To get behind this, we must inspect the earth mound from the northern side, being the most dangerous
route to approach it.

Therefore, you must walk behind me and secretly look on from behind my back, then you will certainly see what
is necessary to see. Do then follow me!
Look, we already are at a good spot. Take careful notice, there at the base of the earth mound is a hole as if dug
by a fox on earth. Take a good look inside, then you will promptly see something completely different. But when
you have seen something, regardless of its ugliness, you should keep yourselves very composed and silent, for
too vigorous motion or premature frightful screaming can cause us to have to flee.

Well, did you have a look inside? You confirm that you have. Yes, this will indeed be enough. Before we will
discuss this, we will promptly remove ourselves to some distance from the mound, for close by it is not good to
talk about it, because this mound has many thousand ears and is on alert.

Now tell me what you have seen.

You say: O best friend and brother, terrible, terrible! Yes, it was disgusting to see! In the background, we saw a
being hunched down. He looked like the most detestable and most terrible dragon. This dragon indeed has a
human-like head, but instead of hair, there is an innumerable number of venomous snakes, slithering to all sides,
glaring about with fiery eyes, searching for prey or loot near their horrible dwelling.

More to the foreground along the walls, we saw many miserable human figures, shackled by hands and feet. A
multitude of free snakes are slithering about, piercing their arteries and sucking their blood. This detestable
being in the background has, in his snake-coiled right hand a glowing sword and in the other hand, a kind of
written on scroll. A snake, coiled around his left arm, intermittently pages through the sheets of the written
document as if she wants to draw the monster's attention to something peculiar. After such action, we saw how
several very unhappy looking human beings were dragged from a dark background by several snakes.

The monster in the background swung his glowing sword above them, cut a few of them in pieces and let the
others be put into fetters again among the others, by the snakes which has human arms. This is what we saw,
nothing more and nothing less.

I tell you, you have taken very good notice and took it unto yourselves very well, but now you say: Best friend
and brother, the evil depicted by this detestable image, can indeed not exist upon earth! Then I tell you: There do
exist, regarding this kind of evil, even more, incomprehensible things than what is depicted in this image! Try to
guess what kind of evil is behind this image. Look, this image corresponds with the worldly tyrannical politics of
power-lust. Everything looking like lust for power corresponds with the character of this image. You should not
understand with this the wise state rulership of righteous kings and regents anointed by God, who
understandably must guard their peoples, for them to not incur too much damage to each other through mutual
malice, or even annihilate each other. This image only shows the hellish cunning by which people of any rank or
position, try to usurp some or the other kind of ruling position by means of the most despicable fawning. Have
they empowered someone, they hide to the world behind deceptive humility, soberness, and modesty. But their
dwellings are full of guarding snakes, looking like creeping, sly, secretive spies, keeping watch to the outside
with anxious tension whether something is approaching that could pose danger to the feigned modesty. Should
anything come close, it is immediately grabbed and secretly and unobtrusively dragged before the so-called
modest owner of the house. You have seen by the image that it does not fare very well with the prey in such a
humble dwelling. The snakes on his head instead of hair denotes the restless aspiration to ever-increasing
power. The glowing sword in his head, coiled about by a snake, shows the cunningly taken position of power;
some or the other office or trade that gives such a power-hungry person the right to exert his endowed power.
The glow of the sword depicts the relentless strictness of the substance of tyranny. His hand being coiled about
with a snake says that such a sword is handled with much cunning. The scroll in his left hand, again coiled about
by a snake, typifies the slyness of such a power-hungry person, in whose plans no one may have any insight,
except his own great slyness.

To get onto this conveniently situated hill, we will approach from the morning side of this completely northern
situated district and ascent the height from there. The more northerly region is too detestable to travel through
anymore, yet we will look down upon her from on high. Come with me then; we will in a spiritual manner be there
as quickly as possible.

We are already at the first valley. Look at the river. There you will see the very first couple we have met before.
Look how they wash themselves in the water of the river and look remarkably better in some ways. You ask what
that means?

This depicts the condition of a person, where he had more than enough of the fleshly rogue, developing a
contrite longing to become better, to completely do away with such-like sins and to cleanse himself as effectively
as possible of all the evil of these sins. You see how difficult such a purification is. This river has very little bays
reachable for such worn-out sinners. Besides, they cannot venture into it too far.

The river's current is too strong and teems of things which threaten to devour such penitents.

If they would stoutly persist in their bay, though, they will become stronger and healthier by it and will gain more
courage. When they would have gained their full strength, they can venture upstream in the direction between
morning and midnight where the stream originates. When they would reach the place where you can see in the
distance a hill on each side of the river, then they have reached the only bridge over the river by which the other
bank can be reached, by which they can reach the region of the evening.

How the situation is with the evening side, we will see very well when we will travel to the northern side. Let us,
since you now know it, go to the mentioned height to have a more proper look at the northern region.

You are once again asking whether this hill can be seen from there? O yes, just look up to the rather distant,
highest, whitish grey mountaintop, this is the mentioned location. You do shudder somewhat because of such a
steep and dizzying high mountaintop. But do not worry about it, we will scale it just as easily as the place we are
standing on now. If you want to, we will go. You want to and we are already here. Look, it is rather spacious on
this mountaintop, but do not go close to any side, especially not the deeper one which is, as you can see,
bordering on the perfectly dark north.

Come stand by me and look down. Do you see the three valleys there in the distance, in the direction of the
evening! Those are the to us already known ones. But beyond those three you see yet another seven and if you
look keenly, you will see that it has lots of holes from which rises dark grey smoke. You ask what it means?

This is the only condition of man in his earthly life when he knows the good but deliberately chooses the wrong,
acting from his inner depravity against his better conscience. The holes, directed towards the incoming light from
the midday, depicts the knowledge of the truth; the rising smoke from this holes, means the free and self-willed
changing of the Godly truth in vain deceit. The hidden fire from which the smoke rises, is the hidden depravity,
being the result of the highest degree of self-love and the from this emerging lust for power. From this depravity,
all the good seed of the light is changed into the seed of weeds. The weed is then kindled by the fire, burnt and
is dissolved into this visible smoke.

You see how these seven valleys are separated from one another through mountain ranges and every mountain
range consists of ten hills. Every hill is adorned with a kind of chapel. What does this mean? These ten hills
depict the ten exalted laws of Moses. The chapels on the hills shows the wisdom of these laws. The seven
valleys separating these hill ranges from each other depicts again the seven laws of neighborly love.

Look, there is already a good road; we will walk on it with ease. If you look to the left, you will see the fencing of
a vast plain to be rather high, yet softly rounded mountain ranges, beautifully overgrown with cedars and a
variety of other beautiful trees. The summits are free and everyone is decorated with a pyramid and on top of
each pyramid glistens a bright star. If you look right up ahead, you see a broad valley, stretching itself wide and
far and seems very fertile, as far as the eye can see. On various places in the valley, you see lovely, beautiful
buildings, where people walk in and out with gusto. You also see much intense activity in the cultivation of the
land. Is it not almost as if you would wander around in a beautiful valley, where peaceful farm workers are
diligently building and working their lands?

If you turn your gaze to the right, you would see a far-off, yes immeasurably stretched-out mountain ranges, of
which the lower areas are also overgrown with beautiful trees, while here and there among the trees are seen a
little rural homestead. Above the forested regions rise an exceptionally steep rocky mountain, the highest tops
covered with eternal snow and ice.

You say: this environment is wondrously beautiful, it only needs here and there a little lake or one or the other
nice, broad river. If this would have been here too, one could barely imagine for yourself a more lovely and
romantic region than this one.

Yet I tell you: dear brothers and friends, have patience for yet a little while. We will also find these things in rich
abundance, for we are proceeding very quickly and have penetrated so far into this region of the evening that it
would be beyond your understanding. Just look back and try to estimate the length of this soft, pyramid
decorated mountain ridge and you will immediately see how far we have come.

You say: how is this possible? We can indeed not see the end of this mountain range anymore and it also looks
like it stretches itself behind us infinitely. The beautiful stars on top of the pyramids we still only see in the
distance shimmering like sun dust. Yes, best brothers and friends, in this land one journeys exceptionally fast,
without even noticing the speedy progress. Even though we are now, as you can see, walking restfully step by
step, we are still moving exceptionally fast, with a speed no one on earth can understand. You can believe this: If
it would be possible to move your earthly bodies this fast, you would be able to flash through a milliard of sun
worlds in a moment. But how such is possible, we will still talk about.

Now we direct our gaze to the front and resume our journey at our ease. You ask me: what is that there in the
distant background, the glistening plain up there, still farther away, against a dark, evening firmament where a
great many stars are shining brightly? Be patient yet a little while; we will indeed get there. But first, look a bit to
the right and tell me what you find there. I read appreciation in your eyes. Is this not more as it should be?

Look at the beautiful islands rising above the restful and pure water surface, how they all are built up and how
every island is adorned with a quaint house. Look at the many beautiful boats on the water, well manned and
faring from one island to the other. You are surprised; you haven't even seen one-hundredth part; the further we
go, the more extended the lake becomes.

But as you can see, the left bank still forms a broad valley up till the left side mountain range and we still must
walk quite a while until we will see this valley becoming narrower and the lake becoming broader. Up there on
the beautiful green hill to our left, is a very beautiful temple with a golden roof. As you can see, are there also in
this open temple a multitude of people wearing white clothes. Would you like to know what they are doing there?

Have a look at the close-by shore of the lake; a company is presently stepping out from a pretty boat, who are on
their way to this temple. Do ask them, they will quickly tell you what is pulling them to this temple.

If you would not dare, I will do it; take notice! I will speak to someone.

You ask: Best Friend and Brother, how would we then go over this enormous sea surface while there is nowhere
a boat or ship to be seen which we can use or which can take us with? I tell you: we will indeed have no need of
it. It all depends on whether you would want to walk through the water like the Israelites once did through the
Red Sea, or like Peter with the Master who once walked upon the water. It can happen both ways and it will
happen as you want it. You say that I should decide and say what is the best.

As for me, I would rather follow the Master like Peter. Try to step on the water surface with me and have no
anxiety, for we will walk upon the water as on dry land. Look, we are already standing on the water; how do you
find this surface? You say: one can walk quite well on here. The surface is thin yet resilient and does not let it be
pushed in. The water is very clear and looks rather deep;?it does not invoke fear in us at all, though, because we
convince each other that it is strong enough to carry us.

This is correct, best friends and brothers, if one is still standing close to the shore and have a lot of objects
around you on land to see and the water is flat like a mirror. But when one has progressed somewhat and the
water does wave more, one must take care not to harbor any fear of the water and thereby losing one's balance.
But, as strong as the water is here, it stays everywhere; therefore, we will continue our journey. Hold onto me
tightly and do not walk as if anxious, but walk briskly and quickly, for with a cautious step you will not attain too
much. As you can see, the water surface is exceptionally smooth and if you do not put your foot down definitely,
you can slip and fall, causing you much trouble to get up again. Well, we are standing strong on our feet and I
can see you are making good progress.

Therefore, forward till we reach the rather strongly heaving area which we can see on the distant horizon. Look,
we are going forward very well. Here and there the surface does wobble due to the movement of the sea, but as
you see, our steps are not influenced by it in the least.

But why do you look so tensely into the water? Have you let something fall that sunk to the deep? You say: Best
Friend, not at all. We only are looking down whether there below us might be any fish or other water animals. I
tell you: do not worry yourselves about it, there are no talk of water monsters, but only little noble fishes in great
amounts. Would you like to see some? Then you only should turn around, then you will immediately see how
they are migrating from the morning to the evening.

Well, you have turned around. Look at how the enormous amounts of beautifully shimmering fish from the
vicinity of the morning is enlivening these endless waters! Does it not look very much like the little goldfish upon
your earth? You say: oh yes, they only glitter much stronger.

You would want to know what these fish here means? These fish depict the life constantly flowing from the
eternal morning, enlivening this element and stepping out as free life into all infinite spaces of God's eternal
creations.

Since we anyway made a stop, have a look at the surface of this great water. Well, you took fright, saying: in
God's Name, the whole of infinity look as if filled with this water, for nowhere is anything of land to be seen. As
far as the eye can see, it can see in the farthest distance nothing but the surging and whitish shining surface of
an endless sea. But I tell you: do not worry yourselves over it, but it does not go as bad with us on this enormous
water surface as it once did with Christopher Columbus when he sailed with his meager vessels in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean and anxiously looked around him if he could see land somewhere.

Let us resume our journey. We did come close to the waves. When we are there, you must hold tightly on to me,
for we must go through deep water-valleys and water-mountains.

Look now, the waves are coming closer still. Now you need to take hold, yet a few steps according to our
spiritual way of movement, and we will be at the waves. Well, there is the first wave wall already. Look, what a
deep water-valley and see how the water is falling; look how a water-mount is seemingly raising itself up with
foaming crests almost to the firmament.

Now that we had a proper rest after our journey and have let our gazes repeatedly wander over the region we
came from; the continuation of our journey will certainly not pose too many troubles to us anymore. Look, there
is a rather broad valley stretching out before us, harboring a small sea-lagoon inland. Let us follow the road to
the right side of the bay.

Here you can walk free again, for now, we have solid ground beneath our feet. Look, there in front of you in the
depth of the valley where it becomes narrower, there we must go quickly and make our first short stopover.
Approach it diligently, then we will soon be there. Look how the valley is becoming increasingly narrower and on
both sides, are rocks hanging threateningly from these high cliffs; they can at any time tumble down. But do not
take fright, of anybody even a hair will be bent.

Look, we are at our narrow chasm; how do you like it here? You say: Not especially well! This is not of
importance, though; if we would have a closer look at the environment, you will soon like it much better. Look,
there next to the chasm to the left side is a just as narrow, stretched-out chasm, leading to the midday. What do
you see there? You are narrating what you see: We see down below a glowing mountainous pasture with here
and there a sparse field. Here and there, more down in the lowland, is built a little house, as if pressed against
the mountain. All around, here and there, we see great and enormous waterfalls gushing down; trees and
bushes also grow here and there. This valley is indeed tightly enclosed by mountains, as can be seen in
Switzerland on earth.

Do you not see any people? You say: up till now we have not yet seen any, but as it appears, we presently see
coming out from the first farmer's hut, quite poor farm workers. They are clothed, just like on earth, clothed in
lead-grey jackets. Higher up we see farm workers looking the same, apparently busy shoveling weeds in their
fields from among the better barley and if we are not mistaken, we see there, more to the background on a
mountainous pasture, a rather thin looking herd of cows. This, best friend and brother, is what you can convince
yourselves of all what we see here regarding living beings. Does this valley go on beyond, or does it end with
what we have seen just now?

Best brothers and friends, this valley does go on much further, becomes wider and friendlier, but is not to be
compared with the region we saw before the first pillar. You ask: what is the meaning of this valley? I tell you:
This valley and many similar valleys are nothing but a full revelation of the text in scripture saying: “who sows
sparsely, will have a meager harvest". You ask me again: Who then, were these people on earth? I tell you:
these were very affluent people who had much respect and did many good to needy people. Yet, they did more
good to themselves.

As such was the owner of the first hut which you saw on the foreground, a very rich man. This man has given at
every opportunity sometimes very notable grants, but all these grants together were not even a ten-thousandth
of his wealth. Look, this man does have the love for his neighbor; but if you would weigh his neighborly love in
comparison with his strongly overbearing self-love, you will very soon understand why he is now such a very
needy farmer. You say: we do understand somewhat, but not yet completely. Good, I will explain it to you
immediately again, but you should first know that man has here in the spirit kingdom also exceptionally much
knowledge of capital and interest calculation and with such accuracy that account is kept of even the most
minute parts of the interest gain.

Now, take keen notice: This needy farmer had on earth a wealth of about two million silver guilders. According to
your law of interest, this significant capital has given him a yearly interest gain of a hundred thousand silver
guilders. This man had the fruit of this capital for about a full thirty years. Through this, his initial wealth
increased with another three million silver guilders. The costs of his household he recuperated from his
compound interest. Of this compound interest, which was rather significant he made various expenses on behalf
of charity, which, at the end of his life, amounted to about fifty thousand guilders.

What is this amount in comparison to his basic capital and the yearly rent gained from this capital? It is a fifth of
his yearly income. Yet, he received yearly, after his capital calculated to five million, the five-fold amount of basic
rent, while the sum of fifty thousand guilders which he spent on charity causes, was divided over his whole life.
This sum is carefully divided here over thirty years and the yearly amount coming from it is accepted to be
capital. From this capital, he receives interest gain. His whole business now consists of this capital and the gain
from this business is an exact comparison to the lawful interest. The two people with him, are his wife and a
deceased son. They have, to a certain extent, co-operated in the spirit of the father;?therefore, they have no
capital, but all three must live from the interest gain of the farming industry.

You ask: can these people never increase their possessions? There is a possibility, but it is much more difficult
than with you on earth. You know how difficult it is for someone to work himself up to become a millionaire with a
capital of about a thousand guilders along the lawful way of interest gain. Look, it is even more difficult here to
increase possession, for the produce of this poor soil is barely enough to provide these three people of the most
necessary provision. Therefore, one cannot readily save anything up here.

There is but only one possibility for the poor inhabitants of this region to gradually work themselves up and this
presents itself as follows: From time to time comes terribly poor pilgrims into the ravine. They are usually naked
and emaciated. When these pilgrims see these homesteads, they immediately begin to beg. If such a farmer
would accept such a beggar in all his poverty with open arms, bring him into his poor hut, provide him with the
necessary clothing and in brotherly fashion share his meager meal, then his capital is increased by half, yet in a
way not noticeable by him. If he would do this often, or if he would take on himself the care of such poor brother,
saying to him: Best Brother, look, I am poor and do not have much, yet stay here and I will share everything with
you as a brother if I still have some. If we would have used all I have, I will unhesitatingly take up the begging
stick together with you.

If this is the case, the capital of such a farmer is immediately secretly multiplied hundredfold. If there would come
more such needy people whom he would also accommodate and take as good care of as possible, so that, if we
would not be able to do it anymore, go with the pilgrims to other neighbors to ask for them for shelter and as
good care as possible, his capital would be multiplied a thousandfold, yet without him knowing it.

You can now turn to the right, look at the first mentioned valley and tell me then what you find in it. You see: Best
friend and brother, it looks terribly wasted and desolate. We indeed see here and there against the mountain
cliffs thorn bushes, bearing a few known berries. Deeper into the valley we see various kinds of thistle-like weed
growing rather lushly.

The northern, evening-side mountainside looks especially bare; almost nothing but rocky cliffs and more rocky
cliffs one upon the other and between the rocky cliffs a mighty stream is rushing down into the depths.

Only the mountainside to the direction of the morning looks a bit friendlier and is here and there adorned with an
unattractive alpine hut.
But no residents are to be seen. Maybe they are a bit deeper into the valley. In the foreground is no living soul to
be seen.

Yes, you are right. From where we are now, it is not readily possible.

Therefore, we will go a bit deeper into the valley, then we will soon encounter something living. Look up there
where the first accessible hut stands upon a moss-overgrown, protruding rock. We will go there. We are close
already; take keen notice of what is going to happen now. Well, you have followed my advice. Tell me what you
have seen.

You again say: but by God, these are not people. For these beings look like living skeletons and is as small as
dwarfs. We would rather reckon them to be apes than some or the other human race. What is up with these poor
beings? So miserable, emaciated and completely naked. No, these beings do not look good at all.

On the one hand, you are right, but on the other hand not. For these beings, however miserable they might look
to you, are in their own sense, that is in the way they see themselves, not completely so. Here live namely the
so-called stoics, or in other words, people who have way too much of themselves. They act righteously during
their earthly lives, yet not out of love towards their neighbor, even less out of one or the other love towards God,
but only because they recognize in it the victory over their minds.

They have said: Man, needs nothing, neither heaven, nor hell, neither a God, but only himself and his mind
leading him as the highest principle for his actions and he will act as such that he will harm no-one and therefore
he can expect the same from his neighbor.

Because, they carry on, if I would, because of the highest principle of my mind, exalt myself above all worldly
pettiness and not ask of the world anything more than a meager feeding for my stomach and simple clothing for
my body, then I am indebted to no one for that. What my stomach digests, I give back to the earth and in due
time can the clothing of my body also fertilize the earth. Between these two needs, I am my own, self-leading
and completely governing god and as such am I an unlimited lord over my own being!

They also say: If there would exist a God somewhere, what can He give me or take from me if I am great in
myself and look down with contempt to all He want to give me or take from me! What would a God indeed give
me or take from me! At the most, it will be this tired life which I already learned to deeply despise with my mind.
Or is it not given to me to live as long as I want to! If I would find it to agree with the highest principle of my mind
to take my own life, I will do it. But myself-recognized righteousness teaches me that this would go against the
principle of the highest mind. Whoever gave life to me, should have the right to take it again. Nature indeed has
the right to reclaim the food she gave me, back from me by the natural means; the clothing of my body is the
property of time and takes his garment back.

Pure reason must agree to this; it must say and it indeed does say: to each his own! But exactly because man
cannot logically call a speck of sun- dust his own, he is the most exalted being, yes even exalted above every
God, above every heaven and he still is master over everything hellish. If all people would think like this,
everyone would have enough and no one would ever be a burden to anyone. Every form of covetousness,
jealousy, greed, haughtiness, lust for power, gluttony, fornication, lies, and deceit would be foreign to us. Where
lives a god who, if he would be the highest principle of logic, would be able to say anything against such
foundational principles of life! If he would have any objection, he can be no god and he would be much less than
the exalted human mind.

Look, these people have lived upon earth as such that they never even hurt a fly. They were never a burden to
anyone and have never offended anyone. They were exalted above any kind of passion. Have anyone asked of
them a favor or service, they never refused, if it was not in violation of their lawful, logical principles; they also did
not expect anything in return. Would one offer them a high function or honorary office, they never accept it, but
would show such benefactor two fingers against their forehead, saying: Friend, there lives the highest function
and the highest office of man!

If you would observe such people, judge for yourselves whether they deserved their judgment. You must say:
Certainly not! Next question: Do they deserve a reward! Then follows the question: what kind of reward would
they deserve? To scorn heaven and refuse to acknowledge that God would be above their minds. Therefore, it is
only the most appropriate that they would keep the reward that their minds would generate.
But you ask: Are these miserable beings not aware of their pitiable condition? Oh no, this is their greatest victory,
for on earth they find the bliss of a midget already highly enviable and said: Look, for this little animal is a mere
dewdrop on a leaf an exceptionally enjoyable meal.

The physical build of this little animal seems to have very scanty needs.

Should we compare with it our excessively wasteful physical build, then can logic only rightfully disapprove of it.
Therefore, I should have a big stomach to eat a lot and afterwards have much excrement. Logic does not find
any other purpose here and that because it would like to be content with the least if the highly uneconomical
build of his useless body would allow it.

Look, down there in the valley are presently going three sent messengers to such a catch. We will follow them
and listen with an open ear to their assignment. They are moving deeper into the valley and will speak to the
Stoics at the third hut, which you see standing on a rounded, moss-

overgrown rock. Look how they approach the hut with much caution and make themselves as small as possible.
We will, therefore, go there quickly, not to miss out on the initial reception. We are here; take notice!

The initiator greets the so-called head of the little house, this means the most intelligent and the leader and
teacher of the other ten people you see in his company. How does the greeting sound? Listen: Very wise lord,
you have investigated matters from the right angle and have, with your sharp mind, exactly discerned what is
righteous and unrighteous, fair and unfair, well-ordered and disordered. We have heard from afar of your wisdom
and therefore we came here to ask your good advice about many cases.

The intellectual answers upon this: In that case are you completely welcome with me. As far as it is in my ability,
I would want to help you, but not where it exceeds my ability. You would indeed have heard that my treasures do
not consist of gold and silver and all kinds of noble stones;?neither are any meals being served, nor tables laden
with good tasting food. But what I have, namely the victory of the clear mind, of that you may get as much as you
like. You can be assured that these treasures will make you happier than when you would possess all the
dreamed-of so-called heavenly glories, being nothing but secretly expressed needs of a spirit which is not
content with what is given to him. You know that space is infinite and that man thinks in this space. Whoever
would let his thoughts go into infinity, would firstly forget that he himself is, in fact, a limited being; secondly, they
do not think and thus does not become aware that these thoughts at the end are to him nothing but continuous
discontentment. Out of this comes an even greater longing to unreachable things out of which finally grows a
continuous discontentment, by which the human foolishness can only be satisfied blindly by unattainable and
grandiose, yet empty expectations. As such is heaven then nothing other than such a dreamed-up thing, serving
only to satisfy the imaginative power of spirits who are discontent with what they have been given.

Only the clear mind determines the true boundaries of the needs of its subject being and it longs in full objectivity
only the correct measure of her own limitedness and this measure is called: complete contentment.

Whoever is content with what he can recognize by the way of his clear intellect as the correct criterion of his own
limitedness, have found the real heaven and will forever not wish for another, because he will clearly realize that,
as a measure of his own limitations, nothing else will do than exactly that which will completely correspond with
it.

After these wise words, the initiator says: We do already notice from your short introduction, that you have made
the victory of the clear mind completely yours; therefore, we will dare, with the greatest confidence in your
wisdom, to present our problem to you. The intellectual representative says: Whatever I can be in your service
with is welcome to me, therefore, feel free to present your problem without restraint to me! The initiator says:
Then listen! In the company by which we were delegated to collect good advice from you, a great strife has
begun regarding the necessity or redundancy of light. The reasons for the necessity of light holds just as much
as the arguments against it, therefore we cannot find an absolute conclusion of which party is right. The
intellectual representative says: Let me hear some of your arguments and counter-arguments and you can be
assured that I will hit the nail on the head with my verdict.

The initiator says: Then listen! An argument speaking for light is as follows: What would all things be without
light? It would be as if non-existent. Light is furthermore the foundational principle of all activities and all
thoughts, for without light as the all moving and generating power, nothing could have originated, therefore also
no intellectual thinking being. Light is also the foundational principle of the mind and is in the purest spiritual
condition, the clear mind itself. Look, this is the reasoning speaking for the light.

The counter-argument is as follows: After light have obviously originated out of darkness and have, before light,
penetrated the whole of infinity in a completely light-devoid condition, the question arises whether infinity was, in
a light-devoid condition, less infinite than in the current full light. The counter-argument continues: It is known to
everyone that the inward parts of the celestial bodies are mostly completely devoid of light and yet is matter in
such a light-less condition just as good and even more intensely present than on the surface of a heavenly body,
which basks in the light. If the whole celestial body, regarding the inner parts, can exist just as well without light,
the light seems to be to things in nature a pure luxury. It goes on: Everyone knows that he is conceived in the
night of the maternal body and have received life in this night. For what reason has everything that received light
in the night, step over into light? Whoever would think about this for just a bit, must see from the very first
moment that light is not only completely obsolete but even harmful for these things, because they win by it and
become clearly unhappy if they would by some or other coincidence, lose it. On top of this, they say: when man
would have been born completely blind, they do not have to take care because of the lack of light; for it is for the
eye which is used to light, the greatest misfortune to become blind. Here, the opponents indeed pose a counter-
argument: In such a blind, happy condition, there would indeed be no difference between a human and a polyp
on the bottom of the sea. If man would see nothing, he would also not be able to form some or the other
imaginary image in himself. With lack of imagination, a huge question would arise, namely how it would fare with
thinking, being in lack of all concepts and forms. By the loss of the ability of sight due to an accident, the
defenders of light say: If one would regard it as an accident and use it as an argument against light, man can do
it regarding the other senses not dependent upon light. To, therefore, prevent any accident, man must be born
without any senses, in darkness. How the mind of man could be developed without senses, can best be asked to
a rock! Look, very wise man, in such a confusion of thoughts, our big company is thrust to and fro. We hope in
full trust that you would be able to untie this knot.

The intellectual representative says: Listen, esteemed friends, this is an extraordinary critical case, for each
party has everything going for it. Since there does not exist in the insight of the clear mind only one right side
and both could not be right, it becomes rather difficult to decide between these two who is right. This will only be
possible if we would keep our own individual being inside its limits; therefore, listen well! We will establish
foundational rules here and from these rules, we will come to the right conclusion. But to achieve this, we first
must define a non- existence, a consuming existence, and a free-thinking existence. A non-existence does not
need anything, therefore, no consumption. With an only naturally consuming existence it is assumed that it can
only exist if the necessary consumption is present. All matter that can exist in the night as well as in light, has
such an existence. Because man is a thinking being who is free to determine himself, a higher existence also
assumes a consumption relative to the existence, where the consuming matter can be nothing but light! Non-
existence, therefore, needs nothing; a singular, consuming existence as a product of the night, does not need
anything else as his corresponding food; and a clear, free-thinking existence similarly essentially needs the food
that is the principle of its existence. Consequently, does the non-existence comes forth from non- existence, from
the existence of the nocturnal existence a nocturnal existence and from the existence of the light, an existence
related to the light. As man then would understand with his pure intellect that he essentially is coming forth from
light, he needs also to understand that the light is a necessary substrate to him. As far as he would consider
himself to be only an animalistic consumer and denies himself the higher free-thinking life and can, on top of it
all, reshape himself into an embryo in the motherly body, he does not need the light. A non-existence does need
neither the one nor the other.

Now look, best friends, with this is the indisputable necessity of the presence of the light presented before your
eyes and ears as clearly as possible.

The initiator says: Listen, wise man, we can clearly see from your explanation that you are in possession of a
brilliant mind and we now know exactly what we are presented with. There still is one more thing that is not yet
completely clear to us. This is the following: Why do all the innumerable vegetative products upon the celestial
bodies, inclusive the animalistic kind, need light for their vegetation and their animalistic development? It is well
known to the natural scientists that there happens to be no vegetation in a completely light-devoid space and
that animals in a light-less space become sickly very quickly and perish completely. Yet they do not seem to be,
according to your verdict, in need of light consumption, because they are not thinking beings and according to
the result of our thorough investigation, also cannot be. We do not utter this consideration because we would
want to doubt your clear insight, but to safeguard ourselves against the eventually expected trap.
The intellectual representative says: How do you view yourselves regarding the infinite? You say: nothing other
than ending and limited.

Look, with this answer you already give the general reason why I have chosen this region to live in. Therefore, I
tell you: Only he is truly wise, who have found the limitations of his own mind and then understand with his mind,
how much is necessary for the satisfaction of his spirit.

This region completely corresponds with my intellectually determined borders and the advice of this intellect
therefore is: Always be content with what corresponds to your limitedness; never go outside of the circle of your
insights and know and find yourself inside this circle; then you have found the joy of life in the most perfect and
most applicable form.

Look, for this reason, is this region, which you find very much uninhabitable, completely appropriate to me
because it does not offer more than what corresponds with the limits of my mind. If I would be of service
anywhere, I can only do it within the horizon of my insight; outside of it, I would be a corpse and unable to be
completely serviceable to anyone. From this, you can see why exactly I have chosen this environment and none
other to live in. Would you think that I would let myself be lured into vanity to shine a light for others, you would
be sadly mistaken with me. For my unshakeable principle is as follows: If you would want to serve someone,
know the sphere in which you want to serve him, very well. If you do not know this sphere, stay home with your
philanthropy, for he who wants to give more than what he has, is either a fool or a deceiver.

The initiator says: Much appreciated friend, once again you have spoken very wisely and we cannot find any
objection to it. We only need some more light on one aspect. Since you have been so friendly to correct us and
fully illuminate our question, would you be so good to give us advice in this situation as well?

The intellectual representative says: Best friends, as long as you find yourselves on this terrain, you can ask me
any question and would be assured that I am able to give you worthy illumination regarding every aspect
regarding my environment. Do therefore tell me the matter you still have doubts about.

The initiator says: You have spoken in your wise exposition about a certain limit of the horizon of your knowledge
and that it would be very unwise to dare to venture beyond this horizon. The last we do understand, for truly,
nobody can do what exceeds his powers and would he want to, he would certainly be a fool in as much as he
would want to exceed his boundaries. But see, when you were born, your mind did not have such a vast horizon
as is now the case. You have obviously enlarged your horizon of your insights more and more, until you have by
this increase, enlarged the horizon to the current awe-inspiring dimensions. The question now is if this horizon
should be considered completely fixed, or capable of further expansion. I believe even if the limited would
expand its horizon ever so much, it would, despite its limits, never face the danger of filling infinity.

The intellectual representative says: Best friends, on the one hand, you are right, on the other hand, not. If a
man would have created himself, he could have given himself as much he would want, for he would find in
infinity no shortage and he would owe it to himself to continually expand the horizon of his insights. Since man
has not come into being out of himself, but life has been given to him, his horizon was also given to him.

If you would look at an apple on earth, for instance, you would see that he expands the horizon of his existence
directly after the falling of the blossom. Have he come to full ripeness, you can tell the apple as much as you
want to and he will not be able to have anything more to say than: up till here and no further, for my measure is
full! But why would the apple give you such an answer? Because he is also a given something and is not a self-
created something; therefore, he received his development area. Who have reached these limits and knows that
this is his given terrain, is complete in himself and as perfect as possible. Would he stay in this terrain and do not
use it to the full, is a clumsy slave of himself and would not even be adequately capable for himself. Yet, whoever
would want to inflate himself so much as to go outside of his boundaries, he is a prideful fool bound to destroy
himself. It will go with him as with a hollow cone which is filled with gunpowder and then ignited, through which
the surface of the cone is blown apart and parts of it being shot to a far horizon. But ask yourselves how it will
fare with the whole of the cone.

The initiator says: Once again we cannot pose a single objection against the facts of your exposition, for it is
completely true. But you, best friend, clearly gives your answer deliberately in such a way that we should every
time find a new starting point where we must ask your opinion about it. You have likewise said in this exposition
that man has, just like all other limited beings, a given creature and not a self-created one. If this is sure to be
true, the question arises of who the creator is; for, with a receiver, a giver is implied as much as some or the
other appearance with its corresponding cause. We want therefore to ask you more illumination about the giver.

The intellectual representative says: Best friends, regarding the giver, He is above the horizon of our knowledge
and we have done everything if we have recognized ourselves as a given something. Would we want to
investigate the giver, we do nothing other than when we would want to measure the circumference of infinity with
a pair of compasses. It is certainly true, for a circle makes him think in ever bigger circles going bigger into
infinity, with which the smaller circle shows the resemblance.

But when this smallest circle would want to become completely equal to a bigger one, above himself, he first has
to be stretched out, have to stretch his much smaller circumference to that of the bigger circle to match it. This
can indeed be done, but experience will teach that a line of the little circle would barely be able to make contact
with a thousandth of a significantly greater circle line. As such will also only this part go up with her; all other
thousandths will still be unreachable for this much shorter line. Look, in this example are only two adjacent
circles touching each other. Now first take this smallest circle and measure with its stretched-out line the infinite,
unlimited circle and then question yourselves, how such a work or endeavor, intellectually seen, should be
evaluated. I think that in the human mind, no greater foolishness can be conjured up; the same is true if we
would want to fathom the infinite Giver, who He is. Therefore, it is, as I have already stated, enough for every
man to recognize himself as a certain given, including the fenced-in area of his insights. Regarding the Giver,
this does not concern the given in the least, since He is obviously infinitely exalted above the receiver.

What can an apple become if he once ripened fully? What would become a circle, when the line coming forth
from one point have reached himself again? Let him stay where he is, then he will be perfect as was given unto
him.

The initiator says: Again, you have given us a good answer. We do still have yet another question and it is as
follows: In the region we come from, there is continually proclaimed by a so- called better group, the love unto
God, but we do not know how we should take it in the light of your wise insights. For we understand love to be
defined as taking hold of someone and pulling him towards you. But how can a limited being or limited power
take hold of an unlimited power and pull it towards itself?

Chapter 27.

The victory and redemption of a wise stoic.

The intellectual representative says: Best friends, to give a satisfactory answer to this question, it is imperative to
properly discern different things from each other. Firstly, it is necessary to completely and intellectually explain
the term “love”; only then will one be able to grasp how she reacts to everything surrounding her. The term “love”
is nothing other and can impossibly be anything other than a need expressing itself and of which the cause can
obviously none other than a lack of what stimulates the need. The need looks like hunger. When someone is
very hungry, he has such an enormous appetite that he is almost convinced that he at least has to eat a world
before his hunger would be satisfied. But what does this true experience say about this fantastic presentation?
Nothing other than: you, hungry human, eat but one pound of bread and you shall be fully satisfied! Look it is the
same with the more spiritual need of the term “love”. The human hungering after love believes he needs to fill the
stomach of his heart with all infinity before he would be fully satisfied. What is the cause of this senseless
longing? It is nowhere else to be found than in the lack of satisfaction of the horizon of his own insights, which is
out of necessity followed by one emptiness after the other; the one feeling of missing something after the other.
Love desires satisfaction. Since this ability to desire is a pure mechanical property of the spirit, she does not
have the ability to discern what she should long for to attain satisfaction. Because this ability to desire has
brought forth an emptiness in the insight, this lack of insight, which is equal to no insight at all, cannot evaluate
the essential food needed for its satisfaction. At such an occasion, such empty-heads turn with their blind ability
to desire indeed to the terrain of the infinity and is then of the opinion that they would freely receive from this is
the eternal horn of abundance, the so-called roasted birds into their mouths. The degree of vanity of such a
delusional idea is obvious, for such 'lovers of infinity'

gain only a greater hunger than some or the other full satisfaction. This is very much self-evident and to be
explained by a true to nature example.

Imagine yourselves a hungry person, having a basket of bread beside him, while he keeps stretching open his
mouth to the infinite space as if he would like to devour the whole starry sky, but he does not even look at the
bread standing beside him. It is obvious that he would be more and more hungry with every passing hour for
infinity and if he would not soon grab the basket, he would finally be given over to death. From this can you,
esteemed friends, without any further explanation easily understand how it stands with this so-called “love for
God”. The true love unto God can subsequently be nothing other than that every free human should live up to his
insights within his given horizon. This realization can only gain momentum when man have recognized himself
and his given domain. But to achieve that, man must carefully remove all hindrances out of the way, free himself
of all external, unimportant needs and then go into his center from where it only then begins to become possible
to look at his whole horizon, then filling his domain with what has been given to him. Has he achieved this
through perseverance and great self-sacrifice, then he has completely satisfied his love or his desire. Whatever
he would digest of this, he shall be able to quickly recover out his own given abundance. This is then, seen from
the stance of the pure intellect, a full and satisfied love which will not again present itself as hungry but be
expressed as a joyful satisfaction. Look, this is the clearest opinion within my horizon. If you would have any
objection, you can, as said, say it just as freely as it stands me free to react on every objection.

The initiator says: Best friend, you have thought your answer through thoroughly, and we can find no objection to
it. Since you have granted us to speak some more, we would still want to discuss with you a very important
issue. Be thus so generous to listen to us.

Look, with us, something principally different is being taught and no-one wants to oppose this teaching. Yet, from
your viewpoint, we do not know what to think of it. This teaching consists of the following:

God, the all-encompassing power, and principle of might would focus Himself to his center, formed by this act a
culmination-point of all his infinite power and might of the complete Godly Being into a human form and that in
the person of a certain Jesus Christ, who acted on planet earth. He would teach there Himself, approaching man
as His creatures like a brother to, out of His overbearing love for His creatures, let His adopted body be killed by
them!

As proof of His divinity, He performed wonders and deeds not possible for any man, He raised Himself from
physical death after three days and then returned to His Godly center in the sight of many!

He teaches in the world, or better, on planet earth nothing other to man but that they should love Him above all
and to those who would, He promised His Kingdom, consisting of an ever-

deepening knowledge of God, out of an ever-growing love for Him and from this knowledge and love comes
unspeakable bliss, called the eternal life in God.

Look, this cause is not as insignificant as you would think. Where we come from, this Christ lives, and we are still
very much and clearly and lively of the conviction that all creatures in all infinity should obey Him. Only a nudge
from Him is enough to stop countless hosts of worlds to cease their existence and another nudge and countless
hosts again fill the endless depths of the eternal, infinite space. What do you say now about our problem, that we
proposed to you in your sphere?

The intellectual representative says: If this story of yours is not a mirage, then is, regarding the focusing of the
eternal might and power in some or the other center, indeed not impossible, because exuding from every given
point, an infinite possibility of lines is possible. Regarding the incarnation of the Godly center of might and power,
there is indeed something to say about it, even though the pure intellect cannot accept something like this a
complete contradiction. In that this Being have taught mainly the love unto Himself, appear to the thinker as pure
egoism from the side of the Godly Being. If we would accept that the Godly Being or the concentrate primordial
power in Himself would have such egoistic need, then he would begin to be absolute;?and if man would be able
to dispute this, then all the above mentioned could await complete annihilation.
It must be different with this love, then this Godly center can reveal Himself very well in human form. If it would,
by your described love, only be a hungry one, then it should be obvious to you in what hands the being of all
things would find himself as the unending power and might need to so to say, satisfy Himself with them.

Look, there we are already again at our first location. You are indeed a bit reluctant to venture thereto, but the
ravine has in between the rocky cliffs still so much room that we will easily move over the slightly rocky way. On
our way there, you will see to the left and the right very narrow, deep ravines. To the left, or midday side, the
valleys have the same meaning as these which we saw in the first valley to the left, where the rich of the earth
lives. The only difference is that the inhabitants of these deeper valleys are still poorer in good deeds, even
though they were on earth so much richer in earthly wealth.

In the valleys to the right is found the habitations of all kinds of learned ones, handy ones, and intellectuals. The
deeper and more remote the valley where such souls live, the further away they stand from the Master in their
science. Now that you know this, we can go on our way well-

prepared and go to the region where you will learn exceptionally important things. Here we go then!

You ask where all this water comes from, streaming down from the valleys into the narrow ravine, rushing forth
as a stormy mountain river, to the bay of the great sea? The water means the knowledge and the forthcoming
useful applications flowing from it, which such people have, by means of their intellect and craft, along an
experimental way acquired, borrowed from the natural sciences of these things. The water flowing from the right
is, as you can see, much more turbid. This represents the many untruths evident in the learned knowledge and
the somewhat less turbid water coming from the left, shows the richness of the world who, with their less
scientific knowledge, which had somewhat better thinking than the actual pure learned ones. The combining of
the water in the ravine means that the abilities of the sciences and the abilities of worldly treasures always go
hand in hand and in the end, is the same thing. For the learned one studies the sciences to increase his wealth
in worldly treasures, but those rich in worldly treasures searches out the sciences to further increase his wealth.
This is the reason why you do not see the water coming from the left, flowing so turbulently as those flowing from
the right. This also means that those rich in worldly treasures still knows how to maneuver himself in a political
fashion among the learned ones to gain their knowledge some or the other to strengthen his speculative need.
Now that we know this, we can resume our journey.

Look over there, far away in the background rises a high stone wall.

There ends our valley to the left and to the right. Sometimes, this wall will open itself and a vast cleft will open
up. If you would be there at that moment, you can go through, but if you do not make it, no going through would
be possible. You ask: Also, not by the means we have moved in the northern regions upon the mountains? I tell
you: also, not that way, and that because you still have something of the earth in you. We will be here the
moment the wall will open itself, though. And because a vast plain stretch itself behind this wall, we will be able
to get out again through the broad opening, before the moment that the wall will close again. Look, we are
already at the wall; have a bit patience, it will open in due time. I tell you: open up! The mighty wall gives way.
The opening is big enough now; go through quickly! We, fortunately, passed the opening and look behind you,
the wall is already tightly shut again.

Now, look again in front of you into the environment we find ourselves in; how do you like it? You say: what a
question! How could we like this environment, it is so dark, we can feel better than we can see. We must hold on
to you, otherwise, we will certainly get lost, for we do not even see the ground upon which we stand. We,
therefore, do not even know what we are walking upon;?is it stone, sand, mud or water. For as we said, we do
not see a thing; not even you or ourselves.

Yes, dear friends, this is how it is here. You ask me if there are any beings that exist here? I tell you: you would
not easily find a region that is as densely inhabited than this one, for here one can truly say: On this market of
darkness, it teems with people.

You indeed would want a bit of light to see something? But I tell you:?it would not serve us well to have a light of
our own here, for we would immediately be swamped by the inhabitants of this region, like worm falling on an ant
heap. Have therefore a bit patience; our eyes will soon adjust, that we will be able to in the dark just like a night
owl. Let us, therefore, walk a bit further. Well, do you see something already? You say:?we are beginning to see
very weakly that the ground we are standing on consists mainly of pure sand, and in front of us it seems as if
something has moved.

Yes, you are right. Let us go there, then you will soon know what is moving there. Look, the moving one is
coming towards us: it is a cringed, miserable looking human figure. Would you want to ask him who he is? You
don't; then I will do it. Listen, I will speak to this figure.

What are you doing here, miserable being! Where do you come from? The figure says: I am here in this vicinity
now already about three earthly years, I wander around like a wild animal, but find nothing to satisfy my great
hunger with. Why I had to end up in such a miserable environment after my death, I do not know. On earth, I was
a prominent lord and had a high office. I have executed this function diligently and righteously. I never accepted
bribes, but acted strictly according to the law, fulfilled my plight as such and was honored by all. Even my king
appreciated and gave me distinction. I have voluntarily done well with my earned salary and lived exemplary in
every respect, worthy of being imitated. When I finally left the temporary, I ended up in this deplorable
environment where I, as I said, wander around now for almost three years and nowhere is a place of escape.

Look, not far from here something is moving; do you see it? You say: O yes if our eyes are not deceiving us, it is
this time two exceptionally tall, poor and completely emaciated around the buttocks, manly beings. You are right;
let us move quickly, then we will soon overtake them. Look, there they are already. They still are not aware of our
presence and for the time being, it is good, for we will be able to eavesdrop on them and listen what they speak
to each other about.

'A' says: It does not fare better with you as with me, esteemed friend. How long have you been in this place? B
says: Esteemed friend, according to my feeling it could barely be a few weeks; but how long have you been
here? A says: Esteemed friend, to my feeling, round about twenty years. B says: It is completely inexplicable to
me how it could be right for me to come here; you can believe me, for when you were already a greybeard, you
have known me very well as an active young man of about twenty years of age. I always have lived as was right
according to my insights of what is right and reasonable. I fulfilled my spiritual office very faithfully and have
never, according to the rulings of the church neglected only a single letter. I always preached completely within
the spirit of the only redeeming church. As much as was possible, have I supported those whom I deemed to be
truly needy, that is, who became poor without it being their fault. In the holy Mass offering I honored God daily
and up till my last hour, I cannot remember that I ever neglected the little prayer book. I subjected myself to all
ordinances of the church leadership and would be able to fight for life or death for the rights of the holy church.
I've been strict in the confession booth and think to have won many souls for heaven. I shared the gospel of
Christ with the poor, fed the hungry, refreshed the thirsty, clothed the naked and freed the captives; therefore, I
expected to, after my death, especially because I ensured myself of a full indulgence from his holiness, the pope,
get into heaven.

But how it is with the so certainly expected heaven, you see here as clearly as I do! I have often secretly thought,
yet never openly spoken out, that Christianity, including Christ, is nothing but cultivated heathendom and have
therefore little confidence in Christ and the Trinity.

It, therefore, is now very clear to me how I have looked with my secret distrust. Well, what do you say about this?

A says: Yes, my best-esteemed friend, what can I say about that? I was no priest but indeed lived, if you can say
it this way, just as strict as it was taught to me by the obviously better priests. In a certain sense, I did have many
doubts, but I thought to myself: it may be as it is, I live very peacefully as the priests have taught me; this can
impossibly be wrong. For I have thought to myself: If their teaching would be wrong or senseless, then it would
be their responsibility, but I wash my hands in innocence!

Would God truly be such a righteous judge as all priests on the pulpit have preached, then He should reward
me, if He really exists. If there would be no God, then it is all the same how one lives. On the other hand, if there
is a life on the other side, then it should correspond to the honest character of the person. If there is no life after
physical death, it will be of very little consequence of how one lived upon earth. From this, you can see that I
lived upon the earth as a completely honest, wise and still obedient man. Now I have been here for so long and
this is the reward!

Nothing but an almost impenetrable, exceptionally freezing night as never before, no food but a bit of sandy
moss and all this should concur with the love, compassion, and righteousness of God so often preached by you
priests!! I've pondered now for more than twenty years whether a God exists or not and if I meet anyone or talk
to him about this subject, no one knows anything more than I do. It, therefore, surprises me even more that you,
having been a priest, who indeed worked for the so-called kingdom of God, has been given the same fate as me.
I think that we have been taken with this Christ, for it often seemed peculiar to me that a God would have let Him
be killed! The old, wise Hebrews have probably known Christ much better than we do and know how to eliminate
Him properly, being a pious Jewish fanatic and neatly put Him in the once happy Romans' lap as a pickled
payment, because He destroyed their royal city. He remained with their old God who obviously had a much more
divine image than our crucified. We had to adopt this god through a Jewish stroke of genius, who was the most
despised being. I think the latter to be understandable, for if Christ would really mean something, then someone
in this - I tell you -

endless great world sphere should know something real about Him. But you can meet thousands there, all
considered to be pure, sober and modest people, but no one knows anything about Him. I can tell you: I have
met people who have been in this region already up to two thousand years and is completely used to eating of
moss. They were contemporaries of Christ on earth if there ever existed a Christ among us, and yet they know
as little about Him as we do. Some of them claim to never have heard this Name. Look, this is my ideas I have
secretly formed during my stay here and secretly harbored during my life upon earth. What do you think of it?

B says: Appreciated friend, I must acknowledge openly that there is much going for your ideas. On the other
hand, I cannot imagine that the wise Jews, who possessed the knowledge of God, would burden themselves
with a quasi gallows-bait kind of God only out of vengefulness against a great nation as that of the Romans.
Even among the Romans were many wise men and it would not have been particularly sensible to consider this
great and wise nation for such fools that they would trade in their much acclaimed and meaningful gods for such
a pitiable one.

Since you have made your opinion known in this manner, I will also openly tell you what I have often thought to
myself during my earthly life and this is the following: The Romans, namely the Roman priesthood, have
gradually realized that things would fare badly with all their gods in the long run. They, therefore, began to
search over time for the more sensualized people a more attractive myth and made it look like the highest god
Jupiter have taken pity on mankind. Because the Jewish nation was the farthest removed from the pure idolatry,
Jupiter would have descended in the form of a Jew and would have taught the truth about the correct teaching of
the gods of Rome. Such a teaching was an abomination to the Jews, especially because the Romans was a
huge burden to them at that time.

They did everything to make put this true god Jupiter in human form, under suspicion. Pilate would have known
very well who this Christ truly was, therefore he defended Him as much as possible. Because the Jews could not
keep themselves properly in check and even threatened to accuse Pilate to Caesar as a cohort in the rebellion,
Pilate thought to himself: I would rather deliver the Almighty to you; He would surely know much better than me,
what He would do with Him. Then the Jews have let Him be crucified pro forma the Roman style; yet, being
Jupiter, he easily raised Himself again from death and then informed the high priests in Rome what they are to
do next. For these priests, it was water on their mill, and they instructed the people according to this myth from
the land of the Jews, as they presented it with the consent of the Romans. They also invented a lot of martyrs on
top of it, who perhaps have, with the consent of the Caesars, did commit single or arbitrary atrocities, to which
they added before the eyes of the ignorant people a multitude of wonderful signs. By this have the old, already
watered down heathendom under the same pontificate, been handed down to us, and we were, compelled by
necessity, foolish enough to take on such a truly petty trick for real money. Thus, we are, in my opinion, given the
bill for our newly established heathendom.

A says: My appreciated friend, I must openly admit that there is more going for your opinion than for mine. I just
cannot grasp how one would build by means of such a cunning undertaking, the newly founded heathendom
upon Jewry. To my knowledge, as far as it is known to me from the so-called gospel, Christ would exclusively call
to witness the prophets of the Jews, therefore it is not particularly acceptable that the proud, wise Romans let
themselves be served by the religion of the to them very much despised Jews, to set up a profitable religion.

Furthermore, I must openly acknowledge to you that the absolute teaching of Christ, excluding a few wonderful
foolish things, is a quite humane, wise teaching which is in my opinion not profitable for the very well-known
Roman greed. For this reason, it is not readily provable that He is a fabrication of the Roman priesthood, but one
of the Jews, for from history we know very well how the Romans have set themselves against the rise of this
teaching.
B says: My esteemed friend, in this respect you are too little initiated into the secretive, sneaky ways of the
priesthood. You did indeed read from history that some Roman Caesars have powerfully resisted the import of
this religion, but show me a Roman pontiff by name who have resisted himself against it! Look, as such was the
situation cunningly steered and this newly established religion have never found a better entrance than exactly
through this apparently necessary cruel resistance of the Roman Caesars. For this newly established religion to
be based upon Jewry, has the following obvious reason: Because the Roman sages had plenty of time during
their multifarious crusades to become initiated into many religions, they could easily conclude that a newly
established religion could be based on nothing more suitable than exactly this Jewish one.

Therefore, they have made this human Zeus for good reasons to act in the land of the Jews, for they knew that
other religions were in a worse state than their own.

Look, if you can discern something, you would see about fifty normal steps from us, another couple. Let us go
straight there, then we will reach them immediately. They too do not need to see us. We indeed find a place for
our purpose, therefore we will go there quickly, to hear something new.

Well, we already are with them and as you can see, this time there is a difference in gender in this couple. An
exceptionally poor woman, looking exhausted and a man, looking emaciated unto the last drop of blood and
having barely enough energy to drag himself along tediously. Look, she reaches out to him with her hand and
welcomes him.

Listen now what these two discuss with each other. She says: Dear heaven greets you! It makes my heart so
happy that dear fate has brought us together once again at last. Yet, I must admit that I never thought I would
meet you in such a place, for I always thought that you, God knows how blissful it would already be in heaven
because of you, for as long as I could remember, you were on earth such a pious and righteous man. You indeed
were a very learned professor in religion and because of you have so many stout and worthy spiritual ones
entered soul care. And now, dear heaven, do I find you here in this miserable place in such wretchedness in
which, the dear God knows why you have rightfully come to two months ago.

He says: Yes, dear friend, it grieves me that you would find yourself here, but this is how it is. You, just as I, is an
emaciated being here.

Heaven (if it exists) knows how we had golden expectations of a happy life in the hereafter. But how happy life is
and what the reward is for all our good deeds upon earth, I do experience now for many years and you,
esteemed wife, as you said, now already for two months.

She says: no, dear heavens if I think back on what a strict life you have led, how you had no possession upon
earth. When you preached, all the people in the church sit there sighing and weeping and what beautiful lessons
and admonitions did you give in the confession booth. How thoughtful have you presented the holy mass;
therefore, I can truly not understand how you could rightfully come here. For people like us, it is understandable,
for one might have kept silent about many sins during confession because one could not, despite all searching of
one's conscience, not remember it. But how you, who knew it all and have fully investigated his life with all its
actions and deeds, came rightfully here, this would, as said, only heaven know. Do you have no suspicion of why
you have come to this judgment?

He says: Oh, esteemed friend, I certainly have many presumptions, but my thoughts about this you would not
easily understand. She says: Oh, I beg you, do tell me frankly about it; who knows if it would not be of use to me.
He says: well, I will tell you the one or the other about it, but it is not my fault if you do not like it. Therefore, I will
tell you frankly what I suspect.

I do suspect that there is neither a God nor some or the other heaven and I do suspect with founded reasons
that we people are nothing but the work of nature. When the crude matter, like a covering of the natural life
power, falls away, only the natural power of life keeps on existing for a while. But she also will die down
eventually; the power distributes itself in space like the power of gunpowder outside the barrel of a cannon and
then it is eternally over and done with those people who had so much expectation. If you would look keenly to
me and see how I have already come close to complete decomposition and destruction, my suspicion will
become even in this stark, dark night even clearer than the sun upon earth on a bright midday.

She says: Oh, my dear heavens, if it exists, as you say! This is indeed terrible! Yes, yes, you would know better
than I. Even on earth I sometimes thought, like my once highly learned and prominent lord once said, that there
is nothing after death. Only now I see that the Lord has spoken the truth; therefore, it will in time go with me as it
is with you now. On earth, I have, when it would fare badly with me, still could say:?my God and my Master, do
not forsake me! But what can I do now, if there is no God? Would you, my esteemed friend, be able to tell me
how it is then with Christ and His Mother, the virgin Mary? Why then, have we upon earth prayed so many
rosaries to both of them and why have you read so thoughtfully so many masses, if it is like you told me now?

He says: Yes, dear friend, it only occurred to me here. The higher lords upon earth would not be able to keep the
general people in check if they would not have developed some or the other god and therefore, some or the
other religion. It is an easy play to keep the dumb rabble in tow with religion. It works diligently for them, that they
would be able to live in their palaces and castles without a care, fatten themselves on soft beds and chairs.
Therefore, they appoint spiritual officers and leaders everywhere who are kept properly dumb themselves, to
keep the general people dumb as well. Whenever such spiritual officials would use their brains, they are getting
promoted quickly, letting them live a good life, in order that their clear thinking would pose no danger to the high
lords.

But to give such a religion which has no meaning a somewhat meaningful hue, they must decorate it with all
kinds of mysticism, that is, meaningless ceremonies, without which it would not have the desired effect on the
general people. See, esteemed friend, such was the case with me.

On earth, I very well saw that it must be much different with the afterlife than what I have preached from the
pulpit. I have, to be understood, only very secretly asked the great lords in power for an explanation. I never
received one, but instead, I quickly grabbed up, why I don't even know myself, an important promotion. I became
a well-paid professor and finally even a rector of a seminary. I do think that the lords have seen that I was too
smart for a lower office. Therefore, they gave me a better one, that I would not, with my ability, be harmful, but
only useful out of self- interest. I truly always just lived as a complete honest man, but in what I was stupid, and
still, regret, is that I did not yet see it through in the beginning that I was only being deceived by such a
promotion. Also, that I have, in my well-paid job, even if it was but apparently and for my own well- being, lived a
too foolish and spiritually strict life. I did think: Such a life of self-denial will soon give me the dignity of bishop.
But I have sorely misjudged this, for the high lords have exactly calculated that I did possess the correct amount
of stupidity for my assigned office, for me to not be more dangerous to them. They could, therefore, leave me
unconcerned in my place. You see, esteemed friend, this is the case with religion everywhere in the world.
Therefore, I said already in the beginning that we have both been deceived.

Look there rather far away from us, where the soft reddish grey light can be seen, is a company of about thirty
people of both genders. Let us go there with renewed courage, then we will soon catch up with them. Well, can
you discern something? You say: O yes, it looks like a motley riff-raff; it seems as if the company is engaged in
physical strife. I tell you: you have not seen wrongly, but this is just an apparent reality. A spiritual dispute will
look at any distance as if it is a physical fight. Let us go a bit closer still, then the situation will take on quite a
different look. Look, the closer we get to the company, the quieter their hands become; but instead, we begin to
hear from all sides a kind of gnashing, like with a grain mill on earth. Now and then you also hear a voice a bit at
a distance, weeping.

You say: It seems as if here is being fulfilled what the Master had told the children of the light regarding those
who would be pushed out into utter darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth! Yes, yes, best
friends, this is also meant by this and has the same meaning. What is meant spiritually with the weeping and
gnashing of teeth and with being pushed out into the outer darkness, you will experience with your own ears and
eyes. Only a few more steps and look, we are where we want to be.

What do you see here? You say: This scene does not look that bad;?despite the very much emaciated faces to
which we are already accustomed, the company seemed to be quite tolerable. They stand around a speaker
who is just getting ready to give a speech.

Dear friends, you are right. Exactly for this speech have I brought you here. Yet, you say: Since this whole
kingdom of the night seems to be an endless plain of sand and there is nowhere a stage to be found, we would
like to know how it will be possible for this speaker to elevate himself a bit above his audience. It is good of you
to ask this, for the most insignificant things have here the most important meaning. This speaker has made a
little heap from sand and compressed it a bit, but just like the composition of his speaker's podium, will be his
speech. As long as the speaker stays calm on top of his sand podium, it will carry him. If he should search for
more support, the sand heap will collapse, and he will come off his height to the same level of his audience. He
has now indicated that he is going to speak; we will listen to him in secret.

Look, he begins; listen then. “Esteemed friends and ladies, I have heard from each of you personally how you
have on earth, everything and everyone on his own terrain, lived and acted as completely righteous and honest
citizens. (Agreement from all sides). As 'good Christians' you all were to the correct measure benefactors for
suffering mankind. At all disasters, your names were listed among the greatest donors with big letters in all
newspapers. It also was nothing more than right, for even the blind and the deaf should understand that
regarding support, nothing exists that is more laudable and praiseworthy than the acknowledgment of those
people who always practiced charity. Firstly, poor mankind knows by such public notice to whom they should turn
themselves at times of distress and secondly are others clearly being encouraged to join the pleasant,
humanitarian circles of the known big benefactors of mankind (Loud approval from all sides).

Yes, you were always present at the foundation of charity institutions and I can say with deep emotion in my
heart that you were in the true sense of the word true, noble and honorable citizens of the earth (Exceptional
approval from all sides and one hear the audience say with emotion: Glorious, Godly speaker, Godly man)!

You have always supported the arts and the sciences, you faithfully served the state as exemplary citizens; yes,
man can say that you have lived completely according to the character of the gospel, for you have, as all would
know, always give unto God what is God's and to Caesar what is Caesar's. Honor and lust for praise were never
the motivation for your noble deeds, but the absolute necessity was always the incentive for all the great and
beautiful you brought about.

(Again, the special approval mixed with tears, sighing and weeping!) As such were your lives inscrutable like the
sun in the clearest heaven esteemed listeners, as it were on the earth upon which we lived; for here is of a sun,
nothing to be seen. But, esteemed listeners, allow me to pose a very important question:

What is now your reward for such excellent and honorable deeds? Where is the highly-praised heaven which
was promised to those who made themselves to be true and exemplary Christians?

(Great concurrence from all sides and many voices adds plaintively: Yes, where is the deceptive heaven for
which we offered so many sacrifices to gain it)!

Esteemed listeners, this sandy ground here, this more than 'Egyptian darkness' and our meager 'mossy food' is
the reward and the heaven which was so extremely magnificently painted to us by the priests! (Again, great
concurrence).

Look, the company now also see the two messengers. Our main speaker goes to meet them very friendly to
receive them into the company. As you can hear for yourselves, he says to them:

Be welcome here with me as well as with us a thousand-fold! I indeed do not know you, but I do see that you,
people like us, have just come here from the earth, or have found better pastures than us, for you look
incomparably better that all of us together. If you have just arrived from earth, I will immediately direct your
attention to it that the so-called Robinsons have it much better there than us. For this assumption, you only have
to look at us from top to toe. Our superhuman good looks will show you even in this still very considerable
darkness very clearly how it is with the good life here. In addition, I can assure you that there are no illnesses
here, for what can still become sick here with us? We can only barely contract the illnesses the rocks can, for I
think that when man is devoid of all its life juices, you also are free of all illnesses. The only evil plaguing
someone mostly, in the beginning, is hunger, thus a stomach complaint. But, as hunger is usually the best cook,
he will soon find a food which would challenge his cookery excessively.

Look, at our feet on the sand is such a morsel for our stomachs to be seen.

This is moss; one could say, true Icelandic and Siberian moss. The scarce dewdrops caught between these little
leaves are also the only way to quench our thirst to be found in this enormous sandy desert. Do not trouble
yourselves if this situation would last forever, for patience and habit, finally makes everything bearable. We shall
all be very happy if you would want to stay with us with your phosphoric garments, for I can assure you that one
can have victory over everything but this darkness. You can, therefore, imagine yourselves that your phosphoric
shine looks to us like a sun! But now, dear friends, would you be so friendly to tell us the reason why you came
here from the earth, or if you came from a better pasture, tell me what has made you leave there to come here?

One says: Poor friend, you are gravely mistaken with us, for we came neither from the earth, nor from some
other, better pasture in this region;?but we come from the Master, called Christ, whom you see as merely a fully
honest man, while He indeed is the only Master of heaven and earth. He sent us to you to show you the reason
why you have been wandering around for so long and so helplessly in this region.

If you would ask yourselves: How did we live upon earth, you will say with clear and sound memory: all of us
always lived honestly and reasonably. But would you ask yourselves some more: Why did we live and act like
this? Then you could say nothing but: We have predominantly lived for our own well-being. Worldly honor,
worldly praise and the consequent prestige before with other people, were the most predominant motivation of
all our noble deeds. We were faithful members of state and church. Why then? Maybe out of love for God? How
would it be possible, since we do not know God at all and thus also would not know His holy will.

Our faithful church membership was firstly based on the privileges that could easily be obtained, more so than
others who did not have such good report with state and church as we did. In addition, has this blind spiritual
faithfulness to state and church the following idea as its foundation: If there would be some or the other kind of
life after death according to the priests and other preachers of immortality, we would not perish by acting like we
do.

If there is not such a life, then will our prestige gained through deeds, at least still live upon earth through our
children and grandchildren and people might even hundreds of years later still talk about us, saying: Those were
men and those were times when such men lived!

Look, as was said, you also had to say in yourselves. As such have you obviously without any inner
understanding passed from the earthly life into the spiritual life and you do not know at all what is needed for the
spiritual life. What would be more self-evident than that you could find nothing in this spiritual life, but what you
have brought along of your material life, namely a highly pitiable, poor form of your actual character and a
complete darkness about the concepts of the spiritual life. In other words: You came here almost like an embryo
at natural conception of man in the motherly womb, where complete darkness prevails. The embryo feeds
himself in a certain sense with the waste from the blood of the mother, until he reaches, despite this very poor
and unsavory food, the right level of power with which it frees itself from the dark resort of origin.

Likewise, do you find yourselves here in a 'mother's body' and do you also have to feed yourselves with its
comparable waste.

But because there is still a living spark of eternal life in you, namely your little love and high esteem of Christ, this
spark has taken hold of your spiritual embryos out of your dark sphere, unto birth. It will go with you like you said
at the end of your speech to your company: If there will be no light rising for us with Christ, we can be assured
that darkness shall be our eternal possession.

You have therefore found the light in Christ. And you will indeed experience what the Master had said to one of
His disciples, namely that no one can have part in the eternal life and thus also the kingdom of God, who is not
born again. This the Master have said in the night to His disciple, to show him that every non-rebirthed spirit
finds himself in a night like an embryo in the mother's body and that the Master also comes in the night to the not
yet reborn spirit, to lift him out of this night into the light of eternal life, to rebirth.

Because your time of rebirth has arrived because of your awakening, yet still with a little love towards the Master,
we have been sent here to take you out of the place of your spiritual rebirth and take you to a place where you
would be taken care of as children. There you will be able to gather new life power to, to the measure by which
you will be more or less developed, come into a sphere which will be particularly adapted to your powers.

But never think of heaven to be a resort of reward for the good works one have done upon earth, but think about
it that heaven consists of nothing else but your own love for the Master!

If you would keenly look, you will see a bit more to the right something resembling a kind of dust cloud. You
confirm that you see it;?that is good. Let us quickly go to that dust cloud, then we will be able to see her in more
detail. You ask: what does such a dust cloud here mean? I tell you: Indeed not much; you have often heard upon
earth about the so-called swaggerers and look, this is a corresponding image of them. Why and in what way, you
will soon be able to convince yourselves of. Only a few steps, and we will be at this scene.

Look, there we are already; what do you see? You say: we do not see a dust cloud anymore, but instead a great
company of dwarf-like, emaciated people of both sexes. These dwarf-like people are constantly bluffing, rise up
on their toes and everyone wants to be bigger than the other. The smallest ones even pick up sand in their
hands and throw it up, trying to show others what giants they are. You have observed well, for as such is the
nature of their attitude coming to expression.

We will now stand very close to them and this company will look very much different. Look, we are very close
now. What do you see now? You say:

they do seem to look a bit bigger now, they look at each other very amiably and friendly, and they act towards
each other like coquettish women in a company. You again have observed well, but now you ask how it is that
one sees such a company so differently from different positions. This is because it is like that on earth as well.
Up close, no-one should tell a mighty one the truth in his face, even the mighty ones avoid this among
themselves; that is why they all court each other.

When such a company disbands, though, each one exalts himself above the other; but nobody dares to speak
out anything definite, but only makes vague references. Only for himself does he know to discern from the
highest position; this is the meaning of the throwing up of sand into the air, or in other words, to exalt his mind
above that of the others. Such a company can be sharply discerned from a distance; the whole company is
being judged and all conversations and actions are senseless chatting or loose boasting.

If you would compare these two given situations with each other, you would come to the following conclusion:
from a distance, the true view of the situation can be seen; up close, the full view gets obscured more and more,
but instead, each separate part comes into focus. If you have an even closer look, nothing of the original picture
is to be seen anymore;?instead, the details jump out at you.

If any of you do not completely understand it yet, I draw your attention to a natural phenomenon in the material
world. If one would distance oneself from a significant size mountain, one would see the full mountain standing
before you. If one comes closer, the image would in a certain sense fall apart and one would see various foothills
and valleys which seemed to be part of the main mountain from the distance. Would he ascend the mountain
itself, it is like someone not seeing the forest for the trees, for nothing of the initial image can be seen anymore. I
think that, if one would consider this example thoroughly, these three appearances of our company would
become completely clear to us. But now you ask and say: This is all completely clear, but how is our company
faring?

What is its mentality? We cannot deduce it from the behavior of these beings, for their actions and manners look
more like a pantomime than some or the other conversation with understandable words.

I tell you, it is indeed completely apparent. You really must be completely blind still if you would not be able to
guess where it comes from and where it is going. Look, this is a company of pure, great, worldly and egoistic so-
called kingdom officers who only practice their office to their own benefit, but not for the benefit of the state and
its citizens.

On earth, these people interact particularly courteously and friendly with each other, yet all of them know how to
cleverly influence the others.

No one trusts the other, finding it therefore necessary to manipulate the other along various cunning ways in
such a way that the other can harbor very little secrets before his neighbor. Yet, what else is such a selfish
friendship and what is such a deliberate courting other than brutal self-pleasing, which is nothing other than a
root or seed of actual fornication? In the same manner shall a licentious whore cast friendly and meaningful
glances to a man to try to lure him into her trap. A bird of prey lifts a tortoise up high, just to let it fall to serve as a
tasty treat.

Such people are of little use for the general benefit and does not fare any better than the others, because of the
greater wiliness of the others. Yes, such people look most like players who would meet each other in the
evenings, being very friendly and brotherly and fond of each other.
Are they sitting at the table though, no one could care less whether his play-opponent would lose home and
hearth in the game.

You say: this is completely correct, and we understand. But since we also saw women in the company, who did
not fulfill any public office, the question is what they are doing here and why they are in a certain sense an
integral part of the company.

My best friends, you should be amazed of yourselves that you have not understood it immediately.

Is it not the case as from old that the in many ways weaker woman passionately desire and long for exactly that
what they are the least capable of, namely to reign and rule. When men fulfill one or the other office, and he
marries or is married, it is certainly always the case that the woman at the end rules more than the man who is
actually more equipped to rule.

To execute their plans, they use all their female cunningness and the husband sure must be very resolute if he
does not want to be caught by his “Eve”.

You again ask: Yes, but why is it that the woman usually gains the victory through her cunningness? I tell you:
the reason is very much natural and therefore also understandable. If you would consider that the woman is the
root of the man, then you will have everything else easily declared.

The trunk of a tree indeed stands with his branches in the light of the heaven, sucking its ethereal food from the
rays of the sun and no one sees that still draws his main amount of food through his roots. If the roots would
conspire against the tree and loosen themselves from it, what would soon happen with the tree? He would wilt
and finally bear no more fruit.

Look, the wife knows this in her heart, and they can very well feel how much the man needs her. If she had a
bad education, though and has a depraved nature, they would do the same than what the roots sometimes do to
a tree; they let new shoots grow from the earth, feed them and thus deprive the tree of its future nourishment.
Such root-twigs will certainly never grow into a powerful and fruit-bearing tree, but only bushy growth resembling
the tree. If the tree with the higher food from the heavens would not powerfully resist such misuse, by diligently
pushing the growth of its branches and smaller twigs to let the root-shoots wilt in its strong shadow, to let them
be suffocated during a favorable season or with the help of winter, then it would certainly be detrimental to his
own existence and work sphere.

As such it goes with a man who has a wife with a lust for power and wants to impress in everything. If he is not
capable to resist her with his manly power, she will very soon have him encompassed with her wild shoots, and
he will become increasingly weaker, will finally wither and see all his power go up into the unconquerable male
root growth of his wife. This then is the female lust to rule and reign!

Another example you will see with your children, who are often stronger in their weakness than the greatest hero
for whom thousands and thousands more shudder. Let us assume that the hero is the father of a small child
barely able to babble something coherently. Thousands may come to this hero to divert him from a certain idea,
but they will avail to nothing. Yet the child only has to look at him, laugh at him and say: Daddy, stay with me, do
not go away, I am so scared that you would become sad, and the hero become tender-hearted and listen to his
child.

Look, not far from us you will see a human couple. This is a man and a woman, and they are presently in a
situation which we will be able to very well use for our purpose. We will therefore quickly go to them, to catch up
with them. You ask about the relationship between them. I tell you, for our purpose they could not be anything
better than what they are. This is a relationship in which the wife has died only six years before the husband.

The husband mourned much about her, but he threw himself after a few years completely into the arms of
religion and lived faithfully according to his learned insights. But now he has also been called away from the
earth and has arrived here only recently. This introduction is sufficient for the time being; the details you will
practically experience in the spirit.

Now that we, fortunately, have caught up with our couple, you have nothing to do other than to take notice of
their conversation which will start out immediately, from which you will be able to gather everything necessary.
Listen now! She presently began to ask her husband a question, saying:

I am exceptionally happy to see you again after such a long time and I now believe that no death will ever
separate us. But tell me now as much as you can, if my last will has been properly attended to, for it is dear to
my heart.

The man says: My above all beloved wife, for you to see how strictly your last will has been obeyed, I can only
tell you that I have done, in my own last will, nothing other than to confirm yours anew. In my last will,

I, therefore, kept exactly to yours, except for a few insignificant changes. Our whole wealth, therefore, multiplied
with a few thousand by me, is bequeathed to our children. Are you happy with that?

The wife says: My beloved husband, except for the changes, completely!

Tell me, therefore, the amounts and to whom are they given? Dear wife, says he, the amounts is no more than
two thousand guilders, is divided into five parts and are bequeathed to relatives of yours, except for one part. I
had to give one part to the poor, for sake of decency. I would not have done this if you did not often during your
life insisted to think about these relatives of you. But regarding the poor, you know that one always must first do
something for the sake of society and then also for God's sake, because we are Christians and no heathens.
Besides, these alms of two thousand guilders are nothing compared with our great bequeathed inheritance, for
as I have finally calculated, each of our seven children gets a full amount of a hundred and fifty thousand
guilders. All our children have learned to handle money frugally and you can be just as easy as I am about your
bequeathed wealth. At my side, you can now with me, search for other riches which would here bring us into just
as happy a life as we have lived upon earth.

She says: I will be content with it that our children are well cared for. Every child will indeed have change in the
hand with the two thousand guilders and can start out with that without immediately having to use the interest of
the great capital. But, as it is just how it is, we cannot do anything about it anymore and I must be content with
that.

Yet, what you have said about the other, usable capital, I ask you as your still faithful and loving spouse, to let go
of all your silly ideas about it; for already six years have gone in which I have wandered in great agony and
worries through this dark and lonely wilderness, while the only thing edible I could find, was a kind of moss. Now
and then is some sort of dry grass to be found to finally fill one's stomach with. Would you not coincidentally
have come here from earth with yet a bit of dusky light exactly to this place, we would in eternity barely have
found each other.

He says: but my beloved wife, have you then absolutely no suspicion for the reasons you have justly come to
this place? I do think that your worldly attitude has brought you here. You indeed were a very frugal and in our
worldly relationships a very honorable woman and you were exceptionally wise, but the teaching of true
Christianity often was a thorn in the eye to you. You have often expressed yourself about it negatively and have
kept you more to the wisdom and philosophy of the world. I have often told you, dear wife, that if there would
exist a life in the hereafter, then I do think that worldly wisdom would not be enough; therefore, it would be best
to keep to God's word, for the temporary lasts but a short time. If there would, however, exist an eternity, we
would have difficulty finding our way with temporary wisdom, as I have said. Look, dear wife, these were my
literal words I have often spoken to you in trust, and as I can see now to my greatest and most woeful surprise,
this has come true, sadly enough. Therefore, I do think now, dear wife, that it is now critical to us if one can say
so here, to completely free ourselves of all worldly reminiscing and to turn to our Master Jesus Christ to receive
compassion and pity. For if He would not help us, we will be lost forever; for I do feel in myself and know
assuredly that without Christ, there is no other helper in the whole of infinity. If He helps us, we will be helped; If
He would not help, then we are eternally, irretrievably lost! Now I would that I have bequeathed our wealth to
beggars and made our children into beggars. This would have brought us more blessing here than all our worldly
care for the material well-being of our children. Because we cannot change our worldly foolishness anymore,
nothing is left for us, dear wife, as said, then for to turn ourselves exclusively to Christ, to the exclusion of all
other thoughts or wishes, that He can, despite our great foolishness, be merciful and compassionate towards us
and might recompense this folly to our children through his infinite mercy and compassion.

The wife says: I indeed always thought that your religious, fanatic foolishness would bring you along to this
world. What have you and I ever done wrong upon earth? Were we not always just to everyone! Have we ever
stayed in debt to anyone or have we not always paid our housemaid the agreed upon salary? If there would exist
some or the other God, or, according to your opinion, some or the other “Christ”, then it would indeed be the
greatest injustice that he would reward people like us with what we see here before us. What God would take the
least offense that one can have no faith in an 'old saga' riddled with nonsense and silly things. I do believe
namely, and even a blind can see it, that if a God would attach some value to humanity, if a God would exist, that
man would not be able to dream up anything more unjust than that this God would only once come personally,
endowed with all wondrous power to man, and that too only the people of a very small region, while the whole
world was indeed populated.

of famous theological authors that pure hellish spirits speak exactly like you. I can assure you that this is why
you find yourself in this eternal night. Truly, I am becoming truly afraid for your sake! For with such principles I
see you getting lost irrevocably forever!

If you absolutely do not want to accept any other principles, then I feel myself obliged to leave you forever.

You should not be surprised if your eyes would this time be challenged somewhat, for we are going towards the
north and to where it becomes increasingly darker. Yet, for ourselves, we will have sufficient light that nothing will
escape us.

Do you not yet hear something in the distance? You say: We indeed hear something, but it is much different to a
human voice; it rather sounds like the rattling of wagons in the distance. It also sounds like the thunderous noise
of a great, distant waterfall. You ask what it means. Let us follow our couple, then we will soon get there.

Can you not yet discern something vaguely reddish, a glow as of a softly glowing iron? Look in this direction, for
there is awaiting us an important scene.

Listen, it is coming closer and the peculiar noisy rattling is changing more into natural, raw, human voices. But
we will stand still, for the multitude is moving right up to here as you see, also they, our mutually very loving
leaders, came to standstill.

Look how fearful he is for what is coming and retreats in his great anxiety and fear. She grabs him by the arm,
though, and pleads him with all that is dear, to only listen to and stay with her this one more time, for this is
exactly the fortune she has predicted which he needs to get acquainted with, to convince himself whether she is
right or wrong.

He asks her what is approaching them that seems so horrible. She says to him: What it is, what it is?! Purely
deep thinking people whom you would soon clearly see with your own eyes and clearly hear with your own ears.

And now look, he is content with this and waits upon the approaching, deep thinking group. See, the great
company is almost there. Our couple approaches them out of decency. We should do the same also, even if it is
not out of decency, but with another purpose.

Look, they now meet and greet each other with the greatest possible courteousness. We will also go closer not
to miss anything.

You will see that from the middle of the group is coming to a knobby and emaciated manly figure and comes
closer to our couple. The woman receives him exceptionally lovingly and benevolently. Also, the man of the
woman bows deeply before this manly figure.

Look, the company has vanished completely, but our couple is still standing at the same spot, deep in thought.
She asks him: “Well, beloved husband, what do you now say of this!” He says thoughtfully: My dear wife, there is
not much to say here anymore. Either the speaker has it right and then the issue is settled and no one should
say anything about it anymore, or he is wrong and I stay with my principles and then there is still no more to say.
Whether he is right or not, is not to be determined so quickly, but this will my own experience teach in the course
of time.

She says: But best man, do you hold me, your faithful wife and this worthy man for liars because you do not
readily want to believe his convincing words? Look, people are only inclined to lie and deceive each other if they
would gain something for themselves by it. But tell me, what kind of benefit can lies and deceit give someone
here? Here is indeed nothing to gain, nor to lose, but one thing is sure: a company always has it worse regarding
the satisfaction of his stomach than someone wandering alone through this endless region. A single person
quickly finds enough edible moss or grass to fill his stomach in case of emergency, but if there is more, it goes
with such a patch of moss worse than with a loner.

You ask me what I want to say with that? My most beloved man, nothing other than I want to convince you, still a
wise man, to your own benefit, to let go of your Bible faith. For if we should proceed each for himself, we would
both profit, for each would be able to navigate easier on his own on this meager surface, than two would do
together. If we would want to lie to or deceive you, then we would have left you to your principles and you would
have gone away as a consumer due to your principles. We certainly do not want to lie to, nor deceive you, but
we have shown you only the pure truth of which no mortal upon earth could have dreamt, even less such a
staunch Bible and Christ fanatic like you. What do you still want to think about? Come for once to your senses
and follow me, your eternally loving wife. If you would not listen to me on earth, then at least to it here in the
kingdom of the naked truth, where I already have six more years of experience than you have. Look, on earth is
nothing but deceit because everybody benefits something from it or at least think to gain something, but here, al
winning came to an end; all lies and deceit falls away automatically. Believe me, nothing but my love binds me to
you; this is the only gain I have of you. But if you still want to cling in folly to your old, insignificant principles, my
gain also falls away. We can therefore only be happy if our insights and feelings would mutually completely
concur. If we cannot settle this harmony, then I must honestly acknowledge that I would be happier without you
than with you, empty-head, at my side.

I am not able to speak anything more to your advantage, but the following: Because I truly love you and always
have loved you, I have done here everything possible to show to you my eternal, solemnly promised love and
faithfulness. But you have never loved me, you are willing to leave me forever for the sake of your love for your
folly. Now, consider what you are going to do.

Look, the man begins to scratch behind his ears and after a while says to his wife: My dear wife, I have gathered
from your words that you really love me. This I can impossibly deny. But I only cannot understand, if in this dark
spiritual world nothing is to be gained or lost by either truth or lies, why would you then try to completely
senselessly force a certain truth upon me, with which finally just as little can be gained than with my so-called, to
you and your learned man, alleged false teaching! Therefore, I believe, if your love for me would really be as
intense as you just indicated to me, you could just as well follow me as I could follow you, except if you have
already found something better in the way of your truth.

In that case, I would indeed want to follow you to convince myself of the reality of your truth. If this is not the
case, then it is of no consequence where to we go.

I keep thinking: We did live upon earth as so-called Christians, have read the gospel, but never really lived
according to it. We lived and acted according to our own insights and to our own benefit, but for the active
practice of the teaching of Christ were neither with me, even less with you, anything present.

Look, the teaching says: “Love God above all and your neighbor as yourself”. Have we ever done that? If I ask
my heart, then it answers completely honestly that the love unto God has stayed completely foreign.

But you never believed in a God, therefore your heart would be even more devoid of love than mine.

There is also written in the word of the gospel: Who wants to enter into life with Me, takes up his cross and follow
Me! Tell me for once, dear wife, when have we done something of this upon earth? I never carried a cross and
you even less; our complete cross consists out of purely worldly financial cares.

Furthermore, is written in the gospel that the Master said to the rich youth: Sell all your earthly goods, distribute
your gain among the poor and follow Me, then you will inherit eternal life. But what does the great Teacher say to
the youth, or rather to his apostles after he removed himself from the Master in sorrow? Look, these words were
full of special meaning as it appears to me, are we now living exactly the sad meaning of these words, going as
follows: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter through the gate of
heaven.

There is also written in Scripture that the Master has invited many guests to a festive banquet and that the
invited would not find the time to attend, due to their worldly affairs. Tell me for once, were we not invited once
upon a time and did we give heed to this invitation? Well, my dear wife, we have completely, only ourselves to
thank for our circumstances and that we are finding ourselves in this place of utter darkness where is weeping
and gnashing of teeth and of which the Master once said precisely people like us would be cast out into.

You say: Best friend, we follow the couple as they go forth before us already for quite a while, still just as blind
and silent as this night and look, there still is nothing to be seen of the morning red behind the mountains of
which the woman spoke. Where is it then? Would the woman really have lied to her husband? I tell you: Have a
bit more patience, then you will see the praise-worthy morning red soon enough. Take notice of our pair, how the
wife is becoming ever more joyful, the man, in contrast, becomes more sorrowful and somber.

You ask: Why? The answer is obvious: She is getting closer to the element from where her love originates;
therefore, she becomes happier. But with him, the opposite is true. He is getting closer to an element not related
to him, he is not drawn by his love, but is dragged along by the love for his wife.

It goes with him almost like the lover in the old tale about the love for the beautiful Sirene. As long as the lover
would observe the enchanting Sirene, he was elated. To be embraced by such a beloved seemed to him to be
the pinnacle of all happiness. When he did approach his beloved and when she took him into her soft arms,
dragging him down in embrace into her element, the initial fantastic enchantment vanished and a great fright and
fear of death enveloped him.

Look, this is exactly the case here. The man notices that it is gradually getting darker. Such an increasingly
impenetrable night is not his element, but the wife feels more and more satisfied the darker it becomes because
the most complete darkness is the element of her love and therefore also of her life. But now you can also hear a
muffled noise, almost like that of a great, distant waterfall.

You ask what it means? I tell you: Nothing other than that we have come rather close to the bordering river which
we already came to know with our visit to the northern region. Let us go there courageously, then we will reach
the riverside quickly. You again ask about the first mentioned morning red behind the mountains, which is still not
in sight. Have a bit more patience.

When we would have reached the bank of the river, which is already quite close as you can gather from that
growing noise, you will probably be able to see the morning red in the distance behind the mountains. Pay
attention and watch the ground, for, in just a few steps, we will reach the riverbank.

Stop now; we reached our goal and look, there beside the river, there far away on the background, you can see
a very strong, red glow, looking like a distant great fire. Now, pay attention again to our couple's conversation.
She says: Well, my dear husband, what do you say, was I right or not? Look at that beautiful morning red and
here is the broad river.

What shall we do now to get to the shining region? Look, we cannot cross the river, but we can indeed walk
along the bank of the river. It becomes increasingly lighter as you can see with your own eyes and in times we
shall certainly reach that glowing region.

The man says My dear, appreciated wife, it seems as if something is amiss with this light. Regarding the red
glow, it does not seem to have any relationship with true morning red. In my eyes, it does not look like a glow
coming from the sun, but much more like that of a burning city behind the mountains. If there is, in fact, a burning
city I do doubt, but that something is burning, is certainly beyond suspicion. I, therefore, want to go with you until
we get a proper view of the fire, but I will go no further. For one cannot know where it comes from and therefore
it is always sensible to stay far away, for one should preferably stay out of the environment he does not know
and which is not related to his nature.

She says: No, but now you are speaking utter nonsense! Only now does one see how dumb you really are; but
where does this come from? I tell you, only and just because you have taken very little care upon earth to
explain the effects of the primordial powers of nature, making you now incapable to explain these phenomena.
Secondly, you are here only for a very short time yet and you have had a way too little opportunity to observe
such phenomena and to let you be educated about it by the sages of this region. But look, there are two men
walking along the riverbank, approaching us. Let us go to meet them; I am convinced that you would have much
profit in engaging in a conversation with them. The man says: Yes, dear wife, I've always been a great friend of
men in possession of much knowledge. Why would I not be?
But now I tell you: Pay good attention. The man greets the biggest and most imposing one very courteously. He
stiffly bows and asks the woman's husband: Who has shown you, night rabble, the way from the darkness to the
domain of the light?

You say: It really goes down steeply and the road passes over so many rocks and steep hills! Yes, yes, best
friends, it only seems like this to you; but to those whose being corresponds with this place, it seems like a broad
and easily passable way. Let us courageously proceed; it will not be long before we will reach the visible sea of
flames.

Look down there, how the flames begin to vanish gradually, letting you see many glowing places without flames
up there. But you ask: Do we have to pass over there? I tell you: Do not worry yourselves about it, for all this is
only apparitions depicting the condition of the being of those living below. The ‘flame’ means the zeal of the evil,
the waft above the flame corresponds with the completely wrong, and the “glow” shows the complete self-love
with the consequent wrongly directed zeal and the depraved will of those finding themselves in such a self-love.
But how it all will work out here, you will see immediately with your own eyes.

Look down again now; what do you see now? You say: The flames have completely vanished and the glow have
gathered into heaps, but in between the heaps we see a pitch-dark night. You again ask: What is then the river
which we have seen glowingly rushing down? This river is once again an apparition and depicts the progress of
the wrong as it flows out into evil.

The depth of the evil is depicted by the depth of this abyss and how it concocts cunning and well-considered
plans to execute its evil resolve.

Because you now know this, we will courageously approach it to reach our goal and so also our company. Only
a few steps more and look, we are already on the plain and thus also completely in the depth. You are not seeing
anything now, for the darkness here is so deep that you cannot see anything with the light of your eyes. We are
therefore in need of enough light to discern anything here. None of those present here may see anything of our
light, though. Therefore, you need to hold on tight to me and not get closer to the sphere of any spirit than what
is granted to you.

And now, look, we already have as much light as is needed to get a closer look of this resort. What do you see?
You excitedly remark: For God’s almighty and most mercy’s sake, what is this for a horrific resort!

We see nothing but black sand and black rock and this is all that this resort’s surface consists of. Between the
sand and rock is rising here and there wafts like we have often seen in upon earth when coals are being burnt.
You also ask: Are there any beings to be seen here? This region looks completely desolate. Yes, my dear
friends, this is again also only an apparition and depicts ‘death'! But do not worry yourselves about the absence
of beings in this resort, for you will soon see more than enough of it.

Look, not far from here can something be seen which looks like a rather big stake with you on earth. We will
have a closer look at this stake, then you will soon convince yourselves about the material this stake consists of.
Well, we are at the right distance; have a closer look. What do you see? Again, you say: But in God’s almighty
Name, what could this be?

This is purely people, stacked upon each other like herrings and so well secured to the ground with a very strong
chain, that no one would be able to move even a little in this condition. If this is so, then it will fare but particularly
poor with the eternal freedom of the spirit.

Yes, yes, best friends, if we would view it from our heavenly light, it certainly does seem to be the case at first
glance. Therefore, this is also just an apparition, corresponding with the true situation. In its deepest nature does
this apparition depicts how a company is kept imprisoned by her own, completely wrong institution and the evil
consequences of it. Let us now leave this stake and go on. Look, there in front of us is yet another, higher heap.
We are already close, tell me what do you see. You say: Best friend, we see here the same as before, the heap
is conical in form and a mass of chains is thrown over it, making it look as if these beings are tightly pressed
together, so much so that their bodies are almost pressed flat. We can nowhere see what their faces look like,
for all of them have their faces turned downward. You ask: Friend, does our previous quartet also find
themselves in this heap? No, friends, we still shall get to them. Now that we have seen everything here, we will
go a bit further.

Look, far away from us is a true mountain to be seen and because we again are at the right distance, we can
have a closer look at it. What do you see! You again say: But for the almighty and just will of God, now what is
this! This is also pure human beings, stacked beneath chains and iron grids. Between them are also a whole lot
of snakes and adders looking with their detestable eyes in all directions, flicking their tongues in and out. What
does it say! This is saying that this is a company which have already proceeded from its wrongful institution into
evil acts. Let us go on from here. Look, not far from us, is a mountain which you cannot see so clearly at first
glance. This is also not necessary, for a place speak for the whole. Here is already one of the foothills of the
mountain range; take a good look at it and tell me what do you see. You say: We see nothing other but all kinds
of skinned and knobbled monstrosities; only here and there a flattened skeleton of a human cadaver is hanging
out from among them. What would this then mean? This depicts the purest self-love and this is the picture of the
worldly power, greatness, and wealth, which takes form when these characteristics would on earth be used for
egoistic and bad purposes.

You again ask, saying: But best friend, we do know very well that we are finding ourselves in your sphere and
indeed on the spiritual sun, where we expect nothing but the heavenly; how come is it that we find here also
complete hell? Yes, dear friends, has it not been explained to you at the time of your passing over to the spiritual
sun, that the spiritual is the most inner, the all-penetrating and the all-encompassing? If this is the nature of the
spiritual, then it indeed penetrates all planets and the whole sphere, as far as the light of the natural sun
reaches; but purely spiritually takes it much further even. Therefore, you are now not exactly in the sphere of the
actual sun, but in the specific sphere of your planet.

Like all planets receives their heat from the actual sun and her influence penetrates all these planets, such is
also the case with the spiritual sun, allowing us to observe by the vibrations of her spiritual radiation, also the
spiritual of her planets. Because we now understand this better, it would hopefully be clear to you that one will be
able to view also the spiritual nature of hell, as it pertains to your earth.

It barely needs to be mentioned that there are in this well-known region of the night, much more, yes, countless
many situations like we have come to know now.

If someone would ask: Where then is the heathen who have recently arrived here? Then I tell you that also they
mostly end up in this environment, but these places of arrival are strictly separated from each other, in order that
a heathen under such circumstances would not come to the places where believing Christians would justly go.

That distinction is only made in hell and nowhere, as you would probably think, is anything thrown in together
without any proper order.

Such distinction is essential, for should such spirits be allowed together, they would drag each other down to
perdition due to their inner depravity to such an extent that there would be no way to reach them anymore,
except through the means of total destruction.

You must picture it to yourselves as follows: Just like there are different elements upon earth that always regard
each other with animosity and want to destroy each other, there are also in the spiritual spheres such basic
elements which should never get into contact with one another.

If they should, there would be in the spiritual spheres effects likened to what one would see when fire and dry
wood or fire and gunpowder would be brought together, or when one would let water flow over a building built
with lime. Therefore, there are, where no holding back of spirits is possible in the spiritual realm, such division of
critical essence.

When someone would ask. What does it look like at the place of arrival of the heathen spirits? Then he would
get the answer that it is not safe for a Christian spirit, regardless of the spirit which would accompany him, to visit
such a place.

Only the Master may bring or guide someone there, for it would otherwise more of a danger than of any use to
visit such places.

But before we will go to the region of the midday, we shall first have a look at what our rescued husband are
doing and in what circumstances he finds himself. Look, our stone wall is opened, therefore we will immediately
make use of the opportunity and pass the cleft to the outermost border of the kingdom of the children. Look, we
are already here. The wall has closed shut already again, and we shall now go to the very narrow valley which
runs alongside the wall to the midday. Quickly follow me, therefore!

Look, there in the distant background is a marshy, damp corner to be seen and in the far corner way back, is a
simple wooden hut, with rather dusky surrounds, because this corner is enclosed with high rocks. We will go
there, for that is where our man has been placed.

You ask: Why then in such a lonely wilderness and on top of that, in such a marshy, damp secluded corner? Best
friends, one can impossibly deal otherwise in the beginning with spirits who were rescued from hell with such
effort, for such people have indeed still things in them which they absorbed from hell and which corresponds with
the fire of hell. He still harbors to a certain degree a necessity-motivated selfishness, as is known, unique to
every kind of emergency, and so they have to a certain degree, the selfishness as a permanent guide. Whoever
finds himself in danger, usually forgets everything and is only concerned with his own salvation.

The poor man only begs for himself and the sick wants a remedy only for himself. Whoever falls into the water,
usually only thinks of himself and try to escape from the destructive element. Only when he is safe himself, he
would think of others who share the same fate with him.

If we now consider our man, you shall discover that he has brought over more than a million guilders of self-love
and only just over two hundred guilders for the Master. This is a very pitiable situation. His housing is adapted,
as you can see, exactly to the interest on the capital.

Everything now depends on how he would use the capital. The visits of the many poor beings from the opposite
side will not escape him, whom will plead with him for help. If he would exert all his efforts to take care of such
poor brothers as much as possible with the bare necessities, then his small capital will very soon gain tenfold
interest, yes hundredfold, by which he would be sent to better resorts. Yet, he will not come to the Master the
usual way, unless his earned capital will grow to ten times that what he has bequeathed to his children, or then
his self-love. Exceptions are possible, but then it should be of such nature as you have seen in the very
beginning as an example; that is, if someone would give away everything he has and still support his brothers
will all his power, then would a speedy and complete rescue from this place be possible. In such a case, would a
human spirit look like the woman who have offered at the temple with the others. This woman indeed brought the
smallest offer in comparison with the smallest of the others, but when the Master asked who have offered the
most, man says: look, this one, or: that one! But He answers: This woman has, for she gave all she possessed.

Since we have now come to know all these things that need to be well considered by all, we can leave this
region and go to the midday. You indeed ask after the way, but I tell you: do not worry yourselves, we shall not
need so much time with our passing over there than we needed coming here. We shall truly find ourselves upon
the way and immediately be there where we want to be. On the way there we still need to give attention to
various intermittent stages, but since it looks exactly like what we already have behind us, you only have to
remember what we have seen up till now, then you will easily be able to understand all the stages of passing of
this region leading to the midday.

The vast water body forms the main border, which cannot be passed along the usual way, for the great water
depicts the high degree of wisdom needed to reach the midday. Therefore, they need to become strong in the
fire of the love at the passing to the midday, for them to gain the corresponding degree of wisdom in the fire of
love, as is indicated by the water. Since we now know it, we shall as said, next time immediately proceed to the
radiating midday, without looking around here anymore. With that, enough for today.

Chapter 41.

Visit to the Midday. The working of true faith and active love.
Look, now even before you realize it, are we already where we wanted to be. That is, we are already in the
midday. Tell me how you like it here and what do you see.

You say: It suits us fine; yet, we must acknowledge that we have expected some more than what we see here
before us. This region looks like a charmingly beautiful landscape, as there sure are many upon earth; but we
cannot see here anything exaltedly beautiful.

Yes, dear friends you are right; here is also shining a sun and it is located exactly at the highest point. The
heaven also is a lovely blue, just like with you on earth. You see a rich variety of fruitful fields and hills,
overgrown with fruit trees; not even vines of your varieties are missing. Here and there you also see many
attractive mountains rising above the smaller hills; you also see here and there some neatly built houses where
people go in and out from; on the fields, you see some people busy gathering and processing the fruit.

This is true; seen superficially it all has a striking resemblance to the beautiful landscapes upon earth. But I tell
you, if we would go closer to one of these dwellings, you would see something different in their organization.
Look, at this street among the double row of fruit trees, there is located a very nicely built little house. We will go
there and see what it looks like on the inside.

Well, we are already at our goal. Look, the owner of the house is standing at the entrance, but he cannot see us,
for we are still invisible to the inhabitants of the midday. He does feel the presence of more inner beings in his
vicinity. He, therefore, listens within himself and as you can see, he looks like someone who is suddenly deeply
sunken in his thoughts. We shall go into his house at once.

Look, we are already inside; how do you like it? You clasp your hands together in amazement, saying: But for
heaven’s sake, how is this possible!! We see that the house is beautifully decorated inside and the inside of the
house seems to be much bigger than the outside. If we look outside through some or the other frame, we do not
see a trace of the previous environment anymore, but everything looks much different and incomparably greater.
We see wonderful, impressive palaces and temples everywhere; the distant mountains shimmer as if they are
coated with the light material of the sun itself and the vast plain stretches itself before us. On this plain stands
countless palaces of unfathomable wondrous and impressive beauty. In the middle flows a river; her waves
glisten as if the most beautiful, cut diamonds are rolled over and among each other, while the banks are
overgrown with gigantic trees. We indeed have seen such trees upon the natural sun, but these are a thousand
times more beautiful, for they all look translucent, and their leaves sparkle to all sides like a living part of a
rainbow. How beautiful is the interior of this building! We have seen such as this only in the middle band of the
natural sun, but in comparison with this was everything but coarse and imperfect, for here, everything is depicted
with such an infinite degree of excessive purity and accuracy, that one can stand for years in awe at the minutest
detail. The endless magnificence of colors, fitly and gloriously distributed everywhere, already looks so heavenly
attractive, that we cannot rightly decide to leave the house.

Yes, yes, dear friends, so it is; here already is worth assigned to the inner. The worth is measurable, but it is
already so great that it would exceed your understanding, for she is the action of the light coming forth from the
wisdom out of the true faith in the Master; then through true faith, also to the balanced relationship out of active
love, which is a lower rank of order of the actual love for the Master.

You ask: Is such a house then inhabited by only one blessed human spirit? Oh no, let us go from the first room
over to the opposite room, then you will soon see many happy human spirits of both genders. Look, there in the
background are about thirty beings. They are all inhabitants of this house and the man we saw at the entrance,
is the servant of all who lives there. He does his utmost best to provide all and everyone with everything
possible. For that reason, is he the greatest among them and as such also the full owner of the house.

Do you not see how exceptionally beautiful these thirty inhabitants are dressed? Some even wears shining
crowns upon their heads, are overly happy, and they praise the Master in their blessedness.

You ask: But best friend, should we not first bid farewell to these friendly inhabitants of the house and thank them
for their loving reception? Dear friends, I am sorry that I did not think of it beforehand, for now, we already find
ourselves on top of one of the mountains which we saw before in the distance, while our little house is already
way behind us! You are astonished and therefore say: But best friend, how can it be that we can travel here as
fast as our thoughts, while we have, in the northern and evening regions have traveled step by step with only a
few exceptions? Out of previous experiences, we sure do know that man can proceed in the spirit as quickly as a
thought. This is then not so strange.

But that we would progress only step by step in that region which was very poor in apparitions that could be
reckoned as beautiful and glorious, yet in this heavenly region are all these glories shooting past us basically
unnoticed, seems strange to us.

Dear Friends, you are judging correctly according to your wisdom, but not according to the spiritual wisdom.
When we would move ourselves in the great kingdom of the spirits in the regions where the circumstances are
more natural of character, then everything is tardier and our sluggish progress in such regions very truthfully and
visually depicts the tedious progression of the spirit. The deeper we penetrated such regions, the more difficult
and slower our gait became. But here, where the spirit already enjoys its full freedom, he is released from such
chains, his progressed is much less hindered and can speed up.

Now you say: Best friend, this is all true, good and true, but we do remember that we did make a quick journey in
the mountains in the northern regions, when we came back from the hell and returned exceptionally fast to the
kingdom of the children and our journey from the kingdom of the children to here have also lasted only a
moment. How should we understand this? Best friends, it sure surprises me that you do not yet understand this,
while you have experienced something like this already many times upon earth in the development of your spirit.
I will explain it to you by means of an example, then you will immediately grasp and completely understand these
three, to you inexplicable apparitions of speedy journeys.

When you would be taught for instance in mathematics or in one or the other science and you had to, as part of
the teaching, make some or the other difficult concept as a main theory your own because almost the full
complexity of the science is linked to the full comprehension of this concept, then it probably cost you much
effort to take complete hold of such a concept. Yes, you had to progress step by step, from point to point.

What would then happen when you would fully grasp such a concept? Has not your spirit taken swift flight and
gained insight at great speed, by which he would see with one glance that which first have researched and
investigated with much effort? But this is not all; he makes deductions from this concept which he now
understands and becomes because of such a flight a seer, researcher and discoverer himself, and even a
creator of future truths! Do you now understand such a swift flight?

Look, this is exactly how it is with the spirit; for what you call upon earth the work of the spirit or the thoughts, is
here in the kingdom of the spirit, pure reality. We again go with tardy steps to the evening, come to know various
conditions along this way and even reach via our very instructive way even into the deepest depth, which can be
reached with your spirit. You need everything to be investigated to the limit. What has your spirit done with it? He
has learned a second, very important concept.

Through this teaching of the second important concept, another swift upward flight was made possible.

We then reached the kingdom of the children, at the outermost border.

There we had to investigate another, third and important concept which forms a very important connection with
the preceding one and served as a very appropriate precursor for what would follow in the midday. Since you
took hold of that important connecting concept so quickly, we could make a quick upward flight of the spirit in this
region of light, just as matter of factly that all others.

We are now in the region of the higher light. How can it surprise you that we are moving here faster with our
much riper and more experienced spirit than what was the case in the previous two regions? But I tell you: Here,
we make only small, yet quick steps, but move along in this region no farther than the eye of our spirit reaches.

When we shall approach the morning from this region, we shall move with even greater speed and quicker
movements. So see, this is again spiritually very much natural. Something like this is already clearly to be seen
with the more awakened spirits on a celestial body, where an experienced thinker can evaluate an object which
is laid before him very quickly and can analyze it fully and thoroughly in all its parts. He still need to have an
object before him, though, for without an object, the activity of his spirit would cease.

We can in a similar way move swiftly across the spaces we see here.
But when the spirit would justly enter an even freer and more unlimited condition, he does not occupy himself
with the evaluation of given objects anymore, but because he has found in all matter the potential of the infinite,
his gaze becomes infinitely deeper and his speed or progression, much more perfect. Do you understand this
well! You do confirm it and say: This is good and therefore we can immediately turn our gaze from these
beautiful heights to the much more beautiful region laying before us.

If you would have a look around in this glorious place, what do you see and what is most peculiar to you? You
say: Best friend, it would have been easy to say if we had the words to describe the countless things we see
here! If one does not have the words for it, nothing remains, but to dumbfoundedly point the finger to things that
strike us the most.

What we see there, can be called neither a building nor a tree and not a mountain. It is a well- combined unit in a
certain sense, of the most varied, but combined, most perfect parts. Yes, yes, on the one hand, you could be
right, but if you would look more keenly, you would be able to better discern the objects.

We can try this. What do you see right before us, to the right side of the river? You say: We see a coniform hill,
surrounded at its base with a kind of ring wall. The ring wall has the appearance of a living thorn bush in a
garden rather than an actual wall, but the leaves look like it’s growing from a kind of wall.

The wall itself is translucent here and there, almost like a rainbow;?its height could barely reach a klafter (1,9 m).
Above the wall are bows as if from glass. Above the bows runs a kind of gutter made of gold and in this gutter,
shining balls of various colors, having the diameter of about two hand breadths, is constantly moving along,
leaving half a klafter between the balls. The utmost top of this enigmatic, coniform hill is adorned with some sort
of temple. The pillars look like the slender poplars with us on earth. The roof has the look as if of polished gold
and seems almost as if it is hovering above the pillars than being attached in some way. Above the roof is a
translucent, radiating sphere.

Look, best friend, this is what we now are seeing at first glance on the right-hand side bank of this magnificent
river. It looks like everything is one great unit. Our eyes have never seen something like this and one can barely
imagine something like this out of himself. Therefore, we also cannot know what it is, what is its use, or what it is
called. It does serve unto an exceptionally peculiar and splendid show for the eye, but this is the only reality we
can gather from this for now.

Well, beloved friends, you have had a good look at everything and I can tell you already that this is also a
dwelling of blissful spirits. You indeed say: This could very well be, but up till now we could not see any of the
inhabitants of this peculiar dwelling. But I tell you: Let us go a bit closer to this noteworthy building, then you will
soon get to see the residents. Look, we are already close to the wall and here is the entrance door. Let us go
through the door, then we will immediately get to the residents of this building.

We are inside the building; have a look around and tell me what you can find. You are stretching your eyes,
saying: Yes, but what for a mockery is this again!? We hardly went through the strange ring wall we saw there,
but now it is not there anymore, the hill is gone and thus also the notable temple and the whole environment, as
far as the eye can see, look very much different from before. We initially have seen upon the plains, on similar
higher or lower hills, a great amount of such enigmatic dwelling places. Instead of that, we are now seeing a lot
of impressive palaces built in extraordinary style and on the riverbank, which is the only thing that remained,
even rather big cities. Dear friend, what does this metamorphosis again mean?

Why could we not just as well see the peculiar dwelling which we saw from the outside, to be the same from the
inside?

Yes, best friends, according to earthly measure it would indeed be correct, but according to spiritual measures, it
does not add up. You say:?don’t the spirit have its eyes to see things as they are? Why should he look at an
object from the one side to know what it looks like, but when he wants to see it from the other side, it has
vanished and is just as well non-existent for him anymore?

Yes, dear friends, when you look at an object upon earth with your material eyes, the object would stay the same
and not change and you would recognize it because of its outer form. Suppose for once that someone is not
satisfied to keep looking at the outside form anymore, but would like to know the inner parts of this object and to
begin to inspect it mechanically. He has disbanded this object into a satisfactory amount of parts and has looked
at them all separately. Then he would turn to chemistry and let the object be divided into its primordial
substances, where he would, instead of the initial object, have only the building materials which the object
consisted of.

Well, you have looked around to all sides and have seen innumerable and comprehensive glories of all kinds.
Now tell me about the many things you have seen and have given most attention to. You say: Best friend, it is
also given unto you to see the inner; be therefore so kind to summarize for us the best and most beautiful of
what we have seen. Good, I do want to do it, for I can read in your eyes and faces what you have liked the most
of all the things you have seen.

It was not the endless, extraordinary, shining palaces which you liked the most. Nor did the cities on the river
banks stimulated your interest.

But there, more to the background, on the other side of the river, to the morning side, you have seen lovely hills
upon which stood small, almost poorhouses. You have looked at them the most.

I tell you if one would judge outer beauty here like one would on earth, one could say: Dear friends, you have
poor taste. But when we would judge spiritually, then I must tell you: Dear friends, you have sensitive noses and
therefore your suspicion is correct in thinking that there should be much hidden behind these small looking
homesteads than would appear at first glance.

Therefore, you are secretly telling yourself: Best friend and brother, if we would have a choice, we would want to
exchange a hundred of these beautiful palaces for one such a little house.

You are certainly not wrong, yet such a magnificent palace does deserve our attention. Take a good look at one
and see how it is built of a shining white kind of rock and has exactly seven storeys, of which each storey is thirty
storeys high. Each palace has four complete frontal gables; in each one is set seventy great frames, each seven
ells from the other. From every frame is radiating light as if of the sun, while every gable roundabout, in front of
the radiating frames - and that at all storeys - are adorned with a hallway of pillars which radiates as if it is of
pure polished, translucent gold. The roof of the palace looks as if it is covered with great plates of diamonds. The
palace is surrounded by a proportionately big, magnificent garden in which you can see thousands of beautiful,
wondrous flowers and thousands more of all possible kinds of delicious fruit trees. In between the flowers and
fruit trees, you see pyramids shining in all colors. You see the tops of the pyramids decorated with big, strongly
radiated balls. On top of these balls, you see something resembling a crown, from where fountains spring up,
shooting the water as high as your eyes can see. The drops of these spouts increase in size, from where they
fall in multiple colors and again fall down in the most beautiful style, gradually and majestically into the garden, to
dissolve there into multiple heavenly aromas.

If you would focus your eyes a bit more, you would see that there are in such a garden an exceptionally
beautiful, lovely, blessed people of both genders, wandering around. Look, close to the entrance of this beautiful
garden stands a man. He is clothed with white byssus (kind of cotton) and wears a shining crown on his head.
His face is white as snow and his hair is as if of gold. Just look how beautiful it all is!

His skin color shows off very nicely with the shining red garnishing of his garment and the girth around his loins,
does it not glisten as if it consists of many little stars? Now look, presently is coming a female spirit to the
entrance of the garden; how do you like this?

You say: Friend, at the sight of this being, one completely loses one’s senses; truly, something that perfect, a
mortal man cannot look at without acute danger to his life, let alone pondering it! The more than heavenly beauty
of this female being is beyond all human consideration!

What endlessly, sweet friendliness upon her face; what unfathomable, soft form and what beautiful color of her
countenance! The radiating, lush, light blonde hair, a shining crown as of diamonds upon her naturally beautiful
head, the heavenly blue garment with soft red decoration; Oh, how harmonious and beautiful it all is! We see the
one arm on top of which the garment is gathered in pleats by means of the most splendid decorative pin. What a
rounding and harmony in this arm! It looks as soft as the soft sigh of the most magnificent morning red in spring!
And oh, best friend, besides her arm we see of this angelic woman also her foot and leg up to the knee. Truly,
such a scene is even for the spiritual eye too much, for the harmonious softness and perfection is not
describable with the pen. Truly, only God is capable to create such unmentionable harmony! Above all, best
friend, we see in the background a whole lot of such heavenly delights. Truly, to be a happy fellow brother in
such company, would be a little too much bliss!

Yes, dear friends, there are endlessly many of such delights here;?therefore, I again ask you: How do you like
such a palace? You are scratching a bit behind your ears, which tells me: Best friend, after a closer inspection,
we, in fact, have nothing against such a palace anymore if we would compare it with the houses on the hill on
the opposite side of the river! We would obviously be eternally content with such bliss in the pure spiritual
condition necessary for it for all eternity, especially if we would be granted the mercy to see the Master now and
then. If this would not be the case, we will go back on our words.

Look, the rather big company is already with us. Just look at the dear children, how one is of greater heavenly
beauty than the other! Each one shows another beauty. The manly angels have youthful power and their facial
expression is exceptionally soft and solemn. Their eyes are big, showing that they are full of light; their noses are
well-formed and very tender, telling that they are sensitive and have a keen discerning ability. Their mouths are
soft and mostly closed, showing upon their modesty in wisdom.

Their chins are equally soft and beardless. Which is to say that the actual wisdom is open and not surrounded by
the wild growth of mysticism. Their necks are smooth and round, meaning that the truth is in principle regarded
to be self-evident and being a complete whole. Notice also the softness of their hands; this means that wisdom is
taking on everything with good deliberation and do not want to touch anything that is imperfect.

You now say: It is peculiar that the manly being is showing himself here in almost the same rounded form of the
female, in such a manner that one would finally struggle to know in which we being manly spirits would take
more pleasure in, the exceptionally beautiful manly form, or the female. This, my dear friends, has its reason in
the true heavenly marriage, for it is written in Scripture that man and wife shall become one flesh. Therefore,
they do not differ much here and is, as the Master had said, all equal to the angels of God!

You ask whether there are gender differences here with the spirits. I tell you: here it is just the same as upon the
celestial bodies and the spirits eat and drink here also as well as provide for the necessary needs.

The married couples here also enjoy the ‘married privileges’ like on earth, but everything here has quite another
meaning than upon the celestial bodies.

Eating and drinking says: Taking up of the Godly good and the Godly true; what you understand to be the
sensual act of intercourse, is here understood to be the unification of the good of the love and the truth of the
faith, unto it’s loving unfolding. All this are holding itself here in its function and purpose. Who wants to work, first
must take up the active principle which forms its foundation and this is what is understood here to be the taking
in of food.

The digestion of this food brings about and supports the continuous life of the spirits. The life can and do not
want to be isolated and self-supporting, though, but it takes hold of the object which corresponds with him and
pulls him; it then gives its trust to it, causing so to say two lives to become one complete unit. This can be
understood to be the purpose. The purpose becomes sensible because a combined life has in all respects a
more powerful influence than a life standing on its own, which cannot be regarded to be a perfect life because no
purpose or growth can be expressed. Do you understand it?

You say: Best friend, only partly, but it is not yet completely clear to us. Well, I will illuminate it a bit more. On
earth, you already have a corresponding deed that depicts the intercourse of the spirits.

What happens when a virile man treats some woman with magnetism?

Nothing but that the man with his powerful spirit is penetrating the weaker spirit of the woman, thereby arouses it
and supports it with his power by magnetically connecting with her by adhering her to him for a specified time
through magnetism and unites her with him partly etherically, or in other words, entering with her into a ‘spiritual
marriage’.

What is the result of such a connection? If you would only take a slight look at multifarious apparitions on this
terrain, you can say nothing other but: the power of the weaker female spirit is very much strengthened by the
unification with the manly spirit and are in such a state capable of much more than would be possible in an
isolated state, being otherwise possible only seldom or with great effort. Clairvoyance, being the ability to gain
insight in self and others; shortly said, the powerful, clear penetration in otherwise impenetrable depths of
creation, is the result of such a unification.

Well, this is the nature of the so-called spiritual intercourse. It comprises of the mutual taking hold of two
intimately related spiritual potencies and the result corresponds with the known act which we have just
discussed. You now say that everything is clear, but you still want to know what the result of such an act here
produce. I tell you: such an act is done the very same way as with truly connected love, but there is no form of
sensuality of any kind to be found.

Look, with the familiar way of swift traveling, we are already here.

In front of us is such a little house. Does it not look very much like a true, lovely little mountain hut as with you on
earth in Switzerland? You say: Yes, indeed, this is truly what it looks like. There is a real difference between such
a little house and a palace or even a great city like we have seen it before, more down in the low plain; yet, we
would like to live in such a little house much rather than in such a palace.

Good, we shall now enter such a house, have a look at its interior and see the actual inhabitants. Look, we are
inside. You now ask: But best friend, why does this house not change according to the usual spiritual manner,
but is unchanged, the inner being in perfect accordance with the external?

Dear friends, this you shall gradually learn while interacting with the residents of this region and that during the
gradual development of our viewpoint and how the inhabitants of this region will present themselves to us during
contact with them.

Do you not see the various farming implements? There are sickles, spades, rakes, clamps, and weeding-hooks;
even the plow and the harrow are not wanting and if you look around properly, you will see behind the house
even a little shed and a stable for one or two pairs of oxen. There you see a kitchen, here a room for the
personnel and there in front, a tastefully arranged room for the owners of the house. What do you say about
this?

I can see that you are quite surprised, for you say to yourselves: Truly, it all looks cozy, and we would really want
to live here, but this fully earthly arrangement leaves a rather peculiar impression in this seemingly true heaven.

My dear friends, I did think that you would find this a bit strange.

But this would utterly surprise very dumbed down earthly priests, who imagine heaven for themselves to be an
eternal idleness, even more. How people conduct themselves here, we will still sufficiently see the continuation
of our walk through this environment of the midday.

To inform you as to why you find all the farming utensils here just like upon earth, I will for the present only that
such implements would have never been discovered upon earth if it did not first have a fully corresponding way
and form in all heavens before.

It should therefore not surprise you that you shall find here in the spiritual realm of heaven the most original, for
all equipment depicts the work of love and are available here for the sake of bringing forth the good and the
fertile. We do not need to know more for now.

Look, there the owner of the house is just returning from his acre. We shall go to him, greet him and present to
him our question. He has seen us already and approaches us with open arms. How do you like his clothing? You
say: Best friend, not bad indeed, for we are used to seeing such clothing.

He looks like a true, godly, diligent farmer on our earth. We see that he is wearing normal, not too fine shirt and
trousers made of the same linen. This is then what we discover on this good man. If he would not have worn a
red girdle around his waist, he would barely be distinguishable from a farmhand.

As you can see, the environment we have seen have again vanished already. Nothing is to be seen of the hills or
the buildings upon the hills; we find ourselves in the middle of the midday. You can gather this from the sun up in
the middle of the sky and the great beauty of this region, as well as the already familiar river flowing from here to
the morning. You ask: But best friend, how is it possible that this endlessly, most blissful morning region have
now completely vanished from before our eyes?

Dear friends, do you not yet understand that the “morning” means the “active love” and the “midday”, the
“investigating wisdom”? We are now again “investigating” and therefore on the way of the wisdom and thus in
the midday and that lies outside of love.

You say: We were in the midday before and could see the region of the morning from there. Why can we not see
it now? Were we not then outside of the region of love?

Dear friends, we truly were in the region of the midday, but we were at the bank of the river and this depicts how
love and wisdom take hold of each other and passes over into eternal life. We were then in the center between
love and wisdom and therefore we could see both regions well.

Because we then truly passed over into the morning, we also could see from their endlessly deep into the region
of the midday; why? Because wisdom comes forth from love! This is exactly the case when someone would
come to understand the foundational principle of something and can see and grasp the realization of it. But he
who only sees the action, cannot easily see the foundational principle thereof, except if he would go to where
cause and consequence merges. Now that you certainly can see that, we shall move unhindered to the morning
region in the deepest midday, where you shall see things that intimately pertains to you.

Look, we are already at our destination. But now you say: Best friend, we see in front of us again an endlessly
vast sea and at the distant horizon, we see for the first time in this spiritual world, clouds as we have seen it on
earth building up in heaven on beautiful, clear days. It also seems as if the sun is also not shining from right
above, but more from behind us, causing shadows before us. Are we going to have to walk upon the surface of
the sea again?

My dear friends, this sea is connected with the sea that we saw before in the evening region. She lays stretched
out infinitely far and wide in the direction of the evening, between midday and morning. But over against, where
you see clouds, she is bordered by a shore, behind which is stretched out a vast landscape. This region is called
the “deepest midday” and we shall betake ourselves there.

You again ask how we shall get over the sea? We shall again travel by our usual swift way and say: Here and
there, and we shall be where we want to be! Look backwards, we already are where we want to be! The
complete surface of the sea lies behind us and if we look up, we see that we are already underneath the white
clouds. You now say: Best friend, the clouds here indeed shines with beauty, but the sun is not seen anymore;?
where has it gone to?

Friend, the sun indeed shines here as well, but her being is obscured by the clouds to such an extent that one
can see her light only intermittently, and is only seldom able to see the sun from between the clouds. You ask:
What kind of region is this then and what does it mean?

Look, this is the so-called Roman Catholic heaven where the most pious Catholics come to if they have lived
conscientiously according to their faith. This heaven is therefore rather a test heaven’ rather than a permanent
one. How it all comes together, we shall see during our closer investigation of this heaven.

Look, we are already outside and the multitude, which is provided with palm branches, are awaiting the pre-
empted ascension. The priest is following them in full priestly garment with the silver or gold casks in the hand.
You can see four white-clad male spirits holding a so-called “heaven” above the priest’s head, while all spirits
arrange themselves before him in rows, following the well-known procession banner. The procession
commences with the customary procession ceremonies. Not even the bells are missing; a crucifix is carried in
front of the heaven and the well- known “Holy, holy, holy is our Master God Zebaoth”, is sung and prayed by the
whole procession.

Look, the procession is now advancing towards a small hill. We shall follow it there. This hill is rather deceptive,
for he cannot be scaled as easily as one would think at first glance.

The road to the top is the actual “Catholic way to heaven”. When one would arrive along that way on the first
height that is visible to us, you would see another, standing even higher. Would you reach the second height,
you discover a third and so it goes, depending on the state of mind of the “ascensioners”. They sometimes must
ascend more than a thousand such heights before they would reach the so-called “heavenly clouds region”.

It also often happens at such ascensions to heaven that many become tired and fed up with the long wait. Then
he would turn to a bishop and ask him how long this journey is going to last. The bishop then always answers
with a text from scripture, which goes as follows: “Who persevere until the end, shall be blessed”. At such an
answer, the procession resumes.

After they have conquered about fifty such heights, the bishop is asked whether one is not allowed to rest a bit
after such a long journey.

The bishop then answers as follows: “Pray without ceasing”. In the spiritual world, this means, that one may
never rest once you are on your way to heaven. For one must surely know that the tardy and the lukewarm shall
be spewed from God’s mouth and not be admitted to the kingdom of heaven. They therefore just have to muster
up all their strength and proceed, until they would reach the blessed gate of heaven. After such admonishing
words, the procession would proceed on their journey.

If the bishop himself would grow tired after another fifty scaling’s and his company is barely able to climb
anymore, the spiritual leader would say: Listen, sheep of my flock, we are halfway here. We shall now give God
the honour and thank Him that He has helped us to reach this point.

They would then stop there, kneel and thank God as the bishop has told them; firstly, God the Father, then the
Son and finally also God the Holy Spirit.

After the whole company has been revived a little by this, the procession is off again. If the bishop would notice
that his own feet would not allow him to climb the following hills as easily without resting anymore, he would
immediately proclaim that a “Calvary station” shall be the order at every forthcoming height. He would then have
a rest himself, at every such occasion. When the twelve, or in a worse case, fourteen stations have been
reached and the successive, increasingly steeper heights have no end in sight, the order is issued that a rosary
must be prayed at every successive, forthcoming height. When the rosary is also exhausted this way and no end
is to be seen yet of the increasingly steeper heights, everybody turns to the priest, asking him what it might
mean that no end has been reached despite his commands.

Then the bishop would say: Yes, dear sheep of my flock, only here the moment have arrived, where violence is
needed for the kingdom of heaven;?who would pull it to himself with violence, shall possess it. The priest then
also ordains that a psalm of David should be prayed at every newly scaled height. As such, the procession would
then tediously press on.

Because our whole company is admitted, we also try to enter through this holy gate. “Peter”

and “Michael” have left the gate open for us, for they indeed know what we came to do here.

You know the various portrayals of heaven doing the rounds in especially the Catholic Church. If you are not
initiated into these portrayals, you would be properly initiated here. Look ahead; we are approaching the first
portrayal while we follow our company.

What do you see in front of us, not too far away? You say: we see in the broad background an exceptionally
beautiful palace where words can be seen, formed with glowing words. If we see it correctly, there is written:
“Abraham’s dwelling”.

I say: Good. What more do you see? You say: We see the building surrounded by a very big and roomy garden
which seems to begin only a few steps from us.

This is truly wonderful; we see an almost endless table, laden with the most delicious food and if we see right,
we discover many guests, seated on both sides of the table, already happily dining. We see a multitude of
beings diligently serving them and the guests are interacting with great interest with these serving beings about
some or the other subject.
I say: You see it very well. We shall therefore immediately join our company in the garden, who are already
headed for the table and see what shall transpire at the table.

Look, Peter and Michael now assign a seat to everyone and tell them: Take a seat in the heavenly realm at the
table of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and enjoy here the abundance of the fruit of your earthly works which you
have done with perseverance, out of great love for heaven and in honor of God. The company gets seated at the
table with radiating countenances and soon begin to lividly consume the food and drink. We shall now let our
company satisfy their hunger undisturbed and in good cheer and move on a bit.

Look, there at the end of this almost infinitely long table sit Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in their full glory and very
close to us is a guest, engaged in conversation with a table servant. What would they discuss? Let us go a bit
closer, then we shall hear.

Listen what do our already overly satisfied guest, who, according to your reckoning of time, is saying to the table
servant: Best friend, for how long, shall this banquet last? The servant answers the guest: Most dear friend, why
do you ask me? The guest answers, a bit embarrassed: Good friend, I would not have asked you, yes, if I were
still on earth, I would certainly have thought that I would commit a sin by asking such a question, but because I
am now in heaven where one cannot sin anymore, I do know that such a question is no sin anymore.

Look, we are together, so keep looking; the company who walked away, have come to the border of the big
garden. It is surrounded by a transparent wall which is, as you can convince yourselves, apparently a very
beautiful decoration for the garden; but because it is transparent, he has the fatal attribute that one can see
through it into a terrible abyss.

Our guests would dearly want to go further and would be able to climb over the wall without any trouble, but this
known, fatal situation curbs such an endeavor. We see our whole company standing at the wall, flustered; none
of the guests know what should be done next. You can also see that several table servants are approaching
them, while a leader of the servants comes to the timid company, addressing them as follows: Dear friends and
brothers, what have you done now? The company answers: Forgive us, dear friends, we have done nothing else
but what we felt inside of us to be an urgent need of life. We can assure you from our innermost urge to live, that
his heaven, of which nature is too familiar to us, impossibly can be, and therefore we tried to become active.

The first table servant says: I certainly do understand that the extended sitting and continuous eating, as well as
the constant monotonous gazing upon your godly trinity, is becoming boring to you, but if you would think back
on your lives, you indeed never have prayed for anything else but for “the eternal rest” and for an “eternally
shining light”, and also to the satisfied at “the table of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the heavenly realm” and to
get to see God, who “lives in the eternally inaccessible light” face to face. Since you have now received all these
literally and faithfully, why are you not satisfied with it?

The guest who acts as speaker, says: Best friend, I shall answer you on behalf of the whole company; be
therefore gracious to listen to us. We have on earth believed everything strongly and certainly which our church
has presented to us. We have thought to ourselves: If we would live mindfully and strictly according to the
teaching of the church, being active in the faith according to the love that activates this faith, then we cannot go
wrong or fail at all, for we would be constantly in possession of the Holy Spirit. Well, we have truly achieved
everything which the church has taught us and which we unfailingly have believed.

But alas, another light has dawned upon us after we have achieved everything we have believed and because of
this light, we have come to suspect that there must exist some other kind of heaven somewhere, for the heaven
we are in now, is in fact literally and figuratively spoken, nothing but purest imprisonment. What is the eternally
well-provided table good for, what for the eternal beholding of the three Godly persons, if no benevolent action is
ever taken over the ages? And then, do not blame me, best friend: to sit forever! This thought must bring every
timid spirit to desperation at some point!

We must admit that sitting does not cause any pain as is the case upon earth. It also is in no way unpleasant to
be constantly in very amicable and pious company; we also very much liked to see the Godly trinity. The food
and drink are so tasty that it does not offend our palates or our stomachs. We even hear lovely, pleasant singing,
beautiful to the ear, among the many guests at the table.

Look, this would all be good and well, but if you would think, best friend, that the terrible eternity would consist of
this, then you just have to, if you have only a little bit of living, humane feeling inside of you, hesitate in the
depths of your souls. For, as one was wont to say upon earth, it is logical and true that life is a freely moving
power. Look, we feel this power inside ourselves, but despite this living feeling, we must sit at the table forever!
Is this not directly in opposition to the concept of life?

Above all, I have to, based on my experiences gained upon earth, add another remark and I believe that you
would easily gather from this just how unnatural this heaven is regarding the human feeling. When I was upon
earth still a very livid young man of about thirty years, being unmarried, I met a maiden by chance, and being a
heavenly beauty to me, I said in my heart: My God and My Lord, if you would give me this girl to be my wife, I
would be more content with that than if you would give me immediately, free access to heaven! I have made a
vow in my heart that this heavenly angel should become my wife. After this oath, I did everything possible to
make her mine. It cost me much effort and exertion, but I thought: the harder I shall have to fight for this earthly
angel, the happier I would be the day on which I can have her. Yes, my fantasy got so far that I even imagined
that when this female angel would stand before me forever, and I can look at her from head to toes, I would
never be able to get enough of her.

And look, after almost two years of bitter struggle, have this angel truly become my wife. Truly, at first, I could
barely believe that I have been the happy one who now had the full right to say to this angel: My beloved wife! I
was overjoyed! But look, after about two years I have become so accustomed to this angel that it often cost me
much self-denial to stay, at least out of decency and honor, with her at home. At first, I also was so jealous in my
heart, that I would be able to be angry at a true angel from heaven if he would dare to come near my heavenly
ideal. But after two years, I must admit to you to my shame, I would often be glad if my heavenly ideal would now
and then go for a visit, that I would find some time to walk for a bit in the free, Godly nature.

And look, already then, I thought to myself: My God and Lord, if this is how heaven is going to be, it will certainly
not attain to human needs.

Yet, I also thought: If heaven would be such eternal monotony, then God shall change the emotions of an
immortal spirit to such an extent that this eternal monotony should provide unspeakable bliss. Now I have tasted
the true heaven and I tell you, it fares no hair better; to the contrary, it is even considerably worse than my
earthly heaven was. If the Master will not remove the fatal feeling of boredom from my body, especially in view of
the eternal monotony, I would much rather be a wood chopper upon earth. For best friend, I tell you again, the
idea that everything one enjoys here would last forever without change is horrible.

The table servant says: Dear friend, I understand only too well what you want to tell me, but I do not understand
why you have, during your earthly life, have made for yourself any other image of heaven, while you have indeed
often read the letters of Paul. “Tell me, what would you think about it when you read: “As the tree falls, so it lays!”
You are pulling up your shoulders and do not know what to answer me. But I tell you, that the tree represents
exactly your faith and means nothing more than: as you believed, so it shall be for you! As is the faith, such is the
insight;?from the insight comes the motivation to action; as the motivation to action is, such is the love, which is
the actual life.

Look, as such have all of you believed in a heaven, as it is laid out before you and you have acted quite well to
obtain this heaven. As the tree in the earthly life fell, so it lays according to your inner experience in the spirit. It is
impossible for me to give you another heaven than what you have given unto yourselves, for it is written in
Scripture: “The kingdom of God does not come with outer show, but it is inside of you”.

This present heaven is, therefore, a product of the inner conviction of your faith. What do you want to do now?
Can you do away with your faith?

Can you become Lutheran or perhaps purely Evangelical?

The guest says: Best friend, may the holy trinity save us from that, for that would finally take us to hell.

The table servant says: then what do you want? Then nothing remains for you but to stay here in the most
perfect rest forever.

The guest says: Best friend, what do you think? Would we be able to return to the place where we suddenly
came to after our death? I would much rather be there and do whatever would be prescribed to me. Short and
sweet, I would do anything which is helpful to others to earn meager food. I feel that this would be much better
for me than to sit here forever!

The servant says: Yes, yes, dear friend, I do understand it all just as well as you do; I do not only understand, as
I have said before, why did you never want to come to a better concept of heaven, while you often sat through a
lengthy mass, being utterly bored, intensely waiting on the ending of the Mass.

The guest says: Best friend, I do admit that you have guessed correctly; thus, it has been with me often. I have
often and faithfully confessed that transgression, but could never completely get rid of it! The priest has
explained to me that it was the malignant work of the devil, which I had to work on, exerting much self-denial to
try to convince myself of the pleasantness of the Holy Mass, but all my efforts were sadly ineffective. I did pray
all the communal prayers in a good Mass hall and kept myself focused as much as possible, but I just could not
bring myself to at the end be disappointed for the Mass service to be over. In fact, I was always very relieved
inside when I could get out of church. In summer, if it was not too hot and the Mass service was accompanied by
good choir music, things were better; but in the winter, best friend, I must honestly admit it, I often imagined it as
a kind of purgatory cleansing us from our sins, therefore, all but an apparition of heaven. The heavenly
monotony which I assumed while living on earth and the idea that it seemed acceptable as it is taught to us now,
was because my life was full of many eventualities and various activities, still full of diversity.

But here, where all diversity has been destroyed at once, where there is no more night, nothing to do, eternal
loafing, the same unchanging prospect, look, only here we see how terribly boring it is. Therefore, I ask you,
speak on our behalf to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and ask them if they would want to give us something to do,
or, as previously said, allow us to descend again into the lower region where we at least can find something to
do, for here we cannot stand it any longer!

The table servant says: but what do you want then? And what below?

Have you not believed on earth and said: The Lord God Zebaoth is an almighty God and do not need the help of
men? He only let them work upon earth out of His mercy, to have heaven as reward. But here, in His kingdom,
all work would cease! Look, this was what you believed, so what do you want to do here in the face of the Godly
omnipotence? Would He need your service?

Now, look! The table servant removes himself and our company put their heads together. This would mean in the
spiritual realm: they become of one mind. Where are they at now? Have a bit more patience, we shall soon see.
The one who first have spoken to the table servant and who once was a farmer on earth, shall soon step forward
and make a proposal to the whole company. You would like to hear it, but I tell you: things cannot happen so
quickly in the spirit. The ability to absorb of a spirit in its most pure and perfect condition does indeed work
blindingly fast for your perception, but that of a more imperfect spirit, in contrast much more tedious and slow.
You ask: why so? This is indeed easy to grasp: because the spirit has nothing to back up against. It’s only
possession is its inner world.

A perfect spirit has the perfect good and truth in him in endlessly great abundance, that is why he can absorb
spiritual truth and goodness in himself at such astonishing speed. A less perfect spirit has nothing but
misconceptions in him. If he would want to gain the good and fully truthful progress, he first must acknowledge
his misconceptions, remove it from himself and therefore plunge into utter poverty, becoming a true poor of spirit.
Only in this poverty, or complete spiritual emptiness, the Godly spark would become free in him - which is the
Loving Kindness; It begins to spread Itself and fills up the previous spiritual void with new light. Only in this light
does the spirit’s ability to absorb, increasingly become more perfect. Thus, you see our company having some
trouble to get rid of the picturesquely portrayed image of heaven.

They still see everything they have seen from the beginning. This shows that their inner sensitivity towards the
true and the good have not yet changed much. You would like to know the reason for it since the table servant
indeed did rub the company the truth under their noses, as you are used to saying.

I tell you, there often is some reason to give for this; all these Catholic heavenly heroes are in being nothing
other than blind skeptics.

Skepticism is what a wood beetle is to the trees: if only one small little place would be less resistant, and it will
be used to reproduce it’s damaging, reproducing insect of truth, which can finally annihilate great forests with
trees full of life and knowledge.

You ask: Best friend, what then is the dangerous point with this company? I tell you: the fact is barely worth the
attention, but the sceptic, gnawing at all the fibers of the tree of life and knowledge, brings an insignificant little
fact under a microscope and then discovers in this insignificant little fact mountains of discrepancies, which do
not want to be reconciled with the natural image of the surface of the living wood.

The cause is that these skeptics keep on focusing on this insignificant little point, where none of them gets the
idea to lift their gaze from the microscope of their minds over the edges of this point, where they would be able to
see how this uneven point does unite with the living wood.

For you to see what this point consists of, I want to draw your attention to what the table servant has,
superficially seen, mangled the quoted texts somewhat. You have heard the correction thereof during the
conversation. The table servant has seemingly taken a text of Paul and have put it in John’s mouth. Because the
speaker and some others in the company are well versed in scriptures, it struck them and this is then the reason
why they are putting their heads together.

Our speaker has immediately and secretly shown them this and said: My dear, blessed friends, if this table
servant had been comfortable in Godly truth, then he would not have so easily swapped Paul for John. He has
clearly put something in the mouth for John, which only Paul has said and this is enough for me to assume that
this servant is not really versed in the actual Godly truth. We, therefore, do not have to pay earnest heed to
everything which he said.

I believe this heaven is, in fact, the true and perfect heaven, but that the story and teaching of the imprisonment
at the table are in my opinion only the guess of the table servant, which has led us completely around the bush.
We are free and can go and sit at the table whenever we want, but we can also come to wander around in this
big garden if we want to. I am also of the opinion that we are free to have a look at that beautiful palace there
behind the big, long table and even live in it, for the Master indeed have said: “In My Father’s kingdom are many
dwellings!”

There could be a great number of dwellings in such an exceptionally big palace. It could also very well be
possible that there would be an enormous amount of such palaces further on. I do think that we, therefore, do
not need to wait upon this staunch bible servant, but that we could go immediately to that great palace as we see
fit. We are here indeed not able to sin anymore; therefore, we can do whatever we want to!

Look, the whole company is acting on his resolve and go to the walled-in palace. But take notice, a very
important scene is going to unfold suddenly, for the company is soon going to face a crevice which would lead to
the table. No one will be able to put a foot over the crevice and if one would look down, an immensely deep
crevice will gape at him.

Look, the company arrives at the destined place; the eloquent leader is first. A few steps and he shrinks back,
screaming: In God’s Name, what is this!! Have a look here, it is an abyss that seems as if it is leading directly
into hell! No, when I would meet our table servant again, I will certainly make him understand just how familiar he
is with this heavenly geography. Has he not said before, when he loosened the cloud surface behind me a bit,
that the ground of this great garden is everywhere evenly solid? And now we see here to our great astonishment
this terrible abyss!

Someone of the company goes to the speaker, saying with emphasis: Brother, not so loud, for then the table
servant could tell you that you are not well versed in the Holy Scripture. Look, I now know to give better advice.
This must be the abyss which Abraham has spoken about with the rich man who begged him for a drop of water
and some more. This abyss has probably been preserved as a witness. Since we are not able to go over the
abyss, sounding rather peculiar for us “blessed spirits”, we should retrace our steps and unobtrusively take our
seats at the table again.

The first speaker says: Brother, you are right, so it shall be.

Therefore, I suggest, like all the others, to immediately follow your advice. Well, the company makes a right turn
and go back as they came. But look, another huge problem awaits; another great abyss has formed behind them
and our poor company now stand so to say between two fires and have scarcely a few meters broad landstrip to
reach the table with.

But listen to our speaker’s words when he sees the second abyss. It is as follows: Oh, oh, for God’s sake! What
is this for heavenly villainy?

Does it close up like this in heaven? This is nothing but a cunning trick of our praise-worthy table servant. He has
listened to our conversation from some or the other secret hideaway and then formed these abysses by means
of some spiritual magic abilities at his disposal and now we stand here stranded. He does not let himself be
seen; I think that he must have become suspicious regarding our condition. Truly, if this scoundrel would come
here, I would even take hold of him with my heavenly arms. These two abysses are truly something horrible. If
we weren’t so cautious, one or the other of us certainly would have laid, God knows where, somewhere below!
He continues: dear friends and now my heavenly brothers and sisters, I initially said, and I’m sticking to it, that
this heaven is nothing but trickery. The table servant has bedeviled us all; we have been duped with this journey
and our heavenly hopes are thwarted. The only thing that is still missing, is another small abyss across, and we
would all sit in the most heavenly pickle!

Another one reprimands him: Brother, not so loud! Have you never heard the old adage on earth: if you speak of
the devil, you trample on his tail?

Our servant who arrogated himself to play this joke on us could very well come to the idea to draw another line
through our table bill. Therefore, I would think that we should peacefully and modestly pass along this landstrip
to the table, otherwise it very well could happen that we will have to be subject to a hunger treatment here. I
believe, even if one cannot really sin in heaven, it still might not be right to act out of own volition. It might very
well be that there would be some kind of heavenly punishment for disobedient heavenly spirits. No mortal
obviously knows anything about it, but as you and everyone all know, we could not get to know anything
concrete about heaven and therefore we are only now getting to know the rules pertaining to this.

I believe we must show penance before the holy trinity here, to find forgiveness for our transgression.

The speaker says: Best brother, I cannot say you are wrong in any way, but to me it seems as if these
circumstances look like the fables of the old Romans about the so-called Scylla and Charybdis, therefore am I of
the opinion that we will have no victory in any way in this presentation of heaven. Should we stay here, we face
hunger; do we reach the table, it would mean to again sit for eternity eating and drinking. I say: whoever wants to
go back to the table, let him try his luck, as long as he is not met with an abyss in front of him. I stay right here
and will not give one step before the table servant returns, as he has promised, and shall give me a satisfactory
explanation regarding the origin of these crevices.

Look, a group walks along the land strip and pass without problems. At closer investigation, our speaker wants to
follow the group. He joins up with the rest of the company which stayed behind. But look, he indeed finds on his
way the expected perpendicular crevice which he cannot jump over.

Listen how this inhabitant of heaven expresses himself with powerful wording about this heavenly event and say:
Now, there you have it! Just as I have thought; it indeed is a heaven for me, one could not wish for anything
better! Dear brothers and friends, this now is the so-called heavenly joy! I must honestly admit that I have been,
for as long as I have lived upon earth, in any greater and more fatal embarrassment as in this resort of bliss.

If I think back to all I have done upon earth to deserve this heaven!

How many times I have fasted; how many hundreds, yes, thousands of rosaries I have prayed; how many
Masses I have paid and with how many I have attended with full attention; how many poor I have fed my whole
life through, while I myself was a poor farmer! Yes, I honestly must admit that I have allowed myself to have the
wool be pulled over my eyes for this heaven. And now I and all of you are enjoying this promising reward and
this on a few squares size place bordered with three crevices, from where we can indeed see the holy trinity until
our eyes would fail, but from where we cannot move, for then we would soon end up laying below, God knows
where! The only thing missing is for this small square of heavenly ground to slowly sink down into the abyss.
Then nothing would remain for God to do than to have the fortune to sink down with us, God only knows where,
or we would find ourselves upon the wall, balancing ourselves between two abysses, as long as the wall does
not sink away as well. No, best friends, if I would only think of the truly tedious way the priest has led us along a -
to me - rather suspect road since we arrived in the spiritual world and what exertion it cost us afore we have
reached the golden gate of heaven, then I want to blow up out of pure vexation, for down there, we would have
fared much better than here!

Now look, the closer the vessel is coming to the shore, the better the speaker recognizes his table servant which
he still remembers well. He, therefore, turns to his company, saying: look there, if this is not our fair table
servant, then our wet surface is no water. Oh, it is him; his whole mannerism, his face, his long blonde hair. Short
and sweet, the closer we get, the better I recognize him! If I had just a little omnipotence, I would like to send him
a little thunderstorm. Since I cannot do this, I would still, when we are together again, strike him with some well-
chosen, sharp words from my mouth. I just cannot believe that in the spiritual realm, that is, up in the suspect
heaven and here below upon land, can be found two spirits looking exactly alike, like two drops of water. We
shall, therefore, pretend as if we have never seen him, but we shall wait to hear what he shall say when all are
on land. If he says nothing, I shall start a conversation with him and determine whether he is the table servant or
not! Someone from the company says to the speaker:?listen, friend, suppose that this spirit, who clearly is
waiting for us, is our known table servant, then I think very much different from you about the way we should
interact with him, best friend and brother. Look, it indeed was indeed fully you and our will to get out the previous
sitting, eating and yawning heaven. The servant has ensured you that if I’m right.

It does not surprise me that he did not come to us up there, for, allow me, he has retreated after his departure,
due to him quoting the wrong text and secondly have none of us, exactly, for this reason, heeded to his advice
about our code of conduct. That he has left us to our own devices and have brought us into great
embarrassment, I find, noting that we have truly treated him rather brutishly, that we got what we deserved. The
fact that we have been miraculously saved and is unscathed, he is probably to be thanked for, and I believe we
should let go of our thunderstorm, our sharp words, and clever approach. He might again find a way to forget us
again and to loosen the land, which is already so close, again just like up there in heaven.

The speaker says: very much esteemed friend and brother, in all goodness, you are right. I have been a bit
heated, but your words have brought soberness to me again. This servant could very well have been an angel in
disguise, although I have not seen any wings on him, but he could keep them under his garment. If this is so,
may the holy trinity be with me, then I would certainly fare badly, for such an angel has to be terribly strong. I was
once told by a truly pious spiritual that such an angel could, with his enormous power, easily split the earth in two
with just one blow of his great flaming sword. If we should treat him here a bit too gruffly it could very well later
be revealed that he may have underneath his garment, besides his wings, also a strong flaming sword. I do not
want to talk any more about all that he could do in the light of our utter weakness.

The other says: Yes, yes, best friend and brother, again you are right in this. Even if he does not seem to be so
well versed in the Holy Scripture, he could still be a real angel; therefore, we shall meet him in great humility.

A third one in the company remarks: Listen, brothers, six eyes do see better than two! I believe we should not
make any ruckus pertaining to the Holy Scripture and the text mingling, or rather the changing of names.

How can we know what place the Godly word has with heavenly spirits and especially with angels, how he read
and understand it? It could very well be that John indeed has made this proclamation about Christ, but that it
was not written down; also, according to many traditions have, as far as I know, also a whole letter of Paul got
lost to the world. Such things would not get lost in heaven. Therefore, do I think, as already said, that we should
act with much more modesty, because of our ignorance regarding these things. You know that I was on earth a
priest myself and even a doctor in theology and have consoled myself with the thought that if such a lost part
had been imperative to the salvation of man, the Master would never have allowed it to get lost. I also think that
such a document must be present in heaven for the sake of a higher spiritual purpose, in the purest form. Look,
also the speaker and all the others are fully content with this proposal.

Our vessel has in the meantime arrived at the shore and the whole company of more than a hundred men, step
on shore where the table servant stand waiting for them and receive them with open arms. Our speaker goes to
him with reverence, asking him: Is it you, or is it not you? The table servant says: Yes, it is me! We have met
here again, as I have made known to you up there already. You and your company have not kept to my
prerequisites, so I had to alter mine according to the degree that you have deviated from them. Yet, I do want to
free you from the apparent heaven.

Therefore, have I, according to you changing measure, took another way to take you and your company from the
apparent heaven.
You ask me what the highly wondrous meaning would be of such a peculiar journey and you also ask me what
the conspicuous meaning would be between the solidity shown at the table and the complete collapse of the
heaven shortly after. For such a thing in its natural meaning would be flagrant trickery. I tell you: all this has its
meaning in your inner being, for when I, still at the table, have shown you the solidity of your heaven, I show you
nothing other but the still solid foundation of your heaven which was based on misconceptions.

But, when you began to feel in my vicinity the imperfection and repugnant folly of your heaven, you rose yourself
up from the center of your deception and flee with many whom, secretly prompted by me, have shared your
insights. At the utmost border or your deception, I have shown you everything which still binds you to your foolish
heaven. You had to take notice of it, but even at the edge of your deception have you held onto it and did not
want to see what I have said to you. You wanted, therefore, to proceed in your deception. Not I, but the word I
have spoken to you, have loosened your deception despite your will to follow your own way, causing many rips
to open in many places, through which you could easily see the completely wrong foundation of your apparent
heaven. You, being too weak still, was separated from it by a new crevice and as such, you got properly caught.

Because this caused your deception to sink away, even more, you fled over the wall with your company. This
wall was the Godly Word which still hung in you, but its fragments were still completely incomprehensible to you,
rendering it powerless for you and your company. It seemed to give way and fell with you into the depth the
Word, which has busied only your minds up till then and a small part fell into the living depths of your hearts.

You soon saw water beneath you, threatening to devour you. But the water was nothing other than the visible
wisdom of insight, which is hidden in the insignificant fragment of the Word, falling into your depth. With this
“Word wall” in your heart, you have soon reached the great, glistening sea of insight and the Word became to
you and all of you, a certain vessel over the infinite river of Godly insight, which also lies hidden in the small
fragment of Word. When you secretly began to absorb the Word more and more in yourself, it carried you to the
extent of your increasing capacity to absorb more, ever closer to the solid shore of life. You could not reach it
before the word have completely conquered the sense of superiority of your heart. The Word has won and
therefore have you arrived at the solid shore.

Do think back to the silly speeches, which all were a product of your good-natured superficiality; then you shall
easily see how improbable and empty all your concepts about God and heaven has been. Only now do you find
yourself on the first, true ground of the Word; search therefore on this ground, then you shall, just like your
company, get to know God and heaven from a completely different viewpoint.

Our speaker says to his company: now this is just too curious! Up till now, I have always believed that spirits
could only vanish so instantly for people on earth, but for spirits to become invisible to spirits is something
completely new to me. Whoever can tell me how this spirit, which undoubtedly has to be an angel, could vanish
from before our eyes so instantly, knows more than me. By my poor life! I believe man would rather be able on
earth to take a bite off the moon than to find an answer to this question. Another one answers him: Best friend, I
do not find it as strange, for I have often heard upon earth that spirits could travel as fast as lightning. Because
this angelic spirit has vanished so quickly from before our eyes, is nothing but a clear confirmation of what we
have often heard on earth.

A third one says: Best friends, this is all good and well regarding our table servant being an angel, but for such
an instantaneous flight he certainly had to put his wings in motion. As long as I do not see wings on an angel, I
do not believe that it is an angel, for all pious people on earth always would have seen angels with wings, which
always was only possible in a condition of so- called spiritual rapture, therefore, always with the spiritual eyes. If
pious people always have seen angels with wings, why not us, who are now indeed completely spirit?

The first speaker says: Best friend, I must honestly tell you that such a desire comes forth from a very weak
spiritual attitude. Everyone knows that wings only depict great velocity and is as such only an apparition. Such a
spirit can therefore very well be an angel without having a visible pair of wings. The most notable is, as I have
already said, that the one spirit can become invisible to the other spirit. It does not even phase me that we, being
spirits, cannot proceed as fast as our table servant, for one certainly need some practice for it; one keep learning
like that! But as I said, I cannot let go of the vanishing. Enough of it. When we shall meet him again, as he said,
he shall explain it to us.

Let us rather take in this truly wondrously beautiful environment;?truly, to me, it certainly is a thousand times
more beautiful than our previous exalted heaven. I would like to live here and become a happy farmer over there
on the mountains. Just look at the lush grass, the magnificent trees, the beautiful lane with trees, which seems to
have the noblest kind of fruit; and then also the little brooks. Look there, in front of us, how this vast, beautiful
plain is encompassed with glistening mountain ridges and how these mountains are without exception adorned
with wonderfully beautiful palace-like buildings. If my eyes do not deceive me, then I also see on the nearby
mountains those white-clad beings wandering about in the palaces. This suits me well! This environment looks
much more like a heaven than the one where we had to stay seated as gluttonous polyps.

Yes, this is exceptionally beautiful. The trinity is indeed nowhere to be seen, but this whole environment is
instead illuminated by a brilliant sun. If can be honest, I must admit that I can easily miss out on gazing upon the
trinity in the view of this splendor; but instead, another idea just came to me.

It would be, in addition to all the beauty, the pinnacle of all joy to me if we could meet Christ the Master here
somewhere, just like when He lived on earth and taught His disciples. For there is yet another thing which I must
honestly admit to you: it is indeed something exalted to gaze upon the Godly trinity, but I would be an infamous
liar in the depths of my heart if I would allege that It has given me any measure of a warm feeling of love. I have
indeed forced myself to it as much as possible, but I failed to encompass the three personalities in equal
measure with my love.

For would I like the Father, then I could not like the Son at the same time. When I discovered this in myself, I
thought that the Father, as well as the Son, could have taken it badly. Would I only want to like the Son, then I
asked myself whether the Father would have been content with it?

I also must honestly admit that my inner struggle to love the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, was futile. I could
just as well have loved a piece of wood, rather than this third, highly impersonal Godly person.

The Holy Spirit goes the least of my loving thoughts because I could never fathom His being and imagine myself
anything of Him. Father and Son are closer to my heart; If there would not have been two, but only the one or the
other, then I would have been able to like either the one or the other.

I did, in fact, had secret thoughts that if Christ would for once descend from His high throne and go somewhere
where I could find Him alone, I would indeed be able to love Him from the depth of my heart, but with my still
much too inadequate love for the inaccessible light, I could not, as said, approach either the Son or the Father in
their inaccessible light.

I find it completely unnatural to focus love, whether spiritual or physically, on something in infinity, for love desires
an attainable object - to love something unattainable, is absolute folly to me.

When I was still on earth, I once wanted to see if I could fall in love with a beautiful star. I have watched such a
star for lengthy periods and have forced my heart as much as I could; but do you think that I could foster true
love in me for that star, like for a good friend, or a sympathetic female friend? Oh, I never could do that!

See, as such have they arrived all together and our alleged “table servant” ask our speaker how they liked the
journey hereto and what they have discussed. Our speaker says: Dear friend and brother of a certain high office,
I tell you, an old adage says: Much bleating, little wool! As such it was with us. We have talked about many
insignificant things among us which would all taken together, would add but little weight to the balance of truth. I
reckon therefore that it would not be necessary to repeat our folly, which you could have read from our faces.
Except for a subject which is certainly not important just because I have spoken it, but because it is important.

The alleged table servant asks the speaker: of what would the meaningful subject consists? Look, we still have
quite a distance to cover to the palace; you can just as well tell me. Our speaker says: Best friend and brother if
you want to patiently listen to me, I would really like to tell you what the most important subject to me and my
whole company, consists of. You give me a gesture and say I can speak;?therefore, I shall bring everything I can
find in myself, openly to the fore. I had already on earth such fantastical imaginations, but they were nothing but
flighty, passing fantasies which always were, as was appropriate, make place for my Catholic faith. My fantasies
consist and currently exist even stronger than before, of the following: Firstly was the - for me - always so highly
exalted, incomprehensible trinity, to which I was never able to lift up the love of my heart completely, regardless
of what I do or want. I, in fact, fostered a pitiful fear, together with an immense holy awe. That was the extent of
what I could feel for the holiest, triune Being. I could impossibly bring my heart to do more.
If I consider that man should love God above all and that with all of his life’s power and I ask myself: It is thus
with you, or do you indeed like your wife, children and friends deep in your heart, not obviously more than the
holiest trinity? The unambiguous answer would always arise in me that I love my wife, children and many of my
friends much more than the holy trinity. Yes, I must add, to be honest, that I could not understand how it could be
possible for man to love this trinity. The more I focus my love on the greatest, the more I became aware that man
is not capable to muster up the love unto all the great ones. I also have tried to do this by means of various
fantasies.

I once thought to myself: would you be able to love a beautiful woman if she would be the size of a church
steeple? I have imagined such a woman for myself as vividly as possible and heaven would know how it
happened, whether my imagination has done it, or if it was some or the other spirit - nevertheless, I really saw
such an immense female figure.

For what I could remember, once could truly call this figure beautiful, but instead of love awakening in my heart,
a hellish fear has taken hold of me.

By this, it became clear to me that the human heart is not capable to love excessively big things, but that it
becomes unsettled by it, like a timid child who would see an armored hero for the first time.

I have likewise asked my heart if I would be able to love a mountain or the whole earth. I have tried to kindle all
my love in my heart for it, but it went with me like a man without much strength or power, having to pick up an
exceptionally heavy anvil. In this effort, I have imagined myself a great hero and thought to myself: he had to
love the earth very much since he has fought so mightily to own her. But then my heart told me:?these heroes
did not love the earth, but only themselves; they do not want to be fathers, but only masters and rulers upon
earth. When I discovered that, I had my principle confirmed, even more, that man could never encompass a too
great love. Likewise, have I tried to fall in love with a star. This also did not go, for it was too far away and felt
with this love like a fish on dry ground, gasping for water but not getting any. With such strange examples of love
have I often investigated my heart, but it never came to anything.

As said, it does not fare one hair better with me regarding the holiest trinity; in fact, much worse. For regarding
the named love tests, I had no fear other than for the gigantic female appearance. Yet I have always had an
immense fear for the trinity, because I have only known the holiest Being through my faith as a relentless, strict
judge, having only mercy for people during their short life upon earth on the premise of strict repentance. Once a
man has died, this limited mercy comes to an end for eternity and nothing awaits man but eternal damnation and
in the most fortunate case, the terrible purgatory. There is no talk of heaven before the last judgment. When it
finally takes place, not a single angel would know. A long time of bliss has indeed been promised sometime after,
but indeed one as we have just tried out.

If you, best friend, could bind this all together, firstly the most curious, mysterious, unfathomable Being of God’s
tri-unity, secondly the unspeakable and relentless strictness of this Being as judge, thirdly the hell, purgatory and
the last judgement and then also fourthly, the eternal yawn- and gobble-heaven accompanied by eternal rest,
then I would like to know the heart who shall be able to embrace with the greatest effort and fiery love such a
pitiable God.

I am done with number one; but best friend, it is followed by a not much better number two, which is the no less
mysterious most holy altar sacrament. At this stage, I do want to draw your attention to a rather silly idea of mine.
Look, our doctrine teaches that the “monastery hostie”

(sacramental bread - translator), to infallibly and irrefutably be the perfect Godhead. There are many more
churches and each church has many more monastery hosties. When various priests would read the mass
simultaneously and have not consecrated everything simultaneously, friend, then it often cost me quite a struggle
to imagine the actual Godly Being in every hostie, and indeed perfectly and undivided. But how do I fare with
such a thought?

Truly, I could not shake the idea of multiple gods from me, especially if I would think about and see with my own
eyes the displayed holy of holies, in which the presence of the perfect God resided; then a still perfect God,
showed by multiple priests as incarnated, in which I could also unavoidably not shake off the idea of multiple
gods - more than a hundred - with the use of the full communion ceremony.
You can imagine my state of heart, especially if I would want to embrace this hostie with my love. At the sight of
many, I could impossibly imagine only one; I was thus forced to love none. I could feel the most sincerity towards
the monstrance since it stayed the same. This is yet the very least of my folly, but another thought wanted to take
hold of me and I could never process it.

I do implore you to not laugh at me if I would tell you.

Look, our company looks with admiration to the gate, for it is made of shining gold and the border is set with
diamonds and rubies. The speaker immediately says to the alleged table servant: but best friend, this is way too
much of the good; when I see these, I could allege that the worth of this gate would truly surpass all treasures
and riches of the whole earth. For to begin with is the height of the gate at least about three klafter and truly
massive. I am omitting the worth of the gold, but the fist-size diamonds and rubies, oh heavenly goodness!

The richest Caesar would not be able to buy one, but here are easily a few hundred! For what purpose then such
extravagance? The alleged table servant says: Best friend, it is good as it is. There is no waste with God.

Have you ever counted the stars in heaven, everyone shining with its own light and of whom some are more
than a million times bigger than the earth you lived upon? Would you not also want to say: to what purpose such
an extravagance of suns in the immeasurable universe?

Look, the Master is rich enough and His treasures are immeasurable, therefore would this little adornment not
count to be extravagance in the least. The adornment of this entrance gate is very practical and meaningful,
letting you see how much true faith and good love you possess.

The ‘golden gate’ denotes the road of your life, being the result of your true faith and active love. Let us now
enter the palace through the gate.

Look, they are going inside now. Let us go with them, to be there when a very important scene is going to play
out immediately. Now look at our speaker; he and his whole company are standing there, looking dumbfoundedly
at their surroundings. Why then? You can easily guess that because our brave speaker cannot see anything of
the whole palace anymore, for he finds himself now alongside the alleged table servant in a big, ten pillar
temples. The pillars are made of pure diamonds, the pedestal bases are of gold, the capitals of translucent gold,
the roof of rubies and the floor of pure amethyst tiles. If one would look from the temple into all directions, one
would see all around a vast, endless plain, occasionally interrupted with hills which are adorned with similar
temples. The plain itself is overgrown with beautiful fruit trees of all kinds. Everything is so well-laid out as if done
by a very famous landscape architect.

Now let us listen to what our speaker shall have to say and what answer he shall give when the alleged table
servant would ask him how he likes the palace. His answer is as follows: But best friend and brother, what is this
now for a new, heavenly trickery? In my fantasy, I have already seen the most beautiful rooms of the palace, but
we have barely entered through the gate and the whole palace was as if blown away! In place of the palace
indeed is standing here this unspeakably beautiful temple and it is surrounded in all directions one see, instead
of my fantasized palace rooms, a landscape of unspeakable beauty. No, this is once again inexplicable to me!
Whoever can explain this, had to be born at least ten thousand years before Adam, for Adam’s children are
certainly not able to bear such an apparition. Tell me best friend and brother, do you understand something of
this?

The alleged table servant says: do not worry yourself too much about it; I shall only give you a parable, which will
help you understand. Now pay attention! If you, when you still upon earth, would have looked to a grain seed,
you always saw it in its simple form. You take the grain seed and put it in the earth. The seed soon perishes and
in its stead, grows a beautiful plant from the earth, taking captive all of your attention.

Then you said: my God, how is this possible? Has all this been present in the previous seed of grain? Your
feeling and your mind told you: how would this grain of seed have developed like this if all of this was not present
in its kernel? Then you realized that the inner beauty of the grain of seed was much greater than the initial, outer,
bare form of it.

Well, best friend, has the Teacher of mankind not compared the kingdom of heaven with a little mustard seed?
You say: oh yes, this I know very well. Now pay attention: the mustard seed is the Word in its outer or literal
form, but when the Word is laid in the earth of the heart, it shoots up and becomes a tree in which the birds of
the heaven lives. What then does the tree depicts? The tree means the inner, spiritual of the outer Word, and the
birds mean the heavenly, therefore the primordial state from where the Word has its origin.

The whole being of the tree as such depicts the wisdom coming forth from the love and wisdom alone can
recognize the heavenly. Would the tree not, when it ripens, produce a thousand-fold wealth of seed? When you
would sow again such a wealth of seeds anew into your earthly domain, would it not, because you have now
sown a thousand instead of one, let a thousand more trees sprout, yielding already a significant harvest? You
say: yes, it certainly shall be so; but was such an indescribable wealth apparent to you in the first simple seed of
grain? Look, thus it is with heaven.

You cannot just get somewhere in heaven, you must create your own heaven. The seed of the kingdom of
heaven is the Word of God; whoever would take it into himself and act accordingly, have laid this heavenly seed
into his earth domain, from where the heaven shall grow like a tree.

We entered through the gate; what does it say? Nothing other than we have entered your and everyone else’s
gate, or, we have entered the inner meaning of the Word. This Word is not just an empty word, and it is not true
in the sense of when someone would say: one is one and not two, but the Word is true in its being! Everything
you see hear and still endlessly more and deeper things, are already created and present in the Godly Word, like
countless plants or trees are already present with their fruit in one single seed kernel. The only difference is that
a grain of seed only brings forth which is already present in the beginning, without any change in form, while the
Word of God, as the seed from Heaven, expresses Himself in innumerable variety. Why! because the Word of
God is a perfect seed. I think, best friend, that you when you would consider this well, shall understand this
current apparition without any trouble.

Our speaker says: Good friend, a mighty and completely new light is beginning to rise for me and all of us. If I
would now think back about my previous ideas of heaven, it looks exactly like a dream vision of the night, to
which I would sometimes think back in bright daylight. What riches must be in the whole Word of the Master if
the first sprout from the mustard seed already shows so much beauty! Yes, now I also understand the text which
says:

The kingdom of heaven does not come with outer show but is inside of you. Yes, it becomes clear to me now. I
also begin to understand why you have, up there in the apparent heaven, have seemingly ascribed a text of the
apostle Paul to John. Paul is indeed also a gate upon which the seeds of God’s Word has been applied to in full
splendor, but with John, yes with the whole John, the fullness of the Godhead in Christ radiates lividly! I mean:
Paul indeed says it in some or the other text, but it looks more like a seed. With John, it comes in its full wealth to
expression, being a plant already. Am I right?

The alleged table servant says: Yes, you are right and look, what you now see is only the first sprout. If you
would want to see the full development of this first sprout, you first have to get engrossed into your third fantasy,
then you shall in due time harvest the fruit of this glorious planting in its full ripeness!

Our speaker says: Yes, dear friend, yes, you are completely right;?the only thing I am still lacking, is indeed
nothing other than my above all beloved Christ! If only I could have Him with me, then I would want to express
my heart in a way one would barely be able to imagine.

The alleged table servant says: Do stay in this state of mind, for I tell you, you are closer to the light of your heart
than you think! Truly, if you take a strong hold on Christ, then He is with you!

Chapter 58.

Intense longing for the Lord. A test for love. The holy purpose.
The speaker says: Dear friend and brother, your last words sounds particularly comforting. Yet, I do want to
remark that the true taking hold of Christ probably could prove to be a somewhat doubtful issue, as long as He
does not stand in front of me. I have, same as my whole company, taken Him into my hearts long ago already,
but would the good Christ not allow us to have Him literally with us.

It would have been good, best friend, yes, exceptionally good, to hold on to Christ with all our might. Yes, my
whole being intensely longs for it; but He must be there, or at least be in this region if He would let us find Him.
Truly, if it would come to it, I would not care less to be thrown out of a thousand more heavens like that for the
love of Christ and with the upper heaven, it would be very different. If I could only know that I would end up every
time at the feet of Christ; but as long as I am not assured of that, does the love of Christ feel to me as I am
gasping in vain for the most blessed air of life, as if one would find himself in an atmosphere where no, or very
little air of life is present.

The alleged table servant says: do you then have too little air to breathe? You speak as if you have to gasp for
air here.

Our speaker answers: Dear friend and brother, I do hope that you have not misunderstood me, for I think that
there do exist two kinds of air of life. The air which is available in abundance is meant for the living need of the
lungs, but I do not mean this one. The heart is a higher, breathing being, which in my opinion means that it
exhales love and therefore needs to inhale love as well.

See, when I still lived upon earth as a human, I fell completely in love with a woman, as I have already said. I
had enough air to breathe in such circumstances. Would I not be close to my beloved, I would suffer from a
feeling of suffocation, despite the abundance of air for my lungs. Would I be back together with my love (forgive
me if I would now use an unpleasant expression), then would even the air around a toilet be pleasant if nothing
else would be available.

It is the same with me here and my whole company certainly does not fare one hair better than me. I tell you,
remove all these heavenly glories and replace it with a simple little farm right here where the palace stands. Give
me instead of these soft clothes a simple farmer’s outfit; Let all these lush fruit trees make way for a kind of
meagre orchard and rye and wheat fields; with this, give me Christ; then you would make me happier than when
you would add another thousand endlessly more beautiful regions to this view.

Yes, I shall tell you some more about my heart. If it would be possible to be together with Christ in the poorest
corner of the earth, even if it looks like the gate to hell or hell itself, I would still be much happier and more
blissful than without His visible, truly humane presence in the most exalted and magnificent heaven! I think, best
friend and brother, that it has been expressed now clear enough.

Our alleged table servant says: my dear friend, I have understood you very well, but it seems to me that you put
your love for Christ on the same level as your sensual, earthly love. I believe the love for the Master has to be of
a very much different character than that for a bride-to-be. Then I think that you, as long as you cannot discern
these loves from each other, you will not be able to truly love Christ. If you cannot truly love Him, I would think
that Christ would reconsider before He would appear to you or really come to you.

Our speaker says: Friend, this is easier said than done. If there would be a second love in my heart, which would
be more worthy of the Lord than what I am living now, then I would immediately let go of it. But I think that, when
I have unified all the love of my heart, also that which I once felt for my wife, and have directed all this focused
love already for a long time in secret towards the Lord, to such an extent that I can now say from the depth of my
heart: I have given Christ everything I have, then I can do for the time being, nothing more. If all this love would
be unworthy of the Lord, then I would exchange it any moment for another, more worthy love unto the Master.
Yet, I can barely believe that the Master wants us to love Him with another love than that which he had laid in our
hearts.

You ask if we should continue to follow this procession. I tell you, also this is essential. You should see it through
from the beginning to the end, for our company is now utterly amazed and completely overcome with love for the
Lord. Only at their arrival will this surge of their love be organized; and there, at the best source, shall our
speaker have many questions to ask.
It is quite prevalent among the better Roman Catholics that they would enter the kingdom of the spirits with an
exceptional longing for light and therefore also now, in the true heaven. Therefore, they would ask a thousand
questions to shine a light in all the dark corners, which have been kept dark during their physical life.

Look, we already are close to the right place. Our well-known hilly landscape is welcoming us again; the sun
stands in the heaven, radiating a wondrously beautiful, reddish light. Our company notices this and is amazed at
the simplicity of the environment laying before them.

There are the familiar houses and the already familiar residents. Look how full of joy is the Father and the other
company who are rushing to meet Him.

The Father receives them also with open arms, saying: just look how much richer I have again become! Every
worker is worthy of his reward; Look, I have also worked and brought my reward with Me. I bring you new
brothers and sisters, and they shall be around Me just like you, for My word to be fulfilled for eternity: “Where I
am shall My servants also be;?and they who love Me, shall live with Me!”

Our Master now turns to the speaker and say to him: well, My beloved friend, brother, and son, look, this is my
favorite place; how do you like it? Our speaker reprimands Him, saying: O Master, how can you ask me such?

I should rather ask You how You like it here, for as far as I am concerned would everywhere be the best where
You are and live and where it suits You the best.

Truly, it looks here like it did there on earth with our poor farmers.

What a beautiful view one has here! Down there, the vast, endless plain;?how unspeakably magnificent is she
adorned! There are cities and unbelievably beautiful palaces in inconceivably great numbers; and there seems to
be no end to the glorious hill country before us, with its friendly dwellings.

But how come does the lowland down there looks so much more beautiful than this hill country? Oh, I am such a
bungler; I only realize now that I am again losing myself in a thousand questions. Please forgive me!

The Father takes our speaker by the hand and says to Him: look, in the region down below lives many people
who have lived a righteous life solely through their faith. Among them are mainly the so-called Protestants and
other Christian sects. More to the background lives heathen who lived an upright life on earth according to their
faith and only here has received the faith in Me. There, more to the background, in the region stretching itself
between midday and evening, is the habitation of the Catholic Christians, calling themselves partly Roman and
partly Greek Catholic, but could not purify themselves completely of their deceptions here without damage to
their lives and freedom. They are in no way unhappy, but also enjoy great bliss. They too, are not at all bound to
their region, but can also make progress when they would come to the truth, through deeper awareness of it.

Look up and see the sun which looks from here as if it is hanging rather low. I am of origin, fully at home in this
sun. This sun finds himself in the eternal, firm center of My Godly Being. The rays radiating from this sun, fills in
their unique way the whole of the infinity and is nothing other but the will of My love and coming forth from it, the
eternally emanating wisdom. These rays are therefore completely alive and everywhere equal to My Being.

Everywhere where such a ray would fall, I am Myself, exactly like in the sun, fully present; not only actively, but
also personally; and this personality is everywhere the same. Wherever you would go from here, you shall find
Me perfectly at home. Enter any of these little dwellings that you see here and you can be assured that you shall
find Me in there as a perfect Master of these little homes.

You indeed now say that I am in this manner, not the actual, true Christ who walked and taught on earth, but only
a living and perfect image of Him and that I do live in the inaccessible light. You also say: if this is so, then there
is a suggestion of polytheism.

Look, beloved friend, brother, and son, you still think naturally in this respect, but when you shall think fully
internally and spiritually, shall this issue have a completely different look to you. To help you to pass over easier
from your natural mindset into the spiritual, I shall lead you by means of a natural example.

Look, on earth you see only a sun, but if you would hold a mirror in the sun, the same sun would be in the mirror
and you could impossibly allege that the sun in this mirror would be another sun than the one shining in the sky.

You say that it indeed needs to be the case. But I shall give you an even better example.

You would have heard quite often upon earth of the so-called hollow mirror. You say: Oh yes, I even had one
there. If you would capture the rays of the sun with such a mirror, you would strengthen the reflexing ray from the
mirror often more than a thousand times than the original rays of the real, natural sun.

If you would set up a thousand such mirrors in the sun, then you would see the same effect with every single
mirror. This is certain and completely true.

What is working on these mirrors? See, nothing other but still the one and same sun, which you have multiplied
with a lot of mirrors.

You now ask: shall we await also this invitation? This is completely in order, for all of this, in fact, happens to
teach you. You, therefore, must attend it till the end. You should understand ‘the end’ to be the full entering the
Godly order. But now look, the Master is coming from His dwelling and beckons us our company to come.

You ask: Shall there be space for everybody in this dwelling? I tell you: do not worry about it, for here the saying
goes: ‘many sheep go in a pen’, literally. There is thus much room for many well-ordered things. The company is
already inside the dwelling, so let us follow them.

See how everyone has been taken care of very comfortably in one room.

The Master, as you can see, has hung an apron on Himself and acts as table servant! What is served here?

We indeed have the Communion Supper before us; there is a roasted lamb, bread, and wine. See how the
Master is breaking the bread for them and puts a big chunk before everyone. You also see the chalice and all
drinks from the one chalice.

Just see how vigorous our company is beginning to look and how much thankful, loving joy is radiated towards
the Master from every face. You are used to saying: there is no skill in eating and drinking; therefore, we shall
not stay at the table forever; and the Master says: well, dear friends, brothers, and children, you have
strengthened yourselves now for the first time in My kingdom.

You now know how I am continuously, here as well as everywhere, essentially and mightily at home! When you
would go outside with Me again, I shall fully raise you unto your eternal destination.

Well, we are now gathered together in front of the house; now listen to My will:

You have already on earth heard that My harvest is great, but there are still very few workers on My field. This is
the place where you would become true workers and co-workers for bringing in My harvest and in the same
manner, your brothers have become it. You shall soon recognize all the tools belonging to a good household: a
plow, a harrow, a hoe; and here are sickles and pruning shears for the vineyard. Look around to the great acres
and those vineyards over there. See there, more to the morning is a real forest of pure, noble fruit trees.

This is the field you have to take care of, yet not in the same manner as you have done it upon earth, but in the
innermost and most living meaning. Here you shall neither plow nor harrow; you shall not harvest any wheat,
work no vines and harvest no fruits, but everything here is only a true, inner image of the work of love which you
shall do from here on behalf of your brothers upon earth.

But not only for your brothers upon earth, for here I want to speak to you in the broadest sense of the word and
therefore I say: I still have many flocks who do not live in the fold upon earth, but who lives according to their
nature on countless other earths and celestial bodies. All of them must be guided towards this fold of eternal life.

You ask: shall we be allowed in? For it shall be with this community as on earth, we shall not gain much
experience here. Dear friends and brothers, it goes here the same as on earth, but that shall not throw us off
track, for in this case we are like parasitic flies and nothing can hold us back to stick our noses into the deepest
of secrets. We shall do the same here: we sneak into the monastery and sniff out all kinds of things. Just come
along and do not worry about a thing.

We shall stay invisible to these beings yet for a long time. For you should know that angelic spirits, whether they
are from the third heaven itself or whether they compare with those of the third heaven, stay invisible to the
spirits of the lower heavens, until the spirits of the lower heavens have taken up in themselves the essence of
the love unto the Master; firstly, only regarding insight and then to the deeds out of love.

Therefore, we can enter the monastery without anybody seeing us. They would not see me because I am a
citizen of the holy city and neither you, for you are in my sphere and that with the ordination of the will of the
highest heaven, which is the will of the Master.

Look, we are already in the so-called refectory, or in other words, the dining hall. Bowls with so-called solid food
is brought in. The food is set on the tables and the sisters enter. Are they not clothed exactly as on earth? You
say: We in fact never had the opportunity to see such a monastic sister from close up, but they are clothed
exactly like we have seen it on earth by means of good images.

Look, she starts the table prayer. What does it consist of? As you can clearly hear, it consists of a full rosary, also
some Latin expressions from the psalms and the church fathers, which is not understood by any of these sisters.
Look, the chief is sitting down. The others kneel down before her, get up and go to stand beside their chairs. The
matron gives the sign that they may sit down. Look, she has a little bell with her which she rings, indicating the
sisters that they may join in.

You see someone else standing in front. She is not allowed to eat now, she must read the Passion of the Master
to the others. The ladies have finished their meal and the matron again rings her bell. This indicates that they all
must get up. They do get up, again kneel before the matron.

The thanksgiving prayer is being said, which again consists of a full rosary, followed by a hundred silent Ave
Maria’s. These are prayed for about a full three-quarters of an hour, then the Latin prayers are recited again.
When they are finished with that, they go to the crucifix image and lay down before it on the floor; they then go to
the image of Mary and does the same; then to the image of Joseph, doing again the same; then to the image of
the founder Theresia to do the same again, and then they go to the matron as being the incarnation of Theresia
and does the same again.

The matron now lets them all get up and announce that they must ready themselves for the choir prayer which
would start in an hour. In the meantime, they should go to their assigned cells to read through their choir prayers
for the choir to proceed without hiccups, which would lead to annoyance and therefore, a venial sin. For, the
matron adds, the most righteous person do sin before God already seven times a day; how much more should
he not take care not to sin eight times or even more.

One of the sisters now ask the matron permission to ask something and because there is now no prescribed
silence, the matron allows her. (To ask something in a monastery, means to ask freely). What then would this
sister ask? Listen, she says: Highly honored bride of Christ, as long as we lived physically upon earth, the strict
monastic life was bearable, for we needed it to earn heaven after death. Since we have now already for some
time exchanged the earthly life with the heavenly, and we are still living an exceptionally strict life also in this
“eternal life”, having nothing of the true heaven in sight, the question is whether there would ever come an end to
this monastic life. It would be terrible to stay in this strict system forever.

The matron says: Oh, you disobedient child, how could you let yourself be taken captive by the devil like this,
that you allow yourself to ask such a terrible question? Do you not know that no one can get into heaven before
the youngest day, and that, with the intercession of the holy virgin Mary, the holy Theresia and between them,
the holy Joseph, Christ the Master have exempted our order from purgatory because they are the strictest; and
that the Master has instead granted us full purity and mercy to fully purge ourselves from our venial sins and sins
unto death which we have committed upon earth, to attain to His most holy justice here. The rules of the order of
our exalted foundress should, therefore, be taken account of as strict as possible. It could otherwise happen that
a disobedient child like you would have to hear on the youngest day before the relentless, most strict and most
just Judge, the verdict: go away from me, cursed, for I have never known you as My sister!

Now look, the words of the matron hits our poor enquirer like a thousand bolts all at once. She falls down before
her, pleading with her for the appropriate chastisement, upon which the matron says: yes, you did earn an
appropriate chastisement, but I shall only reprimand you this time with only a light strike on your cheek and a day
of fasting. Yet, you should not tarry to immediately call upon a confessor to confess to him the devilish and
before God highly abominable words which you have spoken unto me in detail and with much repentance. Then
you must do the penitence which he shall lay upon you to the honor of the holy trinity, the honor of the five
wounds of Jesus Christ, the honor of His bitter passion and death, the honor of His most holy virgin and mother
Mary, the honor of the holy Joseph and to the honor of the holy Theresia, ten times. Now get up to receive the
strike against your cheek.

The moment the nun arrives at her cell, she gives the porter a sign to come to her cell by ringing a bell. What
would she tell her? This is only about calling a confessing father, in order to purify herself from her committed sin
against the superior before the choir prayer. The porter immediately organizes the situation and our nun goes to
the confession chair, kneels before the confession chair and wait upon the confession father. We shall now go
there and listen to such a confession for a bit. We know what she shall confess, but what the confession father
would answer her we do not know, but we want to hear it.

The confession father comes, sit down and put his ear to the grid. She has confessed, and he says to her: listen,
my dear confessor, with the rule of the order as it exists upon earth, you have clearly sinned, but not to God’s
order, for it makes you think such; but indeed, according to the order of the monastery, which prohibits you to
think like that. For the transgression, you have committed against the order of the monastery you have received
the appropriate chastisement and then you have again subjected yourself to the rest of the order. Now all is
about the forgiveness of sins from God’s side. But God has never made such a monastic order to be law. Being
human ordinances, even if they were in use for thousands of years, God never ratified them to be His. He does
not look to see whether someone has in a certain sense transgressed worldly ordinances out of necessity and
therefore can I not forgive you anything from God’s side.

Our nun says to the confessor: most honorable priest, you who sits before me on the chair of Godly justice, how
could you say that our monastic order and its rules are not a Godly, but only a human institution?

Look, if I would tell this to my superior, we both are in danger of very sensitive chastisement. She shall treat me
to be one possessed by the devil, but you shall be excommunicated as a true heretic, or even be given the
ecclesiastical ban. Do explain to me with more clarity what you mean.

The confession father says: listen, my dear sister, whoever loves Christ the Master as the only true God of
heaven and earth above all, is neither afraid of excommunication or of an ecclesiastical ban. Look, the people
upon earth who clings to the worldly and knows very little or nothing about Christ is currently laughing at such an
ecclesiastical high-handedness. Why would they laugh? For they do not see any damage done to their career by
such high-handedness. Why would they who truly love Christ, not laugh? They have incurred even less damage
from this high-

handedness.

Have you never heard what the Christ has once said in the temple to the adulteress when the Pharisees have
brought her to Him because she should have been stoned according to the law of Moses?

Our confessor says: I know it well, but what do you want to say by that?

I want to say nothing other with this, the confessing father says that Christ is much softer in His judgment than
the priests and scribes. They have condemned the adulteress without any mercy and compassion and without
hesitation, to public stoning; but Christ tells them: “Whoever of you is without sin, can throw the first stone on
her!”

Look, with these words have the Pharisees and the scribes been hit as if with lightning, for there exist yet
another law, according to which the highest priestly order should be free of sin. The Pharisees and the scribes
know just as well of this law as they do about the law about adulterous women, but they also know that they
themselves have committed this sin of adultery in every respect, both physically as spiritually. They, therefore,
take such a fright at this exceptionally piercing answer, that they all, without exception, completely forget about
our adulteress and removed themselves quickly. They do not want to irritate Christ anymore this time, for they
feared that He would make their reproach known to all the many believing Jews, which would take hold of them
and treat them as the law of Moses expressly prescribed for such cases. But what then happened with our
adulteress? She stands there alone. Have the Master condemned her? Oh no, He asks her: have those who
brought you here not condemned you? Our adulteress says: oh no, Master, no one has condemned me. And He
said to her: So do I not condemn thee; Go, and sin no more. Now, what do you say to this action of the Lord?

Our sister says: I can impossibly say anything other than that the Master truly is more compassionate and
merciful that all good people on earth together. The confession father says: good, my dear sister, if you see the
Master thus, then you shall understand that my advice is completely valid! If the Master, in His mercy, does not
bind Himself to the law of Moses which have come forth from Him, in the case of the adulteress, how much less
would He bind Himself to a monastic rule. For see, the Master is completely free and can do whatever He wants.
If anyone should ask Him: Master, what are you doing? He shall give him no answer. I as the confession father
am sent to you completely in His Name and I therefore also carries His Name. When I act according to this
Name, tell me, who do I have to fear?

Because our superior sees this happening, she immediately makes one cross-sign after the other, run to the
basin with holy water and zealously sprinkles it on the confession father and our nun. She fervently calls to the
sisters for help. They come immediately, staring at the confession father, but could not see anything devilish in
him. The superior now makes a big cross-sign before her, go to the confession father and the nun, wanting to
make herself violently master of them, saying with a shrill, loud voice: you reproachable, hellish devil, you who
has the cursed brutality to sneak in through lies and deceit with the appearance of an angel of light into our holy
place, I command you in the name of the holy trinity, the most blessed virgin Mary, the holy Joseph and the Holy
Theresia, to vanish from this place immediately and return to your eternal damnation and your hellish fire to burn
there forever.

Now look, our confession father does not let himself be brought off track in the least through this terrible,
‘exorcistic’ banning curse and say: listen, blind leader of this poor flock, you call me a devil and have above all
damned me rather harshly; first tell me, what have I, as your alleged devil, done to you and to this sister!

I have told this sister the full truth as it is valid here in the kingdom of the spirits and have sent her to call you,
being a leader, to educate you further in the Godly truth. Instead of listening to me, you immediately grabbed the
flaming sword of judgment to, if it were possible, kill this poor sister with one blow, or deliver her immediately to
hell.

I as your devil is having mercy towards this poor sister and rescues her from the power of your wrath; but for
that, you have exorcised me and condemned me to hellish banishment.

If we would compare our hearts with each other, there arises a hefty question to be answered: in which heart
would more true neighborly love be found; in yours, which want to be heavenly, or in mine, who is supposedly
devilish?

I tell you, your rule over this poor, blind flock came to an end.

Theresia has indeed founded this order upon earth, but in her time, true neighborly love was the foundation and
the most important monastic rules which Theresia have imported in the founded order, was the work of love and
the essential purity of heart. In such circumstances this order did have the Master’s approval; but your rules,
combined with the strictest clauses and the many, mostly incomprehensible lip prayers are an abomination to the
Master, being in no way acceptable to Him, even less when, as in your case, the true tyrannical, despotic lust for
power, together with blind, delusional ideas have crept into this order!

Have you ever heard upon earth that there still exist monasteries and monastic-like institutions in the spiritual
realm? As far as I know, you have believed that you would enter a sweet sleep of the soul, or go to paradise, or
possibly go straight to heaven after your bodily death, or until the last judgment. Yet, if you have indeed believed
this, how has this monastery came to be?

Look, now you are dumbfounded and do not know how to answer me. This poor sister has posed the same
question to you, the superior. Since you still owe her an answer just like you still owe me an answer, you ignite
into hefty anger and give the enquirer a ringing slap.

I shall now tell you where this monastery comes from. This comes from your domineering character by which
you, due to your blind, delusional ideas, have created through lies and deceit only for you and these poor sisters
also here in this spirit world, such an institution. This institution is, therefore, nothing but a delusional Institute,
being in no way pleasant to God the Master. I have the power, even though I must look to you as Beelzebub, to
make an end to this institution on behalf of all these sisters and lead them all out to freedom. I have to leave you
here in this institution though until you would let yourself become deeply and remorsefully aware of your spiritual
error and see that such an institution is an error of the human spirit and has nothing true or good in it.

We shall leave the ladies’ monastery and move a bit more upwards.

Look, more to the midday and the evening already is a monastery easily recognizable at first sight. Look at the
pompous church with its two enormous clock towers and on both sides of the church is the monastery building
with smallish windows. As you can see, is the monastery and the church walled in together with a high wall. You
want to know what kind of order is established there. I tell you, one of the strictest, namely the order of the so-
called barefoot Augustinians.

This order was only a remunerated order of penitence according to the rules of the church teacher Augustine
who, as is known, was very much dedicated to establishing the being of the trinity as a conformed idea.

This otherwise very zealous Christian have been seriously warned by the Master Himself to stop the
investigation of the trinity. But despite this, he has aligned himself with the Roman bishop Eusebius and
completely agrees with the idea born at Nicea, about the trinity consisting of three persons.

He tries to give the trinity as much judicial validity as possible and by means of his otherwise great worldly
wisdom, by which he indeed was honorably exalted to church father and church teacher.

It was, in fact, strange that such church teachers would let themselves be called church fathers, while they
indeed had the gospel according to which only Christ was to be called the only and true Father of all people and
thus certainly also of His church. Because Augustine did not do his investigation out of self-interest, but with
honest intention, it was not reckoned to him in the spiritual world, but in fact already partly by himself in the
natural world has he seen his delusion and was therefore quickly taken in by the Master and brought on better
ways. He did, because of his better insight already during his earthly life, founded a small school in secret with
the purpose to gain a better and more living insight in the triune God. Augustine has finally met with the inner,
living word and came to know the way by which man can reach it.

This was a way of deep humility, the complete defiance of the world to take hold of the Master with all love. This
school appealed to many, yet it was kept as secret as possible. Even the Roman bishop heard of it, did not
oppose it and have even joined the school. He soon saw that the public teaching did not correspond with that of
the school, but he could not swim against the stream. For such a school, which was a very important find for that
time to not be destroyed, he allowed this school a freer practice and called it the ‘School of the true priests’, who
became known as scholastics. These scholastics were not the same as the old Egyptian scholastics, who mostly
busied themselves with magic mysticism, but they were rather scholastics after the inner meaning of the word.

They, therefore, form another image of the trinity, consisting of a triangle in the middle of a sun-shaped crown of
rays. Even though this image also was not yet completely correct, God was depicted to be a unity.

The eye depicts the sun of the Master in which He exists in His eternal love and wisdom because the human eye
has both in it; for from the eye radiates love and from the eye comes forth the light. The three corners of this
form in the middle of which is the eye represented the three degrees within which the divine is expressed as the
most intimate. These three degrees were thus arranged according to the three corners, that the lower left
corresponds to the natural, the right corner to the spiritual and the upper corner signified the celestial. The
radiation of the eye to the three corners indicates the influx of the Master in and through the three degrees. The
light radiating to the outside of the form indicates the infinite power and the inexorability of the Godly Being. This
depiction was therefore regarded to be a rather successful hieroglyph of the triune God.

This then was the rule according to which the order of the barefoot Augustine was founded.

You ask why this so-called new scholastics could not yet depict the triune God more perfectly and why the
Master did not reveal it to them.

This was because they still had some wrong ideas due to their previous view of the Godly trinity, consisting of
three personalities. Some of these scholastics later did come to better insight, placed themselves under the
protection of the Greek church, where they developed into a sect with the name of the “Unitarians”. Yet, under
the Roman bishop, the first rule of secrecy remained under the strict clause of the right to remain silent.

This secrecy went so far that after some time, even the initiates were not allowed to talk to each other. Everyone
could communicate by means of the inner word, but they were not allowed to share the inner word with each
other. For this reason, have this good order crumbled over time and had no great respect with succeeding
hierarchies.

As an imitation of this order, some other similar orders were founded, which were also strictly secluded from the
world for the same valid reasons. They could not amount to anything, though; firstly, because they were held
back by the church ordinances and secondly because they could apply their rules behind closed doors, but could
not apply it usefully in their assigned pastoral care.

Many such orders were founded, of which all initially had a good foundation and of whom almost all were
adherents to the inner scholasticism. But this good basis got lost over time and nothing but the outer form
remained. Since some orders began to act to the benefit of the Roman bishopry, they began to receive many
outer rewards from them. This soon gave rise to “seminaries for men” and “orders for men”. Because these
orders fared better than those who kept to the founding rules, the smaller orders began to think. They also began
to act more and more to the benefit of Rome, which in turn gave more and more privileges to them. The order
began to lose all inner morals in this time and a false foundation was laid.

You now say and ask me: best friend and brother, look, the monastery is closed off to all sides; shall we go
through locked doors, or do we make the doors to open before us?

Dear friends and brothers, we shall do here neither the one nor the other. This monastery does look closed off
from all sides and this depicts that its inhabitants are difficult to approach. This closed off monastery makes their
ossified fundamental principles externally known.

When we would come close to the monastery, enter its sphere and therefore, in fact, enter the experiential world
of these inhabitants, we shall in time see that it is open. Let us go and see, for you to convince yourselves of it.
Look, we now find ourselves in the sphere of the monastery and its gates have opened for us.

You say: best friend and brother, we cannot yet really understand how something like this works. Does it happen
through the will of the resident spirits, does it happen through your will, or is some ghostly machine installed by
which all doors suddenly open at the press of a simple button?

Best friends and brothers, this is by no means the case, but to help you understand, I shall give you a simple
example. There is a so-called ‘worldly sage’ in a company, called a philosopher by you. This man is by no means
talkative, or he does not speak at all. Why! Because he, in the first place, does not want to throw his pearls
before the swine and secondly, because he still finds many of his own ideas rather daring and therefore does not
dare to make it known. On the one hand to not waste his fame as a scholar in a frivolous manner and on the
other hand out of fear for other unknown, listening ears of powerful political institutions, which could give him
much trouble. For our man to not get into trouble with the one or the other, he shuts himself off, goes in a certain
sense into a soul-sleep, or in his spiritual wisdom-paradise, or in his stoic (undisturbed) heaven, but in this
condition he listens with great care whether he would perhaps find a related soul. If he has found someone, he
soon becomes familiar with him and opens one after the other gate of his monastery to him. Should he find one
or more souls who are fully initiated in his ideas and make it their own, then he at once throws all gates of his
monastery wide open and our man will have no lack of applause from his company who corresponds with him
and adhere to his ideas. We are not in true correspondence with the ideas and wrongful foundational principles
of this monastic community but are still regarded as being spiritual relations because of our approach.

You ask whether these monastic spirits see us. I tell you: it would not be essential, for we are only here to inform
you regarding the relationships here and for this purpose, we can enter wherever it suits us, to listen to
everything possible in secret. But because the purpose here is to give you a somewhat more conscious insight, it
is also imperative that we shall make ourselves visible to the residents of the monastery. For this reason, the
monastery has seen us coming. The gates are open to us, and we can enter unhindered. We shall first enter the
church and see all that is to be seen there. See, we are already in the church. What do you see?
You say: remarkable, it is indeed an exceptionally beautiful church.

The magnificent architecture, the height, and the masterful wall paintings are truly amazing. The high altar is a
perfect masterpiece of sculpture art. Also, the big painting of the trinity, especially notable for its exalted, meek
character, has been masterfully depicted. Truly, we have never seen this misunderstood trinity as masterly
painted as here. This apparition is so remarkable, because the Father and the Son have their heads almost
against each other, being both in the light and in a triangle.

Above both heads in the upper corner, is the dove form of the Holy Spirit put in such a way that it looks as if the
dove is sitting there, bending down its head in between the two heads.

It is furthermore notable that there are underneath the trinity, multitudes upon multitudes depicted, kneeling and
praying upon clouds.

Underneath these blessed ones are only the old prophets to be seen, the apostles of the Master, right below the
trinity are Mary and Joseph, then many of our well-known martyrs, then only pure popes, cardinals, bishops and
prelates, a few famous monks, caesars, kings, princes, earls, knights and royal female blessed ones; but not one
blessed farmer is to be found among them.

You see that very well, but you have not yet seen everything. Look right to the bottom, to the lower part of the
tableau, there you see the earth’s surface depicted, where plenty of poor farmers are raising their hands
pleadingly to these blessed ones up high. Even lower is the purgatory wherein countless poor souls are
stretching out their arms above the licking flames, pleading the saints up in heaven for help. There, to the left of
this depiction is shortly above the earth, a rather dark cloud with a ladder standing upon the earth, leaning
against the cloud. At the end of the ladder you see a gate with two doors in the form of the two stone tablets of
Moses; behind the gate stand Peter and the archangel Michael and on the ladder, you see a few busy to ascend
the ladder, but also some who, at the top of the ladder, fall from the cloud back down. In the background of this
dark cloud, you see a few kneeling blessed ones; they are the so-called most holy ones.

But here it is understood differently and is translated as: everything to our greater prestige; or better said: let us
be lords of the earth, then every emperor shall bow his head to the ground before us.

What would the Augustine want to tell us and what shall he let us see?

Nothing but what is important to us. We are with him; listen therefore what he shall tell us and how he receives
us. His words sound as follows:

Be a thousand times welcome, dear friends and brothers, in the name of the mysterious trinity, in the name of
the blessed virgin Mary, of the holy Joseph and of the patron of our church, the holy Augustine, who was a true
apostle and follower of our Master Jesus Christ! May I, being your subject servant, ask you which pious purpose
have brought you to this God-alone approved temple? Have you perhaps come here out of my order, being new
arrivals, or have you perhaps come here as pious spiritual penitents for the waiving of the daily sins to escape
purgatory? Are you maybe in search of the eternal rest and the eternal light, or the true spiritual living bread of
the angels? Or do you wish to finally even be initiated into the higher mysteries of the trinity? To be short:
whether it be one or the other which brought you here, you shall find sufficient satisfaction here for both the one
or the other. For you shall very well know that there are no salvation or blessedness to be found outside of this
church.

When Christ the Master has founded His church, He gave the keys to the heavenly kingdom to Peter alone. Our
church is built upon the rock of Peter, is thus founded by Peter and by him has she been granted the power for
times of all times, to save or to doom. You shall know that Christ has given the church the right to doom through
the texts: “You shall sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” There is also written: “and whatsoever you
shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Once again it has been written: “Receive the Holy Ghost: Whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto
them, and whosoever sins you retain, they are retained.” There are even more such texts in which the Master
have given all power to Peter over humans. It can therefore not be doubted in the least that the Roman Catholic
Church, founded by Peter himself, is the only sanctifying church according to the unchangeable counsel of God.

When you would without a doubt belong to this church, you can only here find the gate to heaven. If you would
not belong to this church, you can easily see for yourself what fate would await you, for it is written in Scripture:
“whoever do not believe in this church and is not baptized in her, shall be damned!”

Now I tell him: listen, best friend, you have now asked us about everything and told us the most important texts
from Scriptures pertaining to your church. I nevertheless must inform you beforehand that we did not come with
any intention related to your questions, and secondly, that the texts which you quoted, do not concern us in the
least.

You now put on a somewhat dumbfounded face and think to yourself: what then are they coming to do here if
they came here without the intentions indicated by me and are even of the intent to negate the text which I
quoted, which clearly indicate that the church of Rome is the only sanctifying church. But look, this is how it is
and can be no different.

What would you think of it if we would come here only for a purely scientific reason, to see and hear one and the
other from you? With such a purpose, would we not be welcome with you?

The monk says: Many appreciated friends, have you never heard upon earth that the sciences bear no fruit
anymore in the spiritual world, but that only the Roman Catholic faith does that if it were alive through works? I
say: Oh yes, we have often heard that, but we also heard that man would get light about all earthly doubts in the
spiritual world. Such a light could then very well be called a spiritual science, is a coming into bright
consciousness of Godly mysteries. If there are in the spiritual world, just like in the previous natural world,
masoned monasteries and churches, decorated with various pieces of art, why then would there not exist in the
spiritual world any science anymore, which were already more spiritual upon earth than the masonry of a
monastery and of a church with all her statues and woodcarvings?

The monk says: Listen, you! As I can gather from your words, you seem to be filled with heretic and
objectionable ideas. For whom would regard anything pertaining to the holiest service of God not purely
spiritually, but materially, openly testifies that he is, in word and deed, forever a doomed into the deepest hell,
heretic. If you are serious about what you have said, we shall be forced to cast you forever from this purest
temple of God into eternal perdition. For it is written: “you shall avoid a heretic person” and furthermore: “such a
heretic you shall remove from the congregation” and, as Paul has said, “give him over to the devil”. Do you not
know that the one who goes beyond the institutions of the Church of the Holy Spirit, commits the most sinful sin
against the Holy Spirit which can never be forgiven? Therefore, explain yourself more clearly to this sacred
place, lest eternal condemnation befalls you. For to us, the pure servants of God, it is more pleasant that the
whole world is condemned than that the holiness of heaven should be stained by the least sinner. Here all grace
and mercy end. He who is not pure in the true sense of the church as the sun in heaven shall never be allowed
into the kingdom of God.

Now I say: Listen, my dear friend, your extraordinarily ruthless exorcism certainly has no ecclesiastical power;
For as you see, we all stand, your three subterranean devils, still uninjured and completely unhurt in front of you.
You can be assured in advance that we will not flee from your whole convent, a thousand crucifixes, and a
hundred water buckets of holy water. For as long as we do not know the true reason on your part, as evidenced
by the Scriptures, that your church is founded by Peter, we shall not be moved from here. On the contrary, we
are now very much inclined to penetrate deeper into your monastery, and not to be deterred by any exorcist
violence. To this end, I urge you to serve us and lead us into the chambers of your equally nonsensical brethren,
as you yourself are one among them.

The monk speaks while making three crosses before him: God help me! I have often heard that the temptations
of the devil in the spiritual world are a thousand-fold worse than in the natural world and that in the spiritual world
one really gets a true idea of the great violence of the devil. What I have read about it in the sacred books,
written by pious and godly men, is now literally in front of me! But I tell you, you eternally abominable devil, you
persistent deceiver of God and all humans, do you think God is deceiving himself? You're wrong! But as little as
God can be deceived, I cannot be deceived by you as an ever-faithful servant of God, and rather than surrender
to you, I will resist you with the aid of God and with the help of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, until your patience
in fighting with me shall fail you. Therefore, you can do what you want; You will not make me forsake my church!

Have you not heard what the Church requires according to the authority given to her by Christ, that one must
absolutely believe what she prescribes one to believe, without asking whether it is written or not written, which is
also a most reasonable demand of the Church? For if the church is in possession of the Holy Spirit, and He
speaks through the church, who would not believe Him if he is a sincere and true Christian?

But if one were to enquire after all the principles of the Church as you do, then you should also ask, "Where then
was that written what Moses and the prophets had said of God? Behold, you filthy devil, what they have said,
went out from the Holy Spirit, and therefore it is and remains an eternal truth.

So, the Church also has the Holy Spirit. This, however, is not limited to what has already been written before; But
He can always speak and teach freely, and the children of the Church must acknowledge this as an irrefutable
truth at all times.

If then, the Church expresses himself historically that Peter really taught in Rome, where he had set up his chair,
and died there also the death of the cross, this is indeed a guaranteed truth, because the Church is in full
possession of the Holy Spirit - Now you have your required proof. Now remove yourself as you have said! I shall
not be guilty of giving you this instruction, but I have done it to cause you an even greater condemnation.

Now I say, "Good, my friend, and truly sullen, grim brother!" I ask you, since you have given me the
ecclesiastical Holy Spirit so clearly (apparently), how is it possible that the Holy Spirit regarding this Petrine
statement by the various ecclesiastical historians, who all certainly have spoken and written, according to your
statement, "by the Holy Spirit", could have been so terribly wrong in this historical statement about the presence
of Peter in Rome? For you have just claimed Peter's presence in Rome for three years. But I can assure you that
in this respect I am not aware of any historical letter written about Peter.

If by the way, you are only a little versed in this church history, you will surely have discovered the difference
between twenty-four years and your three years. Also, the year of the death of this apostle in Rome is very
different, and one should call it luck if only one variant of one year is discovered in these writings. That this is my
statement is correct, you can see from the various historians, for your library is the most fortunate to possess all
these writings. But now tell me, which one do you fully give your faith?

The monk speaks: This is already a devilish poser. What should I give you for an answer? I tell you, the true,
obedient Christian believes everything and does not ask for the historically incorrect data. But the ponderer, who
is a heretic, ponders all things. There are also similar contradictions in the Holy Scriptures! Should we not
believe it? But if you do not know how the Holy Spirit speaks, I tell thee that He always speaks with inner
wisdom, and such statements have a very different meaning, which, of course, is not understood by a devil; But
we the theologians know this sense and know what we believe. So, I have also answered you this question, so
to render you even more condemnation!

Now I say, "Well, my friend, if this is correct, I do not at all understand the reason why it has pleased the Holy
Spirit to relate about the Apostle Paul in the faithfully written Acts of the Apostles; yet, about the holy Peter, as
you call him, was never anything in this respect mentioned, while he was personally called to establish the
Church of Christ.

Behold, he goes there into a great hall, and as you have noticed, a lot of monk brothers are coming towards him.
Several ask him who we are and what we want? And he (the monk) replied to them quite furtively: "Do not ask,
for these are terrible beings, who want to disturb us greatly in our blissful rest by a strange authorization.
Whether the one in the middle is Lucifer himself or his first helper, I do not know. But what is certain is that he
derided all my most powerful exorcism, and openly threatened me with hell if I could not literally prove from the
Holy Scriptures that Peter had founded the Roman Church.

Yes, I say to you, I have gathered together all my wisdom and given him the strongest proof. But they were just
as ineffective and invalid as a drop of water in extinguishing a house-fire. What else can we say when someone
proves to you from the Scriptures almost in minute detail that the Roman church in its existing order, if it were
guided and maintained by the Holy Spirit, would render Christ either a liar or a being, though born of the Divinity,
but in such imperfection that the Divinity now, according to this imperfection, would deem it necessary to, later
on, make improvements through the Holy Spirit to the doctrine founded by Christ!

In short, it proves that in the present ecclesiastical order, either the doctrine of Christ is of a completely divine
origin, and our church is, in contrast, nothing but a self-sufficient, very petty paganism. But if our church is right,
Christ is as much as nothing, and if Christ is nothing, then our church has no legitimacy. - There you have the
conundrum!
If only we had the Holy Inquisition here in this kingdom, we could torment such heretical spirits like the physical
men upon earth, we could make things so hot for them because of their heresy lowest hell would be ashamed.
But what is to be done here, where no violence is possible anymore? Here, we must take such a terrible cross
literally on our backs and follow Christ quite patiently.

See, he's already moving into the hall with his helpers. I can give you no other advice than to make a secret
cross in any of his words, to say nothing, and to not give him even the slightest answer to any question. Let us
flee behind our refectory crucifix and behave quite calmly there! One would stand behind the cross, and make
blood flow from the wounds of the crucified, and this hellish guest will certainly not be able to harm us.

See, the whole body, about five hundred heads strong, runs behind the crucifix, and presently the blood from the
wounds of the crucified Christ-image is beginning to flow. The monks pretend to be sleeping, and our main
speaker is keeping himself as far to the back as possible.

You now say, "My dear friend, it does seem as if all effort and work will be in vain; indeed, we are very much of
the opinion that not even the mossy, sandy soil in the extremely dark evening would benefit these. It is terrible
how these beings consider the all-powerful words of the Lord as the words of Satan. Yes, the Lord may appear in
person, and preach against their nonsense, and they will regard Him as nothing but what they believe.

And if He will testify to them the truth of His being by miracles, they will say the same as the Pharisees did: He
works all this through the devil.

Yes, my dear friends, your comment is quite correct, and so it is with these beings as you have said. But it is also
true, that infinitely much is possible for the Lord, where we with all our wisdom cannot achieve a thing.

And so we shall here make some experiments, and it will soon show what effect they shall have on these beings.
This deceptive crucifix serves as the main basis of support and protection for their nonsense. We shall attack it
first, tear it down and destroy it under our feet.

And so we approach it. Behold, the blood-machinist is already retreating because of our approach, and I say:
This illusion which has sprung from the long-lasting false foundation of these beings will be destroyed. For there
is no greater abomination in the eyes of the Lord than such a mirage, which is related to Him, through which
thousands and thousands of men's' hearts are filled with the darkest delusion and with the most hideous filth of
death.

Behold, there is an open doorway leading into a fairly large garden, opposite this large monastery courtyard. We
want to go there and see what happens in the garden. Well, the garden is already spread out before our eyes.
How do you like it? You say, dear friend, surely one would have to be an enemy of all higher aesthetics if one
were not to like this garden.

These splendid arcades, along with the high garden walls, the water-features, the splendid columns, and then
the most splendid flowers, as well as the fruit-trees in the most beautiful order, must be said: art and higher taste
are united here. Nature is everywhere well-calculated and in the most beautiful harmony with art. There rises
over the garden wall a very splendid palace, which, in its grandeur, leaves nothing to be desired.

We believe if the spirits living in this garden would represent only a few of these splendid features, they could not
be fully corrupt yet. Yes, I tell you, my dear friends and brethren, it does look good, but you must never forget the
following rule:

Where there is a lot of splendor among men, there is also a great deal of waste, where there is much waste,
there is a great deal of lust for power; where there is a lot of lust for power, there is much self-love, where there
is much self-love, there is much self-interest. And therefore, the external splendor is never a favorable sign for
the one who is attached to it. Just look for once at your earth. Who lives in the grand, magnificent palaces?
Rarely someone other than a rich and powerful. Whom does this splendor benefit? No one except the owner
himself. How does it benefit him? It does so in different ways. Firstly, it is a sign of either his prosperity or of his
state power, putting any passing people in a state of awe and makes them shy, causing them to avoid such a
mansion and shall not easily approach it for any reason. Secondly, such splendor deters the poor of humanity to
approach the owner and ask him for some alms. And thirdly, such a splendor is an inexhaustible source for the
constant feeding of arrogance, and thus also for the continual contempt for the poor human class. Such splendor
is also the best means of keeping the poor humanity continually in its proper blindness.

You ask why? Because the simple countryman holds the owners of such a great splendor for beings of a higher
kind. At the sight of such grandeur, he cannot shake this feeling. Yes, I must say to you that if St. Peter's and the
papal Vatican were not built in such splendor and grandeur, exceeding all human understanding, many would not
find it such a grace to be admitted to the papal slippers of the Pope. The blind indulgences, granted from a
peasant hut, would never have produced this profitable effect as it does from the earthly, marvelous splendor of
the Vatican. But you have always seen that any religion when it passes over into the materialistic, it begins to
use external splendor to exploit the blindness of man for a long time. But the question can be asked whether
such impressing of people has ever been of any use to mankind?

Even the temple of Solomon was essentially nothing but a silent prophet, who, by his existence from Solomon's
time, showed to the whole Israelite people how the spiritual had transcended into the material, and, had in the
end, nothing good or true left in the whole temple. And the Lord gave the Jews themselves the testimony of the
temple that they made the house of prayer a murder pit! Yes, in this temple atrocities without names have been
committed. The people have been blinded so much by the temple, that they did not know the Lord of glory, and
have even decided upon His crucifixion in the temple. Judas, too, was paid with the money in the temple, and in
the end, threw down this blood-money again in the temple, unto a great testimony that the temple had always
been a murdering-pit of the Spirit of God.

If you consider this a little, this splendor will not appear to you in a too favorable light; and how things are in this
respect, we shall at once get a little taste of when we enter the first garden temple.

Just look, there are already two white-dressed monks coming to meet us. You ask: Are they Dominican or
Cistercians? Oh, no, my dear friends and brethren, these are merely paradisiac Augustinians, for in paradise
they take off the black robes and dress in white. Why are you looking so attentively towards the palace? I know
what is in your eyes: the angels, jumping around with pairs of wings attached to the shoulders, made of white
feathers. Of course, you ask whether they can fly? Oh, no, they cannot do it, for the wings do not grow on them,
but is only artificially attached as if in a theatre. The leaping is intended to represent the liveliness of these
angels, and how they are willing to serve this paradise on the slightest hint. Behold, half a dozen is already
running after the two paradisiacals who are approaching us; And you will soon see that these paradise angels
are even provided with cudgels and sabers to drive away any unsolicited guests from this paradise, in a not very
paradisiacal way.

You ask who were such angels on the earth? Have you ever heard of the so-called laity brothers, or rather,
monastic housekeepers? Here, too, they are ministering spirits of the monastery. But for them to like their
ministry, they are assigned to be angels. This is all due to the erroneous justification in which such men have
exchanged the temporal with the eternal. The great love and mercy of the Lord, however, leave these beings
long enough in such reasoning, for as long as they have not begun to realize that something is wrong with their
circumstances, for they firstly can never fully satisfy themselves with all these beautiful fruits. The food and drink
seem to them as if they are eating and drinking in their dreams. Secondly, they also continuously see white
clouds floating above them; but they cannot see where these clouds get their light from. Thirdly:?it would only
gradually dawn on them that, knowing that they were in the spiritual world, there is nowhere a saint to be seen,
not even the Virgin Mary, nor Peter, nor archangel Michael. And a fourth, a very fatal situation to them is that, if
they look down over this garden wall, which they usually climb on with ladders, they see nothing but barren
plains;?only their garden is fruitful.

Fifthly, they are gradually becoming conscious of the fact that their monastic church is never visited by anyone
other than them. And so there are still several such means by which the mind can be made aware that
something is amiss with this paradise.

These paradise-dwellers indeed still maintain their monastic heaven, which we shall only get to know later, but
they have considerable doubt about their skies. These heavenly inhabitants must, therefore, be very political,
and keep their suspicion about heaven as secret as possible, lest the paradise which also must provide for
heaven would soon be miserable, and our spirited angels would not cultivate the vast garden anymore. For you
should know, that the Lord allows for a good reason that these spirits must, as they have upon the earth, acquire
their bread with the work of their hands, and in the sweat of their faces. They thus must work if they want to eat
something.
But see, our paradise dwellers are approaching us. Therefore, let us be still and see how they are going to
receive us! Behold, a man of paradise is beckoning an angel bearing a cudgel to his side, that he may approach
us safely. The other man of paradise, together with four sable-bearing angels, makes up the rearward protection
for the vanguard, should he be too weak against the enemy.

The two heavenly monks (for you must understand that "heavenly" is here referred to as "being in paradise")
lead us, and the angels follow us with cudgels and sabers. You ask where they will take us? Just look there
towards the north, in the corner of the big garden wall is a dirty tower, with a black door.

There they shall hold us. What will happen further, experience shall tell.

But listen a bit, what the two paradise monks discuss on the way.

One of them just said, "What would you think if these three vagabonds were emissaries of some better place
than this one, in which we can never eat enough; should we not listen to their case, and inquire where they really
came from? For the question we have asked them whether they came from above or from below, was too hasty.
We have, as one would say, fell with the door into the house. I propose that if they were really from above, and
we would treat them in this paradise in the most unparadisiacle way, it could cost us very dearly. My opinion is
this: instead of locking them into the tower, we could rather take them to the freedom tower in the direction of
noon, which is open to the outside and only locked on the inside.

The other says: Dear friend and brother, I mean, you will not want to be a heretic here in paradise. We know well
that the Lord has walked on the earth without glory, and this was also the case with the first proclaimers and
spreaders of His doctrine. But you know that at that time the Church of the Lord was poor and suffering. After the
great church meeting at Nicea, however, she globally triumphed over all the heathens. For this reason, she
stopped being poor and suffering and became a triumphant, rich church, a church full of splendor, glory, prestige,
power, and might.

If on the earth the Lord furnishes His Church and His servants with such glory, how much more will He do this in
the kingdom of blessed spirits. If then, he will send us higher messengers, you can expect with the utmost
confidence that such messengers will not appear in the form of such alley trash, but with great splendor and
heavenly majesty. For it is said in Scripture that the Lord will return with great power and glory upon the clouds of
heaven. How, then, should such sentinels be emissaries of God? Veiled messengers of hell, yes, but not higher
messengers of heaven.

Hence, only to the right, into the enclosed tower with them, which is built of pure holy stones, and it will at once
show what kind of spiritual children they are; For such consecrated stones shall burn the devil a thousand-fold
worse than the lowest hell.

The first replies: Well, do what you please, but I will stick with my idea. If things would go wrong, you can handle
it. And so, do what you want, I will not hinder you in your plan. See, the tower is already near us. Here I give you
the key because I do not want to have any part in this endeavor. But I have already often thought that in our
Roman church, we are always quicker with condemnation than blessing. And so, I have been thinking for a while
about the text of the Lord, in which, He has explicitly warned His apostles and disciples against condemnation
and judging.

For this reason, I secretly undertook to not condemn or judge anybody.

I shall thus stay true to my intent regarding these three, and therefore I will tell you again: Do what you please,
But I do not want to have any share in your doing.

The other says, "I shall take the key, and I shall execute Divine justice; For great is the love of the Lord, but His
righteousness is above it, even calling for the blood of the Son of God. Therefore, let me execute justice.

The first one curtly replies to the executor of justice: I myself know from Scripture that the Lord gave the apostles
and the disciples no other command than that of love. I also know that the Lord once used an unjust
housekeeper as an imitative example, and He once said that He has more joy over a penitent sinner than over
99 righteous ones. But I do not recall any important text in which the Lord has explicitly emphasized strict justice.
The tax collector has been justified in the end, and the righteous Pharisee reproved! When I think of this, our
righteous justice has lost much worth in my opinion. By the way, as I said, do what you want. The tower is here,
the three are here as well. You have the key in your hand, so I shall retreat.

Chapter 72.

Prickly question, honest answer.

See, the monk spirit holding the key as an inhabitant of this heavenly paradise opens the door and indicates us
to enter. What do you think, we should obey or not? Many a Catholic would say that obedience calls for this. But
because a different principle exists, stating that we ought to obey God rather than man, we shall not follow the
orders here, but remain outside. And I shall also take the liberty to reduce this tower into useless dust by a gentle
touch with my right hand. But since the key-bearer is threatening us with the following words: If you do not enter
immediately, I will at once put a violent hand upon you, so we must approach the tower for me to be able to
touch it with my finger. - Now we are at the tower and see, it is gone!

But now look at our custodian, what a miserable, astonished face he pulls. And the other, better-minded,
approaches him, saying: Now, my dear brother, what do you say about this phenomenon? Could the devil have
done this? The other says: 'Yes, my dear brother, the matter is extremely puzzling. Up till this time, Satan has not
been able to do anything against this tower; indeed, he stood there as a truly impregnable fortress of God, and
all the heretics and servants of the devil, as adversaries of the only saving church, found their condemned
asylum here. Never before has a devil dared to touch this tower. And behold, this wicked man, or whatever he is,
touched the tower with only one finger, and there immediately was no trace left of the tower. I now see no other
means than to take these three out of this sacred paradise, as far as they can go, for otherwise he will touch
upon us something else, and destroy it just like they did this tower.

I must truly confess that God the Lord is indeed an enigmatic Being;?when you would think you have done your
best, He will come and make it all to naught. Thus, He established one church after the other, and when a
Church has trained itself properly, as one would say to follow at God's leash, He comes and cuts the leash right
through, like a pagan Spartan. The whole ecclesiastical house falls over and nothing but the name remains, as
with the city of Babylon, since one cannot even ascertain the place where this great cosmopolitan city once
stood. I, my myself shall have nothing more to do with these three beings. If you wish to go proceed with them,
then you may.

But I truly doubt whether you would get anywhere with them. I think that in this case, a general meeting would
probably be the best. But how does one conduct this for as long as these three are here?

The other one says, I mean, this will not be necessary, for these three are clearly from above, what would our
meeting achieve? They will dust our meeting as they did the tower. We shall leave the question of whether these
three are "from below" completely aside; for it is said that the rock or the church of Peter shall never be
overcome by hellish powers. But what would become if our judgment in a meeting would be that these three
emissaries are of hell, and yet, despite the testimony of Christ, have brought an end to this tower? We, therefore,
could say nothing other than that our only sanctifying Church is not at all established by either Peter or Christ.
Such a testimony would certainly be far worse than the full destruction of this tower. But if we confess, on the
contrary, that the Lord has done to us according to His immeasurable counsel, we do not hurt ourselves in the
least; For the Lord is free to do what He wills, and all that He does will surely be good.

The objector says, "You are right, and I can raise no objection to this. But what will our other blessed brethren
and the many ministering angels say when they hear this? Therefore, it would be necessary to tell them the
news as soon as possible, lest we shall seem strange to them.

The other one says: I am again of a quite different opinion. Let us not concern ourselves with what our brethren
would say, but, in God's name, let these three, as long as they are still here, do as they think fit, and we wash
our hands. Our brethren, however, are to decide for themselves how they like it to swim against a rushing
mountain stream.

Now I speak to the better monk and say, "Listen, dear friend, your words are pleasing to me; you are therefore
closer to the kingdom of God than many others. Even if you have not done many works that could follow you
here, you still have much more light than the others. You shall now be given an opportunity to do the good deeds
which you lacked for the kingdom of God. Therefore, let all the hypocrites of this paradise gather here.

Our better monk says, "Dear friends, this can be done at once; For by means of a call and a wink, they shall all
come here.

I say: therefore, give the hint and let the cry be heard. Our monk does so and a great multitude is already
gathering from all sides; see how some of them clasp their hands over their heads because they do not see the
tower anymore. The question is asked from all sides: For the sake of the triune God, what has happened here?
What wicked man hath done this? Our better monk answered with a loud voice, saying, "Listen, brethren, I say
to you, do not ask, for the three mighty ones are still standing among us. The middle one, whom we wanted to
lock up in the tower, barely touched it with a finger, and in less than a moment, the tower was destroyed. We
know, however, that the power of Satan can never do this; So be mindful, lest a greater evil befalls us.

Behold, a prior of this paradisiacal monastic council is approaching us very fearfully, asking us a question,
saying: We and all good spirits praise God the Lord! If you are also good spirits, tell us what you want.

I say: "My desire is a very simple one, and consists of nothing but that you should tell me, on what occasion
Peter established the Roman church, and on what occasion all the monastic order? But you must prove this to
me from Scripture, for every other proof I reject.

Now see how this Prior pulls a very miserable face, quickly and secretly makes a cross before his face and
speaks secretly to his neighbor: God help us! We stand in the face of the supreme hellish triad. This is Lucifer,
Satan, and Leviathan! This is certain. But we've been asked a question, what shall we answer? If we remain
silent, this triad destroys us - God help us! our whole monastery, our paradise and our kingdom of heaven, and
lead us straight to hell! But if we answer him, we have delivered ourselves to hell. Truly, God's providence in this
world takes on a peculiar angle, that man in paradise and in heaven does not understand as to what one should
do about it. But since I cannot prove the apostolic authority of the Roman Church from the Scriptures, it will be
best to answer him in full truth: listen, friend, I cannot answer you. I do believe that the Roman Church was
established by Peter as it is also evident from historical tradition, according to which this apostle was said to be
in Rome for twenty-five years, but whether this tradition is authentic or not, the dear Lord God will certainly know
better than I do.

I've always been a Roman Catholic and believed, taught, and acted in the spirit of this Church, and I did not think
that I had erred by doing so. But if the matter is different, you may inform us. I will not be averse to hearing you;
And so, you may speak. If you are a good spirit, then you will not have any evil intent, but if you are an evil spirit,
think that God is even more powerful than you; thus, say what you have to say.

Chapter 73.

A question to the prior of the Augustinian monastery.

I say to him, "For this moment you have drawn yourself nicely from the noose. And since you yourself are not
able to answer my question, I will also consider such an answer as an answer. But be careful, I will give you a
second question, perhaps you will find this answer in you. Since you, being well versed in Scripture, could not
know during your lifetime on the earth whether the Apostle Peter has ever lived in Rome and established the
Roman Church, I would still like to know from you why you entreated the idea during your life to zealously pursue
the position of a monastic prior? And why have you, after you achieved the position of prior by various sly
means, have entreated the head of the church a few times, to make him appoint you the position of general of
your convent, or if possible, a bishop? Behold, this is an important question, and you will be able to give me an
answer, since you have experienced it all in yourself, and you are still alive in the sight of your memory.

Our paradisiac primus now makes a very perplexed face, searches for a clever reply in every corner of his being,
and finds, as you can easily see from his embarrassed physiognomy, nothing in himself, and feels very strongly
coerced against his will, to come forth with the truth. Even if it would burn his tongue like when one would eat too
hot food, it would not do him any good. He, therefore, decides to speak the truth, come what may.

See, he opens his mouth; so listen what he shall say. He (the Prior) says, Dear friend, whoever you may be, I tell
you frankly that I have done all this literally all for myself. And why did I do this? Because, I very well knew the
principles of the Roman Catholic Church, and I was only too well acquainted with what the Christian theorems
state, namely, nothing but to rule the world. And to obtain such, one must be able to provide it prestige, and
through prestige, treasures and riches. But in what condition pure Christianity is because of this, as you know it
yourself, the Roman Church never cared about.

And if I am not mistaken have the Roman Church been in such a state of conscience regarding Christianity since
the time of Charles the Great, who, as far as I know, gave the Bishop of Rome a piece of land and thus made
him a secular ruler.

Since that time had man regarded Christianity in its pure sphere to be quite unsuitable for the sake of
ecclesiastical affairs, only in secrecy because, in its authenticity, it directly opposed temporal prestige. Man thus
only kept the name and adopted the teaching to such an extent that worldly prestige had to be accepted.

I must also tell you that I have often secretly compared the papal lifestyle to Daniel's god "Mäusim," to whom
gold, silver, and precious stones are sacrificed, and in which no love of women will be. But what did all this
benefit me? I was yoked like a stupid ox, who could have unharnessed me? But this is true, however, that the
front oxen have to pull less on the wagon than the rear ones yoked closer to the wagon. I was glad to see this.
That is why I tried to be put into a yoke more to the front yoke, being more a parading ox than a pulling ox. Could
I have acted differently?

I could have done differently if God had not given me such a sensitive skin. But, because of my very sensitive
skin and the constant sight of the many burning stakes, I acted wise and did nothing at all. I thought: True
Christian well-doing rooted in a true godly sense is virtually impossible in such circumstances! I would rather not
do anything, I tolerated the external stupidity as well as I could, and I made use of it for my own temporal
advantage. I knew well enough that there was something wrong with the doctrine of Christ, but then I thought
again:

If the Lord has established this doctrine, as it is in the Gospels, He will also have His reasons, why He has
allowed this His simple and most pure teaching degenerate! Besides, I thought more and more of Paul, who
implored his congregations to be subject to the secular power, whether it be good or evil; For there is no power
except from God. If what these church leaders are doing is wrong, then they shall be held accountable. But I will
do what Pontius Pilate did once since he could not prevent Christ to be crucified. The Lord, as the most perfect
Being, will surely see that one person with very much limited power cannot swim against the collective river of
the world!

Behold, dear friend, wherever you may be from, this is the answer to your question; And you can now take my
skin off right here, but you will not be able to get any more out of me.

Now I say, "Good, my dear friend, you have not withheld anything, but gave a true witness of what you have
found in your memory. But I would like to know from you why you came to this paradise? For if you were
convinced of the total defectiveness of the Roman Church, according to your statement, you must be convinced
that her doctrine of the survival of the soul after death must be as false as anything else. To this end, I must tell
you that many out of the Catholic Church have already entered the real kingdom of God, and I must also remark
to you that even if the Catholic Church finds herself in complete anti-Christianity, I still do not know whether she
has ever forbidden charity or humility. Therefore, I still would like to hear from you how it came about that you
came to this paradise, as I have already said.
Our Primus says, "Dear friend, wherever you may be from, to answer this question will be a little difficult for me,
for honestly, the reason which has brought me here I know as little as the center of the earth. For if I tell you
quite sincerely, I have completely renounced the immortality of the soul after death with many other issues in my
physical life. But if one renounces spiritual life after death, there is no other choice but to live according to the
ancient Roman saying: "Ede, bibe, lude; Postmortem nulla voluptas! "(i.e.," eat, drink, play, for, after death, there
is no more pleasure!

") So, I have also lived on earth mostly to eat and drink and have, for the sake of eating and drinking taken part
in all kinds of worldly frivolities.

When, however, the fatal bodily death came upon me, about which I have had so many useless thoughts during
my lifetime, I first learned that this death of the body is by no means ultima linea rerum (last); but that I continued
living my life after the inexplicable laying off my earthly hull, as I have formerly lived on the earth. The only
difference is that I now am spending my time, instead of in the dirty monastic cells, in these pretty garden salons,
and am wearing instead of a black robe, white robe, no longer read any masses, but I am here like a louse
endowed with reason and literally a 'fructus consumere natus' (born to consume the fruit of the earth).

The fact that these secular monastic rules are still being observed here is just as inexplicable as anything else.
We imagine ourselves to be happy here; truly, we are only happy here because of our reinstituted and applied,
somewhat cultivated monastic order. If you take this away, the field mice are happier than us. I must, therefore,
admit to you that not one single one of us really know why we are here.

If you know of something better, let us know, and we will gladly exchange this uncertain pretense even with
some certain predicament. Do with me and with us all you want, only spare us hell and any more questions. I
have told you everything for now, and now you can ask me as much you want, I will know how to answer
everyone like a stone. For where there is nothing, death cannot take anything.

Chapter 74.

Enquiry after the love unto Christ.

Now I say: Listen, dear friend, I do not think you are as silent as a stone, and therefore you will be able to
answer me one more question. I also make this question as simple as possible, so listen:

Have you never thought about Christ during your whole spiritual ministry, and has it never occurred to you as if
you could love Him with all your might? See, this is a simple question which you can almost answer with yes or
no; But the living truth must be the basis.

The Primus says, "Dear friend, whence ever you may be from, I can answer you such a question, even if you
would also ask more of them. But do not ask me anymore about the Roman church, for I am exceedingly glad,
like a demobilized soldier, to have nothing to do with her anymore. But as for Christ, I want to speak to you for as
long as you want. And so I tell you in answer to your question, that I myself often thought about Christ, and I
often felt in myself that I would not be a bad apostle if I had the good fortune to deal with Christ like the apostle
Peter has been with Him. Yes, I must tell you that Christ is the only divine person I could love with all my might if
He would really be present somewhere.

The fact that during my whole spiritual ministry I could busy myself very little with Christ for the sake of the office,
you shall know why and how. For, as a monastery minister, I have been called to some higher spiritual authority,
or even to a bishop, or even to Rome once, but there never was any mention of Christ at such a meeting, but
only about the income of the monastery, how the riches of the Church should be managed, and how I should
handle it if the monastery would raise too little money to raise the church taxes! Even when I was once
summoned to Rome, and thought that I would receive a brighter light about Christ, but there was no trace of it. I
was only meticulously questioned about the state of the ecclesiastical pensions, and whether any important
donations had been received and if so, what have happened with the donated capital.

I answered to this that we have a somewhat different situation with donations. Regarding the old donations, they
have been added to the general monastic church capital long ago and there are no new donations in this difficult
time. One must be content with simple indulgences and a few paid masses for the dead. But there is no trace of
the so-called eternal donations now anymore. At such a comment from me, the cardinal first uttered a powerful
curse against all heretics and protestants. I was only admonished to warn the people by means of strict sermons
and reproves in the confession chair, to not let themselves be enlightened by so-called protestants, and to find
his life and secondly, attain heaven in the only sanctifying church by means of rich donations.

After such an admonition, I was handed a bundle of several hundred full indulgences, which I had to sell to
people as soon as possible, for the amount of at least ten thalers per indulgence.

I was given a complete indulgence free of charge, but with the proviso that the latter would become effective for
me only after I had sent the amount for the other indulgences to Rome.

On this occasion, I wanted to inquire about some religious matters, but it was told to be silent, and one of the
panel said to me in passing: "Thank you very much for such a high grace on the part of the supreme priest of
Christ. Leave Rome as soon as possible, so that you may come home sooner, fulfilling the will of the holy father.
I followed his advice. I was even greeted with the grace of being admitted a slipper kiss, but with this grace, I
also had been advised to not stay in Rome for more than twenty-four hours.

From this presentation, you can easily see what kind of Christianity it was. Indeed, if a cardinal had not
pronounced the word "vicar of Christ," I would have been in Rome without having heard the name of Christ in
this supreme Institute, except for during the ecclesiastical ceremony.

The visit of Rome also sucked the last drop of my faith in immortality and therefore also of my thoughts about
Christ.

When I returned to my monastery with my indulgences, I handed them over to my monastic brethren. They have,
as far as I know, fortunately, got rid of them all. They have, as far as I know, sold them for quite reasonable
prices and when I made it known that I had some moral issue regarding the selling of the indulgences, Rome
allowed some negotiation and was content to receive a lesser amount. And behold, that is all I can answer to
your question.

But as far as my love for Christ is concerned, you will be able to infer from my own statement that when such
church manipulations are carried out to the last drop, and man, especially in the priesthood, loses all faith in the
end, then it also does not fare much differently with the love unto Christ. I do not want to say that I would not
want to love Christ if He were somewhere. Yes, I could even love Him above all, because His doctrine is truly the
purest and the best a mortal man can ever think of.

But the 'if' is the most fateful. I came here, and I now live here, as I have said already, without knowing why,
where and how, since I have left the immortality of the human soul in the world. So far, I have not experienced
any more of Christ than what I have learned about Him on earth; And thus, between me and Christ, there is
always the fatal 'if'. Free me, and thou shalt have me as a disciple after the likes of John or the Magdalene.

Now I say, "Well, my friend, you have given me a very extended answer to my short question. So, I will now tell
you and everyone. If you would observe this, you can enter onto the path of true eternal life. If not, then the path
to eternal death is already open in the place where the tower has disappeared!

And thus hear: Jesus Christ is the only God and Lord of all heavens and all worlds! According to His eternal,
infinite love: the Father, and His infinite wisdom: the Son, and His everlasting omnipotent holiness: the Holy Spirit
himself; as He Himself also said of Himself, that He and the Father are One, and who sees Him, also see the
Father; and that the Holy Spirit goes out from Him, as He demonstrated when He breathed on His apostles and
said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.

This is to be the first article of faith for you, without which no one can enter into eternal life, for it is said in
Scripture, "Whoever does not believe that Christ is the Son of the living God, who is the love of the Father, will
not be saved.
But I say unto you, if ye will not embrace the Father as the Spirit in the Son which is Christ, ye shall not enter into
life.

Do not let yourselves be bothered with the text which says: "The Father is more than the Son." For this
expresses that love, as the Father in Himself, is the foundational Being of God and from Him the eternal light and
the eternally powerful Spirit. This is your second article of faith.

The third article of faith is as follows, "Humble yourselves with all your heart, and love God in the only Christ
above all everything; and love everyone his neighbor as himself; Let every one of you live for the sake of others,
and let everyone, being the least, serve the others as much as possible.

If you will have fully accepted these three articles of faith within you, then you will be shown the way to eternal
life. You have brought nothing but evil tricks from the earth with you. They are everywhere in front of you. They
have no reason, therefore they will soon be destroyed before your eyes, and will pass away as an ephemeris, as
soon as your own inner night will break upon you. But therefore, I have given you a new seed in the name of the
Lord; Plant it in your heart, for it becomes a fruit-producing plant. Only this fruit will be a living power for you.
Your spirit will kindle your love, and this flame will enlighten for you the new path that leads to eternal life!

See, now all the paradise monks begin to hit their breasts and shout: "What an abyss below us, what a depth
above us! Lord, be merciful to us great sinners! Close off the abyss and cover the depths above us, for we are
not worthy even of a spark of Your grace! Destroy us, for we are worthy of destruction; But let us not live, that we
may not be condemned by You.

Look, they are turning into themselves somewhat easier than the previous ones. But if we leave them in this
mood, and go into the monastic heaven, then you will find that the 'medium tenere beati' has its literal reality
here; For the heaven here will be worse than the sleep of souls.

Chapter 75.

A walk through the monastic heaven.

You are indeed asking here: Dear brother and friend! Where is this heaven here? I tell you, we shall not need to
go very far to see it. There before us, you see a magnificent palace and there in the middle of it, is a small
staircase with a small gate, right in the middle of the palace. This is the entrance to heaven; for you must know
that heaven and paradise are not far apart. You ask whether Peter and Michael are also here. They will not be
absent, yet they are not in front of, but behind the door. We will not enter the heavens with force here, and you
shall immediately encounter Peter and Michael when we knock. Let us go to the little door, and knock there, that
we may enter heaven.

We are on the spot. So take note of what a question we will be asked through the locked door when I knock. And
so, I knock and listen, "Peter"

is already present and asks: "From where? From above or from below? I speak: From above. The "Peter" says,
"How is the name?" I say, Lord's messenger! Peter continues to ask: Who is the Lord? I say I know only one
Lord, namely Jesus Christ.

The Peter says, "You are a liar; How can Christ have sent you from without since He dwells only here in heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father? If you were sent by Him, you should have been sent forth from heaven.
But you come with a strange voice from outside, so you are a liar and deceiver and a sinner of all sins against
the Holy Spirit. Spirit:?therefore, march down to hell, you and everyone who is with you!

I say: Listen, you blind guardian of heaven, you are terribly deceived.
Since you have asked me from where and in whose Name I came, I also ask you who you are, that you can
straight away utter a sentence of condemnation, while the Lord has expressly advocated His Apostles against it.

The Peter says, "I am Peter, a rock on which Christ has built His church, and this Church will not be
overwhelmed by such messengers from below as you are; So you are waiting in vain to enter.

I say to him, "What would you hold me for, if I would break this door, and take authority of your heaven, despite
your heavenly Peter's power?"

The Peter says, O thou abominable devil of all devils! Just try to grab the buckle, you'll soon feel how hot it is.
But I can assure you in advance that this buckle will cause you much greater torment in a moment than a
thousand years in the lowest hell.

I said to him, "Listen, it's only a trial. And so, I attack your dangerous buckle and behold, the door is opened. I
can assure you that I felt no pain at first, and for the second, I have overwhelmed your little gate, and ask you,
therefore face to face, for whom you are holding me since I have overpowered your stony door with my gate?
Now talk!

The Peter says, "What shall I say to the face of such a transgressor, who tramples on the holy dwelling of God
and His seven saints with his most abominable feet?

I say, "Are you talking to me like Peter would?" Do you not know that Christ has commanded His apostles to be
gentle like the doves? And you're here as rude as a chained dog! If you are really Peter, you will well know that
the Lord has commanded His apostles and disciples nothing so much as the true humility of the heart, the
greatest meekness of the mind, and the perfect love of the neighbor. If, as a supposed devil, I remind you of this,
I am, therefore, no closer to the divine truth than yourself, whom you consider being Peter, and you think you are
a day-laborer of heaven? But the word of the Lord in his work is more alien to you than the center of the earth;
So I urge you once more to confess to me the perfect truth in the most active name of the Lord and to tell me
who you are.

The pseudo-Peter says: Listen, abominable devil, you are worth no answer; And if you do not leave this place
instantly, I will at once summon all the heavenly powers, first of all, the saints. If you will not flee from them, I will
call upon all the angels, and if you will also oppose them, I will call the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph,
and if you do not want to flee from them, I will call the trinity myself. Then it will be clear who is more powerful,
you or the holy trinity! Therefore, do not make trouble, and rather go down kindly to your accursed hell. For if you
are to make sure that all the heavenly powers will come upon you, you will be thrown down with glowing chains,
together with your spearheads, into the lower of all hells to, with a thousand-fold torment, burn, seethe and roast
there.

I say to him, "Listen, if you give me such answers to my question, which is accompanied by the true love of the
Lord, and even threaten me with all your heavenly powers, I must take liberty without your permission to
penetrate into your heavenly skies, and to convince me that all your heavenly powers will be able to execute
your threat to me.

Now listen, to this my statement, Peter utters a pitiful cry and set us up to face Michael. But he runs back and
calls all the heavenly powers at once. But we come one step closer to Michael and see, he also runs after the
Peter, and the stairs are free. Let us go straight up. You will even be able to convince yourself that Peter and
Michael, together with the other heavenly powers, will keep themselves according to humble heavenly policy in
the background of heaven.

Now see, there we are already, and heaven in a not very extended scale is open before our eyes, as it is in the
erroneous reasoning of these heavenly inhabitants. What do you say to this heaven? As I see, you shrug your
shoulders and say, "No, is that supposed to be a heaven? We would have regarded the former paradise garden
much rather be a heaven than this highly insolent theatrical trash-market. We certainly have not imagined these
heavenly inhabitants to be this dumb. If they would have imitated the St. Peter's church in Rome to be a heaven,
they would still be forgiven for a certain degree of blindness. But this highly clumsy and vulgar portrayal would
scarcely have the honor on earth to be applauded by the most stupid peasant-children, and would, therefore, be
jeered at by the somewhat better kind of people.
As it is shown here, the tables of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob represent, as it were, in the forecourt of heaven;
And in the front, instead of a sculpture, there is only a badly painted picture depicting Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. On the podium of this heavenly theater, which is covered with a cloudscape, the trinity is also cut out of a
rough cardboard cover, and clumsily and highly artistically attached to the background with a visible, clumsy nail.
And this bungle of the holy trinity is carried by cherubim and seraphim! The best is still the large, round, yellow-
glazed window behind the trinity. - Yes, my dear friends, you have seen quite well, but now you want to know
why the heaven here looks so miserable?

I tell you, all these things have their good reason; you have already heard in the garden how the misery of
heaven must be properly hidden there, so that the inhabitants of the paradise would not be provoked to a
possible insurrection, especially on the part of the serving angels. However, this is of lesser consideration here,
for one deception always entails another one in its wake. During the following discussion, however, we will
clearly understand why this heaven is so highly clumsy and material. This is why we now want to make it our
own. For you can already assume in advance that the cloister also has a very cloistered heaven.

However, since there are usually two parties in such a monastery, namely the real monks and the house servant
lay brothers, this heaven is inhabited mainly by the laity for whom the monks have no regard. These are mostly
content with their heaven if they only have enough to eat; for according to their extraordinary situation as
laymen, they have never been able to imagine a better one. They belong to that very dark Catholic class, which
regard a very badly carved statue and badly painted picture, much to be more wondrous than an aesthetic
masterpiece. Therefore, you will also have observed that the so-called miraculous images of grace are mostly
the worst caricatures. So, for these heavenly inhabitants, such a heaven, as we have recently seen, would be
much too beautiful, and therefore far from being truly and omnipotently effective.

In short, we will not allow ourselves to be burdened by this heaven anymore, for it will be explained to us in detail
by the next, successive revelation of these heavenly inhabitants. You will see a so-called heavenly comedy in the
literal sense of the word. These people will soon begin to drive us out of their heaven, and we will attend such a
comedy on the next occasion.

Chapter 76.

Inflation of the deceptive heaven.

You see this heaven still in its original shrunk state; But since the inhabitants of this heaven who hold on their
false reasoning, are even somewhat evil, they now, after some consideration, begin to blow themselves up
against us. We shall soon see this blooming in this whole heaven. You ask how this is possible after the
inhabitants of this heaven have hid from us because of their miserable fear of us? This is already the case in the
nature of every person who is still strongly natural. That fear, which is not infrequently mostly sadness, is nothing
else but a seed for anger which soon sprout out of it, and can finally even grow into a desperate, reckless rage.
This you can most easily see with warriors fighting against an enemy; they most often approach the enemy with
great fear and anxiety. But once they are set up against the enemy and fired the first few shots, their fear will
soon be transformed into an ardor of passion, and if they would encounter the enemy, the fierce anger will
become a fiery fury, and such a formerly fearful warrior shall furiously plunge into the greatest dangers.

The same goes for some who mourn. If they could take hold of the effective cause of their afflicted state and
would have the sufficient power to do so, the subject which was the cause of the mourning might not be the best
off. I could even show you many thousands upon thousands who, in their vain mourning, have cursed even the
Lord in the most coarse ways.

That is why the Lord has never approved of grief on the earth, except for a mourning of one's own condition,
when it is not according to the order of the Lord. That means that grief should only be a true remorse of the
heart, and must have as a basis a natural great love for the Lord or the mourner must grieve in full meekness of
his heart.

On the other hand, it is also certain that the one who truly loves the Lord will have little reason for mourning;
because grief is basically only pain over the loss of a person or an object. But if any man has the Lord, what can
he lose, which should cause him pain? You know from Scripture that many women have followed the Lord's
crucifixion to the ill-treated Savior of the world, and have mourned and wept over Him. But he did not approve
their sadness, but directed them to themselves, and made them understand that they should rather weep over
their sins, and over their children.

But as it is with mourning, so it is with fear, which is nothing but a miserable consciousness of one's own
impotence and weakness. But if a man has the Lord in his love, and therefore trust completely in Him, how could
he be afraid of something? Fear is also a consequence of an impure conscience, and as I have said, of the
consciousness of one's own impotence and weakness.

Now, if we go from this definition to our heavenly inhabitants, we will find that they fit perfectly into our definition.
Look at this heaven from this viewpoint and you shall soon see that all these heavenly objects are gradually
beginning to enlarge, to force respect from us by this appearance. Such an enlarging is due to the swelling of the
minds of these heavenly inhabitants. And so only look how the whole heavenly theater podium begins to expand
on all sides.

The heads of the cherubim and seraphims, which were barely fist-sized, now have a diameter of one klafter You
say: This metamorphosis, or rather this truly theatrical phantasmagoria, is still the best and most interesting of all
the heavens, although one must say quite soberly that one becomes a little eerie in this extraordinary
enlargement of the objects or, if you would say on earth, the thing ceases to be a joke.

Well said; I told you that the comedy might surprise you. But the real comedy has not yet begun. This
appearance has so far been nothing but the raising of the curtain to the most annoying theater on the earth. If
you will be able to look at the people acting in this heavenly theater, then you will make even bigger eyes. But,
as I said, you do not have to make anything of what shall still come, for all this proceeds from the wholly empty
illusions of these spirits.

Now look again at the podium, what extraordinary dimensions it assumed in breadth and height, yes it presently
has the appearance if it could reach the moon from the earth. It now has reached its fully inflated state and there
shall soon appear a comedian in the background. Just look, he is sticking out one foot from behind the backdrop.
Behold, now he is quite visible; But I notice that you are beginning to look rather shocked. What is it then?

You say: Listen, friend, that is an inhuman human form. Indeed, if such a giant stood on the earth, the moon
would fare badly. We cannot even look at his terrible magnitude despite his great distance in the background,
and only the nonsensical huge sword he has in his hand! Indeed, he could cut the whole earth like an apple with
the least effort. Friend and brother, if he were to approach us, we are of the sure opinion that it would perhaps be
better to get away from this all before this truly Sirius comedian could reach us with his awe-inspiring sword.

O my dear friends and brethren, do not let this frighten you; for here in the kingdom of the spirits we, the Lord's
servants, often have quite similar battles, of which you are now only witnessing the beginning. Just wait until
these heroes shall come to the fore with all sorts of weapons;?then you will truly see the giants of these
theatrical heroes. You now also see our former small table of Abraham enlarging in similar fashion. You will also
soon see how a few gigantic table servants will show up and set this table with just as gigantic fruits. Shortly
after, similar gigantic guests will sit down at the table and you will see masterpieces of gobblers - you will see in
the literal sense of the word, true world-eaters before you. For today, however, be content with what you have
seen; Next time, the main comedy will follow, and so enough for today!

Chapter 77.
Comedy play in the monastic heaven. The gigantic table and the eating of worlds.

Look, the table-setters are already here, everyone just as big as our first stage hero. See how four table-setters
cover the rather unsightly table of Abraham with a tablecloth which seems to be large enough to wrap and hold
you whole planetary system including the sun, like some insignificant apples. Fruits are now being laid on the
table, consisting of to you well-known fruits from earth like pears, apples, plums and more; A kind of bread is
added, and with every piece destined for a person is put a cup, which seems to be able to contain three times
the volume of the earthly seas. You ask in heaven's name how such things are possible.

But I tell you that such things are easily possible among the spirits; You shall experience for yourselves that if
you would let your fantasies work a bit, it would have been, and still is very easy to depict for yourselves the form
of some or the other well-known animal or something else to be so gigantically big that you would become
frightful of it yourself. That which was possible for you on earth only by the fantasy of your spirit and is possible
for every person in his own way is also possible in the kingdom of the spirits for every spirit, but here it is
revealed as an apparition. Such apparitions are here called ‘fallacies’ and especially evil spirits employ it when
they wish to perform some secret malice. Because these spirits are deceived and are often still malevolent, he
can make use of a still more harmless fallacy to scare away his enemies.

When he would convince himself that we are not shocked by his pretense, their art shall soon shrink back to its
initial state. He then will not try again.

And now look; The guests come to the table from all sides, reaches out with their enormous gigantic hands for
the colossal fruits, and bring them to their fearsome mouths, which appears big enough to swallow the earth like
a strawberry. But now you wonder how you can look at this fantastic, grotesque fallacy with your eyes with the
greatest ease? This is because this apparent size is by no means great, but only deception. But we are through
the Lord in the brightest light, and therefore can no deception be so great before us, that we would not be able to
see it in all its facets with one glance. It has yet another reason and this is that our forms have also enlarged in
the same dimensions in the sight of these spirits, than did their deceptive forms. This is how it could be
understood.

Now, look at the already known theatrical fraudulent heaven's podium.

See how now a multitude of armored giant warriors appear from behind the clouds, the leader holding a crucifix
which is just as colossal as the leader himself. But now we have another appearance, for see, the gigantic Christ
begins to speak to us from the cross. Hear, he speak and says to us, out of heaven with you accursed; for you
have always resisted the spirit of my only sanctifying Roman Catholic Church, and has always been above all
hated heretics unto me. Therefore, be gone with you into the outermost darkness, for there is no place for you in
heaven, and I have never known you. Do not force me to use violence, for if I must do this, the lowest hell will be
your share. If you have not believed my apostle Peter before, you will believe me, when I speak to you from the
cross.

You may be somewhat astonished, But I say to you, do not be disturbed by this phenomenon. For the cross and
the figure on it are hollow. But the bearer, as you can easily see, holds the cross to his mouth, and speaks in it
through an opening which opens out in the mouth of the figure of Christ on the cross. Therefore, the voice comes
from the mouth of the Savior on the cross and is therefore also a conceited malignant deception because the
human nature of the Lord is thus formally used as a deceptive medium. But this deception is still not entirely and
fundamentally evil since the acting leader is lacking a basic evil will.

You also see that he does not dare to go too far with his talking crucifix, and that is a sign that this art will not
bring him a great blessing. Therefore, he now returns to the warriors and gives them a hint to try to frighten us by
a mighty shout. They, therefore, begin to make great movements, and noisily beat with their swords, pretending
to want to attack us. But they notice that we are not frightened at all, and so they go back behind the scenes
together with the leader. Our guests also see that we are not too much flustered because of their great meal, so
one after another begin to get up from the table. But the comedy is not over yet. A second act will presently
begin, and if any of you is a zoologist will find this act quite interesting, for I will tell you beforehand that our
heavenly dwellers will now dare to go to the extreme and pretend themselves to be all sorts of huge animals. But
we know these things, so we shall not be frightened of them in such a situation.
Chapter 78.

Second act of the heavenly comedy.

Look up there: a well-fed crocodile appears, in size proportionate to the other objects. It opens the jaws wide as
if it could devour half of creation. But as nothing flies into his throat, he becomes very modest again. - See, there
emerge in the background several tigers, hyenas, lions, leopards, and bears; even further in the background,
you can see the most venomous giant snakes slithering. Now see how all these animals rile against each other
with the most terrible moves and angry meanderings, as if they were about to tear each other to pieces. There in
the corner, a big monkey head peeks in to see whether we have taken fright yet. But we are not frightened and
this animal battle begins to withdraw.

You ask how such a metamorphosis is possible? I say: such a metamorphosis can impossibly be brought about
by a good spirit, but he can still, with the power of the Master operating in him through his will, produce them as
if they really exist. Such apparitions are called ‘optical illusion’ in the kingdom of spirits. With this apparition in
front of us, it is in fact not the case, for spirits harboring some evil in them, can produce no effective optical
illusion outside of himself. Such an evil one can at the utmost produce the evil out of himself, creating an
external form of this evil. This is the case with these spirits. You now had the opportunity to see the rough and
evil of these spirits in their true form.

Look, this is how things are here.

Everything here is on the one hand deceit and vain pretense, but according to your own old biblical saying: “unto
the pure all things are pure”, there are in all these deceitful apparitions nothing deceitful unto us, for exactly by
means of these apparitions are these spirits making known their inner life and it is not possible for any of them to
produce anything else than exactly that which fully corresponds with his inner being.

You first go to know the pseudo-Peter. That is to say that the whole apostolate of their church is based on a
completely fake Peter. You will therefore find such pseudo-Peters in thousands of such monasteries. Yet, as it is
with Peter, so it is with all the others. At first, you found this heaven, according to your own words, exceedingly
clumsy and ridiculous. If you would look at your true heathenish trash markets in your prayer houses, then you
must admit that this heaven in comparison with that, are still way too good for such absurdities.

Regarding the very messy table of Abraham, it is very true representation of the table of the Master in your
houses of prayer where take note, a pleasing offer is given unto the Lord for sick dogs, oxen, cattle, horses,
sheep, pigs and many other animals, just as for the success of various atrocious deeds! The bread of the Master
is distributed at this table. What somewhat more enlightened spirit can imagine himself any greater nonsense!!
Does not such a table of the Master look more like a swine’s trough in which only the pigs receive their food?
Does not those who eat from this trough look like swine? Yes, truly, one is a swine and others mix themselves in
the swine’s broth, making it his own fault it he would be devoured by the swine.

The Master has compared His Word with pearls that man should not cast before the swine. I am therefore of the
opinion that there is not much living bread to be found in such a swine’s trough. You should therefore easily
understand that this “table of Abraham” as we have seen it in the beginning, is still far too good to see all the
atrocities of many such tables of the Master in your churches. The reason, therefore, is that these lay brethren
had to present themselves on earth out of necessity to be better than what they in fact were. They have no
unclear idea of “the table of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”, to be a representation of the purest love unto the
Master and the forthcoming useful activity for the sake of the spiritual well-being of our brothers. As is the table,
therefore, such is this heaven, for the real one is not to be paid for with money, while the church is still
continuously selling itself for a determined price. This trash-heaven is completely in correspondence with this
and should look like how one have taken possession of it.
Chapter 79.

A glance at the true way to the true heaven.

If you only ponder a little, it can impossibly evade you that the actual heavenly kingdom of the Master as the
fundamental life of the spirit in him, can impossibly be reached by any other means than only, that man would
actively fulfill in himself, that is in his spirit, the prerequisites stated by the Master for the attainment of life. That
means, he first must find life in himself and only after he found it, he can strengthen and empower it according to
the prescribed order of the Master, for He alone knows what is necessary for the real, predestined spiritual life.

When one would want to buy the heavenly realm, which is, as already stated, the actual, fully developed and
predestined life of the spirit by means of foolish, worldly, selfish and therewith filthy and completely dead things,
then would such behavior be even more foolish and senseless than when one would sow on a field not yet
cleared of stones and then, because the wheat would not want to grow, throw even more stones on the field to
try to enhance the growth of the wheat! Should a wise farmer not first change his field into good earth, fertilize it
and only then lay the wheat grains into the furrows to help it sprout quickly and produce much fruit?

Everyone should agree on this with an experienced farmer.

Yet, if this is the only correct prerequisite for the wheat seed to become fruitful and no man can expect blessing
in any other way, how then would the much nobler seed of life of the spirit can grow on such a senseless field
into a living fruit unto eternal life?

I shall give you another, more vivid example by which you will gain even more insight into this important issue. To
fully understand this example, we shall illuminate some points by which the correctness of this specific example
shall be shown to be mathematically exact. Therefore, listen!

You know that different kinds and uneven sizes cannot be added to each other or be multiplied. If one had a
purse with money amounting to a thousand Groshen, would the money become more if he would add a
thousand pebbles to it? When someone would possess a house, would he gain another house by obtaining a
great amount of furniture? If someone keeps ten sheep in a barn, would he gain more sheep by building another
barn? It is thus clear that to obtain more of the same object, more of the same kind is necessary.

Now that we know this, I give you the next example. Imagine yourselves a foolish man, harboring the fervent
wish to have his own children to see his legacy live on in them. Because he is a fool and does not know where
children come from and how they are conceived, he turns to a friend and asks him for advice. The friend, though,
is dishonest and greedy and know that our man is foolish, yet wealthy. He thinks by himself: It is good to fish in
murky water; I shall gain from his foolishness in a dishonest way. When he decided this, he said to the foolish
man: listen, best friend, what you want is very difficult and will cost you much, but if you really want, I shall
provide the means for you and teach you what to do. My only prerequisite is that you shall do exactly what I tell
you. If you do this, you shall certainly obtain your desired goal; if not, you will be lost for a long time!

After this false friend, has stated his prerequisites, the foolish man said to him: because I know that you are a
man rich with knowledge, I shall trust you completely. Just give me the means, I possess enough. But what does
the false friend do now? Listen! Instead of giving a living woman to the foolish man, he sells him a dead, wooden
statue for a great amount and tells him: Put it in your bed and diligently breaths over it and if you would also lay
down in bed beside her, you shall certainly have many descendants. Our man takes this statue, carry her home,
put her to bed and go and lay down beside her, blowing softly over her. He does this for a full year, yet no
descendants are to be seen. He, therefore, go to his false friend and requires after the cause. He tells him: why
are you such a fool, how could you expect to have living fruit after only a year, while a tree, once it is planted into
the earth, only begin to bear fruit after many years? To obtain his goal, he recommends to him a variety of other
products which are to be obtained from this false friend.

The foolish man buys it from him for the determined price and uses it according to the false prescription.
Regardless, no living fruit emerges and the deceived fool again ask the false friend after the cause of the failure.
The false friend becomes quite mystical about it, craftily blames the failure on various concocted circumstances
and keep the foolish man at bay for a while, until he, because of his advanced age, have lost all his manly
potential. Our false friend now consoles the foolish man now that living descendants may follow when he would
have left the temporary life and even gives him advice on what he should do with his statue at the end of his life,
in order to beget many living descendants from it. The fool finally consoles himself even with this promise. This is
the example.

The question is now: how should we look at it to gain the correct light? I tell you: this is indeed obvious. Firstly,
life can only beget life in another life and not from dead matter. The man should have had a living wife and not a
dead, wooden statue.

Secondly: see yourselves as people who have to have the true kingdom of heaven generated in you and indeed
by the holy bride of life, the word of God, which lives and is called the congregation of the Lord.

If the congregation would be a dead, wooden statue, deceitfully sold for money by greedy, false friends, calling
themselves priests of God in a deceitful manner as if she is the only living church, suitable unto the generation of
life, while life can only be begotten by life, then such a church would indeed be the most shameful fraud
imaginable. That the adherents of such a church would be such dumb fools like our man in the example would
be immediately and fully clear to anyone who would think about it a bit.

Has Paul not passionately preached that anyone who would preach another gospel than that of the Lord which
has been crucified, taught Himself, namely Jesus Christ, active in spirit and in truth and who said: “whosoever
would not be born again, shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven”, would be accursed?

But look at a church built with stones; a church which has as its most important motto, gold and silver; a church
promising a heaven he does not know himself; a church who provides for its foolish believers various mystical
means to obtain an even more foolish heaven, urge them for money, chases and diligently condemns them; then
you must clearly recognize the wooden statue in the bed of the foolish man. Only the living wish remains for the
man, to have living descendants, without ever obtaining the joy thereof.

Look, such it is with life upon earth; not only in your Catholic Church but also every other church sect seeing
himself also to be Catholic.

When you would consider this comical heaven in the light of the example, you shall certainly and quickly see the
resemblance. Because it is the fruit of a church identical to the dead statue, and that which was supposed to the
actual life in him is only a dense, lumpy, dead form and nothing but a failed product of a foolish, deceitful and
therefore certainly no fulfilled life wish. That such a heaven can impossibly be lasting, you can easily see if you
would consider that it is nothing other than an optical illusion of the spirit, which want to generate life, but cannot,
because the life- giving factor is missing. Since we now know this and know this heaven in its correspondence,
we can begin with the continual development and exposition, where many optical illusions shall be explained
unto you.

Chapter 80.

Further exposition of the fallacious comedy. The spiritual life is guided along infinitely many ways.

You say: we can now understand how the people of this heaven could enlarge and change themselves, but it is
still not completely clear how they could enlarge, besides themselves, also their heaven; for it is apparently
completely outside of themselves, and they move around in and on it like on natural soil.

Listen, dear friends and brothers, this is just as easily understandable as the others, for this whole heaven is
nothing more than the product of the wrongful imagination of these spirits. When they would inflate themselves
like that, their heaven grows proportionately with them.
To help you understand this fully, I shall give you a clear, worldly example.

There is a man in a company, where a certain subject is under discussion. This man has not the least knowledge
about this subject, but to not stand by being completely ignorant, he conjures a completely faulty statement,
fitting in better anywhere else but with the subject of discussion. Now it is his turn to give his opinion. He does
that, but the silliness of his statement is pointed out to him with much hilarious laughter.

Initially, this man had not much confidence in his statement, for he secretly says to himself: the subject under
discussion here is in fact just as strange to me than the middle of the earth. What the others say about it is just
as incomprehensible as ignorance itself. Therefore, I can conjure up something just to have something to say.

See, up till now, our man was rather modest and patient, but the laughter has hurt his ego. He only now begins
to consider his statement and still find it in his feeling of self-worth more correct, more important and to the point.
When he discovers the greatness which is at the foundation of this statement, even though he cannot vouch for
the validity of it, he becomes angry, confirms his idea even more and finally tries to avenge himself on the
company who jeered at him. He begins to prove to them that bubbleheads like them are not capable to
understand him. Yes, he extensively and expressly presents to them that they would barely be able to progress
so much in a hundred years to properly understand only a small part of what he just have lightly touched upon.

Someone approaches him, saying: listen, friend, your timespan of a hundred years is far too short, for I suspect
that I have thought somewhat more and the exceptional depth of your statement which I suspect I have caught a
hint of like if from behind a veil; therefore, I think that I would only be able to grasp such a depth only in a
thousand years’ time.

He receives a similar, second, secret compliment. This is then the sluice of the dam, for our man begins to be
astonished at his own infinite wisdom, inflates himself inordinately and see the statements of the other guests to
be pure midgets in comparison to his. He finally alleviates himself so high above others that he says to them:
with minds being at least a thousand years behind, someone like me can impossibly continue to keep on
conversing about this subject, for I am now of the opinion that this presented statement of mine would not be
understood by you in yet another thousand years.

See, this example is very clear and is taken from your daily life. It clearly indicates how nonsense can inflate
himself among those proclaiming nonsense. If the case is cunningly and well controlled by an opposing party,
the nonsense finally grows to beget a forced presentation and thus becomes a truly wrongfully grounded spiritual
product. If this is so upon earth, then it is even more apparent and vivid here in the spiritual kingdom. Before we
appeared here, these heavenly inhabitants have not attached much value to their heaven. If they would not have
been fed so well by the inhabitants of paradise, they would have overthrown their heaven long ago. But when we
came and began showing doubt about their heaven, they at first retreated in fright because they saw that we
would not let ourselves be intimidated by their stupidity. They felt ashamed for that and therefore soon began to
let their pride inflate among themselves and their apparition of their heaven, inflated together with them.

Only now do they experience the extraordinary character of their apparition, and they, therefore, to show us the
greatness of their heaven, performed both the scenes and an orgy before us. Because we have deliberately not
allowed ourselves to be fazed and still hold our ground, these heavenly inhabitants are taking revenge as
recourse. We need to allow them to perform this maneuver on us; only then will they be able to accept a word
from me.

You shall learn from this how extremely important it is to know what kind of teaching guidance is necessary to
bring many different spirits holding on to wrongful insights, into the correct path of life. The principle is as follows:
according to its freedom, no spirit can be caught unless he has caught himself first. These spirits must be
granted every opportunity by which they, without touching their freedom, in a certain sense necessarily get
entangled in their own nets. When they would not see any escape anymore, they have to surrender, saying as
much as: when the wrongful statement of a scholar upon earth gets mathematically correctly refuted in every
which way, then the erudite must give best and allow his spiritual child to receive a better education.

The way by which this literally takes place in the kingdom of the pure spirits, you shall clearly see after the soon
coming revengeful maneuver.
Yes, dear friends and brothers, in this endlessly vast kingdom, scenes are played out which no human fantasy
can in any way imagine for himself. When you, if the Master would grant it, would get to see a full picture and
see how many people of the earth and the people of the countless other celestial bodies are being led on the
way of the truth, and you would get to see the milliards times milliards of scenes, you would lose your life, for I
tell you:

The Master nowhere else shows Himself so great, wise and wondrous as in this endless, unbelievably many
various ways of guidance of the spiritual life. His Wisdom indeed everywhere employs the most reliable ways to
bring under one roof, as you are used to saying, this endless variety.

Let us wait for this scene; we shall learn it all from this.

Chapter 81.

Third act on the tragically comical podium.

Now, look at our heavenly podium. The clouds become dark while the shining, great round opening on the
background and the ever-darkening ‘trinity’ becomes smaller. You shall soon see that this whole light-opening
will soon be only a pinhole. Take notice of what shall emerge.

See, it is already completely dark in this whole heavenly space and the clouds' borders look as if it is glowing.
You can hear a muffled rumbling as of a mighty thunderstorm. The colossal trinity way in the background are
becoming 'glowing with anger' and lightnings come from the mouths of the cherubim. The thunderstorm is
coming closer and from behind the clouds, flames appear, shooting as powerful lightings crisscross throughout
the vast space.

This scene comes with even more fire and lightning. As you can see and hear mighty bundles of flames are
falling with loud crackling like with hail upon this heavenly flower bed. Wherever such a bundle of flames falls, it
ignites matter and the blazing fire spread all around. What do you say of such a scene?

I have a suspicion that it might make you feel rather anxious, not finding it advisable to wait out this third act of
this hopeless heavenly show until the end. But I tell you: we have the power to quench the fire immediately,
whenever we want to. We, therefore, do not need to fear the fire. We shall indeed do here what we can and have
to - to answer the fire with a counter-fire, which shall burn the opponents very sensitively. When our opponents
shall notice this, they shall come out, trying to escape the fire. Our fire shall take them captive and devour the
evil in them. They shall only then be able to receive from us words which would be wholesome to them.

See, I now give a sign with my hand and immediately masses of white flaming bundles are falling amidst the red
darkness on the heavenly podium.

The fire begins to smoke profusely; do you now hear the lamenting of our heavenly inhabitants? See how large
crowds are storming to the front through the flames and call for help, but every refugee is encompassed with a
pillar of flames which he cannot escape. The podium is already full and the whole, big, burning group tumbles
down into the flower-bed. You can now see that water is streaming down amidst the still flashing lightning as if
from a cloud-burst, giving much relief for our burning heavenly inhabitants.

You indeed say: dear friend and brother, this is really a terrible means to cure. I tell you: It must be thus if these
seriously ill people would be healed, for comparative beings belong to a certain extent to gout-sufferers and this
illness can only be healed by a strong spiritual 'fire-steam bath'. You have steam baths on earth which are
especially healing for the affliction of gout; why would there not be in the kingdom of spirits also similar spiritual
steam baths?

I tell you, there is no single apparition which would not be present in similar fashion in the kingdom of spirits. This
apparition is therefore not so strange as you have initially thought. You should not compare the fire with fire on
earth, for fire here means, when it becomes visible, nothing other than great zeal. As you have seen it, these
inhabitants of heaven wanted to take revenge on us and make us flee in their great zeal which is a product of
their delusional ideas, with the evil coming forth from it.

Because this heavenly way of doing is not intended to revenge evil with evil but to do only good to those who
want to destroy us and to bless those who curse us, we do not come to them with similar fire, but with the 'fire of
love', which was in comparison just as big as the 'fire of wrath' they sent to us. This is what it means to heap
true, glowing coals upon our adversary's head. You shall understand this properly when the 'living water' thrown
out over them, shall completely convince them.

Now look: this multitude of more than a thousand heavenly inhabitants now shrinks back into their original
dimensions, indicating that they are now being aptly humbled, because of their zeal. The whole, strongly inflated
heaven now also shrinks back into its original form. The fire dies down and our inhabitants now stand before us,
as if naked. As you can see, a wholesome feeling of shame is taking hold of them, which always indicates that
the conquered now is beginning to see himself from the viewpoint of his own folly and the accompanying
unrighteousness.

They are now also ripe to listen more willingly to my words than before. I, therefore, want to ask the following
question to the man standing closest on the fore - the previous 'false Peter' and therefore I say: look, you, so-
called Peter, we are still here, for all your heavenly powers and might could do nothing against us, as you and
your company can clearly see. Tell me, what do you hold me for now? Am I from below or am I after all 'from
above'?

The pseudo-Peter says: Now listen to me. My whole company, and I was and still is infused with many
delusional ideas. We can indeed now clearly see that something is terribly amiss with this truly hopeless heaven
where we all have been treated very painfully. We also see that, if such scenes would repeat itself in this very
much suspect heaven, it very well could be regarded as the first degree of hell and if it is not, then at least a well-
maintained purgatory. I, therefore, ask you in the name of all my brethren, free us if it is possible for you, from
this truly fatal heaven!

I herewith lay down my Peter-status at your feet. I clearly see and acknowledge openly from the depth of my
heart that I am no good being Peter and never was, but also that I am way too bad and dumb to be even the
most insignificant pig-herder on some or the other spiritual pasture, if such an occupation exists somewhere in
this environment.

I also ask you nothing other than to free us from this 'heaven of cards'! Wherever you want to place us, we shall
serve the Master there even for the most meager of food. Just spare us purgatory and hell, for we have felt the
terrible burning of the fire to our skins; very briefly, indeed, but sensitively enough that we shall remember it
forever!

Now I say: Very good. This language is much more acceptable than the previous. Be therefore clothed and
follow us to the 'paradise' where several of your brothers are already awaiting a similar 'salvation'! Look, the
nudes are presently clothed with light grey linen raiment and while we are leaving this place, they are following
us, honestly praising and honoring God. You say: these linen garments look like real, sturdy military jackets
made of unbleached linen and the whole procession looks like a poor military escort.

Yes, dear friends, the raiment here is according to the insight in truth and the forthcoming good. The level of truth
and goodness present in these spirits, you could clearly see by their heaven and their actions.

These clothing are fully adapted to their condition. What shall happen next, we shall very well see at the next
instance.

Chapter 82.
Arrival of the newly converted souls in the 'paradise garden'. Their acknowledgment of guilt.

See, we again find ourselves in the so-called paradise. You can easily convince yourselves that it is still the old
one as we have seen and left it before. There in the middle of the paradise, the first paradise-dwellers is waiting
for us, much more humbly and contemplative than before, when we came from the monastery to them. Our
'heaven-dwellers' are also following us humbly and thus we proceed with our new catch directly to our first
paradise inhabitants.

See, our previous leader of paradise and the two first speakers are making big eyes when they see from afar
that the whole heavenly company is following us. They did not expect heaven to be conquered for they secretly
held that as a touchstone, which would show the full truth of our final mission.

But since the whole heaven is humbly following us, the prior says to his company: listen, friends, under these
circumstances, the whole case is gaining a completely different appearance. These three are definitely sent here
by a Godly power still unknown to us; this is as clear as the sun! But what we must do with this terrible certainty
is a completely different question. How is it with our conscience? How do we fare regarding our previous
behavior towards these high messengers? This is again a completely different question; shall we go after
judgment has been made, if all goes well, to purgatory, or - the Master help us - even to hell? Listen, friends, this
is yet another quite hopeless question!

They are also approaching us with very stern faces, which does not provide much consolation for us. If I only
think how things were with our priestly life upon earth and think how we, who know the gospel of the Master well
but never lived it among each other in the true Christian way and how we, in the literal sense of its meaning,
always resisted the pure Spirit of God; oh brothers, then I cannot make a more to the point remark to assume
that all of us face under this highly sad circumstances, nothing other than the most pure, most terrible and
heated hell! I would almost want to call out for the mountains to fall upon us, that we no longer need to see the
faces of such terrible judges!

The other, the better speaker turns to the prior, saying: listen, friend and brother, I believe we should not despair
so quickly since there will be ample time for that when we would be finally condemned. We do know the old
adage which says: “A good word always finds a good place”. Let us, therefore, trust in our prayer and our
greatest possible humility and not despair too early in the great mercy of the Lord. Who knows whether these
three messengers are really going to judge us with relentless strictness, for if they are sent by God, they would
be better and softer in their judgment than what we ever were towards the alleged sinners in our only sanctifying
church.

The prior says: oh, dear friend and brother, your consoling words tastes as sweet as honeycomb and the most
tasty milk, but then I again think of the words of Christ in the gospel, where Christ the Lord says to the ‘false
prophets’, namely the nominal Christians and the nominal priests: “Go away from Me, accursed, to the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I do not know you; you are workers of iniquity, you have always
resisted the Holy Spirit!” Friend, what do you say about this text?

The other one says: yes, brother, this is an exceptionally terrible text, fully applicable to us. I also must admit to
you that I am not feeling so good about hell. If the Master would indeed not be more merciful than what we
mostly where upon earth, then this text can be applied in a horrific way. For the Lord, have said: “Be merciful and
you shall receive mercy!” But exactly there lies the problem, for our mercy upon earth was in a sorrowful state. If
I only think how easily and with how much glee we often have condemned often whole nations to hell, I begin to
really fear and my previous consoling words to you begin to sound very hollow to me.

A third one says: friends and brothers, I fully understand; we are lost! I think that we should go together and
straight to the main messenger standing in the middle and ask him nothing but the warmest degree of hell, to
spare him the terrible judicial sentence, especially in the light of the fact that we were on earth mostly compelled
by the ecclesiastical authority to act like this and not otherwise. We only executed the church’s requirements,
whether they were right or not. I do think that it was rather impossible for us to act differently upon earth, even if
we have negated God’s words and have thus not served God, but Mammon.

We could have rather died the martyr’s death than to act against Christ like that, but exactly because of our
church, we were of too weak faith to have such a thing done to us. So, I mean, then, that we have not made
ourselves guilty of the very worst hell. To God be the glory, and His name is always to be praised above all
things. I mean, He will not do the worst to us, and so we await with the humblest peace what the Lord will decide
about us.

See, the whole company humbly agrees with him. Now that everyone has meekly humbled himself, and they
have acknowledged their guilt towards each other, we shall go to them and offer them a justified destination. Be
completely serious at my side, for there is still much that need to be removed from them before they can be
ready for a higher destination.

Chapter 83.

The Eternal Word as the Judgement Seat of Christ.

We are now close enough to the group of monks that we can talk to them.

I shall therefore immediately repeat my question to the company, to deduct from their answer how much they
have come to their senses because of our previous conversation. You ask: do everything here in the spiritual
world also must be done with words? Are the spirits of your level of perfection not granted to evaluate such
spirits without words and at first glance to know how things are with their inner beings?

I tell you: every spirit of the higher heaven is granted this, and he can evaluate every imperfect spirit fully at first
glance. The imperfect spirit cannot do this. It is the same when some criminal is being questioned upon earth.
The judge is already at the first court session and witness declaration convinced that the individual has himself
guilty of a certain transgression. But he cannot justly judge the criminal if he did not acknowledge the crime
himself. The word is then the only means to reveal the thoughts; or, both the person and the spirit yields his inner
mind to the revelation.

Hence, the knowledge only on my part of the inner nature of these spirits, taken on its own, is as good as
nothing. But, according to this knowledge, I can direct their minds to express their own opinion, so that they
cannot evade me as a matter of necessity, and must, therefore, reveal their inner nature through their word, and
surrender it to public scrutiny.

By this then the words: “It shall be proclaimed loudly from the rooftops” become true. Somewhere else is written
by Paul: “Everything shall be made known before the judgment seat of Christ!” This says as much as:?
everything need to be revealed or said through the word, for the word is the actual judgment seat of Christ.
“Proclaiming from the rooftops” means that everyone shall be judged according to his own words, or in other
words, he shall have to fully surrender his inner mind. For just as the roof is the protection of the house by which
man protects himself as well as possible during his earthly life against the stormy weather outside, the same is,
spiritually seen the word that serves as self-protection and self-love. Because the word is equal to the roof of a
house in the spiritual sense, which does not provide any protection anymore in the spiritual world, “proclaiming
from the rooftops” means that one’s own words would cleanse you from all inner vice. You have already often
heard such effusions; it still is not redundant for you to also hear this following one.

I, therefore, want to turn myself to the monks’ company with the question I already was of the intention to ask.
You can then gather from their answer how bad and dark the nucleus, hidden in them, still is. Take notice; here
follows my question:

Well, as you can see, I have returned after the conquest of your heaven. How do you fare regarding your inner
insight and accompanying humiliation? Do you still keep yourself for true servants of the Lord, or more like self-
willed deceivers of the people?

The Prior says, "We have examined ourselves, and have found ourselves fully worthy of the infernal punishment,
as we have fully recognized that you are a true messenger of Divine justice, and endowed with a power through
which all our walls and towers crumble like chaff. We are and remain the Lord's eternal debtors, and every one
of us bears so much of this debt on his own neck, that none can, according to God's justice, ever be forgiven.
We, therefore, have nothing more to say to you, but ask you, if possible, only so much divine grace and mercy
that you do not condemn us according to our guilt, to the most bitter and most painful degree of hell.

If it were possible to confess here, we would confess for a hundred years, to gain the liberation from our guilt
according to the degree of penance connected with a confession. But since this is no longer possible, and
according to Paul we lay as we have fallen, we have no choice but to sorrowfully expect the condemning
judgment from you.

Now I say: So, with confession, do you think it would be possible to get rid of the sins? If your faith goes there,
tell me, on what occasion did the Lord on the earth have established confession as a means to forgive sins?

The Prior says: Dear friend! This is how you will know how the Lord has given His Apostles the power to resolve
and to bind. It is evident that the Lord has instituted confession. The Apostle James also expressly says,
"Confess your sins to one another." If you look at all these things as many other things, it is impossible to deny
that the Lord had not manifestly used confession as a means of forgiveness of sins.

Now I say: Listen, friend and brother if you thus understand the word of God, it is no wonder that you are here in
this degree of despair. Tell me what foolishness might be greater than the following: Imagine yourself two
mutually hostile people, two mutual sinners or debtors, but one began to feel oppressed in his conscience in this
sinful condition. However, to rid himself of this annoying condition, he would go to another man to rid himself of
his troublesome condition, confessing to this stranger, who has nothing to do with the situation, to alleviate his
guilt. Tell me, if such a stranger, who has nothing to do with the situation, receives such a repayment of debts,
what is he then? Is he not the biggest deceiver? You agree with me in your mind. Good, but it shall become even
clearer to you.

Let us assume that A owes B a thousand guilders. Instead of honestly paying B the thousand guilders back,
allows himself to be persuaded to pay only a hundred guilders as penance to a deceiver C, to whom A never
owed a cent. What would B say regarding the indulgence of this guilt, and would A’s guilt towards B really be
redeemed? I think that even hellish spirits would not assume this. We cannot even expect this of the Master
since He is Himself the most holy Love and Wisdom.

The texts you have quoted regarding the forgiveness of sins, therefore, need another explanation, for your
argument holds no water. I shall give you time to consider this well; then you can tell me the conclusion you
came to. But no longer than seven minutes. Well, investigate yourself in spirit and truth. Amen.

Chapter 84.

About sin against the Holy Spirit.

See, our prior have done his exploration and begins to talk to us about it. Therefore, listen; he says: best friend, I
have considered your examples and your question in the depth of my inner being and cannot say anything other
than that you are completely right in everything. Because for the first time in my double life I now see that
confession is the greatest mishap, both for the Godly and mutual, neighborly justice.

The way I see it now, one can barely imagine himself something more foolish than when to mutual debtors would
have to be content with, and would be mutually alleviated of debt when a third, having nothing to do with the debt
of the one or the other, would remit the debt of the one or the other. Or even when a third would, by accepting a
small amount - of course completely unjustified - fully convince the debtor that he has fully remitted the
substantially greater debt towards his creditor. Oh, friend, it is now as clear to me as this exceptionally clear air
here. But now another question follows.
If this is undoubtedly so, what fate would finally befall all the foolish confession fathers and confessors? If I would
think that this is in my church exactly the ‘conditio sine qua non’

How in God’s name could it be possible that this terrible nonsense could take root so indelibly? Oh, friend, I
would want to do penance for my folly in hell, but first, let me go to earth with an immortal body for a year or
three. I shall ignite a light for the church which would be more dangerous to her than a piece of white-hot iron to
a drop of water. For I know only too well how stiff-necked the high priesthood of this church proceeds with the
most senseless deception and I also see that she will never let go of this folly along a normal, natural way.
Therefore, I would, as said, want to go down with an immortal and indestructible body to make an end to this and
much more, no less important follies of this church.

Now I say: best friend and brother, the Master do not need this. Do understand the forgiveness of sins here from
the right perspective, then you shall have unlimited opportunity to bring it to practical use here much better and
more useful than when you would be granted to go against it on earth with various wondrous means.

The earth is namely no resort for purification, but only a resort for the testing of the free will;?therefore, all are
free. Good intentions and folly, satan and angel can co-exist.

For the will of the spirit to be able to practice itself, a variety of temptations are needed, which must constantly
endeavor to steer one away from the truth to the lie. Man must, just like whole companies, have constant battle
which practices the power of life and where the freedom of must choose one or the other direction.

Would you want to bring your intention to fruition in a worldly corporation like that of a church community, you
would have to begin by completely removing all beguiling of the flesh, like the sexual need as a living feeling, as
well as all other physical needs. But if you would or could do this, what would man still be on such a worldly
body?

Look, humans goes forth from exactly these living stimuli, as well as all human passionate actions. If it would
now be fully clear to you that the full removal of all such wrongful and its forthcoming evil from a world body
would not be possible by any other means than to remove the human race itself, then you would also understand
that the three-year stay on the world body where you intend to perform wonders for the present as well as the
future, shall produce fewer fruit for the full turning to good from all wrongful and evil, than would the earthly life of
the Master and those of His Spirit-filled apostles and disciples.

I shall tell you though, why you want to go to the earth. Look, there are two reasons. The main reason is revenge
and the other is that you want to please and make up for your folly with the Master with even more foolish,
wrongful and badly chosen means! Therefore, you should quickly let go of your intention and, instead of
revenge, let true neighbor and brotherly love sprout in your heart, then you shall soon clearly see that man here
in the resort of the true purgatory (cleansing) can, according to the wisest loving plan of the Master, can best
meet the foolishness of the world.

Because I can tell that you and your whole company understands and see this, I have to draw your attention to it
that you still owe me an actual answer about the texts in Scripture regarding forgiveness of sins. We cannot go
one step further before this issue is extensively and fully discussed. Do begin now therefore with the answer and
begin with the text from Scripture about loosening and binding, of Matthew 18:18 and John 20:23. If you are
done there, then we shall proceed to James. Therefore, speak!

The prior says: oh, highly exalted friend, it will be unspeakably difficult for me and therefore I humbly ask you to
excuse me that I can give you in this regard no satisfying answer, for where there is nothing, not even death can
get something from.

I now say: You see, I knew that it would come to this. You want to go to earth to bring your church on the good
road. Tell me, how are you going to manage this is you lack the most essential and basic for such an endeavor?

The prior says: exalted friend, truly, my foolishness grow like prolific weeds on fertilized soil. After what you have
just said, I understand that I am not even fit to be a pig-minder, let go a wondrous church reformer. Oh, do tell
me, how much of such kind of senselessness is still stuck in me?
I answer: I tell you, still a big portion, but the answer to the question shall work wonders in you. Pay therefore
attention how I shall give you the answer. Therefore, listen!

I shall explain to you the text in John because he gives preference to the revelation by the Holy Spirit; if you
would forgive people their sins, it shall be forgiven in heaven; but if you keep people to their sins, it shall be
reckoned in heaven. This is how the text goes, but what does it mean?

“Receive the Holy Spirit”, wants to say as much as: be enlightened by My truth! The deeper meaning also says:
follow Me in everything! The deepest meaning is: love each other as I have loved you! For by this man shall
know that you are My disciples if you have love one for another.

Look, this means: “Receive the Holy Spirit”, for the Master has given no other commandment than that of love.
He can therefore impossibly offer and give another spirit than that of love. Do you understand this text? You
confirm this to me in your heart. Good, then we go on.

“To whom you forgive sins, it shall be forgiven in heaven” means that:?when whoever of you shall remit,
according to My Spirit of love and wisdom, the guilt of your brother against you, I shall not alone also remit the
guilt of the brother which you remit him, but I shall also forgive him who extended remission, all guilt. When one
would though, as the second part of the text states, not remit his brother’s guilt, I shall let the creditor keep his
guilt. When the debtor would want to reconcile with the creditor regarding the transgression but the guilty one
would not want to accept it, I shall be irreconcilable towards the guilty until he shall be willing to reconcile with his
enemy.

Look, this is the only heavenly valid explanation of this text. The sins man commit against God and his own
spirit, cannot be forgiven by anyone else but only He, against Whose order the transgression has been
committed. The sin against the own spirit cannot be remitted or forgiven by anyone else but the spirit itself; with
a complete, honest will out of love for the Master; and then deny himself and never commit such transgression
again.

Regarding the sins against the Godly Spirit which is the radiating love of the Master, it shall be obvious that when
one would willfully oppose the most holy and powerful means of mercy, one must seriously ask oneself by what
means someone like that, who are maliciously fighting against the most holy, can still be saved.

You see, this then is the full and meaningful exegesis of these texts about forgiveness of sins. These texts both
become loudly, clearly expressed in the most exalted prayer of the Lord, where irrevocably is written: “Forgive us
our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us”.

There is not written something like: forgive us our sins to the extent of our penitentials like the confession, the
penitential deeds, the communion and the absolving of our sins according to the confession father. The general
forgiveness of sins is also mentioned elsewhere, as it is written: “Be merciful and you shall receive mercy”, which
again does not mean:?confess, then your sins shall be absolved.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the Master refers to the most important means to receive forgiveness of sins,
namely a charitable, humble and loving return to God, the very best and most loving Father of all people! Do you
understand this? You confirm that you do; then we shall proceed to James.

Chapter 85.

The Word of the Lord! The actual judge.

As to James, he does not say that the congregation should "confess"

their sins to an elder of the congregation, but he only says that no brother in the congregation should have any
secret from the other, and want to be considered by the whole Community to be better than he really is.

And this is the reason why James recommends but does not at all dictate that the sins or mistakes should be
confessed to one another.

But if all this is irrefutable, what is the ear-confession in the Catholic Church? I tell you, it is nothing more than an
incriminating sin bank, where people get rid of their life's responsibilities and guilt.

Through this transposition, they bring the ecclesiastical usury a double gain; firstly, each one for himself, and
secondly, because he withdraws himself from the eyes of his brethren and his fellow-men by confession, so that
they should not know who he really is in his inner being, and would regard him at least after the confession,
immediately again as a completely honest man;?while he remains after confession the same man as he was
before.

All the confessed sins are covered up this way and every owner will get them back to the extent that he has
deceived himself and all his fellow-men! For himself, because, according to every confession, he regarded
himself as a man fully worthy of Divine grace, by which he exalted himself and took pleasure in himself. He
deceives his fellow-men, in that they never really know where they stand with him, and therefore should regard
him to be much better than before.

So these are interest rates, and they are called double fraud! And this deception is still a chief burden, which
consists in the fact that the condemned man is deluded to be perfectly justified before the Lord.

I can assure you that if Judas, the traitor, had established a Christian church, it would certainly have been better
than this, which has not come out of Christianity, but from paganism, only by salting this paganism a bit with
Christianity. For as salt is but the smallest ingredient of a dish, so in this paganism, Christianity makes up the
smallest part. That would still be bearable if it were only good. But is the salt itself stale, how then will pure
paganism be Christianity?

The heathendom has many gods, therefore do those in possession of the new salt not want to stay with one
God, but makes three thereof. After this God, which was separation into three, it makes saints of people who
lived upon earth, creating a surrogate for the rejected “demigods” and “house gods”. The old heathendom was
very profitable to its priests, but the pure Christianity stands directly opposed to such profiteering, for it expressly
states: “Freely you received, freely you shall give”.

The heathendom could not make use of this but rather invented a ‘sin register’. Because the Mosaic law was not
often transgressed, they independently invented new laws which were rather difficult to keep.

Besides the sin register and the very expansive book of the law, they also established the ‘confession’ unto
forgiveness of sins and by these confessions, people were brought to various profitable works of penitence.

By this have the sole sanctifying pontificate exalted itself by means of yet more profitable religious ceremonies to
world-renown, before whom all kings tremble!

For this sole sanctifying pontificate to become even more independent and therefore also mightier and less
restricted, it knew to form its own mighty army by very clever means, more than a million men strong, besieging
castles, citadels, cities, countries of caesars, kings and princes everywhere and victoriously, making all countries
subject and taxable. This army consists of the “priests” and “monks” and the means is “celibacy”. This way this
new, heathen, ecclesiastical power was unconquerably established. Since every ruler, if he would want to know
how things are with his subjects, needs his spies, these spies were indispensable also to the pontificate. Who
were these spies! Well, the whole priesthood!

What are the means called, by which the hidden attitudes were discovered? Nothing other than the ‘confession’.
Look that is the second profit for the confession father and indeed also for the whole dark priestly order.

Of what nature is this profit? I tell you, it consists of nothing other than that this confession of sins is being
described to be beneficial to the Church, to which the egoistic deception of the people is necessarily connected.
They are being duped into believing that they would be fully justified before God as often as they would confess.
You now stand here, donned with such ‘profit’ and this begs for another question, which is: what would you now
present for the full amortization of such pure ‘hellish profit'? For I immediately must add that no one can enter life
solely on the premise of the pure, direct mercy of the Lord; for he who has nothing, even what he has shall be
taken from him.

See, this is the most important question you still need to answer. I shall give you time to think about this. If you
can present something which would be acceptable here in the Kingdom of the naked truth and complete
faithfulness, then it is fair and good. Yet, if you could not, then you already carry your judgment in you. Believe
me, neither I nor the Master shall judge you, for your works, as you could gather from my explanation, still
diametrically opposes the Word. Therefore, it should not be for you on any point, but precisely against you.

The prior says: yes, so it is. Now my verdict for hell is as good as served, for what would I be able to present in
my own favor? I can say nothing but: Master, have compassion and mercy on our poor, blind fools and greatest
of all sinners! I see nothing but only the heavy as lead weight of guilt before me and I do not need any time to
think about it. All that remains is to painfully await in the terrible judgment which now seems to me and certainly
all of us, more painful than the fire of hell itself. I, therefore, implore you, do not hold us back anymore, but give
us an indication where we belong.

I say: here, not my will prevails, but the Godly order! You should, therefore, subject yourselves to it if you do not
want to perish forever by your own doing. I, therefore, tell you once more that you shall speak about the subject
presented to you. For I still see in your heart a plea for the confession and as long as it is still stuck in you, you
cannot leave this place; therefore, take your time and then speak! Amen.

Chapter 86.

The Master’s pure love is also in hell.

Our prior, who have already investigated in this new short time for contemplation all corners of his being, as you
shall soon hear from his mouth, fortunately, found an excuse for his problem.

We, therefore, want to presently give him the opportunity to present his plea and I, therefore, say to him: best
friend and brother, I see that you have spent your time well and found something. Tell us therefore what you
have found.

The prior says: I truly have found something that could be a valid case for confession in the most favorable
situation. But whether the discovery would be accepted in my favor, is another question. I do indeed have to
honestly acknowledge that of all things related to this case, this point has been to me personally, especially
regarding confession, the most consoling. But whether I am right in regarding this as a consolation, is yet
another question.

The point itself is the parable of the unrighteous steward who, when one would properly consider it, acts in his
position almost like a confession father towards his children. The Master praises the unrighteous steward and
even says to His disciples that they also must make friends by means of unrighteous things for it to when the
Master would call his steward to account, would take him into his heavenly abode.

Look, this is what I can state to my benefit. I also think that many of my confessors have been taken in by the
Master and would find themselves in their heavenly homes. I have indeed been an unrighteous steward and
have trespassed regarding the unrighteous things of the Godly word. I have acted with the immeasurable things
to the disadvantage of the great Master of the house because I have converted it in the literal sense of the word
into the shameful Mammon and thus it could be reckoned unto me in a high degree as being unrighteous things.

How often have I not remitted the greatest debtors of the Master of their debt in the confession chair? I
completely remitted them the main capital and left only some meager for the debtor, for the small, daily sins can
be regarded as a remaining stain of the greater.

Only a purifying penitence should be done, the purifying means are given by which the debtor can easily get rid
of his small debt.

I as well as my equals can do very little to the fact that the church has independently prescribed such means and
not only I, but also every priest were strictly obliged to use them. Now you have all I can give you.

Your wisdom can evaluate this situation better than all of my mind.

I now say: well, best friend and brother, I have heard your plea and I do tell you that it is indeed valid for the ear
confession, but how? This is another question which I shall answer immediately.

If the heart of the confession father is really filled with love, and he uses the confession only to show the
confessor at that occasion the way and time to have his sins forgiven by only the Lord, and he let him see that
the confession would have no effect on him whatsoever without the consideration of these advocated means and
the full application thereof, but he as a sinner, if he should believe in the full remittance of his sins by means of
confession, would become even more hardened and incorrigible.

When the confession father would with that also give the advice with much friendliness and love that he should
try in future with care and earnestness to avoid all his confessed sins in the way shown by the gospel and would
do so without ceasing, this is the only way leading to the rebirth of the spirit; then if the confessor would honestly
promise to the confession father that he would do everything possible to follow his advice and the confession
father then would remit his sins in the Name of the Lord - only then is he a true confession father and in this case
he can be referred to as a “unrighteous” steward.

You now indeed ask me how a confession father in such a case could still be an “unrighteous” steward? You
could have deducted partly from my explanation that no one has the right to remit the debt which exists between
two people, except when the third party would mediate between the debtor and the creditor by bringing them
together again through the teaching of love and would pay on behalf of the poor debtor the debt out of his own
pocket, to the creditor. But take notice, this can only happen when both parties would agree fully brotherly and in
friendliness with such a charitable redemption of guilt.

Secondly is this unrighteous stewardship of such a confession father easily recognizable from the text in
Scripture where the Master says to His apostles and disciples: “When you have done all, then say and
acknowledge:?we are unworthy servants”.

I do think that it is not necessary to elaborate any more on this case, for if you still have a spark of faith in the
gospel left, then my word as the eternal, unchangeable truth should be completely clear to you.

You now say in your heart: I indeed understand all this very well; but what shall now happen with all of us? None
of us can be praised to be unrighteous stewards, for as we now stand here before you, we never have used
confession for such pure purposes. Yet, I tell you: the way already lays open before you and you shall soon
could be a much better unrighteous steward in the Kingdom of absolute faithfulness than on earth, where light
and living faith is completely absent.

Behold, see the whole deceived laity, see the great multitude of the laity in this paradise, and then see the great
multitude of "soul sleepers'

in this monastery of your false foundation! Go and preach to them the true gospel, bring them all here, and you
will take the first step to become a true "unrighteous steward" in the kingdom of God.

The Prior says, "O divine friend and brother! Would it be possible that I could escape hell?

I say, who hath condemned thee to hell? Do you think the messengers of eternal love will do this? If you do not
condemn yourself by your unyielding mind, and if, as I see it, you feel love for the Lord in you, where is the one
who has the power to condemn you to hell? Do you think the Lord sends His messengers for condemnation?
Oh, you are still in a great error!
The Lord sends messengers only for salvation, but never for damnation!

Therefore, do not care for foolish things, but make your love for the Lord shine brightly, and go in such love to
your brethren, and bring them all out of their prisons, and only then will you experience how the Lord judges His
children.

Believe me, the Lord is pure Love also in hell; and there is not an evil spirit there who, if he wills, will not be able
to return to the Father as a lost son! But if this is the most certain and infallible case, then you will be able to infer
from your love of the Lord, that His omnipotence has not created you for hell. Therefore, go now, and do as I
have told thee, that you may soon be saved!

Chapter 87.

The difference between correct and wrongful use of the confession.

Behold, the Prior goes to fetch those whom we have formerly left beyond the flaming gulf. You are wondering if
there are any bridges across this gap that these sleeping souls can come over to us? I say to you, in this respect
nothing has happened so far since our souls have begun to feel sorry for themselves, but this is a very bad
situation for man in relation to the spiritual life.

In self-pity, man justifies himself, pushes all blame elsewhere, and thus presents himself as a guiltless man, and
at the same time worthy of all mercy. Since this is precisely the case with our souls' hardships, as already
remarked, there is no bridge over which they could reach us. But this also serves as a strong test for our prior,
and it will be shown what effect the miserable condition of this soul-sleeping brotherhood will have on him.

You would want to be witnesses of his action, but I say to you, this is by no means necessary, for we shall see
him again soon enough, for he shall return without having achieved a thing.

However, we would rather turn to another monastic brother and see what effect our treatment of the prior has
had on him. We need not say: Come here and reveal yourself! For the shoe pinches, anyway; and so, as you
see, he comes to us with purpose, and presently asks the following question to me, saying (the monk): Good
friend and brother! I have listened to your teachings on the confession from the beginning to the end, with the
greatest attention and inner appreciation, and from this, it is understood that this chief function in the Catholic
Church is mostly because of the most wrongful use of the divine word. One cannot object to your pronounced
pure truth. But, notwithstanding the fact that we recognize this, this function still exists in the very Church, as it
has existed for centuries and will continue to exist.

But if this function is, for both the confessor and the confession father, of such a decidedly great disadvantage
regarding the eternal life of the spirit, then with the best conscience of the world can the weighty question be
asked why the most right, most loving, most wise, omnipotent Lord and God of heaven and earth tolerate such
abomination in His way of life?

For I also must frankly confess to you that even by this confession, many people on the earth apparently became
great favorites of the Lord, and He also oftentimes revealed that to them. And as much as I can recall, the Lord
has not uttered his disapproval to any of His followers.

On the contrary, I know of several instances where, in this way, the Lord has made known to the other man
through His darlings, that they should work for their sins, repentantly confess, for the forgiveness of their sins.
And I also know of several instances where men who have fully followed this advice have been fully reborn in
spirit and in truth after such a confessional function, which has been carried out in full seriousness, and have
remained from that moment the true, respectable friends of the Lord.

But if the situation with this function is like that as you have all taught us before, I must frankly confess that the
guidance of humanity on the earth is an indissoluble mystery to me on the part of the Lord. As far as I can
recollect, confession is in any case so designed that the sinner, by this penitential function, can only surrender
the forgiveness of his sins, if he declares to the priest his most serious intention that he would never again
commit these sins which he honestly regrets.

If on the part of the confessor, this condition is not fulfilled, as is often the case, the pulpits will be informed as
often as possible, and especially before the general confessional times, that no one can, as we have said,
receive the forgiveness of his sins without fully fulfilling these conditions.

Thus, both the pulpits and the confessionals most carefully preach and teach that no one can be remitted of sins
by the Lord unless the confessor has first wholeheartedly sorted himself out with all his debtors. If perhaps
someone would misuse this function, although the general ecclesiastical rule is that this function is supposed to
be handled in such a pure sense, then the whole church could be accused of such misuse.

See, I do not want to touch on whether the Church has correctly or incorrectly understood the command of the
known texts; but it is certain that the Lord does not regard it so unfairly, at least not on the earth, because He has
made this function sprout and secondly, is He still tolerating this tree in His vineyard while this tree is, as is
known, still yielding a plentiful crop.

For this is certain: if a man is ill, then he shall go to a physician, to diagnose the illness for effective treatment
and offer the sufferer an effective remedy. If this cannot be called unfair on physical level, while one also can say
that the Almighty Lord alone can heal all diseases, which He also certainly does according to His order, if the
suffering would use the means given by the physician and blessed by the Lord, in the living trust in the Lord.

If, as I have said, this is true of the body, I really do not see why it should not be equally applicable to the sick
soul of man. If the real physicians for the body are not redundant in sight of the divine love and omnipotence, for
what reason would spiritual physicians at the side of divine love and mercy be redundant? Moreover, humans
are charged to love each other.

If it can never be regarded as a failure to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, drink the thirsty, comfort the afflicted,
redeem the prisoners, and the Lord Himself, in the example of who is the true neighbor, has sent help to the
slain by the merciful Samaritan, -how, then, are the spiritual works of the Lord's mercy and love on the part of His
spiritual doctors, as they exist, be an abomination to the Lord? If they are not as they should be, acting
completely according to the purest realm of truth, we as a later generation cannot, however, fail to follow this
main rule of the Church, since it serves unto the forgiveness of sins and betterment of the people.

I believe, however, that the Lord would have already long ago made an end to a sure abomination; but since it
certainly does not exist in any bad sense, I would like, as I have said at the beginning, want to receive a
somewhat brighter light in this regard from you.

Now I say: My friend and brother, your question is more important and weighty than you realize yourself, and to
enlighten it properly, more light is needed than you can bear at present. For the time being, I will tell you only so
much that the guidance of the souls on the part of the Lord is much more wonderful and extraordinary than you
will ever be able to conceive of the smallest part of it.

See, in view of the Lord, there is no wrong way; each one is well-known to the Lord, and each one proceeds
from Him as a life-band. But you will also know the difference between a straight and a crooked path?

It is beyond doubt that the Lord can make his way through the crooked road; but a man does not reach his goal
as soon as on a straight path, even though the goal is the same as that of the straight way. If a road has many
detours which diverge from the goal, and one can often go around the earth several times before reaching his
goal - this will not be so difficult to comprehend - it should be clear that the Lord cannot be indifferent about
whether a man comes to Him via the detours or along the shortest way.

Though you say in your heart: All this is true; but nevertheless, you do not see how the confession fits into this
example, for you also regard it as a very short path. I tell you, it is not to be denied, however, that this function
was often a short way for some people; but how? Because the Lord met such a man who took it seriously with
the improvement of his life and then guided him to the straight and shortest way. But this is not yet a reason to
speak of this function with an approving word. There are also thousands and thousands of the Gentiles, whom
the Lord also meets and leads them in His own way onto the straight path. Such is solely the mercy of the Lord.
But should one speak well of paganism because the Lord has mercy on such Gentiles?

During my instruction, I have shown how confession should be in order to be approved by the Lord. I have
quoted the parable of the unrighteous steward where the Master has shown the only correct way by which the
Catholic confession can be justified. Would the confession father do as the unrighteous steward and would he
fulfill his function in this only true and completely righteous manner, then the confession would be according to
the gospel and also a branch of the true tree of life. If it is only used in priestly self-interest, then it is a branch cut
off from the tree of life and would bear no fruit.

That the Catholic community, under the direction of the Roman bishop, has borne many fruits pleasing to the
Lord, and that this function is often a good humbling factor for men, we know even better than you; if it were not
so, then you can be assured that the Lord always knows how to steer a pure evil back into good ways, as He did
in the days of the various ecclesiastical reformations, because this function has reached a high degree of
degeneration. But all this was no perfect endorsement in the realm of pure truth.

When the confessor says, he cannot forgive sins, but the Lord alone, and only considers himself to be a loving
instrument, to help show those caught in spiritual need by means of confession, as well as in the pulpit, the pure
way to the Lord, he is a good confession father; that is, he then is a loving, truthful friend of man, bearing the
spiritual well-being of his brethren on his heart. But when he says, "I have the power to forgive your sins or not
and it is up to me whether you go to hell or heaven, he then presumes divine power."

He thus makes God vestigial to his brother, breaks the bond between God and man and makes man either a
despairing despiser of the Divine or an obdurate villain, who in the end is no longer afraid of all sorts of
abominations, committing all kinds of atrocities without the slightest charge of conscience. He can also make a
man either a sneak or a conscientious observer, who, after confession, dulls his conscience and became none
the better for it. He believes that he had emptied his old bag of sin in confession; he finally convinces himself that
he had to sin somewhat for the upcoming confession, as to have something to confess, and the priest, as usual,
has something to remit.

If things are as such with this function, tell me, is it approvable!

You deny that in your heart; so, I also tell you that your first question is to be regarded as futile for this present
point of view; and secondly, it is answered by it. What is to follow, however, will bring a more powerful light to you
in this respect.

Chapter 88.

The prior’s trouble at the crevice. The true bridge of salvation. From death to life.

Now look, our prior is presently returning from the monastery with a very despondent face without having
achieved his object, approaching us with great, doubtful anxiety in his mind. He shall immediately open up to us.
Now take notice, for you shall be taken with a brisk step deeper into Godly guidance.

The prior is here and begins to relate. Listen, he says: Oh, friend and brother, what the initial reason for your
assignment to me was, the Master would best know, but I do not understand a thing thereof! For see, I go by
your command to our still soul-sleeping brothers and want to bring them here, according to the assignment. But
what horror was there!!

Behold, between me and them who were howling and weeping, was a broad crevice from which bright flames
came forth. Behind these flames, my brethren were continually trying to cross over, but it was in vain. I was
looking for items across the chasm to make them an emergency bridge. But whatsoever I put over the cleft, was
soon seized by the flames, and was suddenly consumed.
As I was not able to meet your charge with all my effort and with my best will, I thought to myself that since God
cannot demand the impossible from anyone, even less so can a messenger sent by Him, demand it. To bridge
this gap, which would demand defiance of the elements, was purely impossible for me.

And so, I returned, out of necessity not having achieved my goal, as I was sent, and thought to myself whether I
had not understood your mission, or whether you had given me with this mission a tangible proof of myself,
according to which I should see how completely unfit and unsuitable I am to the kingdom of God. If it were so, I
thought to myself, that the following explanation from your side would probably be the most suitable. So, I am
here again and have told you how it is with the matter. But you may do as you please. I see clearly that we
cannot resist you all. And if you were not a messenger from above, our small strength would nevertheless have
to be subdued by your own, because it can nowhere be opposed to it in the least.

I must also point out to you the fact that at the sight of the great distress of my brethren, I began to doubt my
divine mission; but then I thought again that one had to wait for the end, and then judge. Therefore, I now await
your promised solution here, and only then will I judge myself in whose hands I am.

Now I say: "from your point of view, it is strange to me that you could not build a bridge over the fiery gap, since
the head of the church bears the very meaningful title of" Pontifex Maximus", but also all priests under his
scepter are pontifices minores. And you, as such a pontifex minor, who have read many soul masses at the time
of your physical life, and who have thought that the dead souls can build bridges from purgatory to paradise, are
now unable to build a little bridge across the very narrow gap!!

The Prior says: Dear friend and brother, I already see a small light!

If I am not mistaken, you have allowed me to be somewhat agitated with this mission, so that I should see from it
the effect of our "soul masses," as well as all other always profitable mortality functions.

Now I say: Yes, dear friend and brother, this time you hit the nail on the head. Do you know what is the sole
means of salvation, and therefore the only bridge from death to life? You indicate that you do not see it clearly,
but I say unto thee: Look to the Lord. What motivated Him to redeem the fallen human race of the earth, and
thus built an everlasting bridge from death to life for every inhabitant of the earth? Was it not His eternal, divine,
merciful Fatherly love? You affirm this to me; Good! But I will tell you something else:

If a king had a prisoner on the earth, but someone would like to help those prisoners; but the prisoners are kept
in a strong fortress, to which only the king has the key. This man, however, who has concern for the prisoners,
has learned that the King is accessible by nothing but a great humiliation before him, and then by a great love
which sets aside everything else.

Since we know this, I ask you, how shall this man endeavor to free the prisoners out of their captivity? Behold, I
will tell you. He will first be motivated by his love for the prisoners, having a longing desire to see them free. This
is the first bridgehead. If he has erected this bridgehead, he must realize that a king who is only accessible
through humility and love must be a noblest, good, and just ruler. And if he has considered these things, he will
also bring all his humility and love together to a single point, and present them as a sacrifice to the king. That
done, he has completed the second bridgehead.

But since the exceedingly noble, good and just king will most certainly welcome such a sacrifice, and will meet
our bridge-builder with a much greater love than with which he may have come to him, it will be clear that the
love of the King will be united with the love of the bridge- maker for a purpose, and the bridge over the moat will
be built. The King Himself will come, open the closed gate of the fortress, free all prisoners, and bring them out
of the great shame to the land of glory.

Now that we have created this picture, it will be clear to you from which substance and how a bridge must be
built which cannot be destroyed by the fire of self-interest, self-love, self-seeking, envy, and discord. You now
say: Yes, I recognize it, it is the love of the neighbor and the love of God united in one.

Well, I tell you; go and build a bridge from these substances and you can rest assured that this bridge will
become a true, indestructible rock which defies every power of hell. It shall also be the true key with which you
and everyone with you, will be able to open all the prisons and the true gate of heaven.
You have read many masses in the world, and have performed other church functions for the welfare of the
deceased. But you have built on sand with everything, and your building material was nothing but sand since you
did not have the love for the basis of all these functions, but only the church acquisition.

What came out of it and from it for your brethren, you have convinced yourself of it, for your material bridging
attempts corresponded to your ecclesiastical functions. Now go and build a bridge from the living Rock of Peter,
which is love and its living light, and you will surely experience a different degree of success than before.

But if you believe that it is not you, but the King alone who can free the prisoners, it will also happen, as you live
out of your love. And so, go again in the name of the Lord. Amen!

Chapter 89.

The living prayer of the prior and its effect.

See, our prior returns to the sleeping souls. This time, I too must keep my promise made to the soul-sleepers,
and go to them. We, therefore, follow the prior, so that you may see what is going to happen. See, we are here
with the prior; therefore, we shall silently pay attention to what our prior will do with the soul-sleepers. He is close
to the chasm and presently begins his address.

So give attention, for he (the Prior) says, "Dear Brothers! You know what has always separated us in our
convent; it was nothing but a disagreement about the condition of the soul after the death of the body.

You asserted that the soul must dwell in some idle, hardly conscious sleeping state until the Last Judgment, and
appealed in favor of this opinion to your various Church teachers. But we, who are outside, have an opinion
diametrically opposed to yours. We present to you that if it is the case that the soul, after the death of the body, is
in some dull, almost unconscious state of sleep, that all our soul- directed ecclesiastical functions for the good of
the soul, are then as good as a vain empty deceit, since in such a state of the soul after death, no purgatory or
any degree of hell can be possible.

Despite this proof of our counter-evidence, you have nevertheless asserted your opinion with great vehemence.
And so between you and us was a secret fiery gulf, from which, in every attempt to make a bridge to you,
perpetual destructive flames flared up. What has been only a moral difference in opinion between us in the
world, takes its form here in the most obvious reality.

But now I will tell you something else. You know as well as I about the mighty messenger who has come to us to
free us all from our old delusion.

This messenger has shown to me how clear and foolish we are in all this and showed me a new way to go. And
this way is no other than the sole love of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only God of all heaven and all worlds,
and who has said in His Word of Himself that He and the Father are One, and who sees Him, also sees the
Father. Moreover, He said: he that hears His word, and lives according to it, has eternal life within him, and
whoever also believes in Him, that He is the only-begotten Son out of God, will never ever taste death!

This then is the way, a whole new way which the messenger has given us.

If we follow this path and walk in this way, and in the only Lord Jesus Christ as true brethren, we shall have a
good bridge between us and you. As soon as we have a good bridge, the kingdom of the divine mercy of the
only Lord Jesus Christ can be safely reached.

So discern yourself! Throw your old, deceptive sleeping-gown from you, and turn with me to the sole Lord Jesus
Christ, and He who knows all things in all infinity and eternity, will have mercy upon us in His infinite love, and
soon a bridge of durable kind shall be built over this chasm, which you will be able to cross! The flames in the
depths, however, will surely go out as soon as you, with me, and with all our brethren, in faith and love, will turn
to the sole Lord Jesus Christ.

Now the Prior has spoken, and on the other side of the chasm, one of them replies: Good friend and brother!
Your speech is praiseworthy and full of good sense; but how can it be of use to us all, since you must know that
no man can any longer work for the eternal life after the death of the body, and therefore all faith and all love
here are as good as futile thoughts of the spirit. Therefore, we can assure you, in advance, that your opinion,
which is good in itself, will be of little use to us all.

Now the Prior speaks again: O dear friends and brethren, in your supposed merit for eternal life, the knot, which
is pernicious for your salvation, lies buried. Did not the Lord, as the messenger show me clearly, say to His
apostles and disciples, "If you have done all things, then say, we have been useless servants.

But apart from this text, tell me, dear brethren and friends, what can the impotent creature do for the Almighty
God? Who of you has ever created a blade of grass, or even a leaf-mite with his merits? Who of you all was
present in the creation of all worlds and heavens, serving the Lord as a lesser servant! What have we
contributed to the great work of salvation, that we might then say that we have given God some merit for the
Almighty?

What have we done to receive life from the Lord? What merit can a weak child earn with his parents, that it could
then say to them: Pray give me my earned part?

Behold, we were not only always useless servants before the Lord, but we still thought, as the most wrongfully
delusional idlers, to have done something for the Lord. O friends, O men, brethren and moral preachers! How far
have we deviated in such delusion from the goal of eternal truth! If we had rather believed and accepted this
while on the earth, which we have accepted here, it would have fared much better than now.

But since we can no longer return to the temporal, it is in this highest spiritual state which is called eternity, time
to see this great delusion, and confess in our innermost heart our very greatest guilt most contritely before the
Lord, causing us to walk for so long in such delusion in we have hardly done anything deserving unto God and
the well-being of our own souls.

Brothers! Let us beat our breast and earnestly say, "Oh Lord! All this is our sole greatest fault, therefore we shall
never cease to be your eternal debtors, Oh Holy Love! Brothers, I am convinced that if you feel this vividly in
you, as I now feel clearly in myself, you will surely pass over into a different state, a bridge from which we all
have no idea up till now.

Now also speak in your hearts with me, and say aloud: Oh, thou all-powerful, holy Love, thou most merciful Lord
and Father in Jesus Christ. We now confess our old, great guilt before you; we say here that we were always not
only useless, but the most miserable servants before you, and confess that all our supposed merits on our side
were only an abomination to you, Oh Holy Father, but we still ask you here in our utmost and great need that you
may be gracious and merciful to us! Let us here be true brethren who will always love You through Your grace
and mercy, and give You in every situation all honor, all glory and all praise! And we also ask You from the
bottom of our hearts that You, O Holy Father, would grant us this holiest grace, that we, the greatest sinners
before you - would love You, oh everlasting Love, with all our might!

O brethren, say these things alive in you, and finally say: Oh Father!

We asked for what we asked for from our will, therefore we pray that You will have pity on us; for Your will alone
is holy, and therefore only Your most holy will shall be done!

Look, these words of the prior have brought our soul-sleepers completely into a new mindset; they, therefore,
unclothe themselves and now stand naked before us. But look at the dining hall’s door; presently a very simple
man has entered through it. Do you know this man! You indeed shall know; this is the One to whom the prior
have turned himself. Only now will the actual main scene unfold. You can be sure to expect great things to still
happen here.
Chapter 90.

The simple man. Voluntary recognition of the prior.

Look, the simple man goes to our prior. He presently discovers Him and, as you see, comes to meet Him, and
immediately asks Him a question: Dear friend and brother! Welcome here a thousand times! You are still a
stranger to me, and I cannot recall having ever seen you in my company. But I have been a good judge of men
on earth, and I have brought along a bit of it, that is to say, by the highest degree of undeserved mercy and
grace of the Lord, so I recognize that you are a man of very noble character. And so, I will at once make known
to you what is in my heart.

Behold, we were all of the priestly occupation on the earth. But as we acted in the world, we were certainly all
but priests in the face of the Lord. We mechanically performed our prescribed, religious ceremonies, which were
supposed to be worshipful; but just how truly "religious" those where, we have been shown as clearly as the sun,
by a messenger sent by the Lord.

Short and good, we have been to this day, and mostly still are mistaken, entrapped by ourselves, have been
grounded in every possible falsity, and would have never been freed from it out of ourselves, if the Lord would
not have taken much pity on our boundless poverty in His Infinite Love.

Beyond this chasm, you can still see the perilous danger of my brotherhood. The messenger of the Lord sent me
for the purpose of bringing the poor brothers out of this captivity. I have already done all sorts of things to
achieve with them this blessed purpose, but there still is no means to cross the chasm. But I know what the
messenger of the Lord has given me, and I am fully convinced in my innermost feelings that I would like to help
those poor brothers with all my heart if it could only be possible.

The messenger of the Lord, indeed, has referred me to this activity, only to the help of the Lord. Oh, dear friend
and brother, I am well convinced that the Lord can help these brothers as well as myself as no one else in all the
infinity; but I also know that I am very unworthy of such help from the Lord. If therefore, you could help me to
save these poor men, I am convinced that you would certainly have done a good work for those most miserable
brethren. And if we have succeeded, in the name of the Lord, in bringing the poor over the dreadful chasm, I will,
together with thee before the Lord, for the first time, in spirit and in truth, throw myself into the dust of my
nothingness, saying:

Oh Lord, most gracious and best Father! I thank You for the immeasurable grace which You have shown me by
the fact that I am now able to say from the bottom of my heart, O Lord! I have done nothing, but only You have
done everything, but I am your most unworthy and useless servant.

The simple man says, "Well, my dear friend and brother, I have completely understood you;?what should we do
here? Shall we lay over some joined beams?

The Prior says, "Dear friend and brother, I have already made such an attempt, but the grim fire below will
destroy it as soon as it is put over it. For, look down, it is just despairingly horrible to look at, what immense
glowing, flaming mass rages down there. I do not trust myself to go close there at all.

The simple man said, "Well, my dear friend and brother, then I will go and see how it is with the fire. Behold, I am
at the chasm, and I must openly confess to you, except to a few little sparks, I seriously see nothing fiery
anymore.

Here the Prior also goes and convinces himself. But as he looks down into the chasm, he lifts his hands, and
cries out to the other brethren, oh brethren, come nearer to this chasm, and convince yourselves how infinitely
merciful and graceful the Lord is! Hardly a few small coals are in the depths. Throw yourselves down, thank the
one and only Lord! He alone stifled this gruesome glow. But also, dampen with the tears of your repentance and
your greatest thanks to Him, the holy, omnipotent Helper in every need, these little embers, and be fully
convinced and assured that if the good, holy, loving Father has helped us so far, He can help us even more!

Look here, a good, dear brother came to us. I still do not know whence and who he is; but so much is certain that
the Lord Jesus Christ has sent him so that he may help me to save you, for I recognize this from his great
willingness.

Behold, the still naked brothers beyond the chasm now void of any glow, throw themselves down on their faces
after the address of the Prior, profoundly thanking God for so much grace and mercy. And the priest now asks
the simple man what he means, whether they would perhaps construct a bridge with beams and planks?

The simple man says, "I mean, if the Lord has already extinguished the glow without your input, it might well
happen that at the right time if you are of good faith, this cleft would likewise close itself again should the need
arise, just as it came into being.

Chapter 91.

Prerequisite unto salvation. Crossing of the bridge.

The Prior says: Oh, dear and most treasured friend and brother! This glorious thought has also become the
perfect master of my feeling. I can thoroughly see the sure completion in the Lord; but I also see besides that,
how endlessly unworthy we all together are of such a most extraordinary sacred aid.

The simple man says: Dear friend and brother! I tell you, but this is, however, the best thing for you and your
brothers, if you see it for what it is; for as long as someone believes that he can do something, or that he is
worthy of divine grace and mercy, then the Lord will make him wait until such foolish delusion is consumed in
him. But if he comes to your present inner view that he is nothing and cannot do anything, but that the Lord is all
in all, the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, then he voluntarily surrenders himself to the Lord, and
the Lord seizes him, and brings him on the righteous way.

And so, I too think in this situation of yours: lay down all your love for your brethren, and all your care for them
before the Lord's feet, embrace Him with all your heart and all your love and you will surely convince yourself
that the Lord to begin to act when man, humbled in his inner knowledge, surrendered all his vain deeds of power
to the will of the Lord. For this is already the case among men, who have a secular chief over them.

As long as someone wants to manage his own fortune, the headmaster will not take care of him and will not
investigate how he manages his property.

But if anyone has seen his weakness in the administration of his estate, he takes his whole fortune, goes to the
honest chief, shows him this, and at the same time asks, in all sincere love and obedient humility of his heart,
that the chief takes over his property and thus the chief will completely take over the fortune and give it to the
bank court, and the honest, weak petitioner will receive his interests punctually and properly. As has been said,
this is often the case among men in the world, albeit in a far more unclean and loveless sense.

But if the foolish men in the world understand their material fortunes so well, and thereby procure a careless
retirement, how much more should the wise man, who is far wiser, see who is the most perfect administrator and
caretaker for all the vital necessities of the spiritual man, so that he would give him all his life-capitals
beforehand.

Moreover, the Lord in the Gospel also expressly declares to whom all the weary and wronged shall come, to find
the right refreshment, and to whom they shall transfer all their troubles. If you think so, you will find it easy, and
very soon, that your care for these brethren, with all your loving kindness, is somewhat unnecessary.

You would at least bring it so far by the complete redemption of your brethren that you could say before the Lord
that you too were a most useless servant. Behold, however good the thing may sound in and by itself, in view of
the Lord and your merit, there is still a bit of vanity, for thou wilt indeed render a good service to the Lord, but will
do it according to the established service, as if you had not done any service to deserve praise from the Lord.
But I tell you that there are still many in this empire who say, "I am the last and the least of all before God." But
those who profess and confess this in themselves would like to place themselves in special favor before the Lord
in order, according to the saying of the Lord Himself in the Gospel, to be the first and greatest in the kingdom of
God.

But the Lord also speaketh in another place: If you shall not be like these little children, ye shall not enter the
kingdom of God. - How and why? See, because the children are really the least and the littlest, by transferring all
their worries solely to the father. Where is the child who would like to say to his rich parents: "What shall we eat
and drink, and what shall we clothe? Behold, such care is alien to the child. When they are hungry and thirsty,
they go to the Father, asking for bread and for a drink, and the Father gives it to them. They never even ask for a
dress.

But if it is cold, the father will remember them well, and give them not only a warm but also a beautiful,
handsome dress because they are his dear little children. (Matthew 18:03).

So, behold, My dear friend and brother, give thyself also unto the Lord, and be assured, He will not deprive thee
of anything that is necessary for you, and certainly much and unspeakably better than would any earthly father of
the richest estate, provide for his children, and give them all they need.

The Prior says, "Listen, my dear friend and brother, as simple and plain as you may look, I must confess to you
that these words are still more sublime and more truly true than those of the heavenly ones mentioned by the
Messenger of the Lord. Yes, you have now shown me not only the most living truth of all truths, but I must
confess to you that these words have filled me with such a living consolation that I do feel in myself completely
overwhelmed because of the most humble gratitude and love for our ineffably loving Heavenly Father.

The words of the sublime messenger of the Lord were for my feelings like a rough file, with which, forever,
thanks to divine mercy! has dealt with my many and most extreme errors; and they were not infrequently like a
sharp sword, which painfully wounds, even though it draws the blood of a wrongful life.

But your words, my friend, and brother are, on the other hand, a lovely, healing balm; I cannot describe to you
how inexpressibly good I feel because of all your words! I have now come so far that I can honestly and with full
conviction say from my deepest feelings,

Oh Lord, oh almighty, beyond holy, most good Father, now, for me and for all these my poor brethren, let be only
Your Most Holy Will! All my cares and all my will I lay before Your most holy feet; and what Thou wilt to do with
me, which thou wilt give unto me, in all this also be only Your holy will! Oh, you heavenly dear brother you! You
must surely be a greater friend of the Lord than the former sublime messenger. But you must forgive me; for your
speech has filled me with such love, that I cannot help embracing you, and thereby give you my gratitude for
your heavenly doctrine through my most warm brotherly love. As sure as I will never cease loving the most loving
Holy Father, my heart shall never forget you!

The simple man said, "My dear brother and friend, come and love Me, for this is the Lord's will, that all the
brethren of the Lord should love each other." See, how our Prior falls upon the still unknown, simple man,
embraces Him, and presses him to his heart, and the simple man repays the same act to the Prior even more
passionately. What do you suppose, whether this is a favorable or an unfavorable sign for the prior? I tell you,
such a sign has always been of a favorable character; for this is so peculiar in the character of the Lord that He,
with us and all His heavenly messengers, has the greatest joy in a returned lost Son.

But now, as you see, our loving couple have calmed down, and the simple man now speaks to the prior: My dear
friend and brother, look around at once, for it occurs to Me that during our conversation and during our brotherly
love-embrace, the whole chasm vanished, and I think it will no longer be difficult to bring the poor brothers hither.
So, let's go and point that out to them.

Now the two go to the naked soul-sleepers. They rise and look with astonishment and grateful joy, where the
eerie chasm had once been. The plain man saith unto them: behold, the cleft is no more; therefore, we shall be
without concern. But the naked people say, "Dear friend, and sublime brother, we are naked, and we hardly dare
to go to the lighter side of our former refectory. The simple man said to them, "Do not be troubled by a garment,
for He who has pity on you, and has destroyed this chasm, has already provided for proper clothing. Behold,
there in the middle of this chamber, on the table, ye shall find what is necessary to you; there, then come and
follow us! "

Now they go forth, and the Prior, grateful to his dear brother, speaks to Him: "No, dear Heavenly friend and
brother, for this service of love I cannot let you walk like all of us, but I beg you, let me carry you.

The simple man said, "My dear brother, just let this be. For if need be, I shall be able to carry you together with
all your brethren, as far as you would want to, more than you would be able to carry Me to the table.

But that you carry Me in your heart, oh brother, is unspeakably better for Me than to carry Me, and perhaps also
have carried me in your hands. You indeed ask Me what I mean with the 'Maybe'. But I tell you, do not worry
about it; in time, everything will become clear to you. Therefore, let us go to the table, that these our brethren
may take their rightful garments.

The Prior says, "Yes, yes, dear brother, you are right, so I shall absolutely do. The "perhaps"

is still stuck in my head, but I shall also let this lay at the Lord's most holy feet, and thus let His and your will be
done.

See, they now go to the table and as we can see, all the poor brethren are already clothed without the help of a
chamber servant. Their dress does however not look very heavenly, but it is a garment of righteousness, and it
corresponds to the love of the Lord in them. - What will happen now, we shall see next time.

Chapter 92.

Three trials to test love’s willingness to serve.

The simple man asks our prior what is to be done with the saved and dressed brothers. And the priest said: Dear
friend and brother! The task assigned to me by the sublime messenger of the Lord is to take them all out into the
garden, which formerly formed our false monastic 'paradise,' where they will surely receive a more detailed
instruction from the messenger, regarding which way they should proceed from there. This is what still awaits
them, and what I should take care of, that they should come to the garden for this purpose.

The simple man says: Well, this task will probably be easy to sort out, and you will not need me. The priest said,
oh dear friend and brother, do all that thou wilt, but I beg you, do not leave me. For I must tell you sincerely that I
have a feeling which tells me that if you leave me, it would be as if my own life had left me! Therefore, do not
leave me, and this problem would be easy to solve; for you have so far directed everything so favorably, and
have visibly helped me and these poor brothers in the name of the Lord to this point, as we stand now. So,
please, help me in the name of the Lord and these poor brothers to the end! Therefore, I pray you, dear friend
and brother, from the inner, living ground of my heart.

The simple man said, "Yes, my dear friend and brother, it would be all right in this case; but only a single point
must be considered, namely: the heavenly messenger has given you this task to solve. But if I go out with him to
you, and the messenger sees that not you, but I have solved your task, tell me, are you assured in advance that
he will be content with you?

If you can give Me the assurance that I am not causing you loss, I will go with you; I will gladly do what you ask,
but I do not want to harm you in any way, nor bring you to great embarrassment before the face of the heavenly
messenger. What do you think about this?

The Prior says, "Dear friend and brother, if this is so, then come outside with me quickly, for if you would not, I
shall immediately inform the sublime messenger myself that you alone have solved this situation, which I should
be regarded not only as a fifth but a good-tenth wheel on the carriage. As such you cannot use this as an
objection so as not to go further with me. As far as my benefit or any damage is concerned, things shall take its
course. As far as it concerns me, truly I will go to hell for you if it is possible, let alone for the love of you, I would
not let a few sharp words on the part of the heavenly messenger phase me.

The simple man says: Good, dear friend and brother, in this respect we are mutually open; but now comes
another, much more important point. I know the sharp precision of your heavenly messenger and know that in
the name of the Lord he does not even negotiate one atom, and for this reason, something important has
occurred to me.

See, it might very easily happen that the heavenly messenger would promptly restore all these brothers who had
been liberated, by their great power, to their former condition, because not you, but I, have solved your condition
given to you by the heavenly messenger. But I can do as much as I can that the messenger will not know that I
have helped these poor brothers. In such circumstances then, you stand before the messenger as a perfectly
justified man, who has completed his task according to his instructions.

The Prior says, "Dear friend and brother! I would much rather go to hell than to ascribe something to myself in
which I had not participated in the least. But I myself will openly admit to the messenger that the success of my
mission can only be attributed to the Lord and to you. And if the messenger should not be content with this, and
therefore impede the poor brethren anew in their freedom, then I will throw myself before him in the dust, and
ask him in all humility, that he will punish me alone instead of these brethren in the Name of the Lord as he sees
fit; I will gladly take all the blame upon myself.

The simple man says: Dear friend and brother, you are most pleasant to Me; this second point is then also
resolved, and he will not stop me from going out with you.

But now there is a third obstacle; if you can jump over it, then nothing will stop me from granting you your wish.
Behold, here in the kingdom of the spirits is the generally unchangeable rule and custom, that the perfect spirits
of the upper heaven, to which also I belong, always immediately experience everything which is discussed or
done pertaining the Lord. And therefore, I also heard the good parable on the part of the messenger, in which he
represented the Lord as king, who is accessible only by an extraordinary love and humility.

In this parable, said the messenger, the Lord alone has the keys to the prisons, and therefore He alone can open
the prison, or build the bridge over the chasm since no one else has this right. Though you have invoked the
Lord in the fullness of your spirit, your life, and the truth, to help you and the poor brothers. But as you were
expecting the Lord's help in the best confidence, I came by chance into the great chamber, and when I came to
you, you began to lament Your distress. You took hold of Me, and since you have also asked Me to help you, and
I have also helped you with My strength, I wonder whether such help would be accepted by the messenger
according to his depicted parable.

For it would have been clear, well understood, that the sublime King himself should come and help you. How is
the matter now to be considered?

Will not the messenger say to you, "Why, at the sight of this friend and brother, have you forsaken confidence in
the Lord to the extent that you have asked this friend and brother to help you, after having seen from the parable
that such a salvation from the prisons, only the Lord has the just keys?

The Prior says, "Dear friend and brother, that is a different question, for which just answer I will be hard-pressed;
but you know what,

I'll stay with the truth. I did not call on anyone but the Lord; and when I came to Him in full abandon, then you
came. How then I can think differently, and believe differently, that the Lord, inspired by His infinite mercy, has
sent you to help me in His name, since I could never have asked for it, according to my great unworthiness that
the most holy of Lords and of the earth itself should have come to help me, the least of all. But to Him, therefore,
all glory, all praise, and all honor, since only He has helped me and these brothers by sending you! So, I will also
speak before the messenger, and he shall then do what he wills with me in the Name of the Lord, for I will take
all things upon me."
The plain man says, "Well, I see that you are perfectly faithful, honest and loving, and therefore nothing will stop
Me from going with you and your brothers into the garden. But if then the messenger would like to condemn you
somewhat harshly, what shall I do in My situation?

The Prior says, "Dear friend and brother, I am not at all afraid of this; I will certainly not be able to help you, but it
will certainly not be necessary. For you are one who certainly does not need the help of any creature, since, as a
resident of the supreme heaven, you are already equipped with the fullness of the divine power. On the contrary,
I ask you only in the name of the Lord, if you would help me the same as now if I would fare badly.

The plain man said, "Well, I will remember this your request before the Lord; and so let us go out.

Chapter 93.

The ability to appear in different places simultaneously. Exposition.

Now we are going too, so that we may be in the right place at the right time. For this company will not need too
much time to get to the others in the garden; therefore, we must be there at once. See, we are already there
where we must be. The Lord understands we were witnesses in all of this too, but no one else knows. You ask,
and says, "Would those who have stayed behind in the garden know that we were absent!"

See, in this respect, the kingdom of the spirits is a little different from in the world. In the world, your appearance
is closely connected with your presence, and you cannot show yourself to anyone else than when you personally
face him. But, as I said, this is a little different. There are also rare cases in the world which are like this
appearance but only to an imperfect degree.

The so-called double, three, four, five, six, and even multiple-presences are something similar, namely, one and
the same human being like him being out there, either looking at himself again or being seen by someone else at
a very different place, sometimes even at several places at the same moment, but without being individually at
one of these places really. This is a similar case, but it is rare. Another case which is much more similar to this
present spiritual appearance than the earlier one, is much more prevalent, but is exactly because of that
regarded too little, and is thus judged too lightly and not understood in depth.

The following is the case: If a man finds himself somewhere in his outward appearance, it may happen that his
acquaintances would think of him simultaneously at a hundred, yes at a thousand different places. None of them
thinks of him to be different in form, stature, and nature than he is.

Now ask yourselves, "How have all these thousands, then, thought of him and thus multiplied him in their spirit,
while he exists being only one person?

The reason lies in the fact that everyone carries in his spirit not only one, but multiple images of the other just
like two mirrors opposing each other is reflecting a picture countless times in themselves; that is, they can reflect
the pictured image countless times reciprocally. The two first mutual reflections will be the most vigorous, and at
the same time the greatest; successive ones will be increasingly smaller and less lively.

If you now consider the preceding, it will not be difficult for you to understand the appearance here in the pure
realm of the spirits; for what you call formed thoughts in you, are here completely externally formed
manifestations. The first manifestation is the most lively and the least transitory. Later formed images, or the so-
called after-thoughts, which you know to be as mostly fleeting memories, are no longer valid, and do not appear
in any kind of form, except in the case of an individual who has a very firm will. We have first stood before these
garden-inhabitants and have discussed very important things with them. So we were, and still are, the principal
thoughts and the principal reflections in them. For this reason, they have also seen us continually, without the
need for our main personages to be constantly present.
A main characteristic of this phenomenon, however, lies in the fact that this appearance is also capable of
speaking and thus of any conversation for those who have kept him in their thoughts. You ask how such things
are possible? Also, for this case, there are already appearances in the world resembling this. So can, for
example, somebody have a dream, where he spoke with his acquaintance about some or the other subject, and
the friend also answered him some or the other about that. When he comes to his friend when awake, the friend
certainly does not know a syllable, which his perfect image in the dream of his friend has spoken. And yet the
language of the dreamer and that of the friend who had spoken in the dream was as such that the dreamer did
not know what his dreamed-of friend would tell him until the dreamed-of friend really opened his mouth. This
would be a similar appearance.

A second similar appearance is that of the double- and multi-apparitioners, who sometimes also exchange words
with those individuals to whom they appear. Here, the similarity with this purely spiritual phenomenon becomes
somewhat more definite, for, in this sphere, the principal individual most often has a vague notion, of what he
has said somewhere in his purely spiritual post-plastic form. You now indeed say: of course, for this appearance
does not depend on the main idea from where it came to view. This is indeed true; therefore, these phenomena
are cited only as similar, but not as completely identical. They have one and the same reason in the depths; but
education must, of course, appear much more veiled than here, where everything is open and purely spiritual.

But, to understand it even better, you may remark that the appearances apart from the main individual, can be
effected in a double way: firstly, in the manner already indicated above; secondly also by the firm will of those
who want to be visible apart from the main individuality. This second situation can be understood by deeper
consideration of the nature of the so-called double and multiple apparitions. However, this can never come to full
expression in the world, because the spiritual is even in the best of circumstances, invariably in conflict with
matter.

There is also a similar third kind of speech likeness among the so-called monologists, who places an individual
in a fixed position before him, exchanging with him, as you would say, "con amore" (lovingly) words.

This is the most fitting explanation for what is happening here. The only difference is that firstly, the fixed person
does not appear in his real form as does the monologist, and secondly, this fixed person speaks only what the
monologist is laying him in the mouth, as you are accustomed to saying.

Here, however, the appearance is identical with the main individual.

The reason lies in the fact that the appearance is not a fantastic one, but it is the evoked, living spiritual
expression of the principal individual.

But in the basic essence of this, it is in fact brotherly or neighborly love, having its only foundation in the Lord.
Now, according to the love of the Lord in every spirit, every spirit stands in unceasing rapport with the Lord
Himself, and therefore also all that is in every spirit. If, as before, we appear before another spirit, as is the case
here, not in the main reality, but merely apparently in conversation, this occurrence is consigned actively in the
Lord. As I think of something, such thought passes through the Lord to our second or a hundredth appearing
ego, and this second appearing I do and then speaks exactly as if we were presently active and speaking. Thus,
as the principal individuals, we can know everything, up to the last drop, what our apparent likenesses have
done and said.

This, indeed, may be something very wonderful to you; but it is also alive in the perfect realm of life since every
spirit's vital activity is manifested in many ways. Consider so many very prudent people saying: If only I could be
present everywhere at the same time if only I could divide myself! This language, this wish, and this often very
strong thought, is more than a clear proof that it must be possible in the realm of the mind to divide itself in the
manner described above, without suffering the slightest division in a principal individuality as a unit.

For whatever is possible for the mind to think it is realistically depicted in the realm of the spirits with the only
difference of:?imperfectly in the imperfect spirits, but perfectly in the perfect, as a perfect image of the most
perfect in the Lord. I do not think it necessary to use more words for this case; the intelligent will know what is
thereby said, but for the foolish, a thousand more words will not suffice. But now our company is coming out of
the monastery; so we prepare to receive them!
Chapter 94.

Be discreet as the snakes and meek as the doves.

But see, the former speaker is coming to me again and asks me, after seeing a strange man beside the prior,
who this man is and what he has to do with him. At the first moment, you would consider this question of not so
great a significance, but if you consider what this is about, namely the truth, the question will surely be more
important to you than it at first appears. Should the questioner be told the truth in his face! Should one give him
an evasive answer? Should one give him no answer or have an answer? Or should he be told to wait until the
answer would come by itself?

Behold, these are all very valid ideas, all related to this monk.

Let us, however, see how the questioner is to be handled; and so I say to him, "Listen, dear friend and brother, it
is not the place to tell you whether you have entered the light with this question too early or too late. The
question itself is lightly asked by you, but according to the Divine order, it would be unreasonable of me to give
you an answer rather than to wait until you can bear such an answer in your inner being.

For you see, certain answers here in the realm of the spirits are of such a nature that they would cost
questioner's spiritual life, if they would be answered before time. Therefore, for this time, I cannot say anything
else to your question except: Be patient in humility and love for the Lord, and you will at the right time obtain the
correct information about the stranger. But now nothing more of it; for, as you see, the whole company is close to
us under the guidance of this stranger and the prior, and are in fact already here.

The monk remarks, "Yes, dear friend and brother!" Your answer is right for you; but as for me, I must be content
with my own darkness.

Nevertheless, you have told me much, contrary to my expectations; for, as I have already told you, even though
it is somewhat veiled, I have noticed, in the judgment of so many things in the sharpness of your spirit, that I had
to find something very special behind the stranger. For if this were not the case, there would be no reason for me
to ask you something to which you would give me an evasive answer. If this stranger, like you, were only a
messenger from the heavens, I would be sure that meeting with him would be equally as life- threatening to me
as are you. He must, therefore, be certainly someone very important and stand higher than you, because you
already gave him such a testimony.

Besides, as I approached this stranger, I felt a strange, hitherto unknown pull in me, and this pull tells me, as in a
slight notion, that this stranger is very close to the Lord, and no one is nearer to the Lord than that! Am I right or
not?

I say to him: Dear friend and brother! I cannot tell you anything else but: be humble, and keep yourselves
exclusively to the love of the Lord, and thou shalt not be lost. Do not be flippant! Because every good thing
needs its time. Whoever plucks the fruit prematurely from the tree of life, and even earlier from the tree of
knowledge, doubts. For firstly, he receives an immature fruit which cannot saturate him, but can only be
detrimental to his health; and secondly, he also spoils the tree, because he deprives the fruit of the opportunity to
store up the blessed supply of juices in the fruit, enabling itself for future fertilization. I know you will do this since
you have been a good tree-gardener on earth. "

The monk said, "Yes, I am now quite well, so I will now be quiet as a mouse when she smells the cat.

Now look, our monk has calmed down, and that is good. But do not think that this monk is the only smart alec of
this society. There are several more. But this is also a remnant of the priestly spirit, which is not infrequent in
Roman Catholic priests, and especially in many monastic sects. But this worldly trait cannot function here; love
must be pure. But a love to which a certain degree of cunning is attached is not pure. You can very well see this
in the world.
Take, for example, an otherwise well-mannered and well-behaved girl who is very much loved by a very caring
and honorable young man. But, to be fully assured of his love, she applies all sorts of cunning means of
investigation, by which she secretly tries to convince herself of just how deeply her lover loves her. When you
look at this example, of course, you will say: The girl is honest, for her action is the surest proof that she loves
her young man so much, and that she is so much at his mercy.

Well, I say; we want to examine this love a little more closely and to see whether it is really test-proof. Let us
suppose that the young man learns of the slyness of his beloved, and thinks to himself, "How is it with your love,
that you secretly spy on me? I have never done this before, for I fully trusted your heart. For what reason should
you consider me more treacherous than I am?

Wait a little, I want to feel your love on the tooth and make it as if I have a relationship with another girl, and it will
immediately show how your love is. If thou love me as I have loved you, thou shalt not take offense at me; if you
do not love me as purely as I love you, then you will turn away from me and fill your heart with anger instead of
love.

Now see, this man does exactly that, and what can be more easily imagined than the cunning lover soon learns
this? But what is the result?

Let us listen to them a little; for whereof the heart is full, the mouth also presents. Her words would be like this:
There we are! Oh, I have a very clever nose, it's what I thought. This deceiver of my heart, this dishonorable man
has thought me a stupid goose and believed that with such a wretched creature he would be easy prey. But this
poor being is not so stupid as the false, unfaithful man thinks, but is much more intelligent, and in this way, has
brought out the whole disgraceful nature of the clever man of ill will. But now come to me, you unfaithful,
dishonest facade of a man, and I will show you a love which you will remember for a long time.

See, what was this girl's cunning good for? I say, to nothing but that she has greatly lost the former respect
towards her admirer. What will happen when the young man comes back to her? Listen for yourself; he shall
come to her, and the reception from her side shall be quick. He has just come to her and is approaching her with
the most sincere love; how is she going to meet him?

See the great coldness and beside it a great lime-oven full of glowing jealousy. He was astonished at her
behavior, and said to her, "Listen, your attitude is very strange. what is the reason for this? She says: "An
honorable maiden is not answerable to a most dishonorable man, and can tell him nothing else but that he is so
dishonest on his part that he, as a false lover and deceiver of hearts, dares to come where there is no place for
him anymore; where, because of his most unfaithful conduct, he is most unworthy to come to.

He says, What is this I hear? Was your love for me on such foot? Was there distrust instead of love? Truly if you
have loved me as much as I have loved you, and if you have trusted me as I did you, and would not have sent
any secret scouts after me since I have not sent any after you. But I have discovered this, and have put your
love for me to the test. And, behold, thy love did not pass the test. You have never loved me but wanted to be
loved by me, wanted only your image to be worshiped by me, while my image in you was an object of your
contempt. Behold, with such love one can never be content! But I give you some time; explore your heart
whether you can love me the way I have loved you and still love you. If you can do this, I will not ban you from
my heart but will keep you as I used to. But if you cannot do so, then you shall see me for the last time after the
expired deadline.

What will our girl do after this very important address? Here are two ways open. If her offended pride is
conquered by the wisdom of the man, and the girl knows her guilt, the situation ends well; but if her offended
arrogance grows, the thing will surely take a dire turn, which in similar cases are always more frequent than the
good one. Because of the feminine heart, which is not filled with much love, now feels struck by the wisdom of
the man, it usually begins to strike its value higher and higher, and instead of seeking reconciliation, it seeks for
revenge. I think this example will convince you sufficiently that a certain cunning cannot be a part of true pure
love.

You indeed say here and ask how this is to be understood since the Lord gave His apostles and disciples the
sole commandment of love, but said, "Be wise or cunning as the serpents, and simple as the doves? "( Matthew
10:16).
O my dear friends and brethren, this cleverness or slyness is a very different one, and has its basis in it, that
man should not be blinded by any temptation, as if the love and grace of the Lord have left him; from the very
bottom of his heart, he should say in himself, "O Lord! Let come over me, whatever Your holy will finds good; and
even if it may be so strange or contradictory to me, I shall know that you are my most loving and most noble
Father, and I will love You all the more, the more You hide from me. For I know that the more distant You seem to
me, the nearer You are to me. That's why I want to love You more and more with all my life's power!

See, in this example, the discussed wisdom and simplicity of love is joined together; but our shrewd and
ingenious one still severely lacks this, and this must receive special attention in the course of our discussion.

Chapter 95.

Even more testing. The beginning of reward.

Our Prior is now also with us together with his simple man, with much joy on his face, and he makes the simple
man aware of me. He says to him, See, my friend and brother, there between the two insignificant seeming
spirits is the sublime messenger. The simple man said, "Well, my friend and brother, go and show him
everything. The Prior says: "But, dear friend, will you go with me? The simple man said, "You go ahead; and if
need be, I will follow you.

The prior accepts this, then comes to me and says: Dear, sublime messenger of the Most High God from the
heavens, see, of all those who were captured, not one is left behind, on the contrary, one more came with them
that were caught. But this One is not a prisoner and besides God, the Almighty Lord, I owe the salvation of these
poor brothers to him.

Now I say: Yes, my dear friend and brother, when this stranger has done the work you have begun to do, how is
it with your merits? I've set a condition for you, that you should have freed the prisoners alone with the help of
the Lord; how have you been able to employ a stranger for the purpose of serving you without considering how
you should have worked, and who is the strange man who helped you? If this is your way of conduct, with what
can I trust you with anymore?

Do you not know that the Lord has not given you strength to be idle with it, but that He has given you the power
of life out of His great mercy only for righteous charity? Ask yourself now, in which light do you appear before
me? Therefore, I tell you, justify yourself properly before me, or else I will regard your action as improper, and
you will end up behind the well-known chasm, where you shall have to bear the sight of the flames for always
while considering the right conduct of the ways of the Lord.

The Prior says: My dear friend and brother, if there is nothing else but that, just put me quickly behind the flames.
And if I am to languish alone after the earth's measure for a thousand years, I will nevertheless glorify and praise
the Lord behind the flames, because He has been merciful and graceful towards my poor captive brethren
through this affectionate stranger!

For I am convinced in myself that I have followed your advice punctually, and not out of compulsion, but
completely out of myself. I have turned to the Lord together with my poor captive brethren; and when our
confidence in us had reached perhaps the highest degree of love and mercy of the Lord, this Savior came to me,
and I thought to myself: I am very conscious of the fact that I am eternally most unworthy to receive any personal
help from the Lord. But as the Lord is still merciful, He surely sent me this Savior in His Most Holy Name; to the
Lord all praise, all honor, and all glory! The brethren are saved without any input of mine, but now you can do
with me what you want. If I should be behind the chasm, give me the order, and I will, with joyful praise unto the
Lord, hurry, and if possible, do penitence ten times for every one of them!

Now I say: Good, my friend and brother; is this then your absolute earnest! The priest said, "Friend and brother,
it is only a question of trial; give me the command, and you shall soon convince yourself that I will do as you say
and as the most holy will of the Lord requires. Now I say, "Well, then you can be on your way, and go for the
sake of your brethren.

Behold, the Prior thanks me for this command, turns around and goes straight back to take his position behind
the chasm. but in passing he still speaks to his simple man: Dear friend and brother, you have been right. As you
can see, I must now go seriously for these my saved brothers behind the hot chasm and think about how to act
in the Lord's ways. But I want to go; for if I only saved my brethren, I don't find myself too important. If I can only
glorify and praise the Lord because of His great love and mercy, and love Him above all things according to my
power, the flames shall not be disconcerting. And so, I go in the name of the Lord;?but if thou come to the Lord,
remember me.

The simple man says: Yes, you can be assured that I will not forget you; but go now and fulfill the will of the
messenger! See, now, with rejoicing, he goes out, praising the name of the Lord. You wonder how long he will
have to stay there? I tell you, Do not worry about him; for instead of the chasm, he will meet only high guests
from heaven, who will clothe him with a new garment.

There you see him, he is coming back again, and is coming straight for me, dressed in a white robe and with a
shining crown on his head. He is here, and I ask him: Dear friend and brother, what is that? Is that the chasm?
You come here, dressed in a heavenly garment of love, instead of having to do penitence yonder the chasm of
flames?

The Prior says: O dear friend and brother, I cannot do anything about it. Behold, as I was about to go into the
sad background of our refectory, there stood three brilliant youths instead of the fiery gap, and said to me,
"Brother in the Lord, we know where you are going; but this is not your destiny, but it was only a last test for your
heart, so take off your garment of the former error, and put on this new one of love and truth. I refused, saying,
oh friends of God, I am forever not worthy of such grace.

But all my resistance did not amount to anything, whether I wanted or it not, the dress was taken from my body,
and this dress was put on it at lightning speed. And now I am in it, and am ashamed of it because I am so
unworthy of such a garment! But what do I do now! The dress is once on the body; and as I have no other, I
cannot take it off and thereby a shameful object of mockery before my brethren. I think, however, that the Lord
has done this to me, that I may be properly humbled. Therefore, to Him all praise, all honor, and all glory; for only
He alone, indeed only He, is good, even in the heavens is He alone good.

Now I am speaking: Yes, dear friend and brother, if it is, I must be satisfied. But now I will ask you a question,
and you must answer me. Tell me, what would you do if it would happen that the Lord would come to us?

The priest said: O friend and brother, that would be terrible! Indeed, if such a thing were possible, it would be a
millionfold better either to put myself behind the flames in the dirtiest corner or at least to be here in the most
arduous dress. For if the Lord were to meet me in this attire, and then ask me, "How do you, surely most
unfortunate, come to this dress of celestial honor - yes, brother, a hundred mountains would not be enough to
hide behind for me to not bear such a great and well-deserved disgrace before the Lord's countenance. But if it
were possible for you to give me another garment, you would certainly do me the greatest love-service.

Dress all my brethren, who are certainly more worthy than I, with such heavenly robes; but me put in old rags,
and then let me be in the background if the Lord should appear. I will worship him undetected in the most
extreme humility, but only do not let me be in the foreground, for now, in this dress, I realize it quite clearly that I
am the very last of my brethren!

Now I say: Dear friend and brother! This is not for me to say but go to your simple man, who is a perfect, all-
powerful helper in the name of the Lord, who will surely listen to you again and give you according to your
desire.

The Prior says, "Yes, dear brother and friend, he is the right man for me. I must tell you sincerely, "I love you very
much, but I prefer this man at least one hundred percent more than you, for he is much gentler, and he also
listens better, so I will at once submit myself to his counsel!

See, now the priest is already going to his simple man, lamenting his distress, and the simple man says to him,
Dear friend and brother, this desire of yours is dear to me above all things, so let it be according to your true,
humble desire. Then go over there into the nearby garden pergola, where you will already find another garment.

The Prior happily goes forth, but quickly returns, having achieved nothing and speaks to the simple man: But
dear friend and brother, that would be a clean exchange! Instead of a modest robe most worthy of me, I found a
bright blue garment, brimmed with light-shining stars at the edges, lined with a bright red belt around the middle,
and so delicate that I could, only by looking at it and smelling its aroma, feel as if I had instantly been transferred
into the heavens!

I beg you, do not do this to me; because I could not stand it. Let me, however, find a most ordinary, loose
peasant cloak, and if it is still ragged and torn, I will nevertheless be indescribably happier about it than in this
already depressing garment.

The simple man said, "Now, go into another arbor there, and you shall find the right garment."

See, our Prior is already running; but this time he does not come back so quickly, and so he must have already
found a right dress. Truly, look, he is already coming out, wearing a coarse, tattered garment, being overly happy
at this discovery; he now goes quickly to the simple man, thanking God before him for this great pity, and the
simple man responds to him, you are now more comfortable in this demeanor; but if the Lord would come, and
say, "Friend!" How do come you here and have no wedding garb?

The priest says: Dear friend and brother when I am thrown out into the outer darkness, it will be no more than
perfectly right and reasonable.

Only into the most arduous corners with me; there is my place! But to think of me worthy of heaven, even to be
the very least of those who are at all allowed into the lowest heaven, will be my last thought forever.

The simple man says, "Well, well; I will now tell you something quite secret. Behold, the messenger is already
working on all your brethren for the imminent appearance of the Lord, and I also tell you: He will soon be here!
What are you going to do now?

The priest says, "Dear friend and brother, for the sake of the Almighty Lord, lead me, according to your best
insight, to some very remote corner of this garden, and if it is not too much for you, stay with me at least until the
Almighty Lord has finished His holy cause with these brethren. And if He should after all finally search for me, I
will throw myself upon my face before Him, and beg Him for His Divine mercy.

The simple man says, "How then does it stand with your love for the Lord because you are so afraid of Him?"

The priest says, "As for my love for the Lord, it is so powerful that I would do anything for Him if I could do
anything. But I am already satisfied if I can and can only love Him, very far from Him, in my heart!

But to be near Him, I am not worthy of into all eternities. I can only look back upon my most broken Philistine's
life on earth, and how I have not infrequently profited from the power of God, I should perish in shame!

Therefore, let me flee as quickly as I can.

The simple man says, "Dear friend and brother, I will not stand in the way of your just humility, so I will quickly
follow you into that corner toward morning. There we will be the not easily discovered because this angle is
overgrown with dense foliage, through which one cannot look so easily and so quickly. The Lord's eye is, of
course, all-seeing, but this does not matter. Let us therefore quickly go, and we will have our humble
contemplations there when the Lord will appear. If only He does not present Himself to us first! The Prior says: "It
is certain that the Lord shall not go to the most unworthy first, so we shall be perfectly safe. And so let us go!

Chapter 96.
Everything must be exposed before the judgment seat of Christ. The prior finally recognizes the Lord.

Now see, our prior and his strange, simple man, now reach the rather dense arbor, which consists of fig trees,
and step in behind them.

Now, be careful; our former monk is already approaching me very modestly, and he asks me at once: Dear friend
and brother, we all now recognize you as a sublime messenger of the Lord, but do not recognize who is that
strange, simple man. Tell us, therefore, who this man is, for I have taken a good look at him and I must confess
to you frankly that during my contemplation I have become increasingly ignited in my heart, and many of my
brethren have revealed to me that it is the same with them. This is why I think that there can be nothing
insignificant to this man; he is either Peter or Paul or even the favorite disciple of the Lord! If my guess is not too
far off, would you be so brotherly kind to tell me? I do not yet know what will happen with us all on this way; are
we going to hell or at least purgatory? Yet one thing is certain: I will love this unknown and simple man, wherever
I will be, for all eternity, because he is so simple, plain, and loving. I took this clear from the fact that I saw how
so fatherly and brotherly affectionate he had conversed with the Prior and has been so compliant and empathic
to his weakness so far, that he finally even took him under his protection before the imminent, terrible coming of
the Lord.

Yes, this I call a real friend of man. To be open to anyone in the world is an easy thing because every man is in
absolute freedom. But here, in this shuddering, relentless kingdom of spirits, void of all love, grace, and
compassion, it is quite something to find such a noble friend, behind whom one can conceal himself in the face
of such an approaching, terrible danger. Therefore, in the name of all these brethren, I ask you again to tell me
who this man is? Perhaps he would be so gracious and compassionate to us, to protect us and to cover us when
the Lord will appear most terrifyingly, as an angry judge!

Friend and brother, you certainly cannot grasp or understand what it is to a poor sinner, to appear before the
inexorable judge's chair of Christ!

I would rather forever bury myself in the greatest possible depths of this soil, than to look at the face of the
eternally relentless, most justly strict judge for one moment. Therefore, do us this last love-service, if we are at
all worthy of such a thing in the least, and then we will be satisfied with the eternal Divine judgment; but only let
us be kept safe in the face of the unrelenting judge!

Now I say, Dear friend and brother, you demand unusual things from me, and do not consider that I am not the
Lord, but only a servant of the Lord; I cannot do as I like, but only what is the will of the Lord! But this
unpretentious man is neither Peter, nor Paul, nor the favorite disciple of the Lord, but He is one who is never far
from anyone who mentions Him, and neither is He far from you or me. - That's enough for now.

But that you would hide with your brothers behind him before the face of the Lord, will be a vain effort. Do you
think the Lord's face will not find you where you are? Oh, there you are still greatly mistaken! But if you think that
you can conceal yourself behind the back of that simple man, so that you cannot see the face of the Lord, then
go with all your brethren to the prior, and it will show itself there whether you are safe from the Lord's face.

Do you think the Lord will come to this place, which is empty? He will not do that, but He will go straight to where
you are, or even expect you to be behind the foliage.

Now our monk says: O sublime friend and brother, you have now put horrific things in my ear. If it is, then, I
would rather not hide in the arbor, but rather hide alone or at the most with a brother in the dingiest corner, for
because of the filthiness, the Lord might not turn His face so soon towards it.

Now I say again: Dear friend and brother, this also will be of no use to you, for the Lord will find you, even if you
would be buried in the depths of all depths. Therefore, I think you should rather stay here with your brothers and
submit to the will of the Lord. And the Lord will surely regard you with more mercy, being an obedient servant, as
when you would hide in thy own foolishness from the Lord, before Whom no man can ever hide.

Our monk says, "If it is so, then, in the Almighty Name of the Lord, do His holy will; for we are now ready for
everything! I say, "Well, since this is the case with you, let us go to where the prior withdrawn with the unknown,
simple man; there we will await the Lord, as it is the most suitable place in this garden!

See, the monks, like the lay brothers, follow us humbly, but also with fear in their hearts, towards the foliage
known to us. - We're on the spot now. Let the company alone wait a while before the foliage; but we are going to
go a little behind the foliage, for we want to see how things are with our prior.

Look, he asks his protective friend with an embarrassed voice: What for the Lord's sake, does it mean that now,
to my dismay, all my dear brethren have come hither to our hideaway? In the end, it will still happen, as you, my
dear friend, have already remarked, namely that the Lord will appear first where I shall hide. Dear friend and
brother, would it not be possible to exchange this place for another?

The simple man says: Of what use would it be to you? Do you not know what the Apostle Paul insinuated when
he said, "We must all be revealed before the judgment chair of Christ!" The priest said, "My dear friend and
brother, I know these terrible words only too well. But what is there to do, since I cannot get rid of my dreadful
fear of the Lord?

Now the simple man says: Listen, my dear friend and brother, I can give you some good advice. You have
already remarked that you could love the Lord above all else and that you would be satisfied forever if you were
to see Him only once from a distance. But you also know that the Lord is a very great friend of those who loves
Him and comes to meet them more than halfway without revealing Himself to them. How would it be if you could,
instead of your great fear, take hold of your love for the Lord, and then the Lord would meet you? I think this
would be better than to be so foolish as to be afraid of Him whom one should love only above all else.

The Prior says, "Yes, my dear friend and brother, as always and before, you are now quite right. Oh, if I can only
love the Lord, if I could be less wicked before Him with my love, I will love Him exceedingly, with all my power, for
I feel it alive in myself, that I can now do nothing but only love the Lord indescribably and inexpressibly.

Now the simple man says, "My dear friend and brother, I like this language better than the former, so I will now
reveal to you a little secret. - Behold, the one whom you have so much feared and still fear is not far from you.
Tell Me, would you also fear the Lord so much, if He would appear to you just as plain, simple and full of love?

The Prior replies, "O my dearest friend and brother, in this form I would not be afraid of Him. But as far as love is
concerned, I believe that this might almost kill me if I were to see the Lord in your simplicity before me!

The simple man says, "Look, your fear comes from a fundamentally wrongful earthly conception of the Lord,
while the Lord does not correspond to your imagination in the least. But your idea was also the reason why you
could never take hold of the Lord so lovingly. But since all delusion must be ended, See! First, look at My feet,
where the scars of the nails still are, then look at My hands, and put just like Thomas your hand into My pierced
side, and you shall soon see that the densest foliage cannot hide you from the Lord!

Look, the prior now recognized the Lord in his simple man and falls at His feet, moved by the most powerful love
and not being able to speak, but he cries and sobs. But the Lord bows down, lifts him up and says to him, "Now
tell Me, still my friend and brother, am I so horrible and dreadful as you have always imagined?

The Prior says: O You, my most beloved Lord Jesus! Who of us would ever have thought it possible to think that
you are so immensely, inexpressibly good, even in the realm of the spirits? O Lord, let me go forth now, and cry
out with all my might, for all the ends of Thy infinite creation to hear, that Thou art the most infinitely best, most
loving, and holy Father!

O Lord, how immensely blessed am I now, that I got to know you like this. Yes, you are the heaven of all
heavens and the highest bliss of all bliss! If I only have You and may love You ever more and more, I ask neither
for a heaven nor for any other bliss. Let me build here a hut which is great enough to hold me, my brethren, and
You, O Lord, and I will not want to exchange it with any other bliss. But you, O most loving, holy Jesus, cannot
leave us anymore, for without you I would be the most unhappy being forever!

The Lord says, My friend and brother, I know your heart, your wish is good; now go out to your brethren, and
reveal Me, as I have revealed Myself unto thee. But I will follow thee as soon as I am to redeem all of your
brethren, and I will lead you to your true and eternal destiny. And so go and do according to My love. Amen!
Chapter 97.

The testimony of a preacher.

The Prior, suffused with the highest bliss, goes out to his brethren as the Lord has commanded him. So we go
after him to see how he will manage his office.

Behold, our familiar, talkative monk is already approaching him and asks him with a frightened expression:
"Listen, brother, how is it possible that in this most dreadful time, in which we all await the implacable judge, can
you come with us with such an elated expression on your face from your good hiding place! Has the simple
leader done such to you, or have you persuaded yourself thus? Tell me and all of us how you came to this
happiness? To the Lord be all praise, all honor, and thanksgiving, that He has allowed you such joy. But we poor
sinners here are even more afraid and anxious. If a little help could be given to us, it would be something
extraordinary for our frightened mind.

Indeed, on the earth, I have often preached to the people from the pulpit how terrible it is to appear before the
face of the Implacable Judge, and how terrible to fall into the hands of the living Almighty God!

Many of my listeners may have been shaken to the core of my sermons, but I have certainly taken my sermons
to heart, and, as you know, let me taste a good bite as well as a good glass of wine. Here, however, it is
precisely the proverbial question: Whoever digs a pit for another falls in it himself. And so, too, am I lying over my
neck and head in this pit, and now feels strongly and vividly that which in my lifetime I should have made others
feel through my sermons. So I ask you all the more that you do give me and all of us a somewhat consoling
message; how is it possible for you to be so cheerful as you are?

The prior says, 'Listen, then, my beloved brother: My former and your present fear of the Lord is the reason why
we never wanted to have the Lord as He is, but we made Him ourselves to be the most terrible Being of all
beings. We have thus lost the true Christ, that is, the Christ who, still bleeding and dying on the Cross, blessed
His greatest enemies, tormentors, and martyrs, and excused them for their own ignorance. We have lost the
Christ, who took up the prodigal, who had turned to Him, with the most open heart, and did not condemn even
those who reviled Him on the cross. Instead of this true Christ, we have formed a tyrant-Christ, who continually
plots revenge to the by-us-defined judgement day, while we could easily have thought that the Lord, if He wanted
to take revenge on His wretched creatures, would not need such a long indefinite period, but could have done to
them as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah.

Furthermore, we imagined Christ continually in inaccessible loftiness, from where He took little care of His
creatures, but left them free until the Day of Judgment, since they have His Word and His Law. But we thought
little of what the good Shepherd was talking about. And the promise, "I will abide with you unto the end of all
times," likewise passed dumbly by our hearts: we contented ourselves with the living presence of Christ with the
dead ceremony alone, by which we were only ever losing the true Christ.

We put everything into matter; in the end, we imagined ourselves to be creators of Christ, and based on this
heavenly power, we sinned against the Divine Love and mercy so much, that it was a shameful disgrace! Since
the loving Christ did not profit us as much than would the strictest and most implacable, we ascribed all to His
most absolute righteousness, rather than to entreat His eternal love and mercy as weak beings. And as we made
Him so time-tolerant and profitable, so He has remained in our minds even to the present time.

Do you think, however, that the true Christ has really changed and shaped Himself in the way we foolishly
shaped Him in us? Oh, no, my dear brethren! He, as He has been forever and ever, remained to this very
present moment, the very Holy Father, and will remain forever and eternity.

He is still the same loving Friend who speaks to all: "Come to Me, all who are laborious and heavy laden, I will
refresh you all." He is still the same Christ, who is crucified in Himself, His offenders, His Enemies, and
tormentors, and forgave them all in the fullness of His Divine love.

O, friends and brothers! I would like to say that if a citizen of earth can commit a great and grave sin, then there
can be no greater one than this, that someone could out of shameful earthly self-interest, fail to appreciate the
unspeakable kindness and love of the Lord, as we have failed to recognize it.

Look, and consider the parable of the prodigal son. What action did he take to reconcile himself with his deeply
grieved father? Nothing but the fact that he was driven and compelled by the highest, terrible need to return
home to his father, to be the last servant there at most. But what did the father do? He met this returning son
halfway. And as this man, coming to him, fell, and cried out to him his compelling desire, the father lifted him up
as soon as he could, and pressed him to his holy breast, and immediately put on him the most magnificent
garments, and ordered a great festive meal.

Tell me, dear brothers, have we ever looked at Christ from this point of view? We probably preached the prodigal
son, but how? The lost son had to turn back by our confession, then by all sorts of impositions, which were not
infrequently worse than the swine feed of the prodigal son abroad.

If such a lost son really turned around, he found, nevertheless, instead of the only true, good father, nothing but
us, which we have induced him to assume, and did not consider who the father is and where He is and whither
the prodigal son should have turned!

So we did. But the good Father have never changed even a bit. We are nothing but such lost sons, who have
prematurely squandered and whored the good things obtained from the Father on the earth. We have
experienced our poverty outside the Father's house for a really long, bitter time. Let us go back and throw
ourselves at His feet. Not that He should prepare us a delicious meal and receive us in great honors, but that we
should be the very last in His Father's house, and should love Him from all our living power!

The monk says, O brother! What words have you now spoken, and what a heavenly balm have you poured into
our hearts? Yes, you have spoken the eternal truth. Then we should, with the greatest joy and the greatest of
love, await our most good and most holy Father, whom we have feared so much. Yes, my dear brother, I can
assure you that you have completely taken away all fear for the Lord, so much so that I am no longer afraid of
the most severe of judgments. For I know this, that I can dare to love such a most loving Christ. Because He is
so infinitely good and loving in Himself, I feel able to be happy everywhere, where I can always love Him, the
Most Loving.

I thank you, dear brother, also in the name of all our brethren, that you have given us such glorious insight, which
that loving, simple man certainly has given to you. I also give you the full assurance that I, and we all will love the
true Christ, yes, will never cease ever to love, because He is so infinitely good and loving in Himself and out of
Himself!

Yes, therefore, whoever could not love Him would have to be, indeed, worse than the worst hellish devil. As I
have formerly feared to appear before His face, from now on this will always be my most passionate wish, in my
great unworthiness, to get to see the most holy Father only once.

O You my Christ, You! How much I love You now that I have come to know You better than on earth! Be merciful
and graceful to me, poor sinner, and do not refuse me not the bliss, consisting of that I may love You with all my
might, in whichever way Your mercy and Your holy will might take me. O, Lord! I forever do not long anything of
you, for I am not even worthy of the least of mercy. Just let me love You, and if it is possible, let me dissolve in
such love for You!

The Prior says, "My dear brother, tell me, after changing in your mind, how do you like my simple man, who has
just come out from behind the foliage?

The monk says, "Dearest brother, this man has been very pleasing to me since his first appearance. I could
follow him wherever he wanted, and if he were to station me here or there according to the Lord's will, I could
hold myself like a rock on one spot for half an eternity, without shifting myself a hair's breadth. That would be a
man I could fall around the neck and pour all my love on him. The Prior says, "What would you do if the Lord of
all heavens and all the worlds would approach you in such simplicity?
The monk says, "To express such a feeling, the words in the breast would get stuck even in the throat of a most
exalted, highest heavenly spirit! For it would be unbearably great if only a momentary bliss!

The Prior says, "Discuss this with the simple man yourself, who is now approaching us. This one will give you
the best information, where, believe me, my brother, I will leave all my language in the lurch. I tell you, go, you
are all going to meet this simple man. He will show you, like me, the true way to the Father and also the Father
Himself! I can not tell you more.

Now the simple man opens his arms and says, "Little child!" Come into the arms of your good Father, for I am
the One whom you have feared so much!

A general outcry ensues, and all fall down before Him and weep out of too great a love for Him! And all that is
heard of them is, O good Holy Father! So infinitely good are you! O that we can only love You so much as You
are worthy of all love!

And behold, the LORD bows down to them, and lifts them all up, and says to them, Little children, listen and hear
My righteous judgment, which is thus, Follow Me. For I, your only true, good Father, will lead you to the place of
your ever-growing destiny in My kingdom. But not here in this place where there is still so much visible of your
delusional thinking, but in a living, pure place, I will show you what you are to do, and how you are to love Me
completely in spirit and in truth, and to worship Me in such Love as the only eternally true God! And so leave
everything here, and follow Me.

Now see how the dear Father again brings home a little group of lost children, and we see how they follow Him,
praising His Holy Name! Let us also follow them, so that we can also see the complete unfolding.

Chapter 98.

The secret of true progress.

Look, we are on the bank of the well-known great body of waters, how shall we pass over it this time? I say to
you that we do not need to be afraid, having such a leader; for He understands to change the water so suddenly
into solid land like you have never experienced anything like it before. Therefore, look now as the prior, standing
closest to Him, asks and says: O You Eternal Love! My beloved Jesus Christ! What will we do with this endless
ocean? The Lord says, Dear friend and brother in My love, we will walk over it.

The Prior says: O you my love, will the water also carry us? The Lord says: How can you ask thus at My side?
Do you not know that all things are possible to me and that I am also a master of all waters? Behold, I want that
this great body of waters at once become as sturdy ground, will remain as such and carry us until we are all on
the other side. But as soon as we have reached the definite surface of the land on the other side, the solid land
shall thaw again into its surging element. Let it be done! Do you see any water?

The Prior says: O You my all-powerful, holy love! Good, Holy Father!

How is this possible? How fast everything has changed! The dreadfully undulating, endlessly stretched out
surface has become dry land, and we can pass over without fear and hesitation. How could we thank You, that
you have shown yourself so wonderfully and omnipotently loving to us?

The Lord says: My dear friend and brother, the only thanks which is precious and worthy to Me, is a heart loving
Me always above all things. I tell you: no offering of thanks, no prayer of thanksgiving, no vow of thanksgiving,
no thanksgiving procession, no "Te Deum laudamus", no jubilee festival and no big thanksgiving ceremony is
pleasant to Me, but I detest it like one would a stinking carcass or the rotting flesh in the graves, which is full of
stench and pestilence. But a humble heart, always loving Me, is an invaluable precious gem in the infinite crown
of My eternal divine power and glory, and is also poured upon Me like a balsam into My Loving Father's Heart,
which refreshes Me exceedingly, and the joy of My entire infinite Godhood, exalting it unspeakably!

Therefore, if you remain in your love for Me and seek forever nothing else, you are to Me all that you should be,
and I will be to you all that I can ever be to you as your God, Creator, and ever loving Father! Love is the only
bond between Me and you; it is the only wonderfully omnipotent bridge between Me, the ever-omnipotent, infinite
Creator, and you, My finite creature. On this bridge, I can come to you and you to Me as a good father comes to
his children and the children to their dear father.

Love is also your true eye, as it is the only eternal eye in Me. Only with this eye is it possible for you to see Me,
your God and Creator, as one brother looks to another. To every other eye, I am eternally invisible in this My
Being. Love is also the right arm in your being, with which you can embrace Me as a brother. So, love is also the
right ear, which alone hears My Father's voice; no other ear will ever be able to do so forever.

Love is an infinitely far-reaching destination that can never be reached by the mind and with wisdom. But love
begins with this destiny, to which the scholars and the wise stretch their sails in vain. Yes, love is the spirit's most
inner and sharpest sight-weapon, with which alone you can see into My divine miracles, while the edurite and
the wise cannot even touch the hem of My outermost garment. Therefore, you are also blessed, you and your
brethren, when you have love in you, and this love has brought Me to you, and this has now transformed this
waters into a fixed bridge, over which I will guide you now as the only one true Leader and as your only true
Father and Brother in your love for Me as in My love for you. And so you should not ever think of another
thanksgiving; for your love is all in all, as I am in My love for you and all of you in everything! And so, let us pass
over this bridge; follow Me, therefore!

Now see, the procession is moving forward. And I can assure you, although it seems to you as if you were
progressing step by step, we are still moving forward with an indescribable rapidity. At the side of the Lord,
spiritually and materially, one step covers a greater distance than if you were to make steps from sun to sun in
an earthly fashion.

But you must understand the difference between secular and such purely spiritual progress. For this movement
here not only indicates progress, but the meaning is rather that the one who is guided by the love of the Lord, in
his inner sphere of knowledge, progresses also in a moment, or correspondingly in a step, inexplicably greater
regarding experience, and in truth, in such steps, makes endlessly greater and far more extensive, most
enlightened observation than a researcher of knowledge and wisdom in many thousands of earth years.

To explain it a bit more to you: a step under the direction of the Lord is worth more than billions under the
guidance of such an enlightened spirit. Or: a word from the mouth of the Lord is worth more than all the words
spoken and written and still to be spoken and written on all bodies of all the worlds by the beings since the
primordial beginning. I do not need to say more about you in this respect.

We have passed over the water in the meantime; now have a look behind you and you shall see our vast sea
again, instead of the firm ground. And see, the Lord is drawing it to His followers attention too and says to the
Prior, "See, Look, we have already reached our place. How do you like it here?

The priest said: O Lord and Father! You my eternal love; wherever You are, I like it everywhere inexpressibly
well. Without You, however, it would be here, as surely everywhere, forever to despair!

The Lord says: My dear son, friend, and brother! You spoke well; so it is and not otherwise. With Me you can do
everything without me, but nothing! So it is always good with Me! But apart from Me, there is nothing enduring,
for I am the only way, the truth, and the life! Whoever remains in Me through love and I in him, has the light, the
truth, and the life.

Therefore, keep following Me, and I will show you another place and see how you will like it there. If you find
comfort there, you can choose a home there. And if you will not like it there, we will look for another. And so,
follow Me!

See, the procession moves between morning and noon, and there, behind that glowing mountain, we will again
make a stop in an unspeakably beautiful region. Our guests will there have a rather strong test, for there is still a
hidden issue in them, namely the love for women, according to which they were either hostile to celibacy or at
least compelled to be.
They endured celibacy for the sake of duty and conscience, and not one of them have ever transgressed with a
woman regarding fleshly love on earth.

But there is not much merit in this, for the place on earth, where they had their monastic life, was, in many
respects, very neglected regarding female beauties. In addition to these monasteries, only the old women had to
confess, for the younger women’s order was much too strict.

Thus, in such aspects, an anti-celibatic temptation could not easily take place, and the victory of these celibates
was not to be counted among those of whom later generations would speak. Therefore, they must also pass this
test in the presence of the Lord.

I tell you, in this next station, we will see blessed female spirits, who shall even make you feel dizzy. This place is
also so heavenly beautiful as you have never seen, except the holy city, and it will soon be a question of how it
stands with the love of the Lord in these recently saved ones. But this will be the subject of our consideration
only the next time.

Chapter 99.

Another heavy test.

We are already on the summit of the mountains, which we once saw before us glowing at a great distance. So,
see this indescribably beautiful country, which, seen from this mountain range, is somewhat lower, as an endless
expanse in the greatest splendor and marvelous variety.

Magnificent wide valleys with alternating rows of hills cross in all directions, and the most beautiful streams cross
the valleys. These streams have water like the purest, transparent gold. The water moves in mutual
juxtaposition, and, as one brook flows into the other, it forms a small, always round lake, which produces a
splendid radiance from its small undulating surface. Look, on the shore of such a lake are the most glorious
palaces, with reddish-green roofs; these roofs are not destined to protect from the rain, but only to let the light in
the most varied colors, falling into the interior of such a palace.

Then consider the construction of such a palace, what admirably beautiful, sublime architecture adorns each
one, and how a different light color flows from each of the many windows. Then look around these palaces at the
wonderfully beautiful garden plants, in which cute little trees with the most wonderful fruits in the most beautiful
rows are to be seen. Then also the glowing flowers of unimagined splendor. In between all kinds of garden
salons, some of which look like small hanging gardens, some of them like towers with magnificent domes, some
of them like temples with all sorts of radiant pillars, and some rounded, sometimes pyramid-pointed roofs. See
also the splendid garden enclosures, which consist of the most beautiful arcades and foliage, and can be
wandered through to your delight over and over again.

Further, see the most numerous sea-vessels, and in them, several blessed spirits of this region, faring on the
surface of the magnificent body of water, and sailing from one shore to another. But listen also to the wonderful
singing, coming from afar to our ears. And see, everywhere on the hills stand church-like buildings with very high
towers. Each tower has a magnificently chiming bell. So you can also convince yourself of how such bells sound
because, for reason of our appearance, all bells are being rung.

These bells do not sound like earthly bells, but their sound resembles the soft tones of your so-called winds, but
this whisper of the unspeakable is purer and still echoes far away in all its other delicacies. You can hear the
deepest tones in the purest, fully harmonic relationship contrast with the higher tones.

But now look at the straight path before us, which does not look like a country road on your earth, but rather like
a velvet ribbon of several fathoms, splendidly adorned with gold and smooth stones, lined both sides with trees,
always with full fragrant flowers together with the most delicious ripe fruit. On this road, you can see how a
procession, though without a flag and a crucifix, but with radiant palm trees in their hands, is approaching us.
The female beings have baskets filled with all sorts of heavenly fruits, to straightway entertain the arriving guests
with the utmost loving-kindness and hospitality.

See, the procession is coming still closer, and the female spirits are now hurrying out in front with their baskets,
to be with us even sooner.

Two are already here. Consider for once the infinite delicacy and the most wonderfully beautiful form. Everything
is to be seen in a brilliant light-round roundness on them. A true heavenly, cheerful kindness radiates from their
faces. And their exceedingly delicate clothes attest to the great innocence of these beings. But see, ever more
and more come up, and their figures are even increasingly more magnificent and glorious.

Listen also to their heavenly, gentle, euphonic speech, and how they welcome our company, saying, O come,
you supreme friends of our most holy and most loving Father, and be refreshed with our fruits which we have
brought you here with a loving heart , Oh, how happy are we once again, to be partakers in the infinite, most
blessed happiness to again be able to see as your leader, our Lord, the most good and most loving, God and
Father!

Now look also to our company, as they begin to make big eyes, and the prior has just turned to the Lord, saying,
O Lord, O Lord, Most Gracious, Most Merciful Creator and Father of all beings in heaven and on earth! What is it
for your will's sake? Are these also angel spirits, who once lived on the earth, or are they the purest angels of the
highest heaven? For such infinitely wonderful and glorious beauty has never entered my inner fantasy. I was a
staunch celibate on the earth; but if something similar had happened to me in my highest celibate zeal, I would
have been able to replace it with the most shameful Mohammedanism. Lord and Father! Here, in the literal
sense, it is said, "Suppose we are lost, otherwise we are lost, provided that one can be lost here.

The Lord says: Well, my dear friend and brother, have we found the right place? As I perceive, you do not
appear to be at all reluctant to choose a place of residence with a dear heavenly bride; for there is no more talk
about being lost, and you and all your brethren can choose here in My presence at will. If therefore, you are
satisfied, you can at once choose a heavenly bride, and with it also a little palace, and I will bless you and
everyone and will reveal you also your heavenly office. Behold, this is, in short, My offer; but under the condition
that you choose freely.

The priest, like his brethren, first look at the region, then to the Lord, but mostly at the beautiful heavenly brides.
And therefore, the Prior cannot be ready so soon with an answer at all, and thus converses with himself: It
would, of course, be good here at the side of such a heavenly bride and in such a most glorious possession,
where the roasted birds are more than literally flying roasted into the mouth! It is truly eternally impossible for an
immortal spirit to be able to imagine heaven to be more heavenly than this. Truly, and three more times truly, if
good advice would not be expensive here, it will not be in eternity. If I only think how one would embrace such a
heavenly bride, and press her to his immortal breast, full of heavenly glowing love, I feel quite dizzy, and I would
like to, very much indeed, yes, even infinitely much, want to pronounce my strong 'Yes' before the Lord, provided
that this infinite glory does in all respects has its firm foundation.

But if this whole story were only an examination? If we were to bite into this apple the same way as Eve did in
Paradise and poor Adam, but after the bite, the wondrous place has changed into something else, may God
keep us from this in all eternity, then would such a celestially magical bite turn out to be significantly more
expensive than the very best advice in history! Yes, if I could know for sure that it really has an everlasting
existence, I should, I barely dare to say, would secretly say 'yes' to this heavenly proposal from the side of the
most holy, most loving Father.

Now, however, the other monk, already known to us, goes up to the Prior, and says, "But hear brother, how long
will you wait for the most loving Holy Father to answer?" If it were for me to answer, I, together with several
others, would have been finished already for a long time. I am telling you nothing but what my innermost feeling
reveals to me, and this is as follows: O Lord and Father in all your infinite love and mercy! With You and together
with You is everywhere, so here also in this heavenly wondrous glory, it is very well and good to be. If You stay
here, I will feel very much at home here. If You, however, as the Primordial Source of all these glories, do not
stay here and if this is no permanent dwelling place for You, I will not remain here, but if it is Your holy will, I will
continue with you until You say:?here I am at home! What do you think brother, wouldn't that be a correct
answer?

The prior says: yes, brother, you have helped me out of my dream; you are right. It is the same with me deep in
my heart and I shall speak as such with the Lord, for He is more than all these heavenly glories!

Chapter 100.

The heavenly destination.

Now the Prior turns to the Lord, and says, "Hearken to me, O Almighty, Most Gracious, Holy Father! Although
You see everything and know what it looks like in me, I will still speak before you, because You want it so. As to
Your former, most amiable proposal, I am in no doubt anymore that You would not grant this to me or to my
brethren if we had accepted Your request, for You are everywhere eternal love, fidelity, truth, and wisdom!

It is true, when I look at these purely heavenly angelic beings, for one is more glorious and beautiful than the
other, and none can surpass the other in any way, and ask my heart whether it would be pleased with such an
infinite grace from You I must, indeed strike my breast and say, O Lord! I am not in the least worthy of such an
infinite grace, for a heavenly kingdom would be such a reward for a wretched, unworthy, celibate earthly idler.
For indeed, in having such a heavenly spouse or life-companion, blessed by You, the earthy years, if they were
valid here, would have to pass just as quickly as grasshoppers on a hot summer's day. And there would be no
prospect of boredom for all eternities of eternities in such exalted heavenly circumstances.

But, O Lord and Father, I say a great 'but'! Look, it is difficult to speak before you, especially in such a case,
where one feels that you are in a double pinch. For if one would be dissatisfied with such a reward, if you would
reject it for the sake of a higher bliss, appears to me to at the very least, cruelly sin against Your infinite
goodness. To eagerly and most willingly accept the same would be to assume ourselves to be worthy of this,
which can never be the case with us. But then, too, a hidden inner question arises, which, at least with me, is
this:

See, there are two good things here before you, a heavenly glory, namely this heaven, and an infinite one,
namely O Lord, Yourself! If you, poor sinner (so it sounded in me), would be free to choose between these two
goods, I must acknowledge to myself, whether it be self-interest or whatever it may be, then I must say: Lord, I
stay with You and for Your love, I will leave this overly glorious heaven and these even more glorious virgins
standing here, with the premise, that such choice of me, poor sinner, is acceptable to You O Lord, For I do not
want You to think that I am dissatisfied with such a heaven. Oh, certainly not, but I would praise You with all my
strength forever, love and praise as the most unworthy of such an infinite grace!

But, O Lord, it is again the 'but' here. I only want to say so much: If, dear Father, You do not want to remain here
forever, as You are here now; if perhaps we were to see You here on a very rare occasion, I would endlessly
much rather like to spend eternity with You in the most remote corner of the whole infinite heaven, than here an
hour without you, O Holy, most loving Father!

Now the Lord says: Well, I have heard from the depth of your being, and see that your love is directed to Me,
and you, like your brethren, have sacrificed to Me this great heavenly glory as a pleasant sacrifice, and I tell you
that by this sacrifice you have made yourselves worthy of this glorious heaven. This is the destiny determined by
Me for you and your brethren, and therefore you can now without a care make choices after your heart's desire.
Each one of you has to take ownership of such a splendid palace, and is to take a heavenly woman who is
perfectly pleasing to him;?and as master of such a possession, you have no other obligation than to
acknowledge and love Me forever, as the Lord and Father, and then to receive, entertain and clothe the poor
new arrivals who come here not seldom, and to bring them closer to Me, the Father, through loving instruction.

Do not ask whether I will remain here permanently visible, as now, or not visible; for whether I am visible or not
visible, I am still fully present always. And when thou shalt see this sun here, think: therein dwell thy Father. And
this sun, which gently warms this region, and so magnificently illumines it, never goes down here, and you will
always see it, and never turn away the face of your love from her.

However, whenever you will take hold of Me in the highest love for Me, I will be present in My Personal Being as
now with you and with your brothers.

In your new house in this heaven, however, you will find a whiteboard.

Look at this from time to time to according to your charity, you will then look upon My will.

But the woman whom I will give to you here, do love as yourself. Be one with her, that thou mayest present
yourself together with her as a perfect human, which is in the perfect heavenly truth and good works of love. In
this woman, you will feel the power of your love for Me and the woman the power of My wisdom in you; and so
shall ye be as one in My eternal love and wisdom. The highest degree of your bliss will be when you are fully in
love with Me.

Thou shalt not take care here for food nor for any other need, for all this is here provided by Me for all eternities.
For it is a kingdom which I have set up from the beginning for those who love Me; it is the great, holy heritage to
all My children, which I have prepared for them on the cross!

Therefore, accept this from Me as the sole giver of all good gifts, and enjoy His exceeding glories and treasures
forever and ever.

You shall not grow old in this kingdom, but you shall become more blessed and blessed, and ever stronger and
youthful, and glorious. Such is your well-measured blessing. So go, choose your eternal life companions, so that
I can bless you to eternal, endless bliss!

Behold, our Prior is almost dizzy because of this most delightful bliss. With all his shyness, he and his brothers
scarcely dare to put his foot from the place over against the waiting heavenly virgins. But the Lord gives a hint to
the virgins, and they hurry, and each one extends their intended a radiant palm branch. With the adoption of the
palm branch, however, the monks' previous ordinarily ordained dresses are transformed into corresponding
celestials, and the Lord blesses them, and they all fall upon their faces, and praise and glorify Him for such
immeasurable grace.

But see, there at the back of the monks and lay brothers, who are now quite the same as the monks, there is still
a lay brother without a woman and a palm-branch, watching somewhat sadly, as his brethren have all been
provided with all and everything. Only for him, there was no virgin, even his clothes have not changed yet, so he
still appears in his monk's garment. What will happen to him? We will wait for the matter, for the Lord will
certainly not forget it.

And now look, the Lord is speaking to the heavenly married Our priests, who are now heavenly espoused, rises
and the Prior pitifully notices our poor lay brother, who, on this occasion, has been left out, turns immediately to
the Lord, and says, O Lord, Most loving, best Father! I cannot praise and glorify You enough for the grace You
have shown us all. But see, there is a poor brother there in the back, still without a woman and robe, but he
came with me all the way. O Lord, if it would please you, I would rather give up my garment and my wife, than to
see him here so abandoned. I understand Your Infinite Fatherly goodness has already provided for him; but
since I also have received a loving and compassionate heart from You, I must confess to You that if I could not
see this poor brother to be just as blessed as I, I would rather, in Your most holy name, renounce all this
salvation for myself for several thousand years, than to see him be only a few days less blessed than myself.

The Lord says, "Do you really want to give up your wife and your garment and your heavenly property to this
brother?"

The Prior says, "Yes, O Lord, on the spot, and even if I would have to go back to my former dormitory.

The Lord calls the poor lay brother to Him and says to him: look, you're the only brother of this company who has
missed out on blessing on this occasion. Your brother here has seen your misery and taken such pity on you,
that he wants to give his portion to you out of love for Me; would you be satisfied with that?
The poor lay brother said: O Lord! As far as I am concerned, I am quite satisfied if I can only sit here on this point
forever, and, praise and glorify You, looking at these heavenly glories. I am in this case exceedingly content if
you, O Lord, would allow me, in all my lack, to be one of the least of my servants in the house of one of the least
of my brethren whom You, O Lord and Father, have blessed to be heavenly citizens for eternity. For on the earth
I was the very least in the monastery and had little use in the monastery, but all my activity was nothing but alms
from your higher servants of this monastery, so that it would not entirely seem as if they fed and clothed me as a
most ardent idler in their monastery. So I had never really done anything meritorious even for the smallest wage.
How, then, could I have expected to be rewarded equally to one of these much better brothers?

The Lord says to the Prior: Well, my dear friend and brother! What is there to do? Behold, this thy brother does
not accept your request in any case; what do you want to do now?

The priest said: O Lord and Father! Let me exert my first brotherhood plight in heaven. I will take him into the
house which You have given me, and treat him as my equal and appoint him as a lord over all the possession
which You have now given me in Your love, grace, and mercy.

The Lord says, "I have a very different plan. Because you and your brother have let yourselves be totally and
completely captured by love for Me, I also take you completely captive in My love. The brethren here, who have
already begun to move with their heavenly wives into their homes, we shall bless. Thou, thy wife, and this
brother go with Me to where I will dwell forever in the highest heaven among My children.

Behold, the prior, his wife and his brother, fall before the Lord, in infinitely great ecstasy. But the Lord strengthens
them, lifts them, and says, "My little children, follow Me to My house. - Behold, they are taken, unobserved by the
other brethren, to the eternal, holy morning. Endlessly extended rows of blessed brethren welcome this little
group from all sides and praise the Lord for His infinite goodness, love, and mercy. But let us also follow them,
so that we may also see the settling in of these three new heavenly citizens!

Chapter 101.

Meaning of lead, pull and carry in the spiritual kingdom.

I perceive a secret question in you, which is thus: Concerning the highly pleasing turnout for the prior, you still
have some confusion, about how the situation of the prior is to be grasped and correctly understood by the
actual, more illuminated principal center. The Lord has formed the prior a wife and heavenly possession and has
blessed him as well as the others for this purpose, and without presupposed reservation have determined his
destiny and his heavenly office as He did for all the rest.

Like the others, he gave him heavenly divine guidance on how to live with their heavenly angelic wives and
showed him as well as the others, that He would always appear to him, as soon as he would take hold of Him
with all the might and strength of his love. In all these heavenly decrees, the Lord does not give the Prior the
slightest hint that He had any higher intention with him.

How then does it happen that the already set and clearly stated destiny of the prior has suddenly come to an
end, and he and his wife will not even be able to see the possessions given by the Lord in this heaven but will be
taken straightaway with the Lord to the highest heaven?

This is somewhat difficult to comprehend because the Lord has previously blessed the willing acceptance of
wages, all of them together with the prior, and thus, through this blessing, has utterly unanimously expressed His
divine firm will with the blessed, that is, with the free will consent of the blessed.

When people change a plan so quickly, this is easily explained by the imperfection of their knowledge. But, as
we have said, this is somewhat difficult to comprehend from the side of Divine omniscience, since the Lord
certainly knows what it is, about which He most clearly expresses His will.
Dear friends and brothers, see, your secret question is based on two important principles, but matters can
nevertheless be arbitrated; for this event, has been directed like this because you would take a little fruitful
offense at it.

When you remember the event in the monastery, when after the salvation of the souls who were soul-sleeping,
our prior, like no other man besides him, would embrace this still unknown man out of love and gratitude and
would bring him to the table. If you would recall how the simple man refused this, and during the refusal speech
uttered a certain mysterious "perhaps", by which He gave the prior a certain indication, that He had once carried
Him in His hands, you will not find it too difficult to grasp this current event, after a somewhat closer examination
of this scene.

The matter may look somewhat lopsided at first, but with us here in the heavenly kingdom of spirits, it is not
always one, two, three as in it is upon the earth. But you can now and then count on the earth: seventy, three
hundred, fifteen, and that will be with us: one, two, three.

Even more illuminated: A person lives on the earth in a South American country, another in a corner of Siberia.
These two are far apart in a natural sense, but not so in a spiritual sense. For they can be as one and two, that is
one side by side.

But if we now consider what the Lord has fundamentally indicated by mentioning to the prior the ominous
"perhaps" regarding to him being carried, our subject will at once appear to us more coherent and clear.

What then would the Lord have said to the Prior? Hear! The Lord wanted to tell the Prior:

You thought on earth to have borne Me in the form of bread in your hands. But you have not borne Me. Yet, you
have kept Me secretly in your heart oftentimes, and have not fully believed to carry Me there. But I will tell you
that you have carried Me right there. Now, regarding this matter, the Lord continued the unexplained 'perhaps,'
because there was not yet any perfect determination in the prior, concerning the infinite love, mercy, and
meekness of the Lord. For this reason, He also told him that, if it comes to be carried, He would easier and
rather be able to carry the Prior, than it would be for the Prior to carry Him.

But be careful! There is a great difference between the three expressions, "lead," "pull," and "carry" in the
spiritual kingdom which consists in saying: "When men are led by the Lord, they thereby pass over into the light
of faith, and thereby enter into the lowest heaven.

When men are drawn by the Lord, it is as follows: The love of the Father is poured out upon these men, and they
are received into the love of the Father, or they come into the second heaven, which consists of faith the light of
the active love of the Lord and of the neighbor.

But if it is said that men are carried by the Lord, it expresses a perfect, childlike condition of men, who have
passed so completely into the love of the Lord, that they have brought before Him the greatest sacrifice of self-
denial, even to the very last drop of self-love. Because of this, they are also truly God's actual, most authentic
children, and are accepted by Him as their eternal and only true Father in the highest, purest, heaven of love.

If you pay a little attention to these differences, the apparently objectionable aspect of the altered definition of the
prior will no longer appear to you as unprepared as it appeared to you at first. In addition, however, the Lord has
already incorporated this phenomenon into the manifold and comprehensive 'perhaps'.

He thus wanted to say nothing more than this: I will give you a destiny entirely according to your free choice, but
I will also consider that you have once carried Me in your heart. I will, in the most complete measure of your
eternal destiny, give you a little opportunity to show you how far you have carried Me and still carry Me in your
heart, and to what extent I will carry you for that. But in that situation, I will close My eyes for a while before you,
so that you should be completely free in yourself. Only after that instance I shall look at you again and bless you
in your heavenly destiny, or I, as your most holy, loving Father, will take you upon My hand and carry you as a
perfect child into My City.

Look, now we have almost everything together, and therefore need only to adapt the whole explanation to this
event only lightly, and your whole question has been answered.
Our prior have reached, like all his brothers, their perfect destiny, as was also clearly expressed by the Lord.
Why then? In order for the Prior to gain in his sphere of activity and given a greater freedom of movement, while
he still had no idea at all of what the Lord still had in store for him.

For this reason there had to be, as of by chance, but prepared long ago by the Lord, a poor lay brother who was
unfairly treated, in the background, who was himself destined for the highest heaven; he would knowingly serve
as a very efficient test-ground of true love unto the Lord, and from it unto the neighbor, for the prior. In this scene,
the Lord turned away his omniscient and all- seeing eye, leaving the prior up to completely and freely act out of
his own love. The prior, who once carried the Lord in his heart, was now fully strengthened in him, found himself
in the perfect love of the Lord, and in the most complete denial of himself.

Then the Lord looked at him, changed His secret eternal plan for the free action of the human spirit, and the
success lies before our eyes. We will soon experience together with them the most high and holy place.

THE SPIRITUAL SUN.

Volume 2.

Chapter 1.

Jesus on the wonderful paths of His love.

Look, there is again the well-known land with the lovely little houses.

But this time it appears in an even brighter light than the previous times.

The reason for this is that the love of these three unto the Lord is exceedingly powerful and great.

See how the Lord Himself, in His supreme simplicity, explains to these three all the marvels of the principal
midday heaven and shows them who and where all the blessed inhabitants are in this region. On the Earth, such
an explanation would certainly have seemed very heretical to our prior since this extremely glorious and
endlessly vast heavenly region is mainly inhabited by Protestants. But since he is now in a completely different
light, he cannot praise and glorify every demonstration of His infinite goodness, love, and mercy enough.

Now we have already come back to our well-known river and the Lord, who is having a repose, speaks to the
prior and thus also to his wife and the lay brother: See, here is the border between morning and noon. At My
side, you can see both areas, but those who dwell here are not yet able to do so.

They can only see the area inhabited by themselves and that in great clarity, but the region of the morning they
may see not any differently than a reddish glow, which radiates over them from a distant, very high mountain
range. But since you see both regions, tell me, in which region do you suppose I live?

The prior, looking around a little seeing a large city on the left bank of the river, says: O You most loving Father!
There on the river, surely full of the living water, your heavenly Jerusalem will stand, which is written, that it is the
city of the living God. So, perhaps it would not be too wrong of me to say that You dwell in this holy city; for
something more decidedly exalted as is this holy city, can no angelic being ever imagine.

The Lord says: My dear son, friend, and brother! You have not guessed wrongly at all, for in such cities, whose
number has no end along this ever-widening stream, I do certainly not infrequently find Myself in. But I am not
quite fully at home there, except in the sun which you see, by which I am equally at home in all the heavens.
Therefore, you can keep on guessing.
The priest says, "O Lord, and most loving Father, may You be at home in one or another of those great
wonderful palaces, which are also visible at the moment; for You have spoken of a great house which is in the
heavens.

But since, in such an unfathomably great palace, there will surely be a great number of dwellings; can you
possibly be at home in one of the greatest among the endlessly many?

The Lord saith, I say unto thee, My dear Son, brother, and friend.

Here, too, you have not given too much thought to the matter, for indeed, as in the cities, I also do find Myself
personally on great occasions in these large dwellings. But I am not continually or particularly differently present
in this great house than in the cities; therefore you may like to consider again.

The Prior says: O holy, loving Father! A light is going on for me now.

Since in the world you have only approached the small and the insignificant so lovingly and friendly, You may
also have a region here where, on the hills, where there are small, sweet houses, hospitable and inviting. But
since these small dwelling-houses all resemble each other, it would be difficult for me to determine the right one
from among the many; and to take the next best, would seem to me to be before you, O Lord, somewhat
inconsiderate and unworthy.

The Lord saith, My son, brother, and friend. This is where your "maybe"

has hit you; for behold, you can choose what thou wilt and it shall be right. But do you know that you once bore
Me on the earth? Would not you advise Me now, how, when and where?

The priest said: O Lord! I can remember this "perhaps”, and now, with a great, blessed longing I await the
revelation thereof. With regard to the bearing of your most holy Being on the earth, I am certain that I have borne
You in the symbols of bread and wine in my hands. Here it seems to me as if the three conditions: how, when
and where can be sure. Otherwise, I would not really be able to produce anything worthy of carrying you.

The Lord saith, My dear Son, brother, and friend, look at the city, and at the river. This represents the form of
bread and wine; - as I am at home in the city, in My primordial peculiarity, also in your breads and wines. See,
therefore, there is still a problem with the carrying, and you have not understood the meaning of the question, for
you have not carried Me, and you will, therefore, have to search somewhere else for the how, when, and where.

The prior says: O Lord and Most Holy Father! If I have made a mistake, I truly know nothing except when I think
that you were in Your Holy Spirit in my mouth and on my tongue, when I preached in Your name to the people
and spoke Your word. For Your word is surely Your most pure dwelling according to the testimony of John!

The Lord says, My dear son, brother, and friend, look at the splendid palaces. Behold, these are full of light and
full of life from Me. But just as I am actually at home in these palaces, so you have also carried Me with your
mouth and with your tongue. But you have seen that I am not essentially at home; so it will also point out a
problem with your carrying. And it turns out that you have carried Me neither preaching the Word nor serving the
poor; neither as a friend and successor of My first disciple nor as a brother, as a witness to and preacher of My
Word.

Therefore, you can also here express yourself more clearly about the how, when and where.

The prior says: O Lord and Most Holy Father! I suspect greater things, and I scarcely dare to say. Could it not
be, for instance, when I, as a boy, still loved You so passionately in my heart, that I often burst into tears with
love, or perhaps also in my office, since I also secretly felt such a powerful love for You that I was not
infrequently almost sick with great delight, or perhaps at those moments when I was moved to tears at the sight
of my poor brothers, and helped them with Your grace as far as I could. "If I have borne You once in such a way,
I would not know who from all this is the one where You, dear Holy Father, have so deeply humiliated Yourself to
let me carry You.

The Lord saith, My dear son, brother, and friend. Look at the small dwellings of the morning: as it is there, so is it
here. Wherever you go, you go to the right place; - and, here, this is how, when and where become united. How
did you carry Me? See, always in your love for Me! When did you wear Me? See, always in your love for Me!
Where did you wear Me?

See, everywhere and always in your love for Me; so you always kept Me in your heart!

But whoever carries Me in his heart, carries Me also in the preaching of the Word and in serving the poor. But as
in helping the poor and in preaching the Word is no carrying power, if it does not precede from the heart, then no
one can carry Me by preaching the Word and helping the poor, who do not first carry Me in the heart. So the
"perhaps" is revealed to you, for you were uncertain of how, when and where you carried Me.

Now, however, is when the how, when and where are merged into one, and from the friend and brother has
come a son. Therefore, I say no more to you: My friend, brother, and son, but alone: My beloved and loving son,
follow Me now to those high places to the dwellings; we shall dwell and work together under one roof forever.
Amen!

Chapter 2.

The great being of a child of God on the earth.

Behold, our most exalted Father ascends with the three who, as has already been mentioned, are now
surrounded by an even greater glory. And as you can see, the sublime group moves on quickly.

But now, have a quick look at our morning region, and especially at the heights of the hills, and see an
innumerable multitude of angelic spirits in garments shining brighter than the sun, kindly raising their hands
towards the Lord, letting the newcomers understand Who He is Who is leading the three home! Psalms sounds
from all sides, and blissful shouts of joy rush towards us; and all this, especially to show the newcomers that the
Lord is in His house!

You say and ask here, "It looks as if the Lord had left the whole highest heaven for a short time out of love for
these three; and when He returns home, all these blessed Heavenly angels rejoice overjoyed that the Lord and
holy, most loving Father returns from such a harvest trip.

I say to you that it is indeed like that on certain occasions like this, for with such works of redemption, the Lord
will not infrequently make the impression as if He leaves the morning, and after such a journey He is also -
except in the ever - visible Mercy Sun - nowhere to be seen personally in the whole infinite heavenly morning
kingdom.

This condition, in which, during such absence, the blessed spirits do not see the Lord, is called a "Blissful Rest";
for in this state all the blessed are preparing themselves again for a higher salvation, and the great longing with
which they await the Lord is that which prepares them.

For this reason, however, we now see the entire endlessly stretched out region of the morning before our eyes
coming to life, for from all the endless spaces of this heaven, the angelic spirits rush closer to receive the arriving
Father with all the love in their hearts.

Now, however, we also look at our highly astonished company. The priest turns to the Lord, and says, O thou,
ever more holy and most loving Father, what is this for Your holy will? Are these blissful angelic spirits, or is it all
a mere appearance? Because it could barely be assumed that mankind of the earth, because of their very great
wickedness, should populate Your highest heavens. For on the earth we knew from the mouth of the pious, the
men with pure exalted spirits, that only very dreadful few would enter into this highest heaven; a little more in the
two lower heavens, very many in the so-called cleansing place, and even exceedingly many - O Lord, protect us
from it - to hell!
Since the earth now carries the human race for just more than five thousand years, this appearance of this host
of visible spirits is incomprehensible. There are so many of them, after a quick estimation with our eyes, that they
are so many that if they, would stand man beside man and replace each other continually for a million years,
being replaced by new ones, that they would fill the earth to such an extent that if an apple would fall between
them, it would not reach the ground. O Lord and most loving Father! This is a completely incomprehensible sight
for me! Only in Your supreme heaven should there be perfect proliferation; this is otherwise purely
incomprehensible to me.

The Lord says: Yes, my beloved son, you will still encounter many sights in My house which will seem even more
incomprehensible to you than this. Here, however, is no such thing as a pure apparition, but only the most
complete, most solid truth!

Here there are nowhere any deception of the eyes at all, also no reflections as in a mirror, but everything you
see here is perfectly solid and palpable. In the realm of love, everything is completely without guile and
everything is tightly joined together. Therefore these spirits are as much as you, completely true beings and are
all together and all My dear children!

If you extend the standard of all these children to your own earth, you are certainly right with your account, for
My children from the earth are certainly not so many here, and those of them who are, are the exclusive
inhabitants of My Holy City.

But if you have ever looked at the starry sky on a bright night, you will be convinced of the countless numbers of
stars. Do you think that these stars are merely sparkling dots in the immeasurable heavens? Behold, these are
also numerous worlds, where similar men dwell everywhere and know Me everywhere as the Lord of heaven
and their world.

But the children of the earth are closest to Me because I have made them there personally in the flesh to be My
first children. Thus, according to Me, these are the ones who judge the twelve tribes of Israel, which, in this most
celestial and spiritual sense, means so much as:

To these My children, it is given by Me to rule with Me, to investigate and to judge the infinity and all countless
creations in it.

And the children of the other stars are at their service, as the members of a body are always ready to serve the
will in the spirit. Hence, these spirits, together with one of my children, form, on a large scale, according to the
activity of their love, a man, provided with all the necessary structures of his will.

A child from the earth out of Me is, therefore, a perfect will of countless other spirits from the stars, who, in and of
themselves, each have their own will and can do according to their free, joyous pleasure what they want.
Nevertheless, in loving instances, the will of My main children goes into them all, and there are billions of them
like one man whose active will-spirit is that of one of my children! "You certainly do not quite understand this, but
do not make too much of it yet, for in My eternal city there are still many high schools, in which you will learn
many new things.

But for now, be content with your question with this My Love-answer, and now go with Me and your wife and your
brother into this hut of Mine, which we have just reached. There you shall first satisfy thyself in My kingdom at
My table and enjoy the eternally true bread and the most living water. So then, come with Me into the dwelling!

See, they all go inside and the prior's eyes grow wide when he sees the golden simplicity of the cottage,
furnished with quite ordinary rural household utensils. The Lord asks him, "My beloved son, how do you like My
household? The Prior says: O Lord, Most loving, Most Holy Father. It pleases me very well, for it seems as if one
were on the earth in a clean, peaceful country-man's hut. But it is only very wonderful to me how You, the holiest
Father, to whom all heavenly and secular glories are attached, may be content with such a simple dwelling.
Indeed, this makes You unspeakably more lovable and more sacred, than the most perfect spirit could only
imagine in a very limited way.

The Lord says: See, My beloved son, with Me it is as well, and surely rightly: Sapienti pauca sufficiunt!

(i.e., little is enough for the wise). The prior bows down in utmost love to the ground and spoke, completely
overwhelmed in his mind: O most gracious, most loving, Holy Father! Not Sapienti, but quam maxime aeterne
Sapientissimo! This means: O Lord and my most loving Holy Father, certainly not pauca, but also quam maxime
immense multa! (this is not little, but very much). For these, in themselves, simple and few things are certainly in
themselves of such extraordinary and wonderful importance that I would hardly apprehend the slightest part of it
forever!

The Lord saith, My dear son! Stand up again, and after you have taken the meal at My table, it shall soon be
clear of how much of this little bit you will immediately be able to grasp. But do not make a great deal of the
meal, for here you will find, as in the literal sense of the word and meaning, that short hair is soon brushed. Here
is nothing of the so-called great heavenly dining tables, but here one dine quite simply and, so to speak, live off
bread and water. But you will soon discover in My children that they look very good on this simple diet.
Therefore, sit down to the table, for it is already provided with bread and water, and eat and drink as you will see
Me eating and drinking.

Chapter 3.

Continuous growth of salvation through activity.

Behold, our sublime company dines, and our priests, as well as the others, are astonished at the infinitely good
taste of this bread, as well as that of the living water. The priest speaks with the greatest reverence: O Lord and
most loving Holy Father! This bread tastes just as if it were made up of the most delicious and most nutritious
foods on the whole earth;?and the water, as if it is made of the very best wines which have ever grown on the
earth if one could dare to possibly make such a comparison here.

The Lord says, "Yes, My dear, beloved, yes most beloved son!" You have not appraised the taste of this simple
meal badly at all. See how from the pure love in Me, all the good fruits of the earth, as well as on all the other
world bodies come into being, and how these fruit through their taste, their fragrance, creates their fitness for
food, and their estimable effect; so should this bread be considered to be the first fundamental principle of all
that occurs in all the world-bodies, and contains it in a loving and useful way.

From this bread, every bread is derived, because this bread is a true, living bread, and is equal to My love, which
here presents itself to all My children for eternal living saturation. And the water, just like the bread, is also the
foundation of all things, for it is the light of love, and is thus for all My children the eternal joint pleasure in My
wisdom; that is all My children who are here with Me are in the depth of My wisdom and are therefore also in all
My power and might!

See, this is the true living water of which I have spoken on earth with the woman at the well of Jacob, of which I
said that those who shall drink of this water shall never be thirsty again forever.

The prior says: O Lord and most loving, Most Holy Father! I now see this clearly. Indeed, after the enjoyment of
this water, I begin to see into the incomprehensible depths of Your omnipotence and Your wisdom, causing me to
really begin to shudder with a pleasant, glorious joy. But I would like to know whether I will ever drink such a
water and eat such a good bread again.

The Lord saith, O My beloved son, therefore you do not need to be afraid of. This food and drink will never
become depleted forever, and you will always be able to have it so abundantly that you will never have to
complain of any want. For in this My kingdom, there are eternally inexhaustible springs, rivers, brooks, and seas
in endlessly great multitude. Therefore, it is not to be feared that there would not be sufficient amounts for
everybody.

See, I am only somewhat economic on the material bodies of the worlds, and keep My true confessors and
followers in as much shortage as possible.
For since man has to tediously study the ways of life in order to make eternal life his own on these paths, there is
no fully satisfied stomach.

For you have an old proverb in your studies: "A full belly throws everything to the wind and smoke", or: "plenus
venter non studet libenter."

For this very wise reason, I am also a little sparse on the worldly bodies, but here I am the infinite liberality itself,
and everything must be richly and abundantly available forever. On the worldly bodies, I do not like to see that
one would say: This stone is mine. Here, however, as you are used to saying, I will put it on your back. For I, in
fact, have such treasures in endless amounts; the whole of infinity is filled with the greatest miracles of My love,
wisdom, and omnipotence. Why should I be sparse? If a thousand klafter of land costs a thousand dollars on the
earth, I will give here for one dollar, a thousand suns with all their planets. I reckon that this should be a great
exchange.

So do not worry whether you'll always have something to eat and drink;?for, with so much land, an honest piece
of bread will be won with the slightest effort in this world.

The Prior says: O You, my dearest, most beloved, Jesus! For Your promise, I am far too daft and stupid. I am so
infinitely satisfied and unspeakably blessed here in this house that I could not wish for a sunspot more.
Therefore, I leave this infinite estate, which You have mentioned, wholeheartedly to another person, more worthy
than me. If I only have the assurance that You are constantly at home here, I need nothing more for all of
eternity. Just the thought of being in Your presence for life eternal, and the wonderfully blessed sights of the
works of Your omnipotence, together with this woman you have given to me, and this my brother whom I took in
with my compassion and affection, and sometimes only a piece of bread and a little sip of the water, since I am
unspeakable blissfully cared for the whole of eternity!

The Lord speaks: Yes, my dear son, I see that well; but see, this blessed feeling is but a first glimpse of true
bliss. Would you were to enjoy it all in peace and inactivity, you would become oversatiated with the length of the
duration of all your grace, and there would be no more pleasure for you. For this reason, I have provided for
eternal, ever-growing bliss by the fact that every one of My children continually have well- designed measure of
activity and a good sphere of influence; therefore there can be no question of staying in such a hut.

We will therefore leave this hut for a period of time and go to My City. There you will first get to know your
property, as well as your true eternal destiny. That is why we want to rise again and continue our journey. But the
hosts of spirits which you have seen before our eyes are by no means the full inclusive number of all the
inhabitants of this eternal supreme heaven, but these armies belong only to your future course of action. But not
here, but in My city and in your own dwelling-house therein, you shall get to know the details. See, the prior sinks
almost into the ground because of the infinite utterance of the Lord. But the Lord strengthens him and now
beckons all three to follow Him. So we are following this sublime procession.

Chapter 4.

The three heavens - their structure.

Now see then how all the countless armies of blessed spirits draw closer to our street, and form a kind of living
fencing, which, as you can easily see in your mind, form a straight lane into infinity. Look in your minds at the
manifold, heavenly beautiful figures we are passing by on both sides during our walk, for here you can see the
inhabitants of all the stars, but you should not think that in these endless rows there are many of one or another
star or planets present here, but of each celestial body only two are here, namely a male and a female being.
For if several would be present in every single celestial body, then this, in your eyes endlessly stretched out
space, be in the spiritual sense too small to accommodate them all, and you would not be able to see them all.

You ask here: After your inner knowledge, there are gigantic human beings on so many great planets, and
particularly on the sun, it is quite peculiar that these blessed spirits are here of a quite ordinary size, with only
small differences as on the earth. I tell you, where the Lord dwells, are nowhere any differences, but only in other
heavenly regions, where the Lord is present only in His Sun of mercy.

Such heavenly regions are, in the first place, the first or lowest heaven, in which only the wisdom and the coming
forth from this, the love unto to the Lord; and secondly the noonday or second heaven, which consists of those
who are out of faith in the love unto the neighbor and from this, unto the Lord.

Both these named heavens are infinite in itself and contain all the countless myriads of spirits, who have once
lived uprightly on their own worldly bodies. Exactly for this purpose are these two heavens so divided that, each
part has in its corresponding form, the blessed spirits of the planet have their dwellings just at that place in
heaven, which corresponds with the nature of their earth's body. You must, therefore, imagine this heaven so
that its spiritual surface space is endlessly spread out, and all the suns and planets are in themselves expressed
as individual points.

You ask, of course, how such things are possible since there are in the first place three distinct heavens, but the
planets are undivided, and the planets and suns are also placed underneath and above each other so that they
can not agree with a planimetrical surface. How, then, is this to be understood?

I say to you: It is, of course, to find the correspondences in a natural sense, but in a spiritual sense it can be very
clearly and lucidly be seen. Nevertheless, a natural image can also enlighten the matter very much. Let us try to
see if we are able to set up one which would suit our purpose. And so listen!

Take for example your earthly body. The solid ground and its populated surface form the first heaven, the region
of the air, especially that of the clouds, form the second heaven, the etheric region, the region above the clouds,
the third and uppermost. Thus, all these three heavens take hold of each other, yet they are separated from one
another in such a way that from the lower heaven no one can enter into the second, and even less into the third,
as well as from the second to the third; but the opposite is the case.

On your earth there are countless living beings in each of these three regions. On the ground, coarse material,
light and spiritual in the cloudy region, ethereally light and completely invisible in the third region. And yet these
three natural forms stand in continual interactive correspondence with each other on every celestial body.

Now we would have a part of the picture. But you also know that every free-moving body of an earth will be
illuminated by the countless rays of other distant celestial bodies. See, in this way, he takes parts of the whole
universe into his three regions or his three surfaces.

Through this reciprocal action, he is also in constant contact with the whole universe, and this influence is
continuously dispersed through each and every one of the three regions of the earthly body. The etheric remains
in the ether, the atmosphere in the atmosphere, and the telluric on the earth.

Thus, the atmospheres of all the suns and planets always interact with each other in reciprocal correspondences
in the likeness of that the etheric foreign planets connect only with the etheric of your planet, the atmospheric
with the atmospheric, and the telluric with the Telluric.

Now we have shown such connections clearly, we can go over to the third consideration of our picture, and this
is the corresponding spiritual. Things that fully correspond with each other represents in a spiritual relation, a
planimetric area which is everywhere alike;?accordingly is the natural or telluric equilibrium of all the world-
bodies to be regarded as an endlessly extended surface, as well as the atmospheric and the etheric.

The correspondence, however, exist in the spiritual world only in the emotional life of men on the earth. You say
that the Tellurian in its endless variety corresponds to the many natural stars. So it is. The natural mental life of a
man also corresponds to the natural mental life of the people of all the stars; the same is the case with spiritually
wise, and so also with the love-spiritual part of man on your earth body. Now look and give attention!

Man of your earth is as it were in his nature the center of all men on other earthly bodies, and that is because the
Lord has become Himself a man in the flesh on the earth.

The first or lowest heaven, which is also called the natural-spiritual heaven, houses blessed people of your
earthly body, and every such blessed man forms an equal surface, in which all other people of other stars
behave themselves like the lines diverging from the center of a circle, or converge back into the center of the
biggest possible circle.

But the natural surface is, and cannot be, an uninterrupted continuum, but in itself is always as if apparently
enclosed. Therefore, you will always see the natural heavens separately, as if being innumerable separated
societies.

The second heaven, which we know as the midday, is already more concrete, but still has, in its endless extent,
certain subdivisions consisting of endlessly stretched out seas, which the spirits belonging to this heaven, can
only cross under a higher direction.

But now look at the third etheric division, in which, naturally, all the numerous bodies of the world swim. This is
everywhere perfectly concrete. Thus, in the same way, the highest heaven of love is so arranged that it
surrounds, guides, and leads all others. It will not be difficult at all to understand that with this supreme heaven,
everything else must end up to be equally concrete in the end, where everything is fully and actively infused by
it.

Therefore, the blessed spirits of the earth in this heaven have also this infinite circle of influence out of the love
of the Lord. They can be everywhere they want. There is an even way before them everywhere. For them there
is nowhere an "up" and a "down", as you can not in an equivalent manner also assume that an etherically light
person, on whom no earthly body can any longer exert gravitational attraction, becomes lighter and heavier in
the lightest ether-sea, moving "up" or "down", for he can move with equal ease in every direction, like a thought,
for which the "up" and "down" are surely all the same.

But this is called "plane" in a correspondingly spiritual way, and is as an infinite surface, for which reason also
spirits of all other worlds are keeping out of necessity to this corresponding area, together with their
corresponding world-bodies, and stand then also with us, central spirits from the Lord, in conducive relationship.

This is a good answer to your question for the time being. If, however, with our next viewing, the Lord will settle
His company in their eternal destiny, you will be able to experience all this from His mouth in an active and much
brighter light.

It is difficult to connect spiritual and natural phenomena with the natural language. Nevertheless, the great love
and wisdom of the Lord can work miracles everywhere. Therefore, here too, you will get the better part from the
Lord's mouth. But now we are nearing the holy city, so we will turn our attention to it.

Chapter 5.

The essence of love. Love unto the neighbor out of love for God and love for God out of love for the neighbor.

See, this time even greater crowds in the highest glory are coming towards us! And if you also want to open your
ears, you will hear great choirs singing, where the Word is perceived in itself in the highest, most perfect of all
music.

Here, of course, you are wondering how such things are possible. But I say to you, nothing is more easily
possible, as nothing is more spiritually correct than the music of the Word. Why then? If you place your
articulated word here, which in itself is only the outermost bark of the actual true word, which is wholly within the
external word, the musical representation of the word will probably be a little difficult. But if you go back to the
proper foundation of the word, you will find the matter quite naturally and reasonably in order.

But what is the foundation of the word? The first foundation of everything and of course also of the word is love.
But how does love express itself inwardly? Love's discourse has a desirous undertone, that is, it wants to attract
everything! This noble characteristic looks around itself in every direction, and whatever its eyes encounter, it
absorbs it in the way it is, and endeavors to bring the object closer to itself, and finally to unite with it.

You call this characteristic, desire. What actually lies in this desire? It is nothing but the need to be increasingly
filled with what this desire is perfectly in harmony with. This desire, however, is also a continually living
sensation, through which the desire in itself perceives the need to fulfill itself ever more and more.

Now give attention! The love of the Lord, and out of this for the neighbor, feels, therefore, the need for the Lord,
and for all that is of the Lord.

But "evil love" is, as you know, the opposite in all things. Now if the good, noble love in itself is the ever-growing
fulfillment with that which is a single need, it feels in itself a saturation. And this saturation is the self-conscious
feeling, which, through its saturation and the life activity resulting from this saturation, produces the light of love
within itself. In this light, everything that is absorbed in itself becomes as if it were malleable and goes into
harmonious forms of the most exalted kind.

Out of the consciousness of saturation, and from the intuition of the living forms in itself, then comes the first
glorious feeling which is known to you to be the concept of the salvation of eternal life.

Now, give some more attention! When the living love is saturated in this way and transcended into its light, it
finds a second desire, namely communication. And this communication is then equal to brotherly or neighborly
love, which can never be more perfect than when man, in his love for the Lord, has just mastered this rightful
saturation.

Therefore the true order of charity is only the one who loves his brother through the Lord. On the contrary, if a
man loves the Lord through his brethren, then this is an inverse order, which is not harmoniously connected with
the first order. Why then? Because it is, hopefully, more natural to look for everything inside the most perfect, in
which everything is, than to search for the perfect in everything which is still far from being perfect. Or even more
clearly said:

It is certainly more orderly to seek the brothers in God, than to search for the infinite God in the brothers! In God,
everyone will find everything, but in his brother, who very often finds himself in the twilight, he will not find the
supreme being of God. He probably finds it there, but there is a big difference between find and find!

You can calculate this difference in an earthly way, like if you would have a good telescope. If you would position
it correctly by holding the large objective lens outwards, and set the small lens before your eyes, you will find the
objects you observe in natural magnification; you, therefore, look as out of the center of the visual range of the
lens. But if you turn the telescope around, you will see the objects which you have seen before;?but these
objects will appear very much reduced in size compared to their formerly magnification, and you will have much
trouble if you would want to see some distant objects, and want to fully recognize them.

You ask whether that would be, spiritually seen, a sin or not. Oh no!

It is not at all sinful. For if you look at the regions through a reversed telescope, they will be beautiful and
wonderful to you, but as you said, it will cost you a great deal of effort to recognize them exactly as they are.

So it is with the love unto the Lord through the neighbor. The Lord is in every brother, for He is life itself in
everyone, but in the smallest image, that is, as the man himself is the smallest image of the whole infinite
heaven, or - man is a heaven in the smallest form.

But whoever loves the brother out of the Lord, looks from the center of the focal point, from the objective of his
telescope, loving all his brothers, and sees in his brothers much more than he has seen before.

He firstly saw and observed, or rather, that a divine spark dwell in his brothers, and he therefore saw a lot of
divine sparks. But now he sees in his brethren that the Lord is all in everyone, and instead of the sparks, he now
sees great suns blazing in his brethren from whose light continually new glorious forms, like the wonderful
creations of God, develop.

I think that this should be clear to you now, so let us now see how we will get our word music out of this all. I tell
you, nothing is easier than this. Just one question we have to ask and this is: What is the music in itself? Music,
viewed only in earthly form, is nothing but a means of representation of the inner harmonic feelings, consisting of
tones made perceptible by the outer coarser senses and is presented in a structure which represents the inner
harmonious feelings.

If, however, the inner harmonic feeling represented in the outward is music, the feeling in itself will be all the
more true music; since it is the reason for the outer music.

We spirits feel in our blissful love-saturation, and think through the love-light in the forms originating in us from
the Lord. These feelings and thoughts are our greatest bliss, for precisely therein is the life of the Lord expressed
in us.

Now think of the harmony. The Lord is in us the basic word, the fundamental tone; our saturation from the Lord is
the second harmonic interval, the light from this saturation is the third harmonic interval which is forms out of the
light, which is called melody.

But you have a counterpoint in your music, for it to be more complete and a comprehensive whole, since you
can accompany a melody in a lively way, and this accompaniment in itself can also be posed as a pure theme.

We want to see whether this is also present in our basic music.

Certainly; for what is the reciprocal exchange of ideas and forms, or the exchange of our inner, blessed feelings,
other than a truly heavenly musical counterpoint, since a blessed brother takes up the bliss of his brothers and
harmoniously blends it with the bliss of others. In this way the blissful mutual blending and connection, and again
the letting go, will be in its nature like a most artfully built, great heavenly oratorio. Do you understand this?

You ask if one always hears such music? But I ask you, When do you hear music on the earth? You say: When
musicians unite for such a purpose, and then, after the prescribed sign, begin to elicit their sounds from their
sound tools. Well, I tell you; so it is also the case with the basic music in the sky.

On such occasions, when the Lord returns, as now, the blissful feeling of all heavenly spirits is driven to the
utmost, and this highest level of the most universal feeling is expressed as the most glorious music.

In the usual state, though, the word is spoken as with you.

Nevertheless, every heavenly spirit here has the perfect ability to perceive everything in itself in its full harmony,
as well as to let others know what it thinks and feels in a harmonic sense.

So can you, A.H.W., on earth, if you would compose and write a single tone work, straightway be able to hear it
within yourself as if it is accompanying the greatest possible orchestra.

I think now that everything is already clear to you. Therefore, you can in the spirit also have a little pleasure with
me, as the glorious harmonies from the still approaching blessed multitudes enter our ears.

Look also a bit at our prior, who is beside himself and cannot help himself in overjoyed delight, and has just
asked the Lord what the meaning of all this is. But the Lord said to him, My beloved son, have but a little
patience, and feel the blessedness of the first degree; at the right time and place, everything will be clear to you.
We first want to reach the city and then in the city itself, we shall arrange things further.

However, see the first small group coming towards Me and guess who are they who make up the multitude?

The priest said: O Lord! How could I know that out of myself? These are obviously overly blissful brothers and
angels, that it is certain; who they are named, I could never guess.

The Lord says, "Well, then I will make it known to you: these are My brethren. The first two in front, are the well-
known Peter and Paul; behind Peter, you see My dear John, behind John you see Matthew and Luke. But Mark
is following us and was the one who first visited you out of Me. And those following further to the back, are the
other apostles. But now, nothing more, but as I said: in the city, My beloved son, the revelation will follow.
Chapter 6.

Personal details of the apostles depicted by distinguishing insignia.

See, we are at the well-known city gates, which, like the wall around the city and the houses in the city, are all
made of precious stones.

Look down the lane, which is called the main street, the street of the Lord, and the street of the center of all light,
as in this street, many of the most blessed angelic spirits, like children, are flowing in from all sides.

See, everything is fully aglow with the highest love-wisdom. But look at the Lord, Who is in contrast still as
simple as we have seen Him from the beginning; a blue coat is all that externally adorns Him. His brothers look
just as simple, and as you may notice, each one bears a small insignia on the robe, showing that which has
distinguished him on the earth from his brothers, as well as what his occupation on the earth as a natural man
was to provide for his natural needs.

Thus, on this occasion, you will be able to see that of Peter with two crossed keys. Under the two keys, however,
you will be able to see a fish net on a small scale, like small diamonds. I do not need to explain the meaning of
these two insignias. Sometimes, on special occasions, such an apostle gets several insignias. Thus, sometimes,
as a penitent, one sees the cock as well as a sword.

Look at Paul, who has a two-edged sword; but under the sword, a small carpet embroidered with colored
diamonds. On special occasions, he also has a reddish horse, and above the horse a ray of fire, but underneath
the horse, a scroll and a pen. And like these two first Apostles, so to have all the others on such occasions on
their clothes, insignia related to their earthly works.

These insignias are of very great importance, and serve their owners in the highest and most profound spiritual
sense, likened to what the Thummim and Urim tablets have once served for only as a model in the Jewish
community of the High Priest. For here also the most righteous spirits are not in the same degree of inmost
wisdom from the Lord, but also, in this case, a change of state takes place, which is to be compared with the
state of action and the resting place. In the state of action, each one is equipped, as required, with the deepest
wisdom of the Lord, but at rest, no one needs such depth, but only a certain Sabbath rest in silent heavenly love
for the Lord.

For this reason, the Apostles, as well as all other blessed spirits, are likewise provided with similar insignia
according to the state of their work; not as though they would not be placed in the fullness of wisdom without the
same from the Lord, but because these insignia show the root, as well as the original seed kernel, from which all
their wisdom came forth from the Lord. That is why they are also called "princes of heaven", which they are in
the truest sense.

But now, we are already in front of a really mightily big, great, splendid palace. The Lord, in front of the majestic
gate, from which new glorious songs of praise resound, says to the Prior: Well, my beloved son, here we are at
our unchangeable, eternal welling and home. How do you like it here? Tell me if you have a great desire to stay
here? The prior says, sunken into a thousandfold humility: O Lord, Thou alone, everlasting King of Majesty and
Glory! You God, holy, most holy, You Almighty Creator of all heavens and all worlds! When I was guided by You
to the former heaven, there remained so much room in my heart that I was still capable of expressing some
desire. But here, where Your infinite glory presents itself in such a never-suspected endless abundance, and I
look up and down with my eyes onto countless creations, and your endlessly wide plains and paths full of the
most supreme light, my Lord, is my heart before You no longer able to speak, for You are too great, too glorious
and holy, and I am an infinite nothing before you.

In the former heavenly region, I would have wished to be a very poor housekeeper with some blessed brother.
But here, where everything seems so infinitely sacred to me, where I scarcely dare to breathe, and put my most
unfortunate foot upon the ground of this holiest city, which indeed lets a far greater light shine than all the light of
all the suns together, and according to the infinite majesty of these sacred dwellings and their inhabitants, I am
completely consumed by my utter vanity; there remains, O Lord, no wish. But if I were to ask You for something,
it would be that You would let me move somewhere out into such a simple hut; for I am unworthy of this infinite
delight and bliss.

The Lord says: But my dear Son, your greatest desire was to be with Me. But if I live here, how can you be afraid
of My house? Thou hast expressed thyself, saying, O Lord! Wherever You are, there it is good everywhere! If,
however, I am here always eternally by preference at home, shall it not be good to be here? Therefore, consider
and speak!

The priest says: O Lord, Most Holy, Most Holy Father! With this saying, it will probably be eternally correct as
well as the fact that it would be here to live infinitely blissful and blessed. But only the only one, O Lord, I observe
here, that there are only princes, and none of them has any servant and little servant. If it were possible to find
such a place of service in the very last corner of this holy city, of the most general kind, provided that there are
such ministries here, I would like to ask for that place from among all other places in the whole of infinity.

But in such a palace as this one is, in front of whose gate we now stand, the very least possible position seems
too great, important, and sacred to me to be able to acquire such out of myself.

The Lord says, Have you not heard that in My kingdom, it is the greatest who will be the least and the last? If,
then, you are so small, there is no other choice but to make you the greatest possible.

The priest said: O Lord, greatest, most Holy Father! If I knew it was so serious, that the man who is the smallest
and the least important, but who considers himself to be the greatest and most important, then quickly make me
the greatest and most glorious prince of this city, so that I may be the most insignificant and the most
unimportant!

The Lord says, My most beloved Son! Whoever wants to wax great your way is truly great with Me. Therefore, I
also tell thee that not a servant, nor a servant in this dwelling-house, shall you be with Me, but this house I have
erected for thee for everlasting peculiar splendor. So go here with your wife and your brother at My side. I want
to settle you in here and give you control over this whole house. You have already seen the service of this
house. It consists of those blessed spirits who have come to us in countless hosts at the first entry into this
kingdom. And so enter with Me, and I will reveal to you in this house your full eternal destiny.

Chapter 7.

Communion with lamb, bread and wine.

Look there right before us, there is a broad, glittering staircase, which is lined with balustrades of transparent
gold. This staircase leads up into the middle mansion. Our company is now moving upwards, accompanied by
the apostles; so we follow them. Here we are already at the entrance gate into the large auditorium. The Lord
opens the door, and we all go into the hall. See, what infinite magnificence and glory is to be found in this
oversized hall! The floor is also like transparent gold, and when you keenly look at it, you will see all over
embedded writing as if of shimmering gold.

What does this scripture say? I tell you, nothing more and nothing less than all the deeds our prior has done
from his true inner love. Then look, on either side of the great hall are five red luminous pillars, which look like
incandescent brass, as would be seen on earth from a quarter of an hour away, like a bright red, due to the
density of the air through which such a ray must pass. Only, of course, as you can see here in the spirit, is the
luster of these pillars unspeakably more intense.

But now look also at the bases of these great pillars, as they are once again adorned all over, with writing more
luminous than all the suns. Read it and you will find that the Ten Commandments are written on it. But look
closer at the Scriptures, and you will discover a smaller script in each individual letter, from which Scripture the
inner meaning of the commandments can be recognized.

But look also up, and you will see a brilliantly shining arch on each pillar, reaching in toward the center of the
high ceiling, converging like rays. On the point where the arches converge, you can see a powerful, radiant sun,
and in the middle of the sun, you will find the endlessly significant word 'love' written in bright red, flaming letters.

Have also a look at the walls of this hall, which are built with the most precious jewels. Go closer to a part of the
wall, and have a close look, and you will discover writing everywhere, inside the rocks, shimmering like little
stars. And if you would begin to read a bit, you will soon find that this script contains the Word of God, firstly in
the literal sense, then deeper in the stone, the spiritual; and still deeper, the heavenly sense. These four walls
contain only the four Gospels known to you; the two long side walls have Matthew and Luke, the narrower walls
at the back and front contain Mark and John.

You would also like to know whether the Old Testament is nowhere to be found here? Not here in this building;
but what you call "leveled earth"

with you is all built from the Old Testament, and what you call the invisible foundation of the house on earth is the
primitive congregation of the earth.

Now look at the foreground; there is a glorious table, set with a roasted lamb in the middle in a golden bowl, a
loaf of bread beside it, and a great chalice full of the most glorious wine.

Behold, now the Lord says to the prior: My beloved son, behold here is another table; how does it appear to
you? The prior says, O Lord, You, most Holy Father! Though the endless glory of this room is pressing me down,
I still notice that this table has a very strong resemblance to that which You have kept on earth before Your bitter
suffering with Your dear apostles and disciples.

The Lord says, My beloved son, thou hast spoken rightly; for therefore I said at the table that I will not again
enjoy of the Lamb or the wine until it will be newly prepared in the kingdom of God - see, here it is newly
prepared! Here then, we want to have this meal together again, and do not want to go into sadness, but into the
highest joy. Therefore, all of you sit with Me at this table, in the same order as we have sat on the earth.

But you are asking after Judas, whether he will be at the table. What do you think, would the traitor be sent
here? The priest said: O Lord, Most loving Holy Father! I know well that Your righteousness is as great as your
love, grace, and mercy. But, notwithstanding this, I must frankly confess it to You, it would still be hard for me if I
had to miss this lost apostle forever; for You, Yourself said that this one was lost, that the scripture might be
fulfilled. This text has always secretly given me some consolation with regard to this unhappy apostle, for I said
to myself: Judas, perhaps even after his free choice, had to be such a serving instrument, that is, an apostle of
the dead, so that through Your betrayal, Your holy plan, which was surely eternally predetermined, came into the
holiest and glorious execution! Behold, O Lord, greatest and Most Holy Father! This always gave me a blessed
hope for the poor, unhappy apostle. But I was still more at ease when I considered how You, on the cross,
begged the Father in You for forgiveness for all Your enemies; and then I could not exclude poor Judas in spite
of his suicide. This was evidently caused by the devil who besieged him. Therefore, I should like to know if this
apostle, if not already here, but at least somewhere, is not unhappy in the highest degree.

The Lord says: Listen, My beloved Son, there is not one, but two Judas Iscariots. The first is the man who lived
with Me on the earth, and the other is Satan, who, in his freedom at that time, had made people taxable to
himself. This second Judas Iscariot is still the very foundation of hell, but not the man Iscariot, for it was forgiven
him, and in how far, you only have to look around. For the one who is presently talking to your brother and is also
now committing a betrayal of love by showing my brother already in advance My great love, is precisely the
Judas Iscariot, whom you were worried about. Are you satisfied with Me?

The priest, almost lost in love for the Lord, says: O Lord, thou most loving Most Holy Father! Faithfully true, I
have always imagined You to be always very lovingly and endlessly good. Nevertheless, I would never have
dared to think that Your infinite mercy, grace, and love should extend to Judas. For on the earth I would certainly
have sinned with such an idea.
But now I see how endless Your infinite goodness, grace, and pity surpass all human ideas. O Lord, what shall I
do? How am I to love you, that I could only correspond in my heart to such an infinite love?

The Lord embraces the prior, presses him to His breast, and says to him, Behold, My beloved son, just as you
love Me now, you give Me the greatest reward for My infinite love. Therefore, go to the table with Me, and eat
and drink the true living supper, so that you may, in this enjoyment, receive the strengthening in you, a great
prince in My kingdom, which you shall eternally and increasingly need.

See, they sit down at the table, and the prior, his wife and his brother are placed on the Lord's right side. To the
left, you see John, then immediately after him Peter, and then Paul, as well as the other apostles and disciples.

On the right side of the poor brother of the prior sits Judas and beside him, still a few others, which I will not
name you here yet. Further beyond, you also see our Joseph, and beside him Mary; next, Mary of Magdalene
and still other well-known female beings. You see Lazarus, Nicodemus, and some great friends of the Lord.

You ask now since there are still several chairs left unoccupied, whether no one will sit on them? Yes, my dear
friends and brethren, I too must sit down at the table, and you, as earthly spirits, must not leave my sphere.
Hence, we shall have no other choice than to seize the three empty seats, according to the secret promise of the
Lord. Follow me therefore courageously to the table, and eat and drink there with all the others.

If you have been fed on this table - though unperceivable to your senses - you will feel an inner feeling filling
your spirit, that you have dined in the spirit at this table. It will give you a great, significant strengthening, which
you will definitely feel. Do not be timid, but enjoy the meal of eternal life in humility and love. And so, follow me
quite bravely and without reservation to the table!

Chapter 8.

The significant meaning of the supper, especially for the earth. We leave Markus’ sphere.

As we are now at the table, we will also take part in the high treasures of the table. But hear what the Lord says
before the meal, saying: My beloved children! When I came to you on earth after My resurrection, I asked you,
because you were hungry and had not much food to eat. "Little child, do you have nothing to eat?" Then you
showed Me some bread and some fish. I blessed the fish and the bread for you and then I sat with you at the
table and ate with you. Now I ask you no more whether you have food to eat or not, but of My infinite treasures
and provisions, you have in endless abundance forever. But is this word, which was expressed by Me on earth,
to have no validity here?

I say to you, this question shall have even more perfect validity here than on the earth, and I can still ask this
most important question out of this kingdom: little children, do you have nothing to eat? You will answer Me on
that:

O most loving Father! We have endlessly much to eat in Your big house.

But I say unto you,

This question is not to be asked to you as if it were meant for you, but this question is to be asked by you as if by
Me, to let it pass through My children to My children and through them, into all of infinity. The children of the
earth are now in the state in which you were immediately after My resurrection. They are full of sad thoughts and
do not yet know what has happened to the Lord. They also have only paltry food, which is like the fish and the
bread you had.

The "fish" are the old, and "the bread" the New Testament. But as this food is among the children on the earth
partly salted, partly moldy, partly dried up, it is here among us all the more the time to turn to these children with
this question and to ask them: little children! Do you have nothing to eat?

They will show us their store, and we will bless them for a good, living prosperity, as I have blessed for You your
little fish, and your bread. Let us then sit with them at the table of their faith and their love, and eat with them; we
will teach them, in spirit and in truth, to know from their feeble treasures the true ways of eternal life.

Behold, here is the meal, the table covered with the well-prepared lamb, bread, and wine. "The Lamb," a food
equal to My heart, "the bread," a food equal to My love and mercy, "the wine" a drink from My infinite wisdom.

You enjoy it with Me, and I have no need to ask you: little child, do you have something to eat? But if you enjoy
with Me, remember the poor children on the earth and ask them out of My supreme love in you: Children,
brothers, and sisters, do you have something to eat? And the children will answer you, O brethren. Look at us in
our great poverty; a little hard bread and a few heavily salted fish is all we have! Just make it somewhat
enjoyable.

When you hear this, return to them, and bring unto them the living remnants of this table; give them a living
enlightenment; help them clean their room so that I can also move in with them and then ask them Myself: Little
children! Have you nothing to eat?

And when they say, O Lord, Most loving Father! Behold, a little bread and some little fish, I will say to them, Bring
all that you have, and I will bless you with My love, grace, and mercy, and I will give you a living, inner, spiritual
bread! If ye shall eat this bread, and drink of My wine, your hard-baked bread, and your salted fishes shall be
softened and purified, and it shall become a living food, in which you shall be sufficiently satisfied unto eternal
life.

As such, My dear children, brothers, and friends is this question, once asked to you by Me, of the greatest
importance and the most profound significance here!

So, therefore, eat with Me, and drink, unto remembrance in all love for those who dwell in the depths of their
flesh, and cannot see My kingdom, My grace, My love, and mercy.

See, now the Lord partake of the Lamb, as well as the bread, and divide it to all. Now it is distributed; we have
our portions before us, we thank the Holy Giver for such good gifts, and then enjoy, in joy and great love, our
sacred meal of eternal life!

Behold, they all are now reaching for the meal proffered and eating it with great, joyous emotion, with regard to
the most loving Holy Giver. So let us follow suit and do what the others do.

We are now consuming the sacred meal of life. How glorious, how delicious, how powerful and invigorating it is!
With each swallow, we feel as if our glances are extended to the infinite depths of divine grace, and the flame of
eternal love begins to blaze brighter in our hearts. With the enjoyment of the flesh, wonderful new great thoughts
of God are revealed in us. With the enjoyment of the bread, these great thoughts become an endlessly great
new reality, and with the enjoyment of the wine a new and gloriously wonderful life flows into the new creations.
We see in the totality a consummation, before whose greatness, majesty, glory, and holiness of the Lord Himself,
shake our most great heavenly thoughts and feelings, and sink down before the Lord as if in nothingness!

What do you say, my dear friends and brothers, of this meal? I notice that you are silent in the face of the great
revelation which has been given to you with this meal.

But I say to you: On such occasions, we do not get any better than this. For the Lord is never greater and more
unfathomably wonderful than at such moments, since He is most devoted to His children!

He always loves all His children equally, but He does not always let them feel the great power of His love in
fullness. In such moments, however, He permits such things. Hence, His children are also filled with such a
blessing that they are seized by the greatest love for the Lord, but at the same time, they feel the greatest
humility in their hearts.

Now, as you see, the meal is already over, and the Lord turns to the prior, and says to him, "Well, My beloved
son, how did You like My meal?
The prior speaks in a very contrite tone: O Lord, most good, most loving, most holy Father! This meal has not
only tasted good to me, but I have been filled with a new life. Now everything is clear to me. I now see my
destiny, and Your infinitely wonderful ways in which You lead Your children to life are revealed to me.

I now know what I have to do, and I see my greatest delight as a clear path before me; How I have to go and do
my work. The sphere of activity which You have graciously assigned to me as a most unworthy servant is
endlessly great. But I also see how You are all in everything, and how easy to accomplish the greatest things
with You!

Therefore, I am also most greatly and blissfully pleased that You have given me such a sphere of activity, and it
will give me never-ending joy, when it shall please You, to let me do the first service in Your kingdom.

Only one thing, O Lord, and Most Holy, most loving Father, is still a little unclear to me, namely, the habitation of
this house, and the service which You have shown to me already outside the city in Your kingdom. Shall I also
dwell in this house, or shall some other house be given to me, and shall those blessed spirits dwell in the house
where I shall dwell in this city?

The Lord says: My beloved son, see, this whole city is for all intents and purposes My great house.
Nevertheless, this very part in which we are here is, in a certain sense, My principal residency, and I am here the
most perfect Lord of the house.

Many spirits dwell in separate houses of this city, and these houses are their perfect eternal property. A lot of
houses like this, I tell you, in the big city are already inhabited. But endlessly many are empty, so I could easily
give you any particular house. But I will not do this, but I will keep You together with your wife and your brother in
this principal residence. All those who have dined at the table are inhabitants of this My Residence, and they are
therefore out of Me the principal foundations of My Heaven and the chief stewards of My creations. So,
therefore, will you remain here forever with Me! As to service, she dwells not in the city, but her dwellings are in
the endlessly wide orbits of this city; but you have it all in you. You can call in yourselves, whomever you want,
and he will be there.

If I will send you to one or the other world, the spirits of this world will call to you, and you will see their world and
the need of this world in the sphere of these spirits. If you have seen these things, then call forth the power of My
love in your heart, and work out of this according to the needs of one or the other world.

I could make you see all the spheres at a glance, but you would be deprived of a mighty degree of bliss.
Therefore, for your own greatest possible salvation, you shall see one world at a time in all its miraculous and
profound depths which arise out of Me, when you will be in one or the other world out of My love. Behold, there
is, adjacent to this hall, an equally large dwelling-place; in this one, you will find your permanent dwelling, and
you will dwell together with all these My children, brothers, and friends. You might also want to know where My
living quarters really are in this house?

I tell you, I have no particular living quarters in this house which I would like to inhabit as a direct master, but I
always live among you, now with one, and then with another. And this hall is our council chamber; from here all
our business always ensues. There shall now, due to My panel talk, be several who shall descent to the earth to
there present My question to My children. But you shall only after the next meal receive a very important
assignment.

If, however, you sometimes wish to discuss with My children from the Old Testament, then let yourself be
escorted down to the leveled ground;?there you will meet them all. And so I bless you, same as all who are
present here, and through them, all of infinity, and so, rise from the table!

See, now everyone rises from the table, and all thank and praise the Lord. And the Lord goes, and embraces
everyone, and blessed them all personally. Then the Lord leads our prior, his wife, and his poor brother into the
appointed dwelling, and saith to his poor brother: Behold, you have no wife yet, but there sure is already one on
the earth meant for you.

When she is to come here, you shall enter into marriage with her. But be in the meantime a faithful brother to all
your brothers, and be a dear brother to all your brothers.
Now the great settling in is done. You have seen wonderful things on this tour. So far I have been leading you;
but now another one will guide you. Therefore, you may now step out of my sphere again. - you have come out
and see, Your Lord is already waiting for you in your already quite well-known place!

Chapter 9.

Diversity of the sphere of every blessed spirit for the sake of mutual indispensability.

Now I, your chief, ask you again, How did you like it in the sphere of this My brother? I see in you the answer
written with many letters, and this answer is: O Lord, Most loving, Most Holy Father! In the sphere of this spirit
we have seen things so extraordinary and important that we can not express ourselves at all. If we have not
seen all of Your ways, we have nevertheless obtained a general overview, as to how Your infinite love and
wisdom seeks and finds the stray sheep, that we may well assert that we have been guided in the sphere of this
spirit to a focal point of a general overview, from where we have come to know the spiritual world from the most
imperfect to the perfect sphere, for which we can never thank You enough forever. Indeed, it seems to us as if
the essence of the spiritual kingdom could no longer be traced more easily in the brevity of time, with regard to
the comprehensive sight and experience, than the way we saw it in the sphere of this brotherly spirit.

Yes, My dear children, this is sure, right and true; you saw situations in the full light of truth. Nevertheless, I draw
your attention to My Diorama, already made known to you before your entrance into the spiritual spheres, and I
consequently say to you that things in the world of spirits are again quite different in the spheres of individual
blessed spirits and are therefore structured differently, being just as good and true than in the spheres of the
previous spirits. This must also be in the perfect kingdom of the angels, otherwise, one spirit would be
dispensable for the other, and no one would be able to prepare a new great happiness for the other. But since
each spirit has something special, and I allow it to be so for everyone, that his own environment should be
formed according to his nature, therefore the blissful joy of an angel in the salvation of another will never end. In
order that you may properly understand and comprehend this, I will still illuminate this for you by means of some
vivid examples before you return to the sphere of a tenth spirit.

Suppose there was a hundred really deeply learned men in a great hall.

These men would discuss a very significant subject, namely the calculation of the radiation of the light. But
among these hundred scholars, not all scholars are the same, but the one is a famous accountant, the other a
philosopher, a nature researcher, an astronomer, a botanist, a zoologist, a mineralogist, and others a geologist, a
skilled optician, a geographer. Another would be a historian, an archaeologist, a poet, a philologist, a
psychologist, an anthropologist, a physician, another a physiologist, a mystic, the other a theosophist, and so on,
through all grades of human scholarship. All of these hundred scholars certainly have the literary character to put
their thoughts about the discussed topic down on paper.

When all these hundred scholars have finished their work, then take every work to your hand, and read these
written records of thoughts regarding the presented subject, and you can be fully assured that there will not be
two among them that have treated the subject in the same way.

The mathematician will be, quite different from the poet, will be quite different from the mystic, and will be quite
different, as I have said, from each one expressing himself compared to the other, and if you carefully examine
these elaborations, so shall every formulation easily reveal its own occupation of choice.

But if you were then asked for a judgment about which from all these hundred scholars have in truth treated the
subject most appropriately, you would be able to say nothing other but: We find that every man has hit the nail on
the head. There is no one in his own way to object against, everyone is right. In the main thing, they all agree,
only the character of the representation is different according to the love of the presenter.
Very well, I agree. If the thoughts about the same subject are different among many men, the spheres of the
angelic spirits are also different; but at the bottom of it all, they all go out from one and the same truth. But to
make the matter more clear, let us take another example:

Say that a psalm of David needs to be set to music. A king of some country places a great prize on the best
musical arrangement of this task, and soon the most capable musicians from all over, get to work. After the
deadline, the compositions are sent; there are forty copies. The King, as a great lover of such classical music,
successively performs one composition around the other from day to day. But go to these performances and
listen to them. And if you have heard them all, how will your judgment be, after they have been worked on by the
most ambitious composers?

You will surely say, "Indeed, in one way, a work is as competent and beautiful as the other; from each one, the
great master can be recognized.

But how different the various musical rhythms, how different the fundamental notes, how different the
instrumentation and distribution of the song, how different the melodies, how different the accompaniments of
the song! In completely different kinds of relationships and completely different solutions!

I say: Good, but now tell Me what composition - of course presented as well as possible - you liked the best.
Then, after all, you will be able to say nothing other than: Each of these compositions has pleased us in its own
way; but there were some of them, which appealed to us more than the others.

Very well again, I say; concerning the being "more appealing": it lies in the similarity of the composer's sphere to
yours. However, every composition is full of life, spirit, and truth.

Which one will get the first prize? I tell you, that if the wise King would be as just as I am, he would have to open
his moneybag for the promised prize, and would give each one the stated amount.

From this, however, you can very clearly see that the spheres of the angelic spirits have to shape themselves
just the same naturally, yet only in the most concrete, visual appearance, as this second example has shown us
clearly. There is truth everywhere; but because of the different degrees of love, the forming light is also different,
the forms are also different, but they are always situated as such that they correspond entirely to one and the
same basic truth.

But do not let yourself think that such is only to be seen in these two given examples, I will give you according to
My very inventive character, a few others. Let us suppose that a morning landscape should be supplied by ten
great painters. The landscapes are ready and delivered. Go and look at it, one is fairer and truer than the other.
Each expresses a striking depiction of the morning, but not one looks the same as another in any given aspect.

Behold, this is because every spirit has its own wonderful sphere composed by Me, through which he is able to
prepare for himself and all his brethren the greatest bliss and happiness. Every spirit is at the same time infinite,
and in its nature always and ever inexhaustible in the greatest varied of original forms. Yet, as endlessly
wondrous and manifold the various forms in the sphere of an angelic spirit can be, one has to say after some
consideration: no man can imagine any more than this infinitely miraculous variety! Then I say unto you, go
quickly into the sphere of another, and your judgment shall be the same, and ye shall say, Yes, what is that?
There are quite different shapes again! And I tell you, so it is the case with the spiritual diorama. The outer
window is the same, but you only have to look in and you will everywhere find a different world!

But I have one more example available: If you look in the Scriptures at all the prophets, then the evangelists, as
well as the letters of Paul, all the way through the other apostles and disciples, and in the end also the revelation
of John, everyone is writing a different language, using other pictures, and working on a completely different
subject; even the four evangelists do not agree with each other on the historical facts. In his letters, Paul does
not preach one or the other gospel, and the revelation of John is in itself enveloped in such wonderful pictures
that one can never be entirely clear about it.

Now I ask: because in some respects each one has written differently: Who then wrote the truth? The answer
can not possibly be different from this: everyone writes the same truth, everyone preaches Me, each one
commands love, humility, meekness, and patience. Everyone reported about the same events; whoever receives
it in the right spiritual light, will find the most wonderful correspondences in it. If you compose the various verses
from all the prophets and evangelists, they will be, seen in the true light, like the fruits of the same tree.

Now then again, it is the same with the spheres of perfect spirits. I could give you a lot of examples, but for the
time being, these are sufficient.

But on My side there is always the same Spirit, in whose sphere you all will objectively see, and in the end you
will say: indeed, things were quite differently formed in this spirit's sphere; but at ground-level, they still go out
and show that the Lord is the eternal and infinite love and wisdom Himself, all in all, therefore, everywhere.

Now as you know this in advance, you are going to enter into the sphere of this tenth spirit, and you must pay
attention to everything.

Chapter 10.

Difference between the light of faith and the light of love. The spirit of man.

You are already in his sphere, and so I will also tell you that you are in the sphere of My dear John. Hold on to
him, he will show you much more wonderful and exalted things in his own way. - John beckons you to follow him;
so follow him!

John says, My beloved brethren in our Lord Jesus Christ, you have seen me already from the sphere of another
blessed brotherly spirit; but then it was not time to take you into my sphere. But since you have now been taught
by my dear brother Markus in so many important matters, it is now time that, according to the will of our Lord
Jesus Christ, you also experience in my sphere, which in their own way shall, because of their nature, initiate
you entirely and particularly into the secret love of the Lord.

In all the earlier spheres you have seen apparitions, and from these apparitions, you had to find the truth. See,
this is the first way in which a man sees the first forms according to the light of his faith, but he never sees the
foundations thereof, and only get to understand it when they are revealed to him in the supreme light of the
highest love.

For this reason you have seen all the apparitions in the spheres of my nine previous brethren like a blind man
would the colors. You see many forms and actions, but you did not understand anything at first sight since you
looked out of your faith. But a second, much deeper sight is that which comes from love. Not everything which is
there is initially seen, even though it is already there, but one sees only what he takes hold of with his love, and
then he comprehends it from the foundation.

Man searches in the light of his faith, being a searching observer of what already exists; from the inner love-light,
which is the actual living light of the Lord in man, man becomes a creator himself and then sees everything man
created, from its foundation.

You indeed think that the earlier state was more favorable than this second, inward, deeper one. But I say unto
you: this is false; for the more solid a created being perceives the outer form, the more imperfect is its being.

In his natural life on the earth, man finds himself initially in such a state of perception. He is indeed content with
the creation of constant forms; but how does he relate to them in his spirit? I tell you, like the poorest beggar in
the hallway of the house of a hardhearted rich man. He also sees the marvelous rich splendor of the great house
of the rich man, but if he wishes to enter into it, he is rejected by a hundred servants of this house. What has the
poor gained by the sight of this beautiful house? Nothing but a distressed, aching heart that says to him:?you
have no right to enter into these palaces!

See, this is precisely the case with them, looking at constant external shapes. What pleasure is it to stand before
a tree and to look at its forms? But if one knocks at the tree and wants to be let in to look at his living, wonderful
works, one is always harshly rejected and it is said: Only up to my surface, up to my outer form, but from there
no hair more! You can take a stone in your hand and throw it wherever you want; you can also crush and grind
him, dissolve and completely vaporize it, and yet the stone is your master, and will not let you look into his
secrets.

So it is with all the external forms presented to the eye for contemplation. They are continually the lord and
master of the spectator, and the latter can do as he pleases, he can never get the entrance to the foundation.
Therefore, long-winded explanations and elucidation must be added whenever the spectator wants to get only a
little light about the things he has seen.

The forms in the world of spirits are likewise if they are already present in a certain conscious definiteness to the
eye of the beholder. The spectator sees them well, but he does not understand them. So you also saw many
forms in the sphere of my dear brother; but tell Me, if you have understood more than the guide has enlightened
to you?

But did the leader see it the way you saw it? See, that is another question. I tell you: that if he had looked at
them as you did, he would hardly have been able to provide you with a correct light about one or the other. But
he has looked at it from himself, that is, he hath created them out of the light of the Lord in himself, and you have
therefore seen his creations. They were the perfect truth in all their parts, but you did not understand it without
his explanation.

Now, however, in my sphere, you will have a completely reversed experience, in which you can immediately see
from our quite irregular, hazy point of view. Do you see any form, a world, a sky, or any light other than the gray
darkness that surrounds us from all sides?

You say: Dear friend and brother in the love of the Lord! Besides us, you and the gray darkness we see nothing
in all directions. "Well, I tell you, my beloved brothers, you need to see no more; for it is precisely this point of
view that is necessary for you to be initiated into the true vision of the Spirit.

You know that the spirit of man is a perfect living image of the Lord, and has in itself the spark or focal point of
the Divine Being. But if he undeniably carries this in himself, he also carries the Lord's all within himself. He thus
carries the infinite from the smallest to the greatest completely divinely within himself; or, he has united this 'all'
of the Lord in himself through his powerful love for Him, in one focal point.

Now, if this is so, why then the perception of extraneous forms? Come forth with what each one of you carries,
like I do, and we will soon see things as we have created it.

You ask: how would this be possible? But I say to you: have you ever examined your thoughts and your desires
beside your thoughts?

Where do thoughts come from? The answer lies simply and endlessly in the focal point of God within you. See,
this powerful focal point is the factory where your thoughts and wishes are created; your thoughts are conceived
in this focal point, and the number of your thoughts are infinite because, in this divine focal point, the Divine is
present in you in all His infinity.

You would like to say: If so, where would bad thoughts come from? But I say to you that there are absolutely no
bad thoughts on this focal point as well as no bad wishes. All thoughts are free and immaculate, only the desires
are placed under the arbitrariness of the free will of every human being. If you think out of yourselves, your
thoughts will all spring from love, and you will soon perceive in you the blessed need of the continual
communication, according to which you wish to share everything with your brothers.

In this way, you will be the creator of all the good works that will follow you.

But since every man also has a free will, together with the faculty of externally observing foreign forms, he can,
with his will and his love, which is subject to his will, take hold of these foreign forms and make them his own.
See, these foreign forms are then, as if stolen, also overly desired thoughts in man, and these, because they
arise from self-love, which is a looting and overruling love, because they take possession of all foreign forms for
themselves, and rule over everything they have seized for themselves; these then, are the real evil thoughts. You
yourself say: Foreign things do not fare well! This is surely the most important condition of the main question of
life, and everyone who does not build on his own foundation builds on sand. But how you build on your own
foundation, I shall teach you in my sphere.

Chapter 11.

The whole universe and heaven are in you.

John: Can you think of something here? You agree. So think of an object, whatever you like; do not look for long,
but take the next best.

But if you have the thoughts, hold onto it firmly and do not let it go.

You have a thought; what is its picture? You say: It is a single star that we are thinking of now. Well, I tell you;
imagine the star so vividly, do not let it go, and then tell me how the star appears to you.

You say: The more firmly we grasp him, the greater and brighter it looks to us. Again, I tell you; take hold of it
even stronger, and fix him with the glances of your inner vision. What do you see now?

You say, dear friend and brother, it seems to us as if the star is beginning to open up like a flower bud in the
spring, its light becomes even stronger and more powerful, and it seems to us as if the star gained size and is
already measurable.

That is good, I tell you, but go deeper, even more, let your eyes be keen and fixed, and will in yourself for the
star to develop closer to you;?then tell me how the star appears to you.

You say: Dear friend and brother, the star has already become as big as the moon, and its light is already almost
blinding to the sight of our spirit!

Again, I tell you. So it is; for I already see the radiance of your star from your eyes. But I will tell you further: Do
not let go of the star, but look at it more intimately and more and more firmly, and be even more powerful in your
will, and the star will at once be in focus according to the power of your will and sight. What do you see now?

I see already how you are full of astonishment, for you see your star already so much widened and enlarged
before you, that you can see with only little effort, great, sublime details of it. Now you can even notice
movements on the surface of this star. You would like to know in advance what these movements are and what
is moving there. But I say nothing to you; for you shall discover everything yourselves.

Fix your star even firmer and stronger and more powerfully with your will, and it will immediately show what
these movements are and what moves.

What do you think about these movements you see?

You say: It makes us think of clouds and of a billowing sea.

I say: Now, hold onto the star, which you can not lose anymore, and also to these thoughts firmly and then tell
me what you see.

You now ask: Dear friend and brother in the Lord! We are now truly looking at clouds, which are very close to us,
and between the large landscapes, we discover even larger areas of billowing sea. We also see great
irregularities in the extensive landscapes, and we clearly see islands in the midst of the great sea-surfaces, but
we can not see anything else.

Very well, I tell you; now draw nearer to the great lands and the great seas of this star, and you will see much
more of it. I see from your eyes that you obey my advice. Well, what do you see now?

You say, "Behold, the land has already come very near to us. We are already discovering vast forests, also a lot
of scattered houses of a very strange shape as well as large rivers. And, behold, now we can discern even
smaller brooks, and on the shores of the great sea we discover also here and there what seems to be like
erected cities; we can also see movements on the surface of the waters of all kinds of ships.

Well; what do you think this is all about? You say: Dear friend and brother, we do not know. But I ask you, Where
did the star come from? You say: this we thought up and then held it firmly in our thoughts.

Well, when the star came out of you, why should its development be different from yours? For as the star
became greater and greater by holding onto it, then by his greatness he developed in you the thoughts filled with
the desire to see a world on the star itself. You then involuntarily held this thought with the star itself, and as a
result created all of what you now see on the vast surface of this star.

But you know that without power and a counter-power, you can never ever think of an action. So I say to you,
and ask, Why then could you think of a star in the first place? You look at me with amazement; But I say unto
you because there is not one, but many stars, in your mind, in the smallest imaginary forms. From these many
stars, you took a copy out of yourselves and drew increasingly closer to you.

But how was the enlargement of this minute image possible in your mind? This is where the force and the
counterforce come into play. The power lies in you, the opposing force is created and eternally strengthened by
God. When you call forth the power in you, what is more natural than, at that moment when you take action, that
the corresponding counterforce from God, to always increasingly merge with your will? For the power lies in you;
the opposing force is outside of you, and all that you thus evoke in you must then find in God its eternally
exemplary antithesis. The star as a contrast is created by God, as it is in its order, form, and character; but its
perfectly regular image is also laid in you as a derivative because your spirit itself is an image of God.

Now, do you know in what way all things are to be viewed? You say: Through the light. Well, I tell you; the light
also falls, on earth, for the most part, through the infinite free space. But what else do you see on a cheerful day
in the well-lit blue atmosphere? You say: We see nothing but the blue color of the air. But I ask you, Why not?
You say: Because there is no resistance. But what do you mean by resistance? Why do not you rather speak of
'object' rather than resistance? You do not know what you should say; but I say to you, if you look at something
according to its form, then the thing is clearly something which opposes you, that is, a counter-state. But if
something was put between the thing and you, for example, a wall, a veil, a cloud, you would surely say: This
stands in front of the object which we want to look at, and is thus a manifest resistance, or an obstructing object,
But if, according to such an obstruction, you cannot look at the actual object, what is the reason for this? See,
nothing else but that the rays thrown back by the object cannot meet you, and thus cannot evoke the model
which is already enlivened in you.

Know this: if you had not the sun in you, even if there had burned millions in the heavens, you would not be able
to see a thing; And if ye had not the earth in you, and all things in it, and on it, from the first atom to the greatest
general form, to perfection, then you could neither see one thing, nor think of it.

And if you had not possessed the whole universe in you, all the heavens would be starless for your eye. And if
you had not in you the spiritual kingdom of heaven and eternal life from the Lord, verily you could neither think
nor speak it. But as all these things interact, it is likewise with the force and the counterforce.

In the natural world, the ray falling into you from outside invigorates the resting image in you, and you see
through the action of the counterforce and the force in you, the object you are looking at.

How then does such a thing happen in the spirit? What is the true spiritual vision? Just the opposite. You take an
image from you. This image, however, finds its contrast, when it is firmly called forth in you.

The more you hold on to the object conceived in you, the more it strives for its eternally placed antithesis,
develops it more and more, and thus makes it more and more visible.

If, as with your own star, you have brought it so far with the inner vision that it is already very wide and revealed
to you, you must not think that it is a work of an empty imagination. Oh no! Not in the least, but it is full reality.
Only its basis is still unknown: wherefrom it is and where it rests. Can not you know this? Of course; for where it
rests in reality, there also rests its name, its order, its sphere of action, and its position.

But it is said in the word of the Lord: "From the fruits, ye may know the tree." If we know this, it will not be difficult
to come to the reality of what has already developed so close before your eyes , Therefore, try to elevate the
activity of your spirit: Look at the presented world more closely, bring it closer and closer until it is so near to you
that you may place your feet on its ground.

If this has happened, you have entered into a living connection with this object; it will be your foundation, and
you will be able to act on this basis. If in this activity you will have brought it so far that you will feel the mighty
gravitational power of the love of the Lord within you, and this love becomes stronger and more fiery, and will be
ignited, fully bursting into bright flames, your basis shall, wherever you will look, dissolve into independent, living
forms according to their nature in which they are present in your image. These forms will then enliven with retro-
action, the originally present forms lividly before you and will reveal themselves to you who and where your basis
is.

See, therefore, all recognition is a consequence of the preceding seeing; but the seeing is the consequence of
the radiance and the counter-radiance, or the consequence of the force within you, and the counterforce outside
of you. We have already brought our world very close to us in this way; therefore only one more strong move in
the spirit, and we shall be at once with our feet in the world which is coming out of you.

Chapter 12.

Correct building- development of what is in you.

Now see, the world is under our feet; let us try to walk a little on it. You are amazed that this world carries you so
well, and you are looking at the splendid landscapes, many mountains with forests; the most beautiful corridors,
fields, and gardens with everywhere, various homes.

You say: But we did not think of that!

But I say to you, it is not strictly necessary either; for if you have attracted the counterforce within you with the
force, which is really the foundation of the force in you, then the attracted counterforce already gives what it has
in itself anyway. For your power corresponds to the counterforce in all its parts.

Through the effect of the counterforce which you have attracted in you, the parts of the power are developed
within you, and so the act of this apparent creation from you is nothing other than a development of what is in
you.

You can therefore not create such a complete world at your own pleasure, but only bring forth the foundation
which lies in you. It is not necessary to think of all the parts of such a world; If the world is conceived and your
love fully developed, then it cannot possibly present itself in any other way than how it was primordially ordered
by the Lord.

Therefore, you are in all seriousness not the creator of this world, for the right of creation can never surpass a
creature. But the ability to produce the created, which is endlessly present in you, from you in the manner which
you now know, lies in the capacity of every perfect mind.

Imperfect spirits also have a similar ability; but because they have no firmness, they can not evoke the
foundation underlying them. An imperfect mind is an inconsistent mind. It is a weather vane, and a pipe blown by
the wind, and at the same time a foolish master builder who builds his house on a loose foundation. For this
reason, an imperfect mind can only produce ephemerides, which is like the flighty eyelid images, which you may
look upon if you close your eyes in the night. You then see a chaotic confusion, and in the midst of this
confusion, various caricatures evolve quickly and then pass away just as quickly.

But it is not so with the perfect spirit that is fixed in its center.

What he calls forth, he calls forth in the order of the Lord and does not call forth something uncreated, that is, an
empty fantasy, but a pre-created thing.

Look, so the things stand. But we find ourselves now in this world, which you have called forth from you, and
therefore you want to walk around in them and investigate them a little.

There in front of us is a large garden with a very splendid building, which stands in the middle of the garden, we
will go there; so follow me!

Look, there is already the garden gate. But as I notice, you are builders who appreciate beauty, for the garden
wall consists of pure jewels, and the gate is of solid gold. And then, look for once: the garden paths are all strewn
with sand mixed in with gold and silver, and the fruit beds of the garden are embellished with the finest little
golden frames, and the clasps of the railings are all filled with various precious stones.

No, really, that is excessively built! Even the splendid fruit trees set in the most beautiful rows are surrounded by
silver banisters, and a small fountain is placed in the middle of each of the beds. Because the paths are so
splendidly ordered, we just have to take a walk deeper into the garden.

The paths, as I see, are even upholstered like sofas from below;?indeed, it is an ever-greater waste in your
building. We have already traveled a good distance in the garden, but the main building of the house still seems
to be far in the background.

But there in front, I see a wide gallery of columns; the columns are of pure polished diamonds, the splendid
arches above the columns of pure rubies, the passageway over the arches of pure gold, the gallery of the purest
transparent gold, and the clasps of the gallery of the finest white gold. I call this exquisite beauty! And under the
passage between the pillars, that is, on level ground, I see a channel of water over which the most splendid
bridges stretches. Just look there, over the canal is a very large, freestanding plain. The floor-surface of this
place is of the finest, transparent gold. Near the glorious building, I see the sky-scraping columns of white rocks,
and on the top of both columns there is a large, three-colored flag of white, red, and green.

Indeed, the more you look at your structure, the more grandiose, enterprising, and sublime it becomes; and the
actual residential building in the background has an almost mile-wide front consisting of three floors!

Each floor has a measure according to the eye of six hundred and sixty cubits; that is the number of a man. The
windows are high and wide. The entrance gate is high and broad and is made of the purest gold, and from the
windows, those in front also counts 666, a white light radiates from the lowest row, a green light from the middle,
and a red light from the top row. The roof of this oversized building forms a single, immense pyramid.

The whole garden and building are lacking nothing but residents. Where did you leave them when you
performed this magnificent building?

You surely say: dear friend and brother, you are indeed a great darling of the Lord, but with this language of
yours looks a little like teasing. For from such an immeasurable, rich splendor, we have never even dreamt of
even in our wildest dreams, let alone that we should be builders of such an endlessly glorious and most splendid
work. If we had built such a thing, we ought to have been "there." But we do not have the slightest hint or even
the slightest notion. Therefore, there is also quite a problem with regard to the inhabitants, who are supposed to
live in this indescribably splendid palace.

My dear friends and brothers, you have it wrong here. You have not built this work, any more than this entire
world. But you have called this magnificent residential building together with this world out of yourselves, and
that sure is something. But do you not often speak among yourselves: this and that has built me. What do you
mean by that? I tell you, nothing else but this and that has aroused from my inner life a power which has
animated me in this or that way. This stimulation formed in me a sublime spiritual form, and I recognized in this
form, that the Lord is everywhere the supreme love and wisdom self! My heart burned in this realization, and I
prayed to God in spirit and in truth!
This is the correct "building". And now, we have a form of building before us. You have built it inside of
yourselves; the building became a form, and in this form of divine love and wisdom you see infinite might and
power, and this is a great wonder which always precedes love. Why then?

Which of you has ever fallen in love with a female being before he had seen and admired her?

Look, such is the case. Who could love God if he had not known Him before? Thus, knowing necessarily
precedes love! But how can man know God?

When man hears the word of God and looks at His works, the thought of God is called forth in man. Once the
thought has been called forth, man shall no longer omit it, but take hold of it more and more firmly. This holding
on stronger is faith. When man then, through his firm faith, that is, by the ever greater fixation of the idea of God
in himself, has made it such a living feeling in himself, that he has stepped with his feet into the world of God
within himself. In this world, he sees wonders upon wonders.

This is the waxing recognition of God. But this world, the marvelous, is still essentially empty, the splendid
building still has no inhabitants.

But see, there is a sacrificial altar in the middle of the building, which is now standing before us, and a lot of fresh
wood is laid on the sacrificial altar. We will light it, and it shall immediately become evident whether this world is
essentially empty or not. But with what shall we light the wood?

I tell you, the very strange lighter is also in your heart; it's called love! We will bring these to the altar, and you will
then convince yourself as soon as you realize that not only the pure thoughts of God but also the living beings
dwell in man. What would it do, if any man said, Behold my brethren, behold my sisters if he did not love them?
But if he loves them, he certainly does not love them outside, but in his heart. And so they are not outside for
him, but in the love of his heart. So we ignite the wood so that this building can become inhabited!

Chapter 13.

Jesus, the name of all names and effects of this name. Mystery of the Incarnation of God in Jesus.

You ask: How will we elicit fire from our hearts so that we may kindle this wood? O, brothers and friends! What a
question from you! Is not a single thought of Jesus sufficient to make the heart burst out in flames for Him? O,
brothers and friends! If you could comprehend what this Name of all names says, what effect it has in it, you
should instantly pass into such a powerful love for Jesus, and this fire would be sufficient to ignite a whole army
of suns, making them burn a thousand times brighter in their endlessly wide space regions, than is presently the
case.

I say to you, Jesus' greatness is so tremendous that, when His Name is spoken, the whole of infinity trembles
with great reverence. If you say: God, you also call the very highest being; but you call it in its infinity, it is
fulfilling the infinite universe and works with His infinite power from eternity to eternity. But in the name of Jesus,
you designate the perfect, powerful, essential center of God, or even more clearly:

Jesus is the true, most authentic, essential God as man, from whom all divinity, which fulfills infinity, emerges as
the Spirit of His infinite power, might, and form like rays from the sun. - Jesus is, therefore, the sum total of the
Divinity, or: In Jesus, the Divinity dwells truly physically in its most infinite abundance; and therefore the whole
Divine infinity is always animated when this infinitely most sublime Name is spoken!

And this is, at the same time, the infinite grace of the Lord, that it has pleased Him to accept the grain kernel of
mankind. But why did He do this? Listen, I will reveal to you a little secret!
Before the Lord's incarnation, a man could never speak to the true nature of God. No one could ever see it
without completely losing life, as Moses says, "no one can see God and live at the same time!" The Lord in the
primordial Church, as well as in the Church of Melchizedek, to whom Abraham himself was acquainted, was
often seen in person, and has spoken with His saints and taught His children Himself. But this personal master
was in fact not the Lord Himself but at all times only an angelic spirit filled with the Spirit of God for this purpose.

From such an angelic spirit, the Spirit of the Lord then spoke, as if the Lord Himself spoke directly. But, in such
an angelic spirit, the fullest perfection of the Spirit of God was never present, but only to the extent necessary for
the immediate purpose.

You can believe it: during this time even the most pure angelic spirits could ever see the Divinity differently than
you see the sun at the firmament. And none of the angelic spirits would ever have dared to imagine the Divinity
under any picture, just as it was very strictly commanded in the Moses era to the Israelite people that no carved
image was to be made of God.

But now listen: It once pleased this infinite nature of God, and at a time when men were least inclined to think
about it, to unite Himself in His whole infinite abundance, and to take on in this union, the perfect human nature!

Now think: God, who never looked a created being in the eye, came as the most infinitely loving and wise Jesus
into the world!

He, the infinite, the Eternal One, before Whose breath eternities sputter like loose chaff, walked among and
taught His creatures, His children, not as a father, but as a brother!

But all this would still be too little. He, the Almighty, was even persecuted, captured, and slain by His own
insignificant creatures. Tell me: Could you think of an infinitely greater love and a greater condescension than
what Jesus knew?

Through this inconceivable act, He has changed everything in heaven.

Even if He dwells also in His Sun of mercy, from which the Light inexhaustibly flows to all the heavens, He is still
the same bodily Jesus as He has walked on earth in all His Divine fullness as a true Father and brother, being
present as a perfect man among His Children. He gives to all His children all His grace, love and power, and
guide them to His personal essence, to work endlessly and mightily in His order!

There was an infinite gap between God and the created human beings, but in Jesus this gap was almost
completely abolished; for He Himself, as you know, has made this known to us, firstly through His human
incarnation;?secondly, that He did not call us brethren only once, but several times;?thirdly, because He ate and
drank with us all and carried our burdens for us; fourthly, that He, as the Lord of infinity, was obedient even to the
secular powers; fifthly, that He has even been captured by these worldly powers; sixth, that He allowed Himself
to be overcome by the worldly mighty intrigues to be crucified and killed and finally: seventh, that by His
omnipotence He Himself has torn the curtain in the temple, which separated the holy of holies from the people.

Therefore, He is the only way, life, light, and truth. He is the door through which we can reach God; through this
door, we cross over the infinite gap between God and us, and find Jesus, the eternal, infinite, holy Brother!

We can certainly love Him who wanted this gap to be abolished, above everything!

Therefore, as I said at the outset; enough to awaken our love for Jesus, surely a single thought - only His name
in our hearts should be eternally enough to burn in all love for Him! Therefore, you also dignify this Name
worthily in your hearts, and you will see for yourself how great the fire of love will pass from your hearts, to kindle
the wood of life through which the Gentiles should recover at this new sacrificial altar.

Of such heathen the likes of whom my brother Paul once converted, there are still many in our time; there are
pagans who call themselves "Christians," but are worse in their hearts than those who once worshiped Moloch
and Baal.

When the wood on this altar will ignite, then you will see in this world, which you have called, many things that
you have not yet seen. For I say unto you, In the world of spirits there are unfathomable depths. No created spirit
could ever measure it, but we are in the Spirit of the Lord.

His spirit lives, governs and works in us, and in this spirit, no depth is unfathomable to us; for no one can know
what is in the Spirit, but the Spirit alone. Thus, no one can know what is in God, for only the Spirit of God. -
Jesus, who united God in all His fullness, but has filled us with His Spirit. And with His Spirit in us, we can also
penetrate His Divine depths. So remember the Name of all names, the holiest of holiness, the Love of all love,
the Fire of fire, and the wood on the altar will burn.

Chapter 14.

Love as the great means to knowledge.

You have done it, and have remembered the Name, which is holy, holy, holy in you. And see, already a glorious
flame blazes upon the altar, consuming the wood of life as food for the revival of the beings of this world in you.

Now look a little. Look up into the splendid galleries of this splendid building and tell me what you see. You say,
O friend and brother, we see a great multitude of people of both sexes. Their forms are glorious and wonderfully
beautiful, and they are clothed more gloriously than the kings of the earth. How is this possible? Are they also in
us?

Dear Brothers, I say to you: Where a whole world rests, there must be that which bears the world. You say: is
there a world of such glory in the immeasurable space of creation? Yes, my dear friends and brothers! You must
not measure other bodies of the world according to your earth, for this is a begging- room compared to the
palaces of the princes. In the natural representation of the sun and of some planets of your sun-region, you
certainly made comments on how much more splendid and glorious these are arranged than your earth. But I
say to you that all this is still a pure beggary against the many glories of the larger world-bodies in immeasurable
creations. Even this world, which you have evoked from yourselves, and on which we are wandering about, is by
no means the most glorious.

In the regions of the constellations of Orion, the Lion, and in the constellation of the Great Dog, there are sun-
worlds, before whose glory and immeasurable splendor you would soon pass away at the shortest sight.

But you would like to know what a world is. But how are we going to explain this? If you ask a resident of this
world, he will only enrich you with a strange name; but that will be all that you may know. If I tell you, you will not
gain much more. But you shall find it in you. If ye are capable, the knowledge of this world will be useful to you in
the sphere of spiritual science.

But how do they do this? This is, of course, another question. We want to try it anyway. An example will show us
the way. And so be attentive! If, for example, you are looking at some object that is at a moderate distance from
you from any point you are at, you could easily determine what object you have seen, for in this case, as you are
used to say, orientate yourselves.

If you want to look closely at the object, you need nothing but a powerful optic instrument or a possible journey to
the previously observed object. That would be the natural way. But if you encounter a strange object the first
time, it will be a little more difficult to determine from which external points of view this observed object can be
most easily seen.

And if you have really discovered such points in the wide periphery of the remarkable object, you will be
compelled to travel to all these points, in order to obtain from each point the conviction of what your near object
looks like. If you have done so, then you have surely come to the conclusion that this object can be most
beneficially viewed from only one point.

That would be clear and understandable, you say; but our world, on which we are, is not yet known to us. Never
mind, my dear friends and brothers, we are not yet done with our discussion. It will become clear at the right
time. Give attention to the further discussion of my example.

If you are on the earth and look on a starry night at the starry sky, and you have a good star map at the same
time, it will not be too difficult for you to name one or the other star by name. But did you win something?

Do you know the star now? Or will you recognize him as one already observed from the earth, if you would walk
on him? I tell you, this will be the case just as now.

But I would reverse the situation, proposing that you are on some sort of star which is still very visible from the
earth, e.g. on a solar body in the constellation of the so-called Pleiades. But then, if you come back to your earth,
would you be able to indicate with certainty which one of the ninety stars of this constellation is the one on which
you have found yourselves? This, I think, will also be a little difficult because the stars of this constellation form
such an image only from your earth, but in their proper position, they are immeasurably far from each other. And
if therefore, you are on one or the other, the others, which, from your earth, make up this constellation, will be
among all the other star groups of the starry sky, and you would surely never really discern which stars formed
the constellation of the Pleiades, as seen from your earth. Therefore, you will not be able to determine on which
star of this constellation you have found yourself.

You say this is true again, but we are still in a strange world. I say to you, this is true too, but tell you that this
world will not be revealed to you by this ordinary mode of observation and knowledge. How then shall we
decipher these things? For neither observing, nor mathematics, nor star chart or the very best mathematical
visual tools can help.

This is true, but there is nevertheless a very simple means of recognizing such a world with only the slightest
effort in the world. In the course of this example which I have just begun, I will only send you so small tips, and
you will soon be able to hit the nail on the head, as you would say. Now I will give you the first hint; so be
attentive!

Do you know where your children are from? Do you know where their spiritual and psychological principles have
been before they were born to you from the women? You say: we do not know such things. But I ask you again
and give you a new hint. How do you recognize the born children as your children, and the children their
parents? This question should give you a very strong hint. Is not it the love that you give to your children?

Are they not received in love? When a child is born into the world, the mother and the father embrace him with
great love, and that is the first baptism. If the child does not have a name yet, a sign has burnt into the hearts of
the parents, which is indelible. This sign is nothing more than love. Through this love, the mutual recognition of
the child grows ever bigger, it unfolds more and more, finally becomes so intimate, strong, and powerful, that you
will recognize your child quickly in any circumstance, and the child will surely be able to do the same, especially
when it is in some kind of notable trouble.

See, in your children, you have come to know through love, a world which is vastly marvelous than that which we
are now entering, and you know it quite well, and will not easily forget it, or lightly let it fade in your hearts.

How do you like these hints? Can you not hit the nail on the head yet?

I see that this blow will not yet readily succeed, so we will try to give you another hint: you are coming to a
strange country on the continent of America, and indeed to a city. It is alien to you, and you may look as you will,
and listen as you will, and no known ray will fall into your eyes except one of the sun, the moon, and the stars;
no known sound reach your ears. You feel yourself such a stranger that you almost do not know yourself.

But as you wander around the streets, you meet a man who looks at you with heartfelt friendliness. This look has
made this street feel a little more friendly, and you will remember it best.

This man, however, goes to you, speaks to you in your mother's tongue, and the still very strange alley will feel
quite like home to you. Then the man receives you with all love; you are going to his house. This very strange
city has suddenly become so homely that you begin to embrace it in your heart.

The man also leads you into several houses, where you are most lovingly and kindly received; and you are at
home in the strange city. In a short time, you will also learn the language of the country, and you are like a native.
The regions of this alien world, or of the foreign continent, will feel quite like home to you, and you are, so to
speak, quite at home in this country. If you leave it for a time and then come back to it, you will immediately
recognize it.

But what is the attribute, what is the characteristic feature of the country, that makes you recognize it so quickly?
Ask the loving and the joyous sentiment of your heart, and they will at once give you the ground upon which your
knowledge of this land rests. In this way, with the slightest effort of the world, after a brief development of our
observations on this world, you will recognize this world itself, that it will be impossible for you to say: we do not
know it! I say unto you, as love is, all in all, so is all out of love.

How can a fruit be known? You say: From shape, color, and taste. Whose products are form, color, and taste?
They are products of love. You recognize the Muscat-grape taste; why then? Because this taste corresponds to
a certain part of your love. So let us also see here, which part of our love will correspond to this world. And if we
have found it with the slightest effort, we have already everything. The How, Where, and When will be self-
evident.

Chapter 15.

Beings of the Three Wise Men from the Morningland (East). The great importance of our earth.

You say that it would be good if we could immediately know what part of our love, or to what heavenly regions,
we should connect it with. But I say to you, my dear friends and brothers, since you have already found the
principal thing in you by means of my hint, you shall not find it so difficult to find the fourth quart by a few tips. I
will straightway give you a question whose answer you have before you. The question is this: Have you never
heard of the so-called ancient astrology? You say: O sure, such books are still to be found among us today. But
one should not attach too much worth to it? I say to you, in the way you usually use it, certainly not, for that
would be an absurd superstition, and it would be sinful to hold onto it. But it has two sides, a light, and a shadow
side.

We shall not, therefore, use the shadow side but the light side of this ancient mystery.

But what is it? Its name is Knowledge of Correspondences. With the method of correspondence, however,
everything, every form, and every mutual relation between forms and things, has a corresponding spiritual
meaning.

In this sense, all the stars and all their images still have such a meaning. Whoever can read and understand
these images from the side of the light, is also an astrologer; but no astrologer with the help of the dark powers;
but an astrologer from the realm of the spirits of light; that is, he is a truly wise man, as the three astrologers from
the Orient were truly wise. They had known the Lord's star, they had been led by it, and they have found the Lord
of glory through it.

I am well aware of a question in you concerning the three wise astrologers from the Orient. I know that you have
already received an explanation. But you do not know that there is no knowledge whatsoever with the people of
the earth from the heavens, but all the knowledge is always covered with a shell. For, without such a shell
enclosure, no knowledge from the heavens, which is purely spiritual, could reach man; no more than any of you
would be able to absorb the etheric food which is only suitable for the body, without the addition of coarser
matter.

The bread you eat consists of nothing but small hulls which are the carriers of the actual nutrient.

But if therefore, your already received knowledge of the three wise men from the Orient is likewise somewhat
obscured, we can here also somewhat dissect it. From this revelation, there may also emerge a small hint, and
our light side of astrology, which we now need, will become even clearer.

You have learned as much about these three ways as that they were there - representing Adam, Cain, and
Abraham. This is true; but if you were to take it literally, you would be just as astray as if you were to believe in
the ominous heavenly sign in which you were born according to the calendar.

You say: That may well be; but how then shall we understand the matter now, about which is spoken here and
there mostly rather straightforward? I tell you: It shall presently be clear how man should understand this.

You do have all kinds of tangible objects before you as there are all kinds of minerals, plants, animals, and
humans. Tell me, if you want to take these objects and understand them simply as they are before you, do you
understand them? You can say for example: It is a high mountain; it has a very romantic form; its rock consists of
limestone; its summit has a magnificent view, and in its interior many metals may rest. If you have said this about
the mountains, then you are already done.

You will not fare one hair better with plants and animals, as you can only judge that what is superficial, what you
can perceive with your senses or what is right before you. But what is the standard or measure concerning the
inner, higher, spiritual order?

Likewise, are Adam, Cain, and Abraham standing before you in the image of the "three wise men,"

according to the knowledge which came to you from the heavens.

But just like you do not yet at all understand the kingdom of minerals, plants, and animals from its foundation, so
it is also the case with the three wise men from the East.

Yes, Adam, Cain, and Abraham were present. This has been given to you to know the importance of the three
wise men from the East. But how were they present? Look, this is another question which you have not asked
yet;?therefore, this question remained a hull over your knowledge. Now, however, it is time to break this hull,
since we need the purest truth for our purpose. And so know:

These three wise men were three ordinary priests of a better kind from the lands of Assyria. You know that at the
time of Solomon, the great Queen of the Assyrian Empire, who had been known to you, came to Jerusalem to
hear Solomon's wisdom. So at that time, a prophecy was made regarding this pagan nation by its better part of
the priests, saying that their sons would once discover a star which will rise to all the peoples of the earth.

Since that prophecy, a part of the better priesthood of this people has always remembered it and has continued
to observe the starry heavens. These priests also traveled to all countries where, at the same time, great wise
men resided, and so learned of much deeper wisdom, and especially wisdom in the knowledge of the
correspondences.

At the time of the birth of Christ, the committee of these priests had become quite large; but with exception of
three, all became profiteers, and thus served mammon. Only three remained with pure wisdom, scorned the
world and their treasures, and sought the reward of their spiritual activity alone in spirit and in truth.

What then happened at the time of the birth of our highly praised and above all beloved Lord?

They discovered an unusually bright star and watched its course and the constellations under which he arose
and through which it passed. When they were so concerned with the inner corresponding meaning of this star,
and the star came to stand straight above their zenith towards the middle of the night, three men with white
clothes appeared to them, and said to them, "Do you know the star? And the wise men said, We know it not. But
the men that have appeared, said to the wise men, "Let us touch you on your foreheads and on your breasts,
and you will recognize the great significance of this star. But the wise said, "Are you wizards from India, that you
may administer to us these things?"

But the three men who came to us replied, We are not by any means, for we will not unleash the power of hell
over you, but we want to show you the power of God and guide you to where the eternal Lord of Heaven and
earth have descended onto earth in His full Divine Godliness. Infinite grace was given to a virgin; she received
from the Lord, and she bore the child of all children, the Man of all men, and God of all gods. - Behold, we will
show you, and for this reason, let us touch you. And the wise men said, let it be according to your will, but first
tell us who you are?

And one of the three who appeared, said: Have you ever heard anything about how it was in the beginning of the
world? Behold, a body was given unto me by God, and I bore him nine hundred and thirty years, and was thus
made the first man of this earth; my name was Adam, the firstborn of God on this earth. According to these
words, the elders were touched by the spirit of Adam, and when the spirit touched the elders, he was
immediately invisible;?but the elders were filled with the spirit of Adam.

The same was done by the other two, and they were fulfilled, the elder with the spirit of Cain and the younger
with the spirit of Abraham, but without losing any of their peculiar individuality. But at the moment of this action,
they recognized the great significance of this star and the words of the prophecy, which was prophesied, as I
have already said, at the time of the great queen of this country.

Therefore, as soon as they set out from their place of observation, they prepared their camels and commanded
their servants to buy myrrh, gold, and incense. For in the same country, this was the customary offering to a
new-born king; myrrh to the child, gold to the king, who was called in their custom the man of men, as such a
royal child was called a child of children, and incense was also offered to the king, because the king was
regarded as the anointed master of the Godhead on earth. When all had been brought together, the journey
commenced at once. The star was the signpost, and the three spirits were the inner leaders of our well-known
three sages from the Orient.

See, in this representation, you have uncovered your knowledge, and at the same time also received the inner
truth that in these three wise men, Adam, Cain, and Abraham were present. Abraham, who for a long time has
rejoiced in his spirit, that he might see him, as the Lord Himself said to him, has also seen Him through the wise,
spiritually in himself, as well as in heavenly sense, in the sight of the Child of children, Man of men and God of
gods!

From this representation, however, you can also sufficiently see how true astrology should be. We have also
seen a star of a very unusual kind in us, or in the firmament of our spirit. If we are right astrologers, we shall
surely find our last quarter, with the least effort, and we shall be able to see how it really is with our star.

It is true, there are billions and billions more stars and worlds in you, but one of these billions has just been
solved. This one stands before us, and lies beneath our feet like a glorious heavenly Fatherland; but we ask:
Where do you stand, glorious world, in your great reality? From what region of the wide sky did your mighty ray
strike your image in us and set out, a glorious reflection from you? But we do not know where your ray came
from!

O, friends and brothers! Such a question does sound odd when one has the work under his feet. Have you never
read anything from a great castle of spirits like of a castle of souls? See, there are small hints of a great secret
truth, which, however, has still remained undetected. But I say unto you, That which is the will of the Lord's shall
happen according to His will. I say to you with even more weight, "Rejoice, for the Lord has chosen the earth out
of billions; it is the birthplace of the spirits who desire the Lord, from all the endless regions of creation!

Now we are not far anymore. See this world, which is now under your feet, the old Father-house of your spirit!
You find great splendor here, and this affinity for beauty, you have taken with you to the earth. But the Lord does
not like glamour, so He has humbled the earth. - Do you not know now how it is with our world? Yes, I see you
cannot quite digest the astrology yet. But I will draw your attention now to something else.

It is an all-time custom with all peoples to say, and also here and there firmly believe that this or that is "their
star." Literally, however, there would be little reason for it, but would be spiritually more accurate; for whence any
spirit is from, from there he has also his love. Now, however, all the myriads of stars are either pre- or post-
dwellings of the spirits. If this is the case, it is also clear that every spirit of the earth is from a star as a
predecessor;?and this star is the first one to reliably emerge in the inner contemplation.

Now you may look at the starry sky and look at the star appealing most to you; the one shining upon you most
comfortably; that is where you lived.

See, this will be the one on which you were awakened.

This is then also the difference between the children of the world, who are from below, and are children of the
earth, and the children of light, which are from above, and are children of the suns, or children of light, and are
called to serving one another like they would the Lord, and shine upon the children of the world, that they might
be made children of the light and true heirs of eternal life, which the Lord prepared for all His created spirits from
all eternity. He has established for this purpose, in the infinite spheres of creation, an infinite amount of schools
for the achievement of the freedom of life, and has even established upon this earth a holy goal through His
cross, for them all to become true children of His love and most blessed heirs of His mercy and grace!

I mean, the fourth quarter is hopefully known to us. But if we have looked around the world a bit, we will be able
to understand many secrets which you and all the world have not dreamed of too much.

But the Lord, after His resurrection, has still spoken much to us, His chosen ones, which was not recorded; and
had it also been recorded, the world could not have understood the books, due to the measure, the greatness
and the depth of the content. Here, however, many things will be made known to you; therefore, you may well be
spiritually attentive to take hold in your spirit of the great mystery of life and the inner great wisdom of the Spirit!
"(John 20:30, 31, John.21,25).

Chapter 16.

Two kinds of people - creatures and children. Prerequisites to achieve childhood of God.

We will now make a further attempt to familiarize ourselves some more with these human beings, in order to
deduce from them whose spiritual children they are, and at what stage of inner spiritual relationship we stand
with them. - Look a little closer at the forms of these people, and you will soon see that these people have a very
significant resemblance to you in their form. This observation gives us a great hint that their spiritual faculties
must be very much similar to yours, because their external forms, even if somewhat superficially, reveals that.

What their inner spiritual nature, like their love and their desires, as well as their understanding, would be like,
we will gather from their conversations; for what the heart is full of, the mouth overflows. And the Lord has put
into every human heart the impulse, according to which he is never satisfied with what he has, but continually
strives for something higher. This instinct, like all things, has two sides, a light, and a shadow side. In the shadow
side, man is blind, and the higher he aspires to, is lower than what he has. But in the light side of this impulse,
man abhors all that is given and desires only the Most High, namely, nothing more and nothing less than the
Lord Himself.

And so we shall at once hear how these people are not at all satisfied with what is theirs. The indescribable
splendor of their dwelling, of this garden, as well as of the whole world for whose possessions your earthly kings
would wage war for a thousand years, these men do not see with any other eyes than with which you look upon
a very typical country house.

They, therefore, have a continually greater desire for something more sublime, more grand, and far more
important. But we want to listen to them a little, in order to infer from them what desires are in their spirits.

Behold, there is a venerable old man standing before us, who will just this moment make a speech to the
inhabitants of this palace on the occasion of the sacrificial wood being ignited by itself on the altar; for such a
phenomenon is to the inhabitants of this world as a secret symbol, from which they deduce that the Lord wishes
to fulfill their wishes. - And so listen! He speaks:

All of you who inhabit this my home are witnesses that a holy flame has come upon the altar to consume the
fragrant sacrifice. Many, who live in this world, do not pay attention to it, and only hold it to deception and illusion
of the senses. We inhabitants of our house, however, are faithful to the ancient revelation, in which it is said that
God, our Lord, is a single God, who has made this world for us to dwell, and has given us the free will, to either
keep on living blissfully on this world in spirit, or to to be lifted from this world into some other, where He is
eternally at home among His children.

Whoever, therefore, has the great desire and longing to enter onto this way to this end, may now turn to the
Lord, since He has turned His ear to us, so that the Lord may transform him, and put him into the world where
He is at home among His children.

You know that the Lord, our only God, has created two kinds of beings who can freely determine themselves.
The first kind is we creatures, endowed with free will and an understanding mind, in order that we may be self-
employed to our joy and our great prosperity. But to these His creatures, the Lord has granted only this world,
both spiritually and physically, as a dwelling-place.

To reach this pleasant destiny is very easy, for whoever believes that the Lord is the only God of heaven and all
worlds, like the one we walk on with our feet, and with this in mind gives the Lord glory and honor through
sacrifice and worship according to the known custom of this whole world, as far as we know it, has, as you all
know, made himself worthy of this pleasant destiny. The transformation will take place, as we all know, in the
most agreeable and soothing manner upon which every one of the inhabitants of this world is most fully entitled.

But if we consider the second kind of creatures, which, indeed, of whom there may be much less, we find in
them, according to revelation, that they are not only creatures like us but true children of the one God. These
children are in all the power of God, and their bliss is like the bliss of God; for they have all that God has, they do
all that God does, and God does what they do.

To them, God is no longer a God, as He is for us eternally inaccessible, and no eye of this world can ever see
Him; but to them He is a true Father, who is always among them, guides them, and leads them, and speaks to
them as I am with you, and He takes care of them, build for them, and cook for them; for them to never have any
concerns; they are perfect masters, like their Almighty Father, and rule over all of infinity, and rejoice in their
infinite perfection of power, which is from their Father.

Such a destiny, indeed, is quite different from ours; indeed, it is really in no way comparable with our
circumstances!

Are we, however, forever excluded from the creatures of this world to attain this unspeakable destiny? What
does the revelation state, which we have received in the primeval times of a mighty spirit for all the ages of this
world?

Such was spoken in short: "An altar is built in your dwelling, and on this altar should always lie fragrant wood,
lain over each other crosswise.

Should any man recognize the one God in his faith, he may ask his heart, if it would burn; the flame of the heart
shall ignite the wood on the altar, and consume it with bright flames. In these flames, the ignited of heart shall
read the great, holy, but very heavy conditions through which he can become a child of God.

Now I say unto you, Whosoever of you, my household and children, wants to read the conditions in the flame,
come and read! If anyone has found the very heavy conditions acceptable, lay the hand upon the altar,
according to the revelation, and God Almighty will take his spirit, lead him into that world where He dwells and
will shape the Spirit into a new man, who will only have to drag along a mortal, painful body for a short time, and
will have to humble himself to death in this body. And when he then is humbled through and through, then he will
have to be painfully killed, in order to rise from death to a true child of God!

Now see, a man comes out from the midst of the whole great multitude, and reads from the flame the following
condition: "Dissatisfied with your blessed fate! What do you want? Where do you want to go? You have had no
suffering so far, and never has any pain touched your being. Death is strange to you, and never has a heavy
burden touched your neck. If you remain in this world after the eternal order of God, you can never fall, be
spoiled, and perish. What your heart desires and feels, you have and will always have it.

But if you are not contented with it and want to go there where the children of God are begotten, know that God
your Lord will test you through all sorts of great sufferings, sorrows, and tribulations until the last drops of life has
been powerfully tested, before you would be transformed into a child through death! But woe unto thee, if thou
hast not passed the test; then you will have to pay for the vanity of your striving forever in the wrath of God, and
it will never be better with you, but always worse and more agonizing in your eternal state!

But in this world, where the children of God are begotten, you will be struck with the most perfect blindness, and
nothing will remain in your consciousness of all that you experienced here to give you further conscious
guidance; because you will be obliged to begin a whole new, painful and difficult life. Nothing will be left to you,
but your greatest danger, the desires of the life of this world.

You will be yearning for all the similar perfections and glories, you will be distinctly aware of great faculties and
abilities of the spirit;?but you will not be able to amount to anything in your heavy, wearisome body. But if you will
nevertheless find a means to put some of this remaining impulse what your spirit yearns after, even if imperfect,
into practice in the world, then you will already sin before God; and if thou shalt not desist from it, then an
everlasting condemnation into the everlasting wrath-fire of God will be your destiny.

What you have received from God here, is yours; there in that world, you will not be allowed to own a blade of
grass. Wealth and magnificence belong here to virtue, but there it will be reckoned to you as a deadly vice. Here
you may wish, and the ground obeys to your command, but there you will have to laboriously prepare your food
in the sweat of your face. "

These are the conditions that you will have to fulfill if you would want to rise to higher realms of the childhood of
God. It is not impossible that you will find grace and mercy with God, if you will love Him above all things, and
will be the least and lowest, and will suffer all sorrows and afflictions with great patience and full devotion to the
will of God; but it will be much easier for you to fall than to stand firm. Therefore, consider, and then lay thy hand
upon the altar, that it shall be according to thy will.

Now see, so it is with the matter. We do not want to be content with this, but rather to observe this negotiation.
You shall from that quite soon have a great light arise in you, and you will begin to understand the when, where
from, and whereto, very clearly.

Chapter 17.

Love for God as the center of condition.

Our candidate for the childhood has now read everything written in the flame and turns his gaze to the elders
again. His question is very easy to guess; you already have it in you. Therefore, you only need to get it out, and
we will soon hear our candidate for the childhood, as you have previously felt it in you.

The conditions are hard, and our childhood applicant is shuddering before them; therefore he also asks the
elders, saying, I have read the demands of God in the flame of His zeal. I see from this the advantage of this life
and the great disadvantage of a higher one, I mean, it will be wiser to remain what one is on this lower level than
to rise to the near unattainable.

It may indeed be unthinkable for us to feel like a god in a child of God; indeed, it must be something
incomprehensibly sublime to penetrate into the infinite depths of divine power and wisdom with a glance. Yes,
how unspeakably blissful it must be to stand in an always most visible, most friendly relationship with the
everlasting omnipotent Creator of all eternity, and to be in God the Lord a joint lord of all infinity. But the
conditions to achieve such greatness are too terribly difficult and are stated as such that, among many
thousands, scarcely one will be able to reach the high purpose of his undertaking.

Therefore, I have considered it well, and am completely renouncing this undertaking. But he that dare in my
stead, I will not stand in the way; but I will tell him what I read in the flame.

The former candidate for the childhood has ended his address, and the elder is just getting the answer from us,
that is, he will discuss what has already been spoken in us.

Surely you can not clearly perceive this in you, but in the order of the Lord, it has already been established that
the speech of a man is a product of all that is hidden in the depths of his life. And when a man speaks, he is
compelled to do so by his inner stimulus, which emerges from all that corresponds to that which is hidden in the
depths of his life.

As we have brought these things out of us, let us now also hear what the elder says. Hear, these sounds are
from his mouth, and this is their meaning:

My son! You have read the great truth in the flame of divine zeal.

Everything is true except for one problem, and no sign came to light in vain in the blazing flame; but a sign which
lay hidden in the midst of the flame above the inner glow, you have not seen.

Behold, if you add this sign to all that is read, everything will appear to you in a different light.

Behold, this was the sign which thou hast overlooked: In the midst of the glowing flame, from all sides with the
living flame, a heart is put, and the heart blazed, and this flame from that heart formed the very signs which thou
could read. If you read these signs for yourself, they are terrible, overwhelming; but if you read them out of this
heart, they are full of blessed hopes. For themselves, they are a judgment from which there is nowhere to be
seen a free escape into a better life; from the heart, however, they are a mercy of God, in which no man who is
in the heart, can ever be lost.

See, my son, it all depends on whether you can love God or not. If you can love God in all the humility of your
heart, you are in this heart; but if you cannot love God, you are not in the heart but in the judgment. Then it
would be better for you to remain here in this light judgment, than to strive after the childhood of God, to there fall
into the great judgment which, according to the signs in the flame, an escape will scarcely be found.

These are the conditions in the fullness of truth. Indeed, we know it from the mouths of the angels of God, that
God has bestowed to no world so much grace, mercy, and love, as the one He Himself bears witness to and
where He educates His children. For He Himself has established the order, so that He became like unto man,
and carried for His children all manner of sorrows, and would even allow Himself to be killed for a short time in
His body by the hands of His own children!

See my son, all this is well-known to us, and it is true. But it is also true that the Lord our God is most likely to
ask of His creatures to act in His order, because He has worked most of all out of His divine fullness. Now you
know all that is necessary to enter into the kingdom of the childhood of God.

Therefore, you may now do what seems good to you. If you wish to enter the conditions, you must enter them in
your heart, and you will not be lost. For we also know that the Lord would rather destroy a whole creation before
He would allow a child to be lost!

Therefore, if you are in the heart, the Lord will care for you as a most trustworthy Father. But if you want to take
the conditions without the heart, you will be under the burden of the great trials of God; for He has not given any
law to those who are in His heart, other than that they always love Him more and more.

But those who are outside the heart, are surrounded by laws upon laws which are difficult to keep; and the
transgression of a single one, at the very moment of transgression, leads to a deadly judgment, in which case it
then becomes continually harder and harder to hold the other great number of laws. - From this, you can now
judge with full certainty what is necessary for the attainment of the childhood of God. Then you can act
accordingly; because you are free!

Now let us look at our candidate again. Behold, he takes the matter very seriously, and speaks to the elders:
hear, father of this house! I have now come to a thought, and the idea is that if I take the earnest decision not to
become a child of the Lord, but only a subordinate servant of the least of His children, in order to in this way
quite secretly come closer to the omnipotent Lord in love, to see Him up close, I mean, this cannot be wrong. But
will the Lord in the other world be aware of this principle, and put me in such a situation in which I could attain
my goal?
If this is so, I will lay my hand upon the altar.

The old man said, "You can be fully assured of this; for, by whatever rationale someone desires to attain the
childhood of the Lord, by this same rationale the Lord will let it be for him in that world through which he can
attain the basic goal of his life. If thou wilt be the least, the Lord will bear thee upon His hands. But whosoever
shall be the greatest shall not be guided by the Lord, but the Lord shall come after him, and shall hearken his
walk and steps, and when the great man shall reach an abyss, and he shall not repent freely, the Lord shall
neither call nor pull him back from the abyss, but leave it up to him to either turn freely or to fall freely into the
eternal abyss.

But you have decided on the most humble ground; this reason will irrevocably produce your life and mercy from
the Lord, and so you can put your hand on the altar!

Now see, the candidate says, Lord, You Lord, in Your love, grace, and mercy. For no other reason, for out of
pure love, I will go to You.

Therefore, do not leave me in the time of my weakness, and let You alone be all my strength and power. In
whatever form I will appear in the new world, Your love is the sole, eternal, powerful example of my life,
according to which I will seek out all my own life-giving power. Cover me completely, what I was here, and had
here, so that I might more readily strive for all my lowliness in my great love for You; but let the reason always
arise in me, that I may always be stronger in love for You. And so I surrender, O Lord, to Your infinite love, mercy,
and grace.

See, here the applicant places his hand on the altar. The mighty flame takes hold of him, and immediately he is
no longer among the inhabitants of this house.

Where did he go now? Behold, at this moment, his soul is already laid in the body of a loving mother who has
received and is born as a male child. This probably amazes you, but I say to you, is it then less wonderful that
the spirits of your sun which are visible to your eyes are born from the plants of your earth-

body, subsequently becoming the great variety of animal species? You see these things every day, and wonder a
little about them, and yet this process is much more complicated, greater, and more protracted, for this is the
resettlement of a spirit. For, in the transmission of the solar spirits, we are concerned with the development of
your body and your soul, which appears to consist of a thousand times a thousandfold laws; but here, that is of
this sun-world, which is a central solar world, is the resettlement of a spirit finished, which, according to the new
body of its foundation, has nothing to do but to become united in its love with the living soul in the love of the
Lord.

And this union is the attained childhood of the Lord, from whence a new creature emerges, astonishing all the
heavens; for it is a creature from the marriage of heaven, and a creature of the salvation of the Lord, and this
creature is great before the Lord, and is a child of the eternal Holy Father. - See, this is the great mystery of the
incarnation on the earth now revealed. Therefore, you are also. But not all men of the earth have their spiritual
origin here, for there are still many such spirit-suns in the endless space of creation. But let us have a closer look
around here before we will go to another.

Chapter 18.

The will-power of the Spirit works miracles together with Jesus' power.

We have nothing more to do here, so we can move around some more in our world; for once you have a world,
that is a good foundation, you can then walk on it as you please, and gain all kinds of good experiences.
But where shall we go now? Here I will not say, "Here or there," for this, you have to decide. But I must draw
your attention to one thing, and this is that you have to hold onto a definite determination to go here or there, and
you must stay with the first thought. For here it is the case that if someone would say, "I am not sure, but doubtful
whether I should turn left or right, that this world would disappear before you due to such doubts. Therefore,
every thought must be held, and no second must displace the first. In the spirit this is the case throughout; for he
that is not steadfast, is not fit for the kingdom of God. Also, as the Lord, Himself says, "He who puts his hand to
the plow, and looks back, is not fit for the kingdom of God."

But, in other words, in our present purely spiritual state, this would have meant nothing other than that one
should not be fickle of mind at any time. The first thought must also be the first decision and the first perfect
firmness; for if such was not the case in the spirit, it would be bad for all creation.

If you only accept the slightest doubtfulness in the Spirit of God, a momentary withdrawal of His most
incorruptible firmest will, an instantaneous destruction of all things will follow at once.

You indeed say: one can easily think like that of the Spirit of God;?but whether the same steadiness is a
requirement for the related spirits for the preservation of things, is not so clear.

But I tell you, the one is as obvious as the other. For this very reason, nothing unclean can enter the kingdom of
God; for the heavens are the central rule of the Lord. They are, in their own way, perfectly one with the will of the
Lord; and if any man enters into heaven, who is not one with the will of the Lord, this would be perceived as soon
as all the spheres of creation are perceived. For this would cause all sorts of disorder in creation, and a
thousand of the fiercest hells would not do such harm in all their free rage as a single disorderly spirit in the
kingdom of God!

As long as, under the guidance of other spirits, you were mere passive observers of the spiritual relations, you
could, indeed, change with your thoughts as you would; and yet everything, as you say, remained the same.

But now you are active observers of the spiritual relations, that is, you do not look at things that are in my
sphere, thus not on my soil, but you are now looking at yourself as the spirits of your sphere. You were formerly
guests of another brother, and would not depart from him, you would enjoy in his house, but now I am your
guest, and you could lead me where you want.

But, as I said, it is important that your thoughts stay fixed, in order to fix your creation; otherwise, we will all three
at once again be in our previous haze.

When my brother once led you in his sphere, he also had to keep his creation; otherwise, you would have seen
very little. This, however, is easy for the pure perfect mind, because it has its willpower entirely from the Lord.
You have your will, indeed, from the Lord, but it is not yet firm and perfect enough to be able to fix it everywhere
like the perfect spirits. Therefore, I also told you this, so that you may know how man is to live in the spirit and
preserve the treasure of the power of his spirit.

If a man lives on the earth and wishes to preserve his property, it must be guarded properly, lest thieves and
robbers should destroy it, and take away the possessions. Here it is; Thieves and robbers are fickle, desirous
thoughts in the spirit. Anyone who does not set up solid protective walls soon loses the beautiful property of his
mind.

So the Lord also said, "To him, that has shall be given more, that he may be in abundance; but he that has not,
from him shall be taken what he has, or he shall lose what he hath. But what is it that can be taken from a man
what he has not, and be given to a man that has, to possess it in abundance? It is the spiritual will-power unified
in the Lord! He who has it will find endless riches in his spirit, and then be in the possession of power and goods,
and that is a possession in fullness.

But whoever does not have this power of will combined with the Lord in the spirit, what will be his lot, since there
is no other possession for anybody but the highest of his own? I tell you, the lot of such a spirit will be no other
than either sudden or successive impoverishment; for if any one of you wants to have a garment, but is not a
tailor himself, he must go to a tailor, so that he may make a coat for him. But if there were no tailor, or if one
could drive out all the tailors from one place, and no one could make a coat for himself, it would take some doing
to get a garment.
See, so it is also the case here; the Lord created man in His image, and have equipped him with creative power.
But He has placed it in him like a seed. But you yourself already say, and know it from the Scriptures, when it is
said, "And the works follow them."

If so, then an unsteady, powerless, and unemployed spirit, who have never attempted to any strength, can
impossibly arrive in the pure spiritual realm other than completely empty. But how much virtue is accredited that
man should be a steady, unchangeable spirit, is shown by the Lord on various occasions.

He favors Peter because of the firmness of his faith; again he is called the wise man who builds on a rock, again
He speaks of John the Baptist, that he is not a reed moved by the wind. He often said, "It will be to you according
to your faith; your faith has helped you! "Thus He also expresses clearly, saying," Be perfect, as your Father in
heaven is perfect," whereby He also wants to say that, to whom He has spoken, he has to have a will of equal
steadfastness like God, and by no means to be deviated from the firm direction of their spirit. So He also praises
the power of the spirit with the following words:

If you had faith as large as a mustard-seed, you could say to this mountain, "Lift up yourself and fall into the
sea." It will be done according to your faith.

From these few cited texts, of which there are still a multitude, you can also deduct in sufficient detail what is
most important in the realm of the spirits.

But I will tell you what may seem strange to you, and yet it is the most incorruptible truth. If the people on earth
knew what was important in order to affect something in their will, many wonderful things would happen; but for
the most part, human beings scarcely know that they have a spirit because the latter has long been absorbed by
their matter. How then will they know what is in their spirit?

But to you, who have already come to know the spirit a little, I can now give a little account of what is most
important in order to produce powerful, infallible, definite, and truly wonderful works.

What does it really matter? Listen, I'll give you a small recipe.

Take a good spoonful of it every morning and evening, and you will convince yourself that this recipe is a
veritable miracle secret.

The first ingredient consists in unifying with the Lord through love in His will immediately after waking up; this
must also happen in the evening. If anyone wants something, he has to pay attention to his thoughts first; this is
the second ingredient. He now takes hold of this, and never exchange it for another.

If he has done this, he should ask the Lord that He would unite His infinite strength with the weakness of his own
will, but also take hold of the Lord with his love, which is the third ingredient. If this has been done in all steadfast
strength, then add a fourth to these three ingredients, and that is steadfast faith.

If these four ingredients are together, the miracle medicine is already prepared.

Whoever does not want to believe it will probably hardly be able to carry out the test; but let him that believes,
go, and do the same, and he shall be convinced of the unified power of the Lord in his spirit. This secret I had to
tell you here because it is the right place here.

So you also now know what you have to do here in this world so that we can go on; a thought, a fixed destiny,
and we shall have the place before whence we will.

This mystery, however, which I have now told you, applies to all natural as well as to all spiritual worlds; for it is
wholly the same which the Lord and all His Apostles and disciples have taught, on the occasion when He said,
"Without Me you can do nothing; with Me, of course, everything! "

And further, when He said, "Whatever you will ask the Father in My name, He will give you." Here the Lord did
not make an exception in his request, saying, "Whatever."
So He also showed that when two or three are gathered together in His name, He will be in the midst of them;
and what they will ask shall be given to them. The continuation of this world-mission, however, will, as I have
already pointed out, lighten up many hidden secrets to you. But the new place is already before us; so let us
approach it!

Chapter 19.

A new place - splendid building on a hill.

I should ask you how this new place appeals to you. Since I am on your land with you, I cannot keep to the
known order of things, since the stranger, if he comes to a householder, cannot ask him how his property
pleases him; but the house owner can ask such a question to the stranger.

But you may not ask me about this since you are still very much strangers in your own property; so I must then
reverse the order and give you the question which you should have given me.

This would otherwise be quite good; but I see another problem, and this consists in the still very deficient
spiritual contemplation in you, which, on my question, should not lead you to the proper answer. - What is going
to happen? We shall at once find a middle way in which we shall agree, and this path will consist in the fact that
we omit the question altogether, and then proceed to a contemplative discussion.

Now see, this new place is still significantly more glorious than the first. On a substantial height stands a very
magnificent building. The walls are of pure transparent gold, the pillars in front of the walls are made of
diamonds and ruby columns, the roof of the exceedingly large building forms an imperial crown, which is covered
with the finest, large precious stones.

From the plain to the top of the mountain ascends a broad staircase to the first pillar colonnade, the steps of
which are made of opaque gold. The balustrades on either side of the steps consist solely of pyramids, which
are connected to each other by chains of red gold.

In the middle of each pyramid is a white, round sun sphere, emitting an exceptionally beautiful shine; between
each two pyramids, behind the chain, is a beautiful, fully grown poplar of which the leaves sparkle as if with the
finest velvety, gold laced strips and all the trees are equal in size.

I also see that three velvet bands of about one klafter breadth are laying on the broad staircase; two are green
and the middle one is a beautiful red color. They are so precisely fixed to the steps, that they seem to be part of
the steps.

This staircase does not follow through in one flight, but I can see roomy landings after every thirty steps, each
adorned with a beautiful triumph arch. Every triumph arch consists of, as I can see, stretching over the full width
of the staircase, thirty diamond pillars, connected on top by arches, which consists of exceptionally brightly
shining sunstones.

Beyond the bows, a gallery is added, on which it would be lovely to wander about and I see that such a gallery is
built of intermittent rubies and emeralds. Truly, I would call this royal sun glory!

Look some more; the completely round mountain looking like a rather low, but topped-off pyramid, is surrounded
at its base by a beautiful moat of about a hundred klafter width. The whole moat is artistically constructed and
paved with the finest white marble, while both banks are lined with golden balustrades. The roads to the sides of
both balustrades are paved with shimmering jasper and along the roads, on the side of the moat, stands the
most beautiful fruit trees.

Here, where the staircase ascends the mountain, is an exceptionally shining bridge made out of red marble. The
artistically decorated banisters are made of white gold and the decorations are set with very precious gems.

But the most beautiful, are the pointed obelisks, rising from the water in the middle of the moat. These obelisks
are of topaz and from their tips surges water-spouts up high, which then falls as countless shining pearls back
into the moat. Just look how the water is inhabited by various shining little fish; truly, it is beautiful to see!

But let us go over the steps and take a closer look at our magnificent building on the mountain. Walking up these
steps is really very comfortable and gentle. Just look here again; we have reached the first landing.

Look down at the floor; it is blue, and inlaid into this blue floor are white, shining stars, and the extraordinary
purity thereof surpasses all imagination!

Let's move on; there you see the second resting place. This one has a green floor base like a piece of polished
emerald, and from its surface glitter, the most beautifully arranged rose-red stars.

But let us go on; there you see the third resting place. The floor is red as carmine, but shining like ruby, and in
the most beautiful new arrangement, light-green stars glitter on its surface. Let us go further;?there is already the
fourth resting place. Look at this floor; it is violet, as of amethyst, and in its surface glitter stars in the most
beautiful arrangements.

Let us go on again; there is already the fifth stop. See the floor; it is yellow as a topaz, and its surface is crimson.
But let us go on; there we are at the sixth resting place. The floor is dark green, and the stars, which glow from
its surface, are multi-colored like cut diamonds.

But let us go on; there is the seventh resting place already. Look at this floor; dark red as the velvet of a King's
robe, and dark orange-yellow stars that shine almost unbearably strong on its surface, giving the red,
transparent floor a strange, mysterious illumination. - No, I must say, I have expected many other things, but not
such splendor in you. There are still a lot of such resting places above us; they may still be about twenty-three.

But let us now go all the way in one session, for I am almost tired of seeing such great splendor. - We have now
made quick progress, and are standing under the first arch, supported by pure diamond columns.

Just look at this floor between the pillars; it forms a brightly radiant rainbow, and each color line is filled with
correspondingly brightly shining stars. Truly splendidly beauty!

And there, outside this arcade, more toward the building, rises a common circular staircase, consisting of thirty
steps. These are made of pure emerald but are inlaid with bright red shining stars, and above these thirty
common round steps is again a second arcade, supported by pillars of the most precious shining suns. The
arches above the columns are made of pure rubies and the railing over the ruby arches, of green gold. And then,
look at the floor; this is of sky-blue color, as if of uniform hyacinth, and is divided into seven successive series of
red and green shining stars.

We are through this arcade. There you again see a winding staircase, again consisting of thirty steps, with which
one can reach the broad plateau of the mountain on which the actual mansion building is built.

These steps are also made of hyacinth stones and are also decorated with red and green shining stars.

Now we are only on the actual main plateau, but look at this splendor!

The plateau, as smooth and glossy as the surface of a polished diamond, is of azure blue color and is laid-in with
wonderfully beautiful rows of different shining stars. From this edge to the main building, it has a diameter of a
hundred fathoms. Indeed, this splendor is almost inexpressible!

But now look at the main building! It is a circular building of three storeys, each of which has a height of thirty
klafter, and the walls consist purely of columns, all lined up very closely together. Each storey's floor shines in a
different color, and the floors are distinguishable from each other by the most splendid galleries.

And then, within the rows of columns, a continuous wall is built of the most costly white, self-luminous sun-
stones; - the splendor, the splendor! The outer column wall of the first floor consists of emerald; the pillared wall
of the second storey of pure ruby, the pillar wall of the third storey of pure hyacinth. How splendidly the powerful
light of the inner continuous wall breaks through these columns of the outer wall! It looks as if you can see all the
countless color gradations in the brightest light. Indeed, too much splendor is compressed into one point.

The building seems to have a circumference of seven-thousand klafter, giving the eye a far-reaching range of
view; but one become seriously tired of such overly magnificent sights. For this reason we shall for the sake of
our main goal, go inside the building and see what it looks like there.

Chapter 20.

Description of the unimagined splendor. Parable of winter splendor and spring heat.

We are already at the entrance; but as it seems to me and certainly also to you, we are just coming from the rain
into the eaves. As you can see from only the almost inexpressible splendor of the entrance door itself! It has the
full height of the first floor, that is, a height of close to thirty klafter and a width of twelve klafter. The side pillars of
the gate are massive diamond pillars, made into perfect squares, and the surfaces of these two pillars are also
adorned with three rows of blue, red and green stars of the brightest shine. The arch of this portal is made of the
most precious white sunstones and are also decorated in the most beautiful arrangement, with red, blue and
green stars. Above the portal, that is above the arch of it, is also a massive red-gold railing, and at the very top of
the handrail of the balustrade, are round spheres of the very finest and most precious white sunstones, which
radiate an extraordinarily beautiful white light. The doors are made of artistically perforated, finest gold, and are
covered with cross-braces of white gold, in which all kinds of precious stones of the purest and most beautiful
hone are used wonderfully.

That would be just the gate. Through this, we enter the beautiful foyer, which is decorated on either side with
three galleries of white columns. The corridors of the galleries are equipped with railings of rubies and diamonds.
And just look at the floor of the lower level ground gallery. It is a pure mosaic floor, in which you see the most
glorious garlands of flowers shining brightly. The colors of the flowers in the garlands alternate with each turn
and sparkle like an artistically made rainbow, that is, if it was possible for a man to put, instead of the rainbow, a
multi-colored flower garland, of which flowers would always change their colors like well-polished brilliance in the
rays of the sun.

What do you say to this immeasurable splendor? Is that not more than a human mind can bear at once?

But let us only go into the central space of this building, from where a whole beam of light is coming. Look, it is a
very large rotunda. The ground is azure blue and is laid in with the well-known stars of your visible sky. The
stars, however, are far more powerful than those you see at night from your earth. The walls of this rotunda also
consist of three interconnected, rows of mighty pillars. The lowest row consists of pure rubies, the middle row of
pure emerald, and the top row of purest hyacinth. Each row is interconnected with the others through white
arches, on which magnificent galleries of transparent gold are constructed.

Behind the rows of columns, you can see a continuous wall of a self-illuminating, light rose color stone, through
which dividing wall, relatively large windows, and doors lead to the splendid galleries.

But now, lift your eyes even higher to the ceiling of this rotunda!

Behold, it is nothing other than the miraculous great dome, which we have already seen from the outside looking
like a great imperial crown, laid in with the most splendid and self-illuminating gemstones of this central solar
system, and these gemstones spread a wonderful light towards the inner rotunda.

But what is there in the middle of the rotunda? Behold, it is again an altar, a ruby piece, in which, in the most
beautiful circles of shining stars are embedded. On the altar, however, we see wood laid cross-wise. We cannot
ask: why this? But only remember our former palace, and the answer is already there.
But now I see something in you, and this reads as follows: the endlessly rich splendor of this palace is ineffable.
Indeed, if such a thing could be represented on the earth, even the greatest emperors and kings would feel
themselves too insignificant to be masters of such endless splendor, but they would consecrate such a palace to
a universal temple of the Lord with the utmost respect. Yes, indeed, this endless splendor is absolutely
intolerable to the boldest spirit to contemplate.

But with this splendor, we are already missing the main object, namely the people. Without these, the greatest
splendor is dead, and we can not gain any inner pleasure from it. We may well say: infinitely great is the
wonderful power and wisdom of the Lord, which alone can design such glories. But if we were to enjoy them
without brothers and sisters, the most meager hut with brothers and sisters would be unspeakably more
desirable.

Yes, my dear brethren and friends, you are judging according to a good and right feeling; but do you know what
is the reason why you always look at the dwellings of men rather than the men in the dwellings?

Behold, this is due to the fact that, as natural beings, you are more than two-thirds more in matter than in the
internal spiritual. But this matter is dead, because it is judged, and it is meant to be developed.

Therefore, you see from your natural sphere that which is related to it.

If you were to see the living, you would have to break through the two-thirds and again reach the center of love,
where life is at home. Then the wood will begin to burn on this altar, and we shall at once convince ourselves
that the halls and chambers of this great palace are not so uninhabited as it appeared to you at the first natural
sight.

You are asking why here the ignition of the wood on the altar is always necessary for the visual realization of the
people who inhabit such a palace?

I tell you, to see the reason, there are already a lot of examples on earth. I will show you only a few, and you will
be wiser at once.

Look at the great splendor of a winter day and also a bright winter night. The whole wide surface of the earth is
dotted with countless diamonds, which, in the light of the sun, radiate like countless stars, almost blinding the
eye of the spectator with its excessive light. The branches of the trees are covered with pure diamond crystals,
and the stars in the sky sparkle in multiplied splendor.

But when you look over this wide surface, glittering with numerous diamonds, it is dead, for life seeks warm
rooms, and may not be amused by this cold, stiff glory. But when in the early year the sunbeam begins to provide
not only light, but also warmth, the great splendor of the earth ceases; but the life which has retreated from the
cold splendor comes from the inner rooms. This life spoils the splendor of winter and re-creates it into a much
more glorious one.

In this example, you need not add anything but that the heat is equal to the invigorating love, which comes forth
from the midst of the sun; then you will easily understand why on this altar the wood must first be kindled by your
love before you can see the living inhabitants of this splendor.

For a second example, you could look at two people working on Earth.

See there for example a palace, inhabited by a despised, miserly degenerated man. Go there; you will not even
see too many flies flying around this palace, let alone people. Why does it look so empty here?

Because there is no love in the house.

But go to another very beautiful house; it is inhabited by a wealthy, great friend of men. See, it is teeming with
people, old, young, great and small; the trees are animated by birds, the roofs of the house by pigeons, the yard
by poultry, and other useful tame animals; even for the flies there is always something to eat, and everything you
look at is cheerful and hopeful. Yes, why is it so lively here? Because love is in the house!
The warmth of love is felt at a great distance and draws everything to itself.

I mean, from these two pictures you will be able to see more easily why we have to light the wood here before
the life of this palace begins to gather around us. Therefore, gratify your love for the Lord and for all who came
forth from him; and the wood shall be set ablaze, and we shall soon be surrounded by thousands of people, who
at all times inhabit this splendid habitation.

Chapter 21.

Love kindles the wood on the altar.

You have done what I have suggested to you, and look, a splendid flame, glowing as the dawn, is already
igniting the wood on the altar, and an indescribably glorious aroma fills the supreme halls and galleries of this
great palace.

But now also look up at the galleries, as it begins to teem with people; and everybody hurries down into the great
rotunda!

Look at these people, of what indescribable beauty they are! The women, as if formed by the finest etheric light,
and the men look like flames of fire which have gathered themselves into a wonderful, loving- earnest, majestic
human form.

Now, behold, an elder from the great multitude of these glorious people comes forth and carries a shepherd staff
in his hand. His hair is as white as freshly fallen, sunlit snow, and falls down in rich curls down half of his back.
His beard, just as white, frills down to his abdomen; his size is venerably superior to the size of the other men.
According to your earthly measure, he should probably be about seven feet.

You'd like to know why he's carrying a staff? Is he perhaps a ruler, or someone exalted among his fellow men? I
tell you, he is only an elder, and he has the reputation of a patriarch. He rules over a thousand such palaces as
we have already seen before, and he is also an epitome of wisdom.

If the people in the subordinate dwellings need some higher advice, they come to him. But he never sends
messengers to instruct the subordinates in one or the other kind of wisdom. For here the principle of perfect
freedom applies, and this must never be endangered neither by word nor deed. Therefore, the inhabitants of the
other subordinate palaces can do what they want, without consideration of this main palace.

But nobody can dare to enter the vast territory of this palace with animosity. If this would happen, the powerful
patriarchal staff would at once be activated into mighty movement, by the will of the patriarch. But the same thing
is not easily conceivable in this central world, although it is not at all impossible. For every subordinate house
also possesses in the first place every conceivable wealth, splendor, and treasures of all kinds;?in addition,
every house always has wise elders, like the one you have already come to know, and there is thus hardly any
talk of hostility.

There does exist one threatening situation though, which sometimes begins to look a little menacing;?and that is
the mighty love of women of the inhabitants of this central sun-world.

The women of such a main palace are, as you see, more beautiful than those of the subordinate palaces. This is
also your situation on the earth, because, as in the latter case, the homes of a cultured and rich house, as well
as of a whole better city, is more beautiful and charming than those of the countrymen, who naturally have a
lesser spiritual development, and by the manifold cares and burdens of a life of heavy handwork. If a rugged
countryman's son would be able to win the hand of a woman, respectable and well- educated city-father house,
he would surely be leaving his peasant women. The reason why is easy to understand.
A similar case can also occur here, and this is almost easier than on earth. Thus, when the young men,
according to their freedom, occasionally visit such a principal palace, and not infrequently perceive the etheric
feminine beauties, they begin to jolt with great violence, and then they will risk everything to reach such an
unspeakable beauty. - But the question is, if they can accomplish such a thing by a legitimate way? This, too,
can happen the same way as is the case on earth.

How, on earth, can the son of a so-called common landlord be able to obtain such a distinguished daughter of a
prominent townhouse? By spiritual diligence! Such a country boy diligently follows the scientific way, and then,
by his acquired abilities, attracts the attention of the landlord.

This makes him a high official, and our former peasant boy, as a great gentleman, can now knock with the calm
conscience of the world at such an elegant house, and he will not be pushed out the door. This is one way.

Another country boy summoned to the plight of a soldier in a troublesome time, but the situation is certainly very
much contrary and unfavorable for the kingdom of heaven. But, if it is required in a general emergency, it can
also be justified, as it was in the time of David.

If then, such a peasant boy then distinguishes himself as a defender of the fatherland through courage and
judiciousness, he will quickly be promoted by his king or emperor, to the dignity of a landlord. As such, he may
then knock at the houses of princes and counts, and being the Emperor's favorite, who is of birth nothing but a
simple peasant's son, will be met with open arms.

Look, it goes here very much the same way. There is, of course, nothing to be done on the burning path of
desire; but on the way of merit through a distinguished degree of high wisdom, every human being of the lower
order can take possession of such an etheric female palace beauty.

But what are these merits? You only have to look a little at the splendor of the buildings, and you will easily come
to the conclusion and say, "If these buildings are constructed by man's hands, then these men have to be great
masters of the architectural art, as well as of a variety of manufacturing arts." Yes, so it is; what you always see
and meet here, is all a work of human hands, and since they have a great quantity of noble material on this
world-body, they also do everything conceivable to render their dwellings as miraculous as possible.

If someone has invented and produced something meaningful through his wisdom and then brings it before the
council of the elders of a main palace, and if his work is recognized as something special, he is honored with the
dignity of a master in his art. If he has done something for the splendor of the main palace by his talent, then he
can knock with the best conscience at the main palace, and he gets the wife who pleases him.

This, however, is the highest wage that such a master of wisdom can wish to obtain. But he also does not ask for
anything more; and I am of the opinion, inasmuch as I know you, that you would be willing to sell a whole empire
for such a reward. Such a happy master of his art is then accoladed with his own special advantages. Firstly, he
is given his own land and soil, which for a certain territory, has to be awarded only by the elder of the main
palace. On this new grounds, he can then build a new palace according to his personal taste.

But how does he get the builders? Nothing is easier, for everyone would search out such a beneficiary,
everybody tries to achieve merit for himself by him, in order to gain in him a favoring friend and advocate in the
principal palace, which some of them will occasionally receive.

But on such occasions, there are also several who cannot receive such benefits because of many factors. The
result is then sometimes a degree of bitterness, and, because of such bitterness, that some, striving for some
luck and benefit, would join up and try to achieve by force what others have achieved by virtue. A small war
ensues, always turning out to be fruitless for the villains, for the elder of the palace only needs to show himself
holding his staff, and the violent men are put to flight.

Yes, but why do the men of violence fear the staff so much? Because the staff is the symbol of the will- power of
the sages and elders of the palaces. You have already come to know the will-power of men in the sun, in the
natural part of it. This willpower is also present here in its fullness, especially with the elders.

In this central sun, however, the power of will is even more determined, and the difference between that of the
arch elder in comparison to that of the ordinary human being, is just as distinct as the differences between the
central suns, the planetary suns, planets, and their moons; so that the will-power of such a principal palace sage
is well-known among all the other people who dwell in his wisdom and will-territory. But whoever would have a
taste of the wisdom of such a sage, would immediately stand in the greatest astonishment.

Chapter 22.

Conditions for the attainment of the childhood of God.

Behold, he raises his staff, which will say as much as: Listen to me with the most intense and deepest attention!
After all, as you can see, and in yourselves easily notice, are all the people willing to listen carefully; the elder
lowers his staff and says: All my children and offspring of my children! You are initiated, and the guidance of the
Most High God, the Almighty Creator and Master of All Things, is not unknown to you. You now are also initiated
into the words of the prophets, who once came as a great spirit in the name of God, over the endlessly wide
paths of our world, the end of which has not yet been measured, and none of us knows what incomprehensible
depths of creation penetrates its surface.

This great spirit alone transcended the world from one end to the other; for his motion was like that of flashing
light, and his voice rolled like mighty thunders, and our world trembled to its very foundations when he spoke.

His words stayed with us, and we have preserved them in our starscripts. You may go and stand in this my
house, wherever you will, this celestial writing will shine upon you with its bright glow, and will always revive your
mind's inner wisdom.

But how does the mighty words of this prophet's spirit sound, which is written around the altar with the stars,
from the many words? Who of you can say, I cannot read it, for I myself have taught you all to read the signs of
the stars?

But let us look up into the endless, bluish sea of air, and you can always see there what the great Creator
created, what our hand has imitated here. - What is the meaning of this hint? Hear, I will repeat it to you: In the
midst of the great court of the Palace of the stars, you should erect an altar to the one God, and lay the wood
upon it; but the wood shall be perfect and its aroma the best. But you shall never kindle this wood with a worldly
fire, but a fire from your spirit shall bring this wood to flame.

But if the wood is kindled by the fire of your heart, go forth, you and yours and go into the house of God, and
enter into the light of the flame, to investigate whether anyone of your house is able to enter. He who feels
himself capable will step up to the altar and read in the flame the conditions which he has to fulfill in the world
which the great God has created for Himself and for His children. - Such is the hint.

But you all know how long, according to our exact time-keeper, the wood has already been on the altar, and no
one of us could ignite it, for all of us lacked the power of the spirit. I am well aware that no one of us touched the
altar of the Lord after the laying on of the wood with a fingertip, and yet the sanctified wood has miraculously
burst into flames.

What shall we do now?

I tell you, let everyone, man or woman, test his mind before God the Almighty. Who out of you all has the
courage to take hold of the Supreme Being of God with his love? Whoever can put down everything before the
altar and keep nothing but the love of his heart for the all-powerful, eternally great God, should come out and try
to read what the flame shows.

Indeed, whoever will be able to do so will have a great road in front of him, a road from the greatest freedom to
the lowest servitude, a road from this perfect life through to death, a path from this highest light level into the
greatest night; and also a path from this greatest happiness and bliss that we all feel, to the greatest tribulation,
the greatest misery and the greatest distress, a road from our uninterrupted well-being, to unbearable grief, to
reach the home of God after an undetermined time. Well, the one who can reach this home can become a child
of God!

But what a road it is! It would be easier to explore our world, however endless it may be, to achieve this ultimate
goal.

So much I could tell you all in advance; but whoever has the courage, the path is not cut off, for where the Lord
Almighty is doing one thing, He will do the other.

Now see, our elder has spoken. He directed his words with great knowledge and profound wisdom; so we will
now pay attention to the effect they have produced in his children and children's children. Do you suppose that
after his dissuasive journey description, someone will decide to step onto the road to God's home?

See, no male being wants to step up this time; but there, a wonderfully beautiful feminine being emerges and
speaks to the elders: you are the witness of my life by the power of God in you! My breast swells up with mighty
love for the one God, without whose ever possible visible presence a perfect bliss can never be imagined. I
would like to go to Him, and would like to be a most humble maid in one of His smallest houses, which He will
surely have in infinite numbers. The way does not frighten me; where and how He can be found, the flame will
tell me. If I have gained that certainty, then let me also follow the suggestion of the mighty prophet, who spoke to
all the people of this endlessly great world in the name and power of the Almighty God!

The elder said, "Come, then, come here before me and turn your face to the flame, and read what it is saying to
you. - The female being comes before the elders and reads from the flame: Your God and your Lord is a God full
of love and mercy and will give you to bear a gentle yoke and a light burden! Be humble in your heart; forget this
world's great beauty and splendor, and commend yourself to the almighty protection of the great God!

He Himself will carry you invisibly on His own hands through a short material life to His dwelling, where you will
be given the great childhood, and will live eternally in the Almighty Divine Father's home. If you have the courage
in your love for this great God, put your hand on the altar!

The elder says, "My daughter, you have read the condition of the great grace of God; what do you want to do
now? The daughter says, I will, in my increasingly powerful love for my and your God, and I will be there, so I
want you to remember, when it will be the Lord's will, that you also follow, with many others. I am well aware that
this world is also glorious, and that we have a splendid society with pure spirits, who have assumed finer bodies
than our own. We can look with little effort at their great bliss, and this is of such a nature that it does not disturb
the bliss of our natural life; yet, the blessed spirits of this world is in no way ahead of us, except that they can
ascend according to their will and make faster movements than we are able to make it in our natural state, for we
are not capable to lift ourselves up like them, high up into the space of bright light.

But just consider, what can be said against it, to be a child of God, who can see with one glance more than we
are capable of in countless revolutions of times. Therefore, I will lay my hand upon the altar, and step unto the
marvelous road.

Look, this daughter puts her hand on the altar, and she is no longer to be seen among the company. But what
will society do now? We'll have a look at the next opportunity!

Chapter 23.

Speech of the sun-elder to his people.

Behold, our elder has just come forth and speaks to all those present: My beloved children and children's
children! You know where we take those stones from, which, as self-luminous stars, are inserted into the other
precious building blocks. Our well-trained divers get them from the bottom of the great, very deep waters.
Likewise, are all glorious, great, and precious things hidden in inaccessible depths; and we are likewise
superficially created to be capable of deep wisdom of God Almighty.

Since we are first of all here, we feel no difficulty in our existence;?it is so easy to continue our lives here. If,
however, we wish to revive the abilities present in us, let us penetrate into the depths of wisdom, life will then be
no jest anymore, but shall be subject to a great seriousness and an exhaustive search for what corresponds to
divine wisdom.

People who have found the great treasure in the depths of their lives are also like the sea itself. They are like
other people in their outward motion, and their waves are the result of their wise actions.

The difference between the surging activity of awakened and ordinary people consists in the fact that the one
who is awakened in himself does and acts according to the eternal law of the divine order found in him. The
ordinary man, however, acts according to the laws given from outside, which are derived from the living law of
those who have found the inner wisdom within themselves, which has laid within them since the primordial
beginning, by the highest wisdom of the Creator.

But then, if there is almost no essential difference between the self-aroused and the merely external imitating
men, how can one, therefore, investigate and deduce from the experience: "Behold, is this a self-

awakened, or only an external imitator?"

My beloved children and children's children! Look at the altar, the sacred flame is still blazing. Which of you have
the courage to lay his hand upon the altar after hearing the conditions for obtaining the childhood of God?

When I have shown you the requirements out of my wisdom, you all shuddered, and all retreated from the altar
of conversion to the childhood of God. But a virgin, who was probably the simplest in this my palace, so that no
one of any of us could have imagined that in this very simple, virgin being, would be such profound, already
awakened wisdom(her work guarantees us). Let all of us see how these people are and should be, in whom the
inner wisdom is awakened by the silent self-activity and self-investigation of one's own spirit.

We are inhabitants of this principal palace. Deep and inner wisdom is supposed to distinguish us from all other
ordinary people; but how is it with our manly wisdom, as it was put to shame by a weak maiden? How is it then
with our wisdom that there would be such courageous wise people from the subordinate homes, who have
enough courage to put their hands on the altar of God, out of humility and love for God?

You jerk your shoulders and make an ambiguous movement with your heads and eyes; and I tell you: Truly, our
wisdom is like the foam of the sea, whose bubbles on their surface make a beautiful play of shimmering colors;?
but one only has to breathe on such a shimmering bubble, and it, together with its color- play, completely
disappears from existence.

But the wisdom of the girl, who had enough courage to lay her hand on the altar, is like that splendid rock in the
deep bottom of the sea, with which we adorn the walls of our dwelling in the form of stars, and lay the figuration
of the stars, the words of the prophet. But we ourselves are scarcely equal to the flat building blocks, whose
surface, but not their interior, is inscribed with the radiant stones.

Who among you can actively disprove my address? Who else has the courage to lay his hand upon the altar,
while the flame still blazes? I see none of you raising up and coming closer, but you all withdraw, and none of
you would answer me.

What shall we do, since the flame still blazes? I will give you a counsel, and it is this: "All of you, fall on your
faces before the altar of God, praise and exalt the Almighty God, that He may at least awaken us all to the extent
that we may thereby know in the depths of our lives, how far we still have to go, to become what our sister has
become, our wise girl."

And if we should never get the high courage to lay our hands on the altar, then we ask God the Almighty that He
would, at least in this respect give us life in this world, enlivened by His infinite wisdom, that we would always in
a worthy manner be able to be an example for the great multitude of people who are subject to our main palace,
and are most fortunate enough to receive favor from this main palace or even a bride. And as we have now
shown, we are with all our other wisdom, stupid enough to always give away the most wise when a bride is to be
given; while we were of the opinion that we gave only those who are the least suited to our palace. Is it right that
we should do so?

I tell you, we are doing it wrong, the way we do it; but in view of how the omnipotent God of heaven and the
earth can make also our stupidity worthwhile, it is absolutely right what happens; and especially in the case of
such bridal commitments, when our stupidity turns on us, and the all-wise God takes a flower from our main
palace, of whom our palace is not worthy, and as we ourselves are not worthy of keeping this holy flame blazing
at the same strength on the altar of God.

The extraordinary miracle of our great patriarchal habitation witnesses about the extent to which I am right or
wrong in this speech to you all.

Tell me who of us have ever brought a stone hence, and who of us ever designed a blueprint? Behold, all this is
the work of those men in the flat plain below, which are subject to us, that is of our supposed, deep wisdom.

But if this is undeniably the case, it is also clear to the contrary that in the profound flatness of our great
landscapes there are men whom we are not worthy to look into the face.

But if such men approach the palace by the merits of their wisdom, in order to acquire a better bride, is it not
wholly right, and most reasonable, that the most worthy of them is given to them? Yes, my dear children and
children's children, what God the Almighty does, that alone is well done; and so it is incomparably better that we
give our daughters to the friends of God for their joy than to keep them from them and keep them for our own
great stupidity.

Therefore, fall down together with me before the altar, and ask for so much wisdom that ye do not need to be
secretly ashamed of them that are insignificant before us. And in the flame we shall then read quite clearly what
God would want us to still do to achieve what would be more beneficial to us than our stupidity.

- So be it! Amen!

Chapter 24.

Prayers of the mind and the heart.

Now, all the numerous inhabitants of this main palace falls in a circle on their faces before the altar, on which the
flame still blazes. Even the elder does not neglect to do so.

You would then like to know how such people pray? Such people pray in the same way as you do. They pray to
God, to the supreme Lord of heaven and earth. Their prayer is a prayer with the living wish that the Lord will give
them what they ask Him for. You pray well in your own way, if you truly pray in your heart, and accompany your
prayer with the desire for your prayer to be heard, which is true prayer.

Prayer with these people is more of a gesture prayer than an inner heart prayer; it is about the same as you are
active your mind, and you are making involuntary movements according to the nature of your thoughts. So the
prayer of these people is not a prayer of emotion, coming from the heart, but an intellectual prayer, which comes
from the thoughts of the soul in the head.

In this position do these people each one think according to the degree of his wisdom, about which would be the
wiser way.

Their position is not, as in you, a certain humble and contrite devotion to the heart, but it is only a sign that they
should not at all interfere with each other in this state. Everyone, undisturbed, thinks to himself in his mind, with
the desire that God the Almighty might allow the same. If someone has found the wisest point in his own way,
then he may stand up quite calmly all alone, and then read in the flame how far his point of wisdom can be found
in the writing of the flame. If he finds it, the standing prayer keeps standing. If, however, his point of wisdom
cannot be found in the flame, the prayer immediately lays down again on his face and prays or rather thinks
further, about the what would be the wisest his sphere.

See, this is the general prayer among the people of this world-body;?especially those who belong to the
patriarchal houses. You are saying, of course, well, why do not these men turn to the Lord to show them the right
wisdom? For they must understand that the Lord is wiser than all their understanding and that He can and will
give them that which they ask.

I say to you that this is well thought, inasmuch as someone does not know the circumstances of this great world;
but if one knows them, he will everywhere recognize the holy order of the Lord, and will say that these people
too, according to their style is valid before the Lord, because this prayer is according to their order.

But why? The reason will be easily shown, and so listen!

These people acknowledge and say: If we would turn to God to give us true wisdom, we would thereby resent
God and cause Him great disgrace, for in this way we would make the allegation that God, being the Most Wise
and Most Just, would want to deceive us, and we must be in high regard of the prudence which the Lord God of
heaven and the earth (the inhabitants of this body of the world, like every other, call their foundation earth the
same as you do) and use it according to His order. If we have consumed this wisdom within ourselves, and we
then feel the need for a higher wisdom, then we have the right to ask God for what is lacking and then use it
according to His order.

See, according to this order live and pray the people of this world-body. To whom do they correspond in the
essence of man? They correspond, since they are the inhabitants of a central sun, with the brain; although with
only a single nerve in it, which is situated at the extremity of the optic nerve quite close to the brain. That is why
their nature and their order is thus, that they are generally satisfied with what they have; in the same way as the
rational men with you are satisfied with nothing so much as with their intellect, as each one thinks to have the
best, and often, the less understanding one possesses, the more contented he is with it.

It is, of course, quite different with the emotional man who thinks in his heart. He recognizes that all human
understanding is just patchwork and that the human is the most intelligent, and the wisest, who has made it so
far as to say in his humility: I know nothing; because all my knowledge does not weigh a sun- particle against the
infinite wisdom of God. Such a man has only then taken hold of the true hunger for wisdom, which allows him to
find the great storehouse which the Lord has placed in his heart, amply supplied.

But are not there similar human beings on this central world? Oh, we've already seen two, namely those who
have put their hands on the altar.

For laying a hand on the altar says that one has found his great poverty within himself, but beside him also a
brightly shining lamp, which stands before an inscribed tablet in his own heart, on which is written with clearly
legible writing:

Immortal Spirit! Humble yourself in your highness; inflame yourself in your love for God, and return to Him who
created you. There in the great father's house, you will find it in endless abundance, which is so much amiss with
you here!

And now, if any man of these men has found such things in himself, he becomes a quiet sage, and strives, unlike
anything else, to enter onto the path which leads to the goal which he has found on the illuminated tablet in his
heart. It is true that every man of this world-body has such a plate in himself, but not everyone shines the
glimmering lamp before it, but instead places the lamp in the center of his brain. Hence, it comes also that from
the countless many inhabitants of this world-body, there are only a few who wish to place their hand on the altar.

But if you take a look back at your earth, you will find without much searching or any effort, the same situation.
Think only of the word of the Lord, when He said, "Many are called, but few chosen." And you will be able to
count the chosen ones of even a prominent place, very easily on your fingers.
But what is the reason? Because no one, or of the many, but very few, will be pleased with the words of the Lord,
"Deny yourself, take the cross upon your shoulder, and follow Me."

It is true that this endless grace was not given to man in this central solar world, that the Lord Himself had taught
and shown to them the straight and shortest way with His own holy mouth, and in this way not only a glimmering
lamp but a whole central sun was put before their tablets, and they are therefore not exempt from the possibility
of finding the tablet of eternal life in their hearts, and of setting up their lives. To this end, they also live long
enough to find what is in themselves; - for there are people as old as half the human race on your earth.
Moreover, even the spirit-souls of the dead can, when they so wish, be capable of the same resettlement as
when they were in their body-life. There is no great difference between these two stages of the people of this
world, for they can always see and speak with each other as often as they wish.

But we also have enough to understand the nature of the prayer of these people; the prayers have in the
meantime raised and gathered themselves around the altar, and we will, therefore, give their further deference
some brief attention, and then go forth on this world again.

Chapter 25.

Difference between children of the sun and children of God.

Our elder again raises his staff and opens his mouth. What will he say to his children? Listening ourselves will
give the best answer to this question; and so we hear how he speaks. His words are:

My dear children and children's children! You have gathered before the altar upon which the flame of God is still
burning. You have offered a worthy praise to the Almighty; therefore the Spirit of God speaks to us from the
flame:

To the great I am great, small to the little, strong to the strong, and weak to the weak; but in this weakness lies a
secret strength, which is more powerful than all the might of the great. Whoever is merciful, I am also merciful to
him; whoever does good will be done good to. To the lords am I am a Lord; but a slave to the servant. The sage
may not play with My light; but the corridor of My divine fullness shall be open to the simple.

For those who are full of intellect, I am in the inaccessible light; but for the simple of the world and its glow, I will
go out as a brother. The children of the sun have great power, their breath is stronger than the greatest storm is
for the small earth, and before their thoughts, their world bows, and drives new flames out of their vast pastures.
But those who are and want to be My children must be weak, and their weakness must first be a power in Me.
The children of the sun may worship Me in their light, but My children worship Me in their fire. The children of the
sun are what they are; but My children must not remain what they are, but they must be consumed so that only
through their destruction they should become what they are to be.

What do you want, children of the sun? You have your well-measured part; if you want more, you shall be given
more; do you want a greater bliss, how can you ask for more than what will be for you according to your
knowledge and your will? But if you want to become My children, you should not want to win, but want to lose
everything. For your lot as children of the sun is such, that you can adorn yourself with eternally growing
treasures and riches, on the other hand, the lot of My children is to become ever poorer, and to the extent that
they do not even regard their life as their own. And they must always be willing to spend their love, which is the
foundation of their lives, on countless brethren.

What you possess is given to you for eternal, unqualified property; My children, however, are not allowed to
possess anything, nor even to provide for their own table, but for all that they need, they have to take it from
nowhere but from Me in My house. You are mighty lords of your world; My children, however, must be poor
servants; they must work with their hands.
But if they have worked for something, they may not keep it as a property, but should bring it into My house, as
soon as I give it to each and every one of them, which is necessary for the sake of loving care. You dwell in
palaces that surpass all imaginable splendor and glory; My children, however, must occupy huts, about whose
lowliness and utter glory you would shudder. But My children are still My children and are always with Me, and
always do according to My will, which is endlessly powerful to the mighty, but also endlessly small to the weak.

If you want to be My children, you must consider this and let go of all the advantages of your life forever. Even
your life with its clearest consciousness must be a sacrifice to Me; you must keep nothing but your completely
emptied essence. For, as you are, you are also the vessels of life, which go out from My light; but as My children,
you should become the dwelling-place of My own eternal Spirit, and this can not dwell in the flightiness of your
light, but only in the great firmness which is dense enough to resist the almighty fire of My own eternal love-life.

You grace a mighty staff of willpower, and when you lift it, your great world trembles under the great compulsion
of your will; My children, however, must lay a heavy wooden cross on their shoulders, which pushes them to the
ground and gives them death, over which their little world mightily rejoices. Only from this death can they arise,
be like Me, and then do what I do; but not to rule like you, but to serve all with the greatest love, gentleness, and
fullest resignation in My will. Do you think this is a little thing to surrender entirely to My will? Listen and hear!

To surrender completely to My will wants to say more than if anyone of you wants to grasp the whole of infinite
creation in his fist and play with it as with the smallest grain of sand. Yes, it says more than if you would go to the
vast pastures of your world, where, the immeasurable glowing power of the flames are continually raging inside
of immeasurably wide clefts, and if one wants to fall down into the crater, and sip up with one draft the endlessly
raging embers and flame mass. And yet My children must absorb My infinite eternal will into themselves, up to
the last drop, before they can be fully My children.

You assess and know the infinite power of My will; who of you can stand against My will, and say: Lord! Let me
fight with You? Will not the smallest little spark destroy him, as if he had never been there? Yes, the smallest
spark of my will is enough to obliterate numerous sun-worlds, as this one which you inhabit.

But if you see it clearly according to your assessment, what will you say to it, if I declare it to you out of My fire,
that it is a task and an indispensable condition for My children to subdue to My will? But in order to explain this
unspeakably great task for you, My children or those who wish to become My children must continue to bear the
burden of My will with much trial and tribulation during their period of freedom, and must be completely
consumed by the fire of My zeal, so that they may thereby be eternally related to the endless, eternal fire of My
will. And many, who have not passed this test in their individual period of liberation, will then have to be forced,
after their passing over, to cleanse themselves for long periods of time in the fire of My will, and get themselves
into to the most grievous trouble, before they can be taken up among My children, as being the very least.

What do you want now? Will you stay? Or do you really want to be My children? Behold, the little spark of My will
blazes at the altar. If you wish to stay, then stay; if you want to acquire childhood, put your hands on the altar.

See, as such have our elder read everything from the flame. But what do the children say to this lecture? They
say: Great God! It is, of course, something infinite to be a child of Yours, but if Your will is even more violent than
the endless glow which our world carries in its wide chasms, who then can bear such and live with it? Therefore,
let us remain what we are, and always make a sacrifice of our wisdom! Therefore, take back the terrible flame on
your altar, and let us go and live in our peace.

A word comes from the flame: so be done according to your will.

Nevertheless, the wood should always be on the altar; then I will preserve the ways by which My great love and
mercy will remain.

Know, however, that what seems hard for you, is an easy thing for Me;?and what seems easy for you, is hard for
Me. You indeed love your freedom to rule, but I am only pleased with the simplicity and subordinate servitude of
My children; for there is no master, to whom a different master is better than his own servant, who is always a
most faithful servant to him. Therefore, one master gives the other only the compulsory portion; but the servant
is rewarded by his Lord. My children are also My servants; therefore they also have My wages as servants and
My heritage as children! Consider this always; and if once again the new wood on your altar will begin to blaze,
then think that a father is better than a master! Now go into your peace, and My flame will go out, so that you
may be rulers in your world! However, only to those areas where the flames of My will blazes out of endless
depths; no one dares to go there. For only the fertile soil should be subject to you; but the flame is Mine. Amen!

Now see, the flame at the altar is extinguished. The oldest of them lowered his staff, and the entire population of
this palace went out into the open to re-establish itself after this great lesson. But we are going out again, and
from there, to another place.

Chapter 26.

Example of the rich youth.

Here we are again on our well-known plateau: see, it has not changed yet. You would like to see the inhabitants
of this palace, who have moved out before us, where they are now. Go only to the edge of the plateau, and you
will soon see the beautiful inhabitants where they amuse themselves;?some on the round galleries are known to
you, some on the triumphal arch above our well-known staircase; and then, a whole legion is already swarming
around the canal.

You ask how these people can get anywhere so fast? I tell you that this is quite easy. Firstly are their bodies
much lighter than yours on the earth; most of the sun-dwellers also have a considerable will-power, according to
which they are able to carry out many things which are certainly impossible for the inhabitants of the earth. And
so they can move about their world-surface with much greater rapidity than you are able to understand.

This property, however, is of great necessity for the inhabitants of a world of such immense size, for if they could
move on the earth as fast as they do, what would they do in many territories, often a single district, such as that
of this palace, which has a larger area of space than multiple of your earth's surface area. Central sun-worlds
differ from the planetary nerves in that they do not have habitats like these, but only habitable large areas which
might be called oases. How much of such oases are on a central sun, the circumference of which is several
trillion miles by your measure, can hardly be determined; but you can be certain that, in such a central sun-
region, as much as there are planet-suns with planets around it, all belonging to this one central sun.

Are these oversized circular areas, of which there is an immense number, being separated from each other or
not? They are very definitely separated; - how? Mostly through endlessly extended rows of fire craters;?now and
then also by very high mountains whose tops, which, if they were on earth, were likely to disturb your moon in its
orbit. These sometimes have a larger surface area on their height than about half the surface of your earth.

That the feet of such mountains will have a very great circumference and diameter, you can easily imagine by
yourself. A third kind of limitation of such spheres is here and there either large and broad streams, or even
exceedingly great world-seas, which have such enormous water content that your earth, if it falls in, would be
taken up in the sea, and make the same impact, as if you would throw a pearl into the sea of your earth. It is,
however, also necessary that on such an exceedingly fiery body would also be great extinguishing devices.

Here and there one discovers wide and very wide lightwater-rivers on this world-body. The water of such
streams is not transparent and is much heavier than other ordinary, transparent water.

These floods of light, however, cannot be compared with anything similar on your earth, since it is unique only to
such solar bodies. The inhabitants gather this light-water into certain containers, whereupon it soon petrifies and
become so-called self-luminous white stones. In this respect, this water is almost similar to the water of your
earth, in which soon grow salty crystals when it is separated from the total mass. But, this light-water does not
petrify spontaneously, since it always absorbs the continually softening nourishment from its bed.

Where is the outflow of such a body of water? It usually springs from the numerous mountains, which are
equipped with large fire-craters, and accumulates in a river not infrequently of thousands of miles long, and then
flows through an area whose distance is often greater than the distance of the earth to your sun and then,
sometimes, into another great sea of water, but in most cases, a great fire-crater burnt out here and there, fills
them by degrees, and in the course of time makes a flat land out of the great and exorbitant gaps, which spreads
an indescribable splendor. In time, however, it will also become solid and may be used as fertile land.

The white building blocks for the palaces are here and there cut from such regions; it is self-illuminating and is
usually used to form arches above the pillars, as well as to fixed walls of a building. However, the broken and
then trimmed stone does not have the same value as when taken fresh from the water currents, because it is
less bright than those casted.

That would be the borders of our circular regions. But can these limitations or demarcations of the district areas
not be exceeded? This is not easily the case here; for such a district is in the first place, already so vast that
millions upon millions of people are able to provide themselves with a wealth of resources and live very
comfortably. Then, on its surface, there are numerous glories and wonders that the inhabitants of such a district
have to look at, study, and enjoy spiritually all their lives; they, therefore, do not care at all about the conditions of
another region, just as little as you on your earth would care about what it looks like on a foreign planet,
especially when you are well looked after on your own.

Moreover, many of the inhabitants of such a district, as long as they live in their bodies, do not know that there
are other areas, but rather are of opinion when they come to one or the other impassable district-

demarcation, either as a fire or as water, mountains or as a flood of light forever, that it would stretch out further
forever.

Sages of high esteem do know because of their conversations with the spirits, that there are on this world there
are still innumerable many other habitable circles. But they know this only under the seal of mutual strict secrecy,
and only share it also with those who want to be initiated into the deeper secrets of divine wisdom.

There are from time to time really big friends of high mountains, who like to climb them if they only climb one
way. But as far as these exceedingly high frontier regions are concerned, even the greatest friends of the
mountains can lose appetite, for they are a little too high for them, and here and there too steep; and the highest
peaks are not infrequently too near to the etheric light, in which even their fire-bodies might be even less able to
exist, than your bodies of flesh at the heights of your earth, which also are quite similar in the air-ether.

Moreover, these high boundaries are usually shrouded in exceedingly strong luminous clouds, in which proximity
these inhabitants do not at all come close to, because they emit such a dazzling light, that it blinds their eyes so
much that they then cannot take in anything more of their surroundings.

See, therefore, the Lord knows how to keep His free creatures everywhere in their proper limits.

One or the other could, of course, say: What would happen if people from different circular areas could meet? I
can say nothing more than that the wisdom and order of the Lord goes definitely always and everywhere deeper
than any human being can measure with his little sense of reason.

But you could even ask yourself on your earth why on this little world-body the nations that live on it do not want
to intermingle, like grass and herbs in a meadow? You will answer Me:

Because the nations have different political and moral constitutions, which can never be compared. It is true that
each of them may well be in its strict order; but all together in a heap would produce an even more horrible
disharmony, so as to make all the pipes of an organ sound at the same time.

The answer is good. From it, however, you can easily deduce how it would be possible on such an immense
world-body, if the great nations on it could get in touch, as when the small nations on your earth would get in
touch. I do not need to say more in this respect. In order that you may understand this even more thoroughly, let
us at once go over to another district, and you will find a very important difference from this circular region. And
so we embark on the journey to the direction of your will.
Chapter 27.

Why there are almost no animals on the central sun. Explanation of the example of the rich youth.

I already notice the direction you want to go; and so we are already going there. - Look to the left and to the
right, in this circular region which we are now entering; what endless splendor and glory radiate from all sides!
Palaces and apartments of unimagined glory, grandeur and majesty!

You ask, "One become overwhelmed by this country's, magnificent glory, but how is it that we have not yet
discovered any other four-footed animals, apart from the fish in the canal which went round the Palace Hill?

- My beloved friends and brothers, besides the little fish, as well as very sparse birds, you will find no other
animal on this central sun. Such animals are only present on the planetary suns, and on their planets and
moons, because they are, so to say, incrementally lower, gradually formed more and more, by the excrement
products of such central suns, whereby, as you have often experienced according to my knowledge, life must
undergo a tougher existence , in order to arrive at proper diligence and purity; you can remember this
relationship:

The more fire a world contains in itself, the less is the hard and coarse matter, which is not conducive to life, but
rather a hindrance. But the less fire a world has in itself, the more crude it is, and life has to go through a tougher
battle in order to reach its ever-constant freedom and purity.

Why then? How can this be evident? You can already see this on the earth very clearly, and indeed with the
people themselves. People who are full of love for the Lord and their brethren are like the worlds that are full of
inner fire. How easily such men come to the inner real life teach you many experiences and the own Word of the
Lord Himself, when He says, "My yoke is gentle, and My burden is light"

People, however, who have less fire, and are thus more lukewarm, need a considerable testing substance until
they are awakened and found life in themselves. It can not be done so quickly with them, because their matter
still remains as a true fire-extinguishing medium against the fire of life, thus hindering the early awakening of the
spirit.

Again we take another man who is quite cold with regard to the love of the Lord. This already resembles a
planet, and there is a great deal of offense and impulse, until he comes into a regulated life- path, and can only
there be gradually illuminated and heated up by rays acting upon it from without.

Why is it so? Because such a man has established himself completely in the coarse material world and it is very
difficult to pass over from this into the pure spiritual. Again, there are people who can be described as completely
fireless, burnt-out volcanoes. These men, therefore, have nothing spiritual about them at all and resemble the
moons, which are also devoid of almost any atmospheric air, at least on one side. They always turn their most
inhospitable side to their planet, and always turn the most efficient away from the same; likewise the human
being.

They are not receptive to a higher life that still surrounds the planet; therefore they have only one direction, and
this is their own selfishness. If, on the contrary, they turn to the light on their scarce side, they nevertheless
consume it only for their material success, but never to the stimulation and formation of the spiritual life which
expresses itself in the beneficial interaction through the spheres in which every spiritual life is effective. Such
people have only half a sphere, being equal to their self-love, by always being averted from the sphere of the
neighbor. They indeed operate together with the better part of mankind, but they are always very far from it, in
order to not lose their material, vain riches, and have, in their actions, a constantly wavering movement, by which
they avoid every opportunity where claim could be made on them to act in love.

How hard it is for such people enter into inner life, the Lord also speaks of at the occasion of the event with the
rich youth, who also came to the Lord to enrich himself by His light - both materially and spiritually; but all
together in a strong materialistic sense.
It would be easy for someone to ask why here then, a rich youth, and not some old miser, was used or allowed in
the evangelical example. Look, all this must have its multifaceted reason. Thus, every moon is a worldly youth,
and the essence of self-interest in a youth is always more lively than in an old man. For among a thousand old
men, you could scarcely meet ten of the stingily selfish kind, which can be compared with the distant planets. But
among a thousand youths, you will hardly find ten, which do not let themselves be directed and driven by self-
interest.

Consider a young man, what he does and undertakes for his vain supply of the world! One of them runs his feet
off to make some rich catch; the other is studying himself to death, to be able to, as soon as possible, attain to
some handsome office. Another is moved to all kinds of meddling to help his weaker talents. And so, like the
other, all of them almost completely sets aside all the divine and the spiritual, and turn with the wind, in order to
chase after some earthly goal.

For this reason, a young man, and indeed a rich youth, is allowed and used in the gospel; a youth because he is
mostly animated by such selfish interests, but rich, because a young man has the greatest ability to reach the
kingdom of God, if he wants to deny himself, and follow in the footsteps of the Lord.

I think, from this example, you will be able to thoroughly understand my given example; and it always depends
on this: the more fire and the resulting warmth or love for God and all neighbors, the less matter or the less
death, and thus the more of life in itself. In contradiction, however, gradually: the more matter, the less fire, and
thus the less true life, is present. Therefore, on such a central sun, consisting mainly of fire, the material,
animalistic life is absent, to the degree of only a few insignificant little animals.

Since we now know this, we can also continue our journey with a freer mind. - Just look up ahead; we are on the
shore of a light stream, which is already known to you, and we shall have to walk over it to get into another
district of this country.

You say in your mind, looking with your spiritual eyes at this endless, radiant, immeasurable current surface, in
your mind: How can we get over this sun-kissed sea with well-kept feet and unblinded eyes? But I tell you, as I
have told you before, that there must never be any doubt on your mind. Firm volition and unwavering trust must
be the eternal measure of the spirit. Therefore, if you do not consider, but want and trust it, this element will have
to be usable to our will and trust. Now you want and trust, and the radiant floods carry us very well and with the
speed of lightning, into another remote world.

See, there at a great distance, is already a solid bank rising above the radiant waves. Heavenly mountains,
dotted with lush green forests, are the first trophies of a vast and habitable district, greeting our eyes with
exceeding pleasantness and sublimity. Will we be able to cross these steep mountains?

Why would one then ask a spirit, to which the channels between the worlds are open, about the steepness of a
mountain in a world? So we shall probably get through this place without an annoying tiredness with the very
least of effort.

We are on the shore and therefore at the foot of the mountain. See the ground, how gently it is clothed with
velvety grass, and what highest purity it presents to us for contemplation! Is not it a pleasure to walk on such
ground under the green-shimmering trees? Yes indeed, that is already in and of itself heavenly glory!

You would like to know whether these trees are bearing fruit? These trees bear no fruit; but its green radiation is
connected with the white stream of the current, making the white radiation more intense, more vivid, and more
far-reaching. It is almost the same as someone who, with the white light of his faith is contemplating the green
light of hope associated with it, and seeing that faith thereby becomes more saturated and more lively, for a faith
without hope would be an intolerable light. But by the union of these two lights also a generation of love occurs;
for whoever believes and hopes will soon begin to love Him whom he believes and trust in.

So here, too, is this vast expanse of green-luminescent forest region before us, a saturation of the white light.
And look a little beyond the flood of the stream downwards, then you also see the two lights changing into a red
one, which also says so much that in the course of faith and confidence, love begins to develop. The same can
be seen in the reflection of every rainbow so that it can also be called a true arc of peace; it goes without saying,
in spiritual sense. But as we know these things, we can begin to move very contentedly over the gently
ascending forest floor.

Chapter 28.

Love as the foundation of faith and hope, and at the same time, its fruit.

Look, the mountain is not as steep as it seemed from a distance; for such mountains look very steep from a
certain distance; in reality they are by no means what they seem to be. They occupy a larger surface; however,
because they rise only moderately; and this is also necessary, so that from such a vast forest surface, a
sufficient quantity of the green light can be emitted from it, flowing into the white light of the adjoining luminous
river and then absorb the etheric saturating part.

For the white light of the current is still wholly and purely etheric, or, for you to understand it more easily, it is in
itself an ether, which has not yet absorbed anything else into itself, but nevertheless contains in itself, in an
undivided manner, everything within itself. Just like water on earth, which is a bearer of everything the earth has
to offer.

The green light-ether, however, is very hungry of nature, after he has consumed almost all the other essential
substances except for the green, which is therefore also the radiant one. As a result of his hunger, he becomes
fully satisfied by the complete saturation of the white light-ether coming from the river, which is then expressed
by the reddish tint.

You may also find many similar things on your earth; you only have to turn to most tree-fruits, as well as to so
many flowers. How is everything in the immature state? Green; but this green, as a hungry color substance,
continually saturates itself with the white light of the sun-and how does the total saturation, which marks the
actual maturity of the fruit, express itself? Usually, mostly, in a more or less reddened color, or at least certainly in
a color which has its base in the red color, or even passes over into the same color.

On the earth, however, this is only imperfect, while is most actively expressed on a central sun world. You
probably say, "How is it that with us, there are many fruits which become during maturation and is at perfect
maturity of a perfect blue color? Likewise, there are also a lot of blue flowers; and we do not know how such a
blue color can be derived from the red. I say to you, consider only such a blue fruit (for example, plum) as
thoroughly as this, and you will soon see that the blue color is only an outer, easily wipeable tinge; but the main
color is red.

If you want to cover a red surface with a very fine glass powder, the surface will no longer appear red, but bluish.
But to see the matter even better, you can only take the juice from such a blue fruit, and you will easily learn from
it that the basis of the blue is completely red. An even clearer demonstration is the morning or evening blush,
where the blue color of the air, with some certain motion of rays, passes easily into the red hue. Therefore, the
blue color can be regarded as nothing but a hazy wrapping of the red.

You will see these things more clearly when inspecting a surely perfectly blue cornflower with a microscope,
where you will often see the perfectly red color flashing out of the thousands of crystals arranged next to each
other. I mean, we have enough to see that the saturation between green and white always expresses itself so
well by the red color, as the faith fostered and sown by faith is expressed completely in love, the corresponding
color of which is red. - You should understand and observe this matter; but in this respect, I am still seeing a
small gap in you, which we can easily fill up during our mountain ascension.

But what is the nature of this gap? You see, you do not understand how the mutual light color saturation just
explained, corresponds to the mentioned related faith, hope and love. So be attentive, and let us examine the
matter at once. The white color corresponds to faith. But just as the white color, as a fine, ethereal substance,
carries all the other substances or colors within it, faith in the finest spiritual substance carries within itself all the
infinite things of the kingdom of God and the Divine essence itself. Every man, however, is like this mountain
covered with green trees, from which the green color of hope constantly radiates.

And you will not easily find a completely hopeless person anywhere in the world, even though there is very little
faith and love.

Hope, however, is continually consumed, never reaching any strength unless it receives the right food, which you
can see from an abundance of moral and natural examples on your earth.

As a moral example, all the degrees and kinds of despair you can serve to be instructive, for every despair
surely has its basis in the hope which has been completely consumed. - Natural examples are ample.

Put a flowerpot for a long time in a completely dark place; then look at it after a quarter of a year, and you will
see only too plainly how the green color has fainted into a white light yellow, that is to say, the complete color of
death.

It goes without saying that one must understand here only the color of the living plant world, but not the color of
the minerals since in the minerals, this color is taken into complete captivity and resembles a man dead in hope,
where also his hope was taken captive with him. For this reason, such people also appear in the afterlife in a
dark green color, which, by the realization that their corresponding hope cannot be realized, either passes into
the mold gray or even the completely black, but the latter color is actually no longer a color, as it is no light at all,
but it is the complete lack of everything. So here we are concerned only with the more lively plant color.

It is true that the green color radiates its green and consumes everything else of the color of the etheric. But this
is precisely the characteristic of hope. Hope also consumes everything with great desire, and we can not
imagine a greater glutton than hope. Man often paints for himself fantastical pictures in the most brilliant colors of
things he hopes for above everything else; this hope becomes his reality. He continually consumes all these
paintings, but he does not consume hope. And if he comes in the situation that even his fantasy can no longer
provide him with a painting, then he is already the most miserable, for he is biting and eating into his own hope.
This is the flower in the completely dark place.

But how can hope be satisfied? Put the flowerpot back into to the white light of the sun, but not too suddenly, and
it will start to become green again. Why then? Because he has become extremely hungry for a full saturation.

Let us turn to the corresponding moral part. Who would rather be consoled than a despondent man, that is, a
man deluded in his hope? Or who is more eager for a real consolation, a moral saturation of a starved hope,
than such a hopeless man? Bring him to the stream of light, and he will take it in with full drafts that which would
satisfy him presently the most.

From this, however, it can also be clearly seen how hope can always be more and more fully realized through
faith. A hungry man is miserable. If you wish to make him happy, satisfy him, and in his saturation, all hunger will
pass away, a cheerfulness of mind will take hold of him, and in this cheerfulness he will embrace his host's love
with the greatest of gratitude.

This is exactly the case with someone who is hungry for truth or for the realization of his ideas. Bring him to the
true stream of light, and he will soon go into it and will satisfy his heart's desire and his own needs.

And if he would easily and very soon realize that this saturation is a true one, which is perfect for all his still
empty ideas, he will also soon become cheerful, and at the same time take hold of the great host with great
ardor of his love; which love in itself expresses a perfect saturation; or, in love, everything of faith and all hope is
present in fully realized maturity and saturation. And love, on the other hand, is the hopefully saturated by faith;
but it is, on the other hand, because it includes hope and faith in its saturation, also the foundation of both. -

You say: How can that be? I mean, there can hardly be something more natural and easy to understand than
that.

Where does a tree come from? You say: From a seed. - Where does the seed come from? From the tree, you
say.

Well, if so, then the seed will have to contain all the elements of the tree that emerge from it. But if the tree would
make a new seed again, it must again put its whole being into the seed.

Surely you would like to know whether the Lord has created the tree before the seed? I mean, this secret can
almost be grasped by the hands. If the Lord have created the tree before the seed, then you can be assured that
He is also doing this at present, for He does not change His ways of conduct, and He does act differently today
and tomorrow, for then you would continually and suddenly see newly created trees. But you see each tree
gradually growing and developing.

But this act shows with more brightness than that of ten suns, that the Lord did not need to create a fully grown
tree, but the seed only. And when it comes into the earth, it develops, and from this development comes forth a
completed form of that which the Lord has placed into the seed-kernel.

But in the seed there is once again the ability to find itself again in the end, and the tree itself and its whole
activity is then nothing but an effective process from the seed to seed; and it is, in my opinion, much more
correct and wiser to suppose that a line is a product of many adjoining points, and is, therefore, confined by two
endpoints, so as to quite foolishly assume that a point would be a product of a contracted line, and be bound by
two lines (NB: of which it has a countless number) on either side .

I think that you would easily see from this little bit, that the Lord created the seed of corn rather than the tree; yet,
He created both at the same time, He laid the tree undeveloped in the seed.

Love is therefore the foundation of all things, and everything must finally return to this ground, if it will not perish.
On this occasion, however, we have also reached the height of our mountain, and so we will venture at once into
our new district.

Chapter 29.

Continuation of the journey - straightforward, with unchanging will, to the goal.

Just look there - into the slightly deeper, infinitely large plain, which is bordered to the left and right, as far as the
eye can see, by this forested mountain! What do you see in this level? Certainly nothing other than I. At a very
great distance, a stepped, round pyramid rises high. From this distance, apart from brilliant radiance, nothing
else can be seen.

But, nevertheless, this first sight promises something unbelievably great and sublime, so we will also be quick to
get ourselves there, to get as quickly as possible close to this great magnificent work. Behold, we have no
footpath to go on, nor is there any road to follow; but when I look at this splendid ground, which looks much more
delicate and finer than the finest silk fabric, I do think that one does not need a footpath, but only have to follow a
straight line, and we shall soon be there where we want to be.

But do you know what the straight line means spiritually? The straight line signifies or means the immovably firm
will, which cannot be deviated by any adverse appearance or other distractions; and it is precisely this straight
line of will that is meant here as well.

You ask in yourselves whether, on this way, we can still encounter obstacles which might make it more difficult
for us to achieve the goal?

This will all show itself on the way. Until now it was still good. In the course of our conversation, we have already
traveled a considerable distance, and so, if I look to where this extraordinary structure is situated, I can already
discern much more of what I was formerly unable to do from the mountain range.

I can now quite well assume that this extraordinary edifice consists of twelve departments, which virtually rise
above each other, as if on the earth the retractable telescope, of course, of the most gigantic proportions, having
twelve parts and positioned vertically. And if you look at the matter keenly, you will soon discover without difficulty
that each of these twelve floors consists of rows of columns, and see each floor glistens with a different color.

But what does the eyes see over the distance? We shall be able to look at the whole work up close anyway as if
face to face; so we are only hurrying towards it. But I notice that your eyes are looking at a rather high wall,
which is not far from us. This would seem to take on the appearance of a great hindrance and a distraction from
our straight line since we do not have a wall breaker with us.

If the wall of this rampart rises upright according to earthly scale and has no gate below, there may well be a
small issue with keeping the straight line intact, and yet we must not move from it; for in the spirit, to only move
one line to the side, will say so much as to lose, in one moment, this whole beautiful world from our view. But we
are not at the wall yet; so do not lose heart, and it will perhaps be better than we expect.

But I also notice great and wide stretches of tree-tops, from among which all sorts of pillars and pyramids rise. It
might very easily happen that, in our straight line, we will encounter a tree or a pillar, and would, therefore, be
compelled, on account of such obstacles, to deviate a little from the straight line.

You say: What if we could, spiritually, ascend into the air, and by this, maintain the easiest straight line to our
grand goal?

I tell you, this we could do; but by this we expose ourselves to a double danger of losing this world from our
sight; firstly, because such an upturn is also a violation of the straight line, and secondly, we must not separate
our feet from this ground, as long as we want to look at this world. For if we separate our feet from the ground,
the whole world will sink back into their first unrecognizable star shape. Therefore, we have no choice but to
encounter all possible obstacles with a determined mind!

Now see, we have already reached the rows of trees. As far as my eyes can penetrate into this avenue forest, it
is surprisingly straightforward;?but there, quite deeply, I see something like an erected altar, and this altar
stands, in my opinion, just in the middle of this avenue. It does not matter, however, if you have a fixed mind; and
the path must be exactly the way we want it to be, for it would be a sad thing for a spirit to let the path be blocked
by natural obstacles.

Well, there we are already at the altar. Indeed, this first monument shows, even if on a distant scale, of what
indescribable splendor the principal object must be.

Look at this altar! It has a height of about one klafter, and consists of perfectly round rods, which are made of a
very brilliant material, but which certainly does not appear in any other world-body in this peculiarity. Just look at
the bars; they do not even look solid, but have an appearance as if they were gushing downwards, but they
shoot downwards into golden funnels without so-called side-sprays. The flaming, radiating movement in these
round bars are almost the same as if these rods were nothing more than round water jets, which, for instance,
are first falling downwards through a central column, and here, as we shall see, fall downwards according to the
rules of hydraulic engineering. To convince ourselves, however, we touch the bars with our hands. The whole is
only a peculiarity of the material. This has in itself such a flaming movement that it appears as if it were pure
flowing water; but in itself, it is as a diamond.

And then, above the bars, you see the splendid positioned round table;?it radiates as if a small sun had been
laid on these columns. The columns flow down into golden funnels, which do likewise into in a red and blue
iridescent, most precious round crystal plate. Indeed, to see this altar on this beautiful round plain, surrounded
by the most splendid trees in the most beautiful order, the branches of which rise like giant arms, is, in and of
itself, something so charming that one would like to look at it with great satisfaction for a considerable time. If
you consider the wonderful green velvet floor, and the trunks of the trees looking like powerful blue semi-
transparent round columns, having not the slightest blemish.

What do you say about this first splendor? I must sincerely confess that this sublime simplicity appeals to me
more than any of the already glorious sights of this world. We forget, however, when we contemplate this glory,
that we must go still further.

But regarding the straight line, how will we work this out?
Should we possibly break down this supreme altar? Indeed, the heart would not be able to do such a thing, and
especially when one considers that such a work required a great deal of effort and a great measure of diligence
from the hands of this world and that it certainly stood for a purpose sanctified by this humanity. Moreover,
destruction is something completely foreign to the divine order.

So what will we do here? You say: since spirits can go through matter, can we? The Lord has also come to His
apostles through the locked door.

I tell you, this is indeed true, but we are not masters but servants of the Lord, and they cannot do all that the Lord
has done except if the Lord wants it. So I have now no advice. We will turn to the Lord of glory, in the love of our
hearts, and I am sure the straight line will be restored.

Well, I have done this, and you have done it in me; and see, a male being hurried out of the background, just
touches the altar, and the latter divides at the middle, and we can follow our line further.

You are wondering if this altar has a mechanical device enabling it to always be divided equally for similar
straightforward travels? I say to you that everything is arranged by the Lord in the most appropriate manner, that
man may bind one thing so firmly together, but the Lord is the master of the matter. Man is well aware of the
limbs of his work, and how these are to be separated, but the Lord knows the members of the substance and
knows how to separate them.

Therefore, to observe the straight line of life, you need nothing but the ever-growing love of the Lord, and you will
be able to walk through rocks, fire, and water as if you had no obstacle to fight.

But I would like to draw your attention to the phenomena which will occur to us on this way, and in the end, you
will recognize many a situation of your world in it, as in a magnificent spell of mirrors. Now, however, we have a
very wide open avenue in a straight line, and we can, therefore, proceed again with a clear conscience.

You would like to know what will happen to the separated altar. Will he mend himself again, or will he be left
alone? But I say unto you:?understand me, and let be what is behind us; for we have much before us and by far
greater things. But if we are to get to the principal object, we shall, in any case, obtain a general overview from
the height. And so, let us continue.

Chapter 30.

Continuation of the sun journey - lack of knowledge and love of the world as hindrances to prayer.

The open avenue lying before us is indeed somewhat narrower than the previous, but this phenomenon is not
the least detrimental to our progress on our straight line, but just the opposite, for the narrower the alley
becomes, the easier it is to keep to the middle of it in the straight line.

The reason for such a phenomenon, however, the fact that all these avenues are radiated and arranged radially
from the center of the main building; and if we could look down from the height above the main building, we
would see this whole magnificent design, as a radiant sun.

And see, this is a good sign; so the straight line is already set, we can only follow it, and we can not fail to reach
the main goal as soon as possible. We have already, as you see, walked well over half of this second avenue,
and the present end can be seen quite well. But I noticed a new obstacle, which could distract us somewhat from
the straight path. But we will give little attention to this second obstacle, for, like the first, this second one will also
have to give us a rightful passage.

But what is that, which is radiating so brightly for us? Only a few more accelerated steps there, at first sight, one
cannot contain it all, because the grandeur of this alley decoration is too great. What would be the water
artworks and fireworks evolutions on the earth? It is but a spark in the sight of such splendor and glory.

Behold, the plate which paves this second great tree-circle as if in one piece, looks just like a small- walled
surface of the most pure water, yet the surface is perfectly flat and very firm. The most peculiar thing about this
whole story is that, by remarkable refraction of rays, one's sight is so much deceived that the paving's surface
seems wobbly, and every surge of waves shines in another light. I call this a brilliant ray reflection.

In the middle of this wide tree-circle is a pillar erected, and it looks just like as if one would see troubled water
with you on the earth.

Just see how the water form seems to bubble up and down as if in vortexes, and every vortex shines forth
alternately in a thousand colors; see and feel this column, it is as firm as a diamond in all its seeming vitality.

Indeed, whoever does not consider this material composition and the treatment of such an ornament to be
wonderful, I would like to hear from his lips what he regards as a miracle.

And then look up all the way up to the top of this column, where it branches out into very radiant branches, like a
weeping willow, and instead of leaves, letting all sorts of radiant extensions hang down.

What do you say to this splendor? Indeed, you are justly mute; for feelings cannot be readily described, and one
has to be satisfied if one would be able to sketch but a vague silhouette of it with the most lively and most
eloquent language.

It would otherwise be all right if this whole splendid sight were not in the middle of our wall line. What do you
think, will this alley ornament be divided like the previous one? In the case of the first, one might rather try to
believe that the whole thing was based on artificial mechanical principles, and was therefore also easily
separated; but with this highly colossal ornament, any mechanism might be too short and too weak to divide this
very powerful column, as previously described. - What are we going to do? You say that the one who has divided
the first obstacle, the Lord, will surely easily deal with this second one.

You have answered correctly. But there is something you do not yet know, so listen: The Lord is indeed the
omnipotent Helper and conqueror of all obstacles, but He must also be called to the aid of the degree and
measure of the obstacle, then only then will be done what is to be done.

You say here, yes, but why? If we ask the Lord for help, He will help us no less than what we need. I tell you that
you are right in one respect, but only to the extent that you are mistakenly assuming, that the Lord has little or no
interest in your own capacity of knowledge. To accept such a thing, I think, would be a little misguided.

But the Lord will above all raise the self-knowledge of the children;?so He lets all things be evaluated and
appraised by them, so that their needs may be presented to Him according to their knowledge, and He will help
them according to their own knowledge and desire.

For this reason, my dear friends and brethren, no one on the earth is to judge a sinful obstacle in the course of
his life with a frivolous measure, or else he must attribute it to himself if, after many prayers, he had not yet
received the desired complete help.

For the Lord is indeed exceedingly loving and generous with His grace and mercy, yet at the same time, always
to the most perfect degree, respectful of the free activity of the spirit in every respect, both in the sphere of will
and in the sphere of knowledge.

But said among us, it would be better for every man, concerning himself, as you say, would make an elephant
out of a mosquito, and vice versa; and it will be then that anyone of such viewpoint would ask for much, shall
also receive much; but whoever asks little, should not expect that the Lord would throw after him an
unrecognized and unasked for advantage.

You do you on earth the same among each other. Why should not the Lord, who has the most loving and wise
reasons, do so? Would even a very well-intentioned rich man lend someone the asked for two hundred dollars,
even if he would know that he, in fact, needs two thousand dollars? I tell you, he will not do this, even though he
would probably know that the begging borrower essentially needs the greater sum.
He will also say to the borrower from the noble ground of his heart, "I will gladly lend you the asked for sum, if it
will suffice for your sake. If, with a stutter, the borrower still moves in his foolish, blind timidity, and remains with
his first petition, tell yourselves who is to blame if the borrower with 200 dollars is not served.

But for the sake of this, everyone is to examine himself precisely, to measure his need, and then to turn to the
holy, omnipotent Helper, he will surely receive the justified help, if he expects him faithfully, with trust, and in
loving earnest.

And so then, we will and must now take hold of the Lord a little more firmly than with the first obstacle, then the
Lord will open the way to us.

But what does the greater firmness in the approach to the Lord consists of?

The smith says to his companion: "To melt a little iron, a lesser heating of coals is sufficient, and the forge does
not need to breathe so deeply; but if a great lump of iron is to be melted, the master smith will say to his
companion, "Now bring three baskets of solid charcoal, and let the forge go, else the great metal lump will hardly
reach the red heat. I mean, this blacksmith rule, which is pretty much to be grasped with hands, will also be very
useful for us. More coal, more wind to the forge, means as much as: more love and more trust, and it will be
according to the faithful desire!

I have done this within myself, and you must do it within me and see, this water-column is already divided again,
and we can continue our march with the slightest effort in the world.

Do you understand also this second obstacle, which is full of illusion and seems to be alive in every nook and
corner? If it is touched, however, it is hard and resistant all over. See, to work through these errors is a far easier
matter; for whoever has once been awakened in his spirit, will soon be able to easily separate the low stupidity
from the most brilliant purest truth, and that is the overcoming of the first obstacle. But here it is about the world
with its multicolored glitter on full scale; and it requires much more to get this obstacle out of the way, than the
earlier one.

There are certainly many people on earth who have long ago recognized the truth in its radiant light. But they
cannot separate themselves from the world, because its rays are too attractive to them. But just how much
enchanting glittering rays this world can contain, and what they look like, can a keen look at this avenue
ornament show. Possessions, money, all sorts of comforts, a good table, beautiful women, fashionable clothing,
and much more are still very powerful glitter-rays of the world, even for already intelligent men. We do not even
mention the women; because stupidity has its original seat in their homes.

But a person, who takes pleasure in such a world of tinsel, is like a rich man in a dream, throwing millions to and
fro, but when he wakes up, not a single penny fills his purse. I think you understand me; and since our obstacle
has been overcome, we can already move on again.

Chapter 31.

Continuation of the sun journey - passing over from material to spiritual life in corresponding images.

Look, there is again a glorious avenue before us, which also narrows itself towards the end; that is already the
third one we enter. When you look at these three avenues in succession, they are inserted into each other like
three cones, the end tips of which always fall into the base of the following; for if the first avenue ran along with
its lines, the lines would have to cross at some point, where we have encountered the first monument. But the
calculation is so arranged that the two rows of trees stop at the very point where we have always encountered at
the end of an avenue, a large tree-circle, in the center of which stood the ornament.
Therefore, this third avenue also begins again very broadly, and at the end, like the earlier, become narrower.

Could not someone say: I do not find this aesthetic at all? The avenue should either run parallel, or it is to
become proportionately wider, and the lines should indeed diverge proportionately to the rate of which a parallel
running alley seemingly becomes narrower. In this way, an avenue would, from the starting point, have the
appearance of a rectangle, or of a perfectly parallel path to the end. Such a system would reveal more science
and spirit, than such an apparent collapse of an alley.

This is indeed true; such a layout must appear oppressive to the eye, especially in such a long avenue as this
one. But the people who have created this avenue have a much higher purpose connected with it than that of
aesthetics. And so these three avenues denote the transition of the material into the spiritual, inner life
completely perfectly, practically and correctly.

But how is this to be understood? We will be able to work this out easily; for similar things are also found on your
earth, though not exactly expressed by an avenue. Certain examples will give us an idea of this matter on the
occasion of the passing through this third avenue, in which there is not much to be seen in any case.

Let's say a man who is knowledgeable in his craft, writes a book about his subject. This book begins with a
preface which is rather broad, dull and boring, and usually more extensive than the intellectual and subject
matter of the subsequent work itself. This preface is gradually narrowed down to a very simple and, at the same
time, not uncommon practical conclusion in only a few words, which was formerly unnecessarily and extensively
extrapolated on in the whole preface. Now, fortunately, the preface is done. This is followed by a blank, white
sheet, on which sometimes nothing, but sometimes with large letters, the important word:?'Introduction' is
written. If this fatal leaf is turned over, an even broader introduction than was the preface, begins all over again.
In this introduction, as in the preface, there is nothing but a somewhat general praise and recommendation of the
subsequent principal work. What is the end of this lengthy introduction? Usually with the same expression: we
will no longer surrender ourselves with these considerations, but proceed to the main subject; the honored
reader will find everything properly illuminated there, which could only briefly be mentioned in this introduction.
And that is the end.

Why, then, did the author begin his introduction so broadly, and then narrow it down so terribly? Could he omit
them altogether? We can neither affirm nor deny this question, for its purpose is good; whether it is also suitable
for the purpose of the reader, the reader will most easily determine when he has read through the whole work.

After this introduction comes the principal work itself. What will happen in this, which also begins again very
broadly and with great promise? Certainly nothing else but what has been said in the preface and in the
introduction, only with much more words. And so the geographer ends his work with the presentation of a usually
very insignificant dwelling;?because for big places he has a better place, they are always closer to the beginning.

The mathematician places at the end of his deeply considered work, a few short, unresolved calculations,
usually the last of which is the least of all.

The historian also saves the most unimportant fact for the very last page of the page, while at the beginning he
drew a terribly wide glance over the whole surface of the earth; and so, with the exception of the Word of God,
you may look at almost all the works, and you will find that they end up quite narrow in the end. - That would be
an example, which is hopefully well illuminated.

Let us consider the construction of a house, a tower, or a church; how broad it is at the beginning, and in the end
the house ends in a converging roof, the tower in its top, and the church also usually into a very pointed roof.
This example requires no further illumination; for the daily sight provides the right explanation.

A third example gives you the consideration of your ceremonial worship. The men come from the so- called
sacristy, with great pomp, organizes themselves in front of the altar, as in the background of the church, the
musical chorus performance swells wider and broader; but with time, after the third part of the ceremony, the
determined parts are already shorter and usually less meaningful, and where would expect the greatest breadth,
namely, on the occasion of the so-called "exit procession", it becomes ever narrower, until finally everything get
lost in the extremely short "Ite, messa est."

A so-called act of you begins not infrequently with a mystery, and usually terminates in an exceedingly
insignificantly blind marriage. So, too, your musical pieces, including the musical instruments, start very broadly,
and often end so narrowly that one would have to seriously say:?for this last, very simple outcome, it was not
worth so much fuss. So also your scale begins with a thunder-like, wide-floating, deep bass tone and ends in the
finest chords with a very fine and narrow thin tone. Do you already have enough examples?

But as we have not yet arrived at the end of the avenue, but are in an already quite right in it's narrowness, we
may add an example to the great abundance, in order to give a very bright light to our cause; for in the spirit, it is
as in the world. In the world, people never have too much money; and if any man have so much, he shall not
refuse to add more.

Likewise, one never has too much light in spirit; likewise, the sage wishes to be still wiser. That is why this
example will not be superfluous to us since it increases the light.

But what is this example? This is very close to you; you can only look into the present education of your children,
and you have already have the whole example in a nutshell. What great and broad plans a usual couple often
make for their children? The son has to study and, besides master all kinds of other arts and crafts; and for the
daughter at least half a dozen masters run into the house. It seems as if the son should become a ruler, and the
daughter a wife of a ruler. At last the son has completed his course of study, and the daughter has escaped from
the masters' claws with all sorts of meaningless skills. But what happens now?

The well-educated and well-studied son is pushed into a narrow office on a narrow trainee bank, from where no
great future can be seen, and of the daughter is said: "Now we must give her some domestic education. If you
consider this position only somewhat reasonably, the ever-narrower avenue of the human life, which is so
broadly projected at the beginning, cannot possibly escape you.

But for the son, soon after his very narrow praxis sphere, a somewhat wider office avenue of office begins again,
and the daughter is married to a man of whom at first very much was expected. But the son's sphere of office
diminishes at last in the pension fund, and the prospects of the married daughter do not gain in breadth, but, like
her feminine advantages, gradually vanish, and she becomes narrower in the end.

Now, what is the end of the third avenue of life? I mean, I need not describe this to you: you can only go to the
nearest cemetery, where you will find a lot of offshoots of broadly begun human avenues of life.

And see, in the same sense, these sun-men build everything just as it perfectly corresponds to living conditions.

Once the people of the earth also built similarly. The so-called Egyptian pyramids are still testimony to this; for
these magnificent buildings were nothing but the tombs of great and mighty men. The bigger and more powerful
one was, the larger pyramid he built himself as a tomb. -

Whoever wishes to measure them at the bottom, would encounter significant differences; but at the top, all ran to
a completely narrow tip.

We find similar wisdom on a much more significant scale here, too, in this world of light, where people especially
of this district, are true primordial sages. - However, what will come next, will provide us with enlightenment
about it.

But as, on this occasion, we have returned to the desired, very narrow end of the avenue here, we shall now
again take a brave look ahead, and see whether there is any obstacle presented which could bend our straight
line.

Until now, besides the great ring wall, which is close to us, I see no obstacle, so we can move about this
remaining free plain quite unhindered as far as the wall. But how things will be when we get to the wall,
experience itself will show, let us therefore courageously walk up to the wall!

Chapter 32.
Continuation of the sun journey - palace complex corresponds to the conditions of the human being.

It is about a distance of two miles, or eight thousand klafters of your field measure. This stretch is flat, and one
can see nothing on this surface which may represent some obstacle. For from our present standpoint, apart from
a circle of small pyramids, there is nothing to be discovered.

The pyramids, however, stand so far apart, and are not on our line, that we cannot regard them as an obstacle,
except it there would be something behind the pyramids. But I say, short and sweet, we are going towards it, and
the way will show what we might yet encounter.

If I were not your guest here, but you were mine, we would have been at our destination long ago; but I must
share your uncertainty and inconclusiveness with you. Therefore, the march goes a little slower. But no harm is
done; for we know how to make use of the somewhat hesitant way, with the grace of the Lord.

It is also very pleasant to walk on this greenish-blue velvety floor, and so we can take pleasure in the slightly
longer journey time. We are anyway already closer to at least half of the remarkable main building in the center
of this circular wall, and so we direct our eyes straight ahead.

We have already reached the pyramid rows, as you can see, and there is still no other obstacle than the ring
wall, which is constantly rising as a result of our approach. This, we now come to see, is by no means
continuous, but consists of nothing but columns, presenting an exceedingly splendid sight.

Oh, look, there are three galleries of columns on top of each other;?but the pillars seems to be placed very close
together. Let us go there quickly and not lose courage! I think that we soon shall see this great apparent obstacle
to be no obstacle at all; for notice that the spaces between the pillars become more noticeable and perceptible
as we get closer; and see, in front of the columns, a joint staircase is placed, with which one can at least reach
the lowest gallery from every side.

Yes, just look, the pillars are quite far apart, and we can confidently go through them between the rows. Yes, yes,
my dear friends and brothers, so it is. Every good labor is worth its wage; we bravely rushed towards it, and
where we thought we would find the greatest obstacle, we find none at all. We have reached the end of this
splendid staircase, which, according to my knowledge, is made of pure red transparent gold and is covered for
the pedestrians between the pillars with a material which has hitherto not occurred on this world-body.

There are but twelve steps; we shall easily go up with them. So just go up! We are in the gallery. Look at the floor
pavement of this gallery; does it not it look as if the round, wide, surface with diameter of ten fathoms of your
measure are of finely ground diamond ? Look at it keenly, it does not look like a composition at all, not a
fragment to be seen, but it is a solid unit. Then consider the pillars that form the inner circle. Each has a spiral
staircase made of the most precious rubies. Each staircase has the most delicate railings of white gold, and on
top of the many bars of the railings are placed, bright, radiant blue balls, emitting a wonderful light.

You would like to know why all the columns has such identical spiral staircases around them? The first reason is
evident: in order to reach the second gallery; but that does not mean that every column had to be provided with
such a spiral staircase.

The reason lies in the wisdom of these people, according to which everyone may be able to go higher, without
anyone being a hindrance to anyone else; for these pillars represent the teachers or leaders. For no leader or
teacher should be so inclined that one would not be able to rise higher under his guidance, likewise may no
column lack a rising spiral staircase.

You are now however asking why and for what reason, is the outer row of columns not equipped with
staircases? See, this is again grounded in the wisdom of these men, according to which the outer row of
columns also represents teachers; but teachers of nature, that is, teachers in external things. These, however,
can not raise anybody with their doctrines, therefore are these outer columns without staircases.

If you can look at what you want, you will find everywhere the most perfect and intimate correspondences with
the external as well as the internal conditions of man. Therefore has the path from our last avenue been quite
monotonous. There was nothing but the beautiful ground and the somewhat sparse, not very considerable row of
pyramids, followed by the happy enlargement in the spacious colonnades of the ring wall, which we had formerly
thought to be a great hindrance, and rising above it, a view of half of the main building in the center. But that was
all we encountered on the voyage over the open plains.

You think that there is very little important correspondence behind this very simple phenomenon. But I tell you,
there is something very deeply hidden in this very boring journey. Of course we encountered little; but according
to your saying that the wise needs little, and can find something great in the same, this little thing is so arranged
that it can be perfectly adequate for us to behold with one glance. For you to get some idea of it, I will give you
beforehand a few small examples, in which you can easily find its depth yourselves.

From the three avenues, that is, after the three degrees of humiliation of the body, soul and spirit, we have
suddenly entered the free space or correspondingly into the inner freedom of the spirit, and that with the means
which the Lord Himself has prescribed for us. These means are the external wisdom of the teaching of the Lord,
which man must first observe, until he attains to the inner spiritual free consciousness.

Glorious is the ground on which one is walking, free and without obstacle, and blue is its color, full of gentle
splendor; so is also the free consciousness of the spirit, which manifests itself in an unchangeable stability. But
placed in the center of the free space, are pyramids. These are tombs; what do they depict? You might say:
Perhaps the complete death of the world. This, my dear brothers and friends, is already happening during the
trip through the three avenues.

These pyramids, however, show here only the deliberate abandon of external wisdom, and that there is no
longer any obstacle to be expected in this sphere, correspondingly to the fact that man has deliberately freed
himself of being able to sin before God. For every spirit, which has nothing external adhering to it anymore, can
no longer sin, and for this reason, is pure.

Why then? Because he has become fully one with the Lord! I need say no more on this; for if a man does what
the Lord wills and does, he will not sin.

When we were very near to the exit from the last avenue, the splendid colonnades still seemed to us like a solid,
insurmountable ring-wall; that is, a dreadful line, offering no prospect. But when we were beyond the pyramids,
the wall began to dissolve into separate pillars; and after a very short period of travel, it became a great glory,
and no obstacle, as we had formerly feared for some time.

What does this represent? Consider the death of your body. This is surely the most feared moment for every
person still living outwardly, that is, the strongest obstacle to life. It is also certain for everyone, as long as he
does not have the pyramid row behind him.

But if a man has laid down his faux external wisdom and have fully taken hold of the Lord in his spirit, then this
feared obstacle becomes a most glorious sight, and all will have the most fervent desire to accede the twelve
steps as quickly as possible, to get to the lower gallery.

Where do the twelve steps come from? These represent the ten commandments of Moses, and then the two
commandments of love from the mouth of the Lord. The three superimposed galleries represent: natural in the
spiritual, spiritual in the spiritual, and heavenly in the spiritual. I think that after this explanation, you will now fully
comprehend the phenomena on the walk over the bare plain, to the partial view of the central building, which
signifies the grace of the Lord, and is only visible beforehand, until the galleries and the main cause becomes
visible, which is the love of the Lord, or the Lord Himself in His Personality.

Since we know this, we move on again.

Chapter 33.
Revelation of the overwhelmingly radiant beauty of the Sun-palace.

Will it be difficult to move from here, and will we have to observe the straight line from here? Let us go out into
the free, very spacious room, which is found between this wide circular gallery and the main building in the
middle, and we shall soon see what shall be done there.

Look through between the two inner pillars with the spiral staircases before us, and tell me what you see.

You say: Dear friend and brother, we have no words to describe this sight miraculously presented to our poor
eyes! A surface of full-blown brilliancy presents itself to our gaze, and millions of rays upon rays are shooting in
all directions, all of different colors; and the rays takes mutually hold of each other and form transient forms. The
forms also converge here and there, creating new forms.

There, further towards the main building, we see these rays rolling into the most colorful circles, and the circles
often rise themselves as spheres above the floor. These spheres glimmer in the changing light, whose charming
and most beautiful appeal cannot be described with words. And finally, we see above these light-spheres the
bottom row of pillars of this great central palace.

The pillars has the appearance of downward-swirling, bright red flames, and behind these peculiar pillars, is a
wall radiating a light blue light, having entrance gates between the pillars, from which a marvelous greenish-
white light radiates. - That's all we can see so far.

When we look at the undulating movement of this surface, it looks as if the floor is a body of water, over which
one cannot firmly walk. We can refute this notion by looking back at the last avenue hindrance which also had
such an undulating surface, but was in fact not fluid at all, and it may well be that the light of this surface here is
likewise just a visual deception.

Yes, my dear friends and brothers, so it is with this matter. All that you see here as fluid, is only a play of light,
which is particularly typical on the central suns, and this becomes stronger, the closer a place is situated to great
equator of such a central sun. This is therefore a very solid material in itself and can be polished much finer than
the finest diamond with you. The smoother such a large surface is, the more eagerly are the powerful light-rays
of its sun-world body light-ether surroundings absorbed, and after saturation, thrown back again. And so, by the
to and fro reflection, such billowing effect ensues in the vicinity, as waves form themselves into all kinds of light-
forms, and in the distance, into circles. Why then? Because in the distance all movements, as well as all forms,
are increasingly rounded off, which you can already see on your earth body from different phenomena.

Go for example on a great height, and look at the broad horizon, which is very uneven in itself, but you will still
see it quite rounded; the cause lies in the fact that the small irregularities completely disappear against the whole
wide stretch of horizon.

If you look at a multi-edged pillar from a certain distance, it will not appear edgy, but round.

If you would observe a broad river, and look at the flow of the water from the nearest bank to the opposite bank,
this phenomenon will be well confirmed. At the closest bank, you will see the flow of the stream, and on the
opposite bank you will see bigger intersecting circles, in which the flow of the stream seem to be slow.

How uneven the world-bodies are on their surface, your earth can show you enough; but from a great distance
they become a perfectly round circle;?if not quite perfectly circular, but the outer edge line appear to be perfectly
flat.

There are a number of such examples; but I think that these are enough to comprehend the seemingly
miraculous phenomena before us as a manifestation itself, without a spiritually corresponding meaning, to which
we shall come at the appropriate opportunity.

We need only to know beforehand that the floor which is spread out before us is perfectly solid, and we can
immediately move forward over it;?and so we cheerfully go ahead!
We are out of the gallery and on the ground and see, it is firm, and the undulating light are not to be seen where
we stand. We can now move towards the main building. But take a look at the building, which is now standing
before us in all its revealed splendor.

What do you say about this work? You say the same as I do, that there are no words, and one becomes dumb
before the most sublime sight! If one imagined such an infinitely exalted and glorified Babylonian tower, one
would probably have the best picture of it; but one would have to take the spiral ascending passages of the
Babylonian Tower and divide it into ten floors, each of which describes a somewhat narrower circle. But this
would only be a naked form without light; but here the grandest and noblest form is engulfed with an
indescribable splendor and glory of light. Yet, how much less is our imagined structure in comparison to this
indescribably, exceedingly greater glory.

But let us go closer. it will develop itself more and more in its infinite splendor. You see the lower row from here
as if consisting of single large pillars, each of which has a height of thirty klafter. You might have estimated the
height correctly; but not the pillars themselves.

When you look closely, you will see each column as if it consists of round bars. But we are closer now, and it is
quite easy to see that such a column, which from a distance is a mere pillar, is seen from up close to be a full
circle of pillars, same as we formerly perceived individual rods to be a single great pillar.

And now see, we have fortunately come to the great level of the Central Building, and we see that each such
main pillar consists of thirty pillars, arranged in a circle, far enough from each other for us to comfortably enter
such a column-circle and convince ourselves that it still has enough room to accommodate a thousand people.

But now look also at this splendid establishment; Along the circle of these columns, a splendid staircase winds
upwards along the inner space with a gentle slope, and with the most splendid balconies up to the next floor. And
see, every pillar, or rather every pillar-circle, which we see from here, has a similar arrangement.

The base of such a column is bright green, and the galleries, which border the ascending staircase, look like
flaming gold; then look out, the ground of this first large, level gallery is that of a most beautiful amethyst, in
which all sorts of diamond ornamentation is embedded like a mosaic. What do you say about this truly
unbelievable splendor?

I can see that it with you as it is with me: one can literally find no words. Let us go up the staircase, and look at
the second floor; there will we get to see things, which will overshadow all that has been seen so far?

So follow me up the stairs.

Chapter 34.

First floor - details of the Palace of the Sun and its correspondence.

Look, there we are already in the gallery of the first floor. Again you see the pillar-circles instead of the large
pillars, and in the center of this pillar-circle, you can see altars, similar to the altar we first encountered on our
journey through the avenues. As you can see, the inner circle of the pillar-circle is, all around equipped with an
inexpressibly magnificent staircase.

But what are the altars in the center of these pillar-circles? On the one hand they serve as ornamentation in the
circle; on the other hand, they signify the first degree of the knowledge of God, while the pillar-circles on ground-
level are completely empty, depicting the human in the completely natural state.

But see the splendor of these pillars; they are no longer smooth, but sinuous. In the hollow of the swirl is
ornamentation of the most beautiful foliage, and the belly of the swirl is occupied with the most marvelous, self-
luminous precious hemisphere shaped stones. The color of the columns itself is bluish- green, the foliage is like
flaming gold, the floor of the circle is like strongly sparkling ruby, and the staircase here is made of white flaming
silver.

But see the floor of the gallery. It is made from the finest hyacinth, the splendid balustrade outward from
porphyry, and the inner wall of the main building is of onyx, which is a splendid gem. The arcuate vault between
the columns and the continuous wall are of the most beautiful opal, in which all kinds of colored, self-luminous
stones are placed in wonderful order.

Then there is a high and broad gate between the pillars of the main building. This gate, as you may notice, has
two wings, which are attached to a quadrangular column placed in the middle of the gate, and open not in the
middle, but on both sides. The square column is a blazing piece of diamond, and the gate- wings are of flaming
gold, which is still more glorious than the transparent; This, of course, is not to be found on the earth.

A transparent gold could be produced on the earth; but how? Through glazing; for you know that all metals,
when they have reached the highest degree of heat, kind of incinerates at this degree of heat. After burning,
however, nothing but a kind of slag remains. When this slag is crushed again, and mixed with a salt solution, it
becomes viscous, and when it is cooled, which became liquid by means of the salt, and naturally, by means of
great heat. If, therefore, one would produce by this method glass from the gold slag, which is very costly on the
earth, in the manner described above, it would yield the finest transparent gold glass of yellow-reddish color.

But to portray a blazing gold on earth would probably be the purest impossibility. Not even on the planetary suns,
but on the central suns alone, where the light is at of the most immeasurable intensity. There, every transparent
body is capable of continuous flaming, because it can never consume the light absorbed in itself, according to
the light which surrounds it. And thus, by such a constant conflict between light and light, such a flame occurs,
which appears as if matter were in a constant burning state. If, however, one would touch such matter, it is
perfectly solid, and not warm in the least, but just the opposite: the more intense the flaming, the cooler it is.

Here is then a very close correspondence with the people on your earth, who are very fiery on the outside, and
most zealous; but if their hearts are touched, one is astonished at their coldness. This is how you can have
people who can state the case for the poor with fiery zeal; but when they would meet a poor man in secret, they
are colder than the thousand-year-old ice of a glacier, which cannot be melted by an ordinary sunbeam, except
however for here and there in small portions, a well-nourished flash.

The same goes for most of the famous pulpit preachers. They ignite hell with their excessive fire, in which none
of the most fire-related beings could exist for one second; if you afterward would ask him what his heart says
about such an exceedingly high hellish degree of heat, the answer will be: I am quite happy. A good roast and a
not too small glass of wine after such a hot sermon brings everything in him back into balance.

This would be a correspondence for our flaming gold; but this is not the recommendable. However, there is also
an acceptable value, namely a spiritually good one, and this is the following:

The love of the Lords works powerfully in those people who are full of love in their hearts. This causes a conflict
between love and love; and this love then acts charitable to the outside. It enlightens and warms whatever
surrounds it; but it remains cool in itself. Why then? Because it is not self-love. This is also shown by the flaming
gold. Now we know this correspondence; and so we can take a closer look at the doors.

Then look only at what sublimities have been plastically incorporated into these gates! Does not the matter
almost look like a picture-book, which is laid in with the most wonderful colors from the middle of the mass of
which the wings are made? Then you can see through the smooth surface of the gate wing into the interior of the
building! You are stepping back;?what have you seen? I read it on your faces; you have discovered people, and
that of never-before-seen beauty! ? Yes, yes, so it is.

We must not approach these people yet, we must become accustomed first by the ever-increasing splendor of
this building, otherwise we could suffer some damage to our spiritual health. For a spirit of the highest heaven is
never so perfect as to be able to look at all the beauty of the Lord's creation without the danger of a temporal
injury.

In order to not become too much enchanted here, let us proceed very quickly into such a pillar circle, and up the
staircase to the second floor, or to the number of the gallery, the third. There we shall encounter something
different.

I note a point of doubt in you, and this consists of a incomprehensible numerical discrepancy, namely that we all
saw from a distance this whole main building to consist of twelve floors, but in close proximity, only ten. Let the
be good for now; only when we are on the tenth floor, the matter will be enlightened for you. For now, however,
we are only going to our second floor, or the third gallery.

Chapter 35.

Second floor - palace arrangement represents spiritual progress.

See, it is only a case of preliminary exercise, and one then climbs with the same ease to a higher sphere, into an
even higher one than one has previously ascended from a lower sphere into a following, higher one.

You say, of course, that it is not entirely the same on the earth; for the higher you go there, the heavier your feet
become, and so every next step needs a little more effort than the previous one. That's right; but you must bear
in mind that, if you want to ascend naturally, and you follow through all in one go, and do not make relative
resting-places between one and the other points, then you must necessarily be fatigued. If, however, you divide
a height that is to be ascended between appropriate relative resting places, where you cannot become tired from
one to the other, you will be able, after an appropriate rest, to mount every succeeding section with equal force
and without fatigue.

But that this is correct, you can easily see from your daily life. You often go back and forth here and do not get
tired. Why not? If you would count your steps which you walk every day, it will be so much that you will be able to
cover a distance of ten hours in a straight line. But if you make a journey of ten hours, you will fall over with
fatigue.

See, therefore, my acceptance and explanation is correct; if any en route and in the ascent do not want to
become weary on the way, he shall make provisions for a proper rest, and he shall have the same strength in his
feet at the end of a journey of ten hours, than when he took the first step; and with the continued journey he will
only get stronger rather than tired.

The same is true for the spiritual progress, as well as for what is half-spiritual and half-material. For example, if
someone who want to become a virtuoso on some musical instrument; what will become of him if he does not
put his instrument out of his hand all day long, and for about half the night, and rest only a few hours? I tell you,
he will not endure such a routine for eight days. Why not? Because every movement of both the body and the
spirit requires a much greater effort of life than the state of rest.

The exertion of the vital forces, however, consumes it, by which they must not be strengthened, but must
naturally only be weakened. Man is, however, arranged to replace his consumed forces in the state of rest by the
constant influx of the Lord from the heavens. And if the vital powers are as such consumed by frequent use, the
vessels for the further absorption of the vital force are continually expanded and strengthened, whereby the
strength and power of the human being who lives such a gradual and moderate lifestyle, must necessarily
increase; because, as a vessel, it can always absorb more and more vital power in this way.

Thus a wanderer becomes more powerful every day by the proper use of the power of his feet. The musician
who purposefully exercises on a musical instrument will become increasingly efficient, and he who wants
spiritual progress, will also become increasingly capable in stages, without the insane fatigue of the spirit who
strives to rise to the greatest heights and depths of wisdom.

If, however, someone would want to achieve from now till tomorrow what should have been achieved with
success through an orderly progress over the course of several years, he would become a fool; for he will
consume his spiritual vitality over the measure of orderly influx, and then his spirit will become weak and
impotent.

The hungry vessels for life force will then begin to absorb, like a polyp, everything that falls to them, ordure and
gold, light and darkness;?so everything is mixed up. But these dissimilar substances will then begin to ferment in
the vessels, the spirit of such fermentation will soon tear the weak vessels, and the condition will ensue where
you would say, "He's running on a hamster wheel", will be true.

From this, however, you will, in my opinion, already be able to clearly see that any effective progress or ascent
must be divided into proper resting pauses; and one will then be able to reach every good goal with the greatest
ease in the world.

Whoever has a large barrel of new grape must and pours it continually from one vat to the other, in order to
clarify and strengthen it, will surely find himself greatly disappointed in a hundred times over. In this way, the
must is certainly not going to become clear and strong, but since a little must is left behind in every vat, it will in
the end lose most of it. If, however, he leaves the must in the vat in proper peace, it will be active, work out all
the uncleanliness by itself, thereby continually clarifying itself more and more, and thereby become increasingly
saturated with the spiritual power.

Once he has attained the first stage of clarity, it will be right to pour it over into another clean barrel, since very
little marc will lie in the bottom which weakens the spiritual power of the wine; but it will now deal with itself on a
purer basis; that is, with his own strength, and will increasingly strengthen himself by his own power.

This is precisely the case with man; from stage to stage it must rise and from floor to floor. He raises higher and
higher in the sphere of his life and all the knowledge of it. And so we have now reached our second floor without
the slightest fatigue, and now, in these splendid, quite broad galleries, and as you may say, spread ourselves
and consider all these great glories.

Concerning the construction, it is exactly the same as that of the first two galleries we have already seen and
entered, but the mighty pillar-circle of pillars which supports the next floor, is placed somewhat deeper in than
that of the preceding galleries.

The difference between this and the preceding gallery lies firstly in the entirely different coloring of the building
material, and especially in the fact that in the middle of these pillar-circle is, instead of an altar, a kind of large
garden vase of the most magnificent ornamental work, in which a natural small tree grows.

You will think, for example, that the roots of this tree will eventually crack the vase. There is no need to worry.
The wisdom of these people has already provided for it; for when the sapling becomes stronger and stronger in
the course of time, then it will be carefully removed, and placed in a big, strong pot, which we shall find on the
next floor. Then, a fresh seed is placed in the vase of this storey, from which a new similar noble tree grows.

Does this horticultural operation have any spiritual reason? Indeed, my dear friends and brothers! On the first
floor we saw only one altar in the middle. The first, so to say, was merely a literal knowledge of God;?that is, a
seed-kernel, which must first be put into the ground, in order to grow from it into a tree, under whose branches
the birds of the heaven can dwell.

And see, here is the seed-kernel, which was put in the earth on the first floor, and already became a little tree. It
signifies the state of man, as soon as he becomes a moral being, as soon as he has received knowledge from
God, and is already suitable for the bearing of fruit in the future, to host the dwelling of the birds of heaven. And
so you will also find everything else in this second floor.

The floor of the gallery looks like an incandescent ore, the pillars are reddish-green, the floor of the pillar-circle
on which the vase stands, is white as a sun. The vase itself is formed from a piece of ruby, and rests on a three-
legged frame made of flaming gold, and the ground in the vase looks like emerald velvet. The staircase around
the pillars is made of a light blue material and decorated with green, strongly shimmering foliage. The wall of the
main building is red, the gates to the interior are of emerald; the central pillar on which the two wings hang, is of
transparent gold, and the ceiling of this gallery, together with its splendid ornamentation, is lighter and brighter
than sunlight through a light-green glass.
Now, however, we are going to a doorway and want to take a look through the transparent material. We are
here; so look inside! What do you see? You are sinking back in complete helplessness, what have shaken you
so much? I already know that there are much more beautiful human beings on this floor.

Yes, I tell you, the visual beauty of these people is so great that on your earth you would not be able to look at
such a beauty without suddenly losing your life. I tell you even more: the splendor of this beauty would literally
even completely dissolve your whole earth in a few moments.

Therefore, we again leave this gallery also and go to the third floor, or to the fourth gallery.

Chapter 36.

Third floor - Forms and colors correspond to the formation of the mind.

We have reached this fourth gallery, or the third floor. The fact that everything here is still more glorious and
transfigured than in the previous floors, need scarcely be mentioned.

A glimpse into these gleaming galleries, illuminated in a thousand flaming radiating colors, shows us with more
than spoken clarity the unspeakable beauty of this fourth gallery; but the odd vessel in the pillar- circle deserves
closer attention. Look at it carefully, and from all sides, and you will have to say in the end: Indeed, this looks
more like a boat than any garden pot. And yet this boat-like vessel is filled with a reddish- blue shimmering earth,
from which, in the center of the vessel, a very sound tree has grown, the stem of which is blindingly white of
color, and smooth as polished silver. But the branches and leaves on it resemble the branches and leaves of a
fig-tree on the earth; but the branches are brilliantly red as corals in the bottom of the sea, and the leaves are
blue-green, and the edges are brimmed with small strips of gold, and buds above the leaves looks like they are
very much ready to burst open.

The boat-like pot, however, appears to be of bright red gold, and is bordered on the edge with a relatively firm
banister, made of transparent gold, which has a railing of small, inwardly bent tubes which continuously drips
and as we can see, moistens the soil in the vessel. The water has a pleasant smell, like the finest nardus oil. And
the floor of the pillar-circle seems to be made of a mass similar to that of the great courtyard between the three-
fold ring-gallery and this main central building; for one can look every which way, the surface seems to be
constantly waving and undulating, and yet we certainly know that it is solid.

The individual pillars of this circle is peculiar. Their color is light gray, but transparent, and in the middle of each
pillar is an apparent red, transparent glow, flowing up and down in winding tubes, like a red transparent liquid,
giving the pillar a unique, peculiarly sublime appearance. What is also remarkable here is that all the other pillar-
circles and their pillars look exactly the same in every aspect. In every center is a vessel of this kind, with a tree,
and everywhere we discover, in the middle of the pillars, winding tubes, in which uniform red fluid ascends and
descends. The circular staircase within these pillar-circles are here apparently somewhat steeper than in the
previous ones, and appear to be from a material which resembles our dark green glass, except that the glass of
the earth has no natural light, and thus do not positively glow in itself with such a vivid color.

So it is true, my dear friends and brethren; but what does it all say?

We do not want hang around for too long without addressing this case according to the right order.

With regard to the tree standing in this ship-like pot, we have already learned in the former gallery that it is
transplanted here from the vase there, if it has reached the proper size. What then happens to him here, if he too
becomes too big for this container? We have already seen similar avenues. When it has borne its fruits, the fruits
are gathered, and the tree is easily moved out to the avenues and other groups of trees, where he can continue
to flourish and bear abundant fruit. When it has fulfilled its time there, its wood is taken, its branches, and its
foliage, and it is all laid upon the altar, which you first saw in the avenue, and then set alight on this altar, and
thus offered unto God. This would be the fate of the tree; - but we still have the container before us.

Why is this such a ship-like form? Because the ship also here on this world-body portable vehicle on the surface
of the waters. But the tree is planted in it to show that this is not the place it should stay. The billowing floor
seems to suggest a still insecure foundation on which one can base himself. The gray color of the pillars signifies
the nostalgia of the still unstable life of the tree, and the red surging juice in the winding tubes indicates that true
life must be in the midst of all external strength when the external life becomes firm and permanent, it is intended
to provide a permanent support and free movement of inner life. Hence the form and nature of the pillars of such
a pillar circle.

The staircase, which is somewhat steeper, shows that the progress is more difficult, with sometimes more
resistance, on a non-solid ground than if one were to walk over solid land. In a more understandable way: the
staircase, which is somewhat steeper, shows that man, when he has once become an independent moral being,
proceeds forwards and upwards with more difficulty with drops of insight, than the red fluid which easily rises and
falls in the center of the pillar, which is still veiled in the free moral man, but still shows clearly enough, which way
is the most suitable and the least cumbersome to attain the true height of life.

Through the tubes, which bend inward from the railing of the boat-like container, we see drops falling to humidify
the earth; but an unbroken mass of juice is continually rising and falling in the center of the pillars.

What does this show? The drops from the tubes are the external insights and are, in a sense, never a whole, but
always bits and pieces. Through them also the outer lifeform is built, but not the inner life itself.

Man is thus indeed well formed by all sorts of knowledge, but in all his cultivated education, he remains a
scattered man, but not a united man, and as such resembles a tree which grows in a container, where it has no
strength, and for him in this way is still no permanence. The best thing about him is when he brings good fruit on
the many and colorful branches of his external knowledge; these are kept, but the tree is not. But the pillar, which
lets a united life rise in its midst, continues to be a firm, glorious support for the kingdom of God.

See, all this is depicted by this pillar-circle standing here in front of us on this fourth gallery; and you may deduct
from this knowledge the very easy conclusion that people who perform their buildings in such a high
correspondence of life must surely be exceedingly wise. This is also reflected by their radiant beauty. These
people, who live in this fourth gallery, also have correspondence with everything you see here. They are
exceedingly wise and beautiful, which is greater than all we have seen so far.

We will therefore not look at them either, for the sight of them might bring you more harm than good, for, as I
have already remarked, you must be made frigidly dull beforehand by the great splendor and wisdom in the
contemplation of this central building before you will be able to take into account these people who live in many
thousands in these huge buildings. And so we shall go up again, to the fourth floor, or to the fifth gallery, and see
there again more of the splendor, glory and wisdom of these people. And so we ascend with these, even if only a
little, steeper stairs.

Chapter 37.

Fourth Floor - The ordinary man and the divine-spiritual man.

Here we are already on the fifth gallery or on the fourth floor. What do you see here, which is quite different from
the previous gallery? You say: The most striking difference here is a white, rather high pyramid, also placed in
the middle of the pillar-circle. The top of the pyramid is curiously enough for us, for the first time adorned with a
small statue, representing a naked human being. This statue has a reddish-

white color and is so beautifully shaped in its juvenile measures, that one could easily believe that it is alive. We
have not yet seen a similar presentation since we came on this world body.
The rest of this fourth floor, or the fifth gallery, it is not so much different from the lower gallery, except for the
floor of this gallery being a flaming blue color, the pillars of reddish-white, like the statue on the top of the
pyramid, and the solid wall of the main building, a dark red, is quite different from the previous gallery. But we
must confess that we are already so dulled to the great splendor and glory of the colors, that we no longer pay
much attention to such differences. But this ornamental structure of this pillar-circle is rather foreign to us, since
we have not yet seen anything like this on this world-body, as we have said. It could surely not be a mere
ornament, but have to have some meaning, and we will discover it by closer by experience.

Well, my dear friends and brethren, your remark, and your wish is right, perfect, and good, and so listen to me; I
will try to discover the meaning of this ornament within you. What does the pyramid mean? I have already told
you the importance of it on another occasion. But if you wish to bring out the meaning as it is well founded here,
consider how a pyramid has been constructed in its form, and what its purpose is, and you will be able to see a
very effective indication about the meaning of this ornament within you ,

The pyramid is broad at the base, and ends in a point at the top; so shall also be the just, humble life of man.
How man's life develops, we have seen in the preceding galleries in the tree, which develops from a small seed
and spreads itself wider with its branches and twigs. The human being likewise spreads himself in his various
basic skills and henceforth acquired manifold insights, but also with all kinds of desires.

But what happens over time with this expanded man? He is taken out of his fluctuating ground and buried behind
the site of the graves, in the avenue of trials. Or, in clearer words, everything belonging to matter is again
intertwined with matter, and no one cares for those fruits produced for still some time, through assimilation of
matter. Only those fruits which the tree carried in the containers are preserved as substantial.

See, so it is with man. What he has done good in the time of his life, which is like a spread tree, is preserved. But
when man dies, his body is buried, and thus all his worldly knowledge goes with him. Does the body remain
without the fruit in the tomb? Oh no; on its many branches and twigs are still a great number of worms, which
gradually become masters of the tree on which they were produced, and then gradually absorbs it to the last
atom. The worms themselves, however, have in themselves other guests, which gradually transform them into
the mud of the earth and finally into the earth itself.

This is the image of an ordinary worldly human being. Through this pyramid, however, an unusual man is
represented. But this unusual man is in fact presenting a man as he should be in the depth of his being. How
then?

The man who has spread himself begins to unite his knowledge and his desires more and more to a single point,
and this point is God on high! The more he focuses in on Him who has created him unto a free life, the narrower
the circles of his knowledge and desires are driven and drawn; and this for as long as it takes man to reach the
point or culminating point of humility out of total self-denial of all his secular desires.

What does the pyramid then become for the human spirit who finds himself at the top of humility? It becomes
what it was for the ancient Egyptians, namely, a tomb for all his knowledge, desires, and passions, which
became completely dead unto the world.

But what do we see here above the top of the pyramid? A very well-formed little figure of a man of reddish-white
color. Behold, a splendid picture of the rebirth of man! From humility and complete self-

denial, that is, from the top of the pyramid, he emerges. How did he get to the top? This shows its color; by faith
and love to God! And his small and perfect form says as much as what the Lord once said unto us, His disciples:
"If ye shall not be like the little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God."

The extremely soft plastic shows the gentleness; the strength of the material the small statue is formed of, but
shows that man has only advanced into the unchanging strength of eternal life in such a true rebirth of the spirit.

The flaming blue floor also signifies the simple but stable ground for eternal life. The pillars of the same color,
however, signify the supporting pillars, which are the true, living faith in God the Lord, and the love for Him.

See, this is the most significant meaning of this ornament. Let us now go to the sixth gallery or, as we know it,
the fifth floor. There we will again encounter a higher degree of wisdom of the inhabitants of this central building.

You would like to have a look at the present inhabitants of this fourth floor. But I say to you, "Let this desire pass
away, for you can not yet bear such an exalted sight, even less than in the earlier galleries. At the right time,
however, we shall enter into a closer encounter with the inhabitants of this whole building; and so we will not
tarry, but will, as I have said, go straight to the fifth floor or to the sixth gallery.

Chapter 38.

Fifth floor - advanced level of development of the human spirit.

We are above; how do you like it here? You say: Very well; but it is here from this fifth floor or from the sixth
gallery already quite horribly high up! It is only good that every lower gallery stands above the other;?otherwise
we would scarcely be able to bear such a height. That otherwise everything is posed in the former way, can be
seen at the first moment; but as far as the ornamentation of the pillar-circle is concerned, this is really quite new.
A majestic large white shining globe rests upon a round, green circular plate, somewhat raised in the middle; but
on the globe here stands, in a very manly male position, a very masterfully executed statue, representing a
perfect man. The man looks upwards; the left hand is held against the breast, and with the right hand it points
into the distance in the manner in which a ruler would. The color of the statue also goes into the reddish-white;
but the hair is completely white and so is the beard.

The nails on the fingers glow like stars, the mouth is half open. This, however, is all that we are able to get from
the form of this remarkable ornament.

It is striking that here the pillars are blue, but the floor is red, and here not so strongly undulating and flaming as
with the lower galleries, but the swinging motion which we do notice on the floor is more like the swinging of an
elastic body, since the movements are similar. The wall of the inner building is dark green here, and together
with green light, a bright red light is also constantly being vibrated.

If one takes a look at the matter, it seems to me that the building here is in a constant state of vibration. Only the
columns emits their beautiful blue color quite calmly; what we have also noticed in these columns, which have
not been seen in the preceding ones, are the capitals which are placed above each column, as in transparent
gold, in an indescribably most beautiful form. My dear friends and brothers, this is all that we have noticed here.
But what all this may say, we are not yet able to handle, and least of all, the meaning of these ever-increasing
extraordinary decoration of these pillar-circles.

Dear friends and brothers! You have had a sufficient look at the necessary and useful things. What is especially
noticeable to you here is precisely what we can use for our purpose. It is true that here, every ornament,
however small, has its most wise reason; but this is concerned with certain conditions which are exclusively and
only applicable to this world-body, and especially to this circular region.

But as to the peculiar ornaments you have noticed, they have a general meaning, which, like a light from this
central body, applies to the whole of creation. In order that you may see this ornament as quickly and as well as
possible, we must take a quick look at the previous gallery. There we saw a small statue on the top of the
pyramid. It described the "rebirth of man" in his spirit. Underneath, the renounced world was still visible in a
perfect pyramid.

Now, however, look here at the green round plate, slightly raised towards the middle. This is nothing other than
the previous pyramid, compressed by the great weight of the great regenerated human spirit, or here it is where
the mountains and valleys are leveled. - That is true.

But whence came the great white ball, and what does it say? The sphere as well as the circle is the symbol of
perfection; but at the same time it also shows that the spirit of man, in the perfect victory over his worldly nature,
creates for himself a new world, which is the result of his completed wisdom. Thus every perfected spirit will
once become the creator of his own world, or he will inhabit the world which has emerged from the works of his
love and from the living light of his faith. And to this end, the sphere design shows the highest possible perfection
of such a world, completed in love, completed in wisdom, and completed in all efficiency.

But the fact that the ball indicates such a perfection can lead you to the conclusion that you are looking at a
world-body, or the other world-bodies, which the Lord, created as what they are. But what do these world bodies
look like? Look, they are perfect balls. But why does the ball express the perfected? Measure the sphere once
with a circle, and you will be able to make countless circles on this sphere from the largest to the smallest. The
surface or the outer circumference of the sphere will give the same circle in each direction. Further, wherever
you wish, you can make a smaller circle on the sphere, so that it will be entirely in the center of the whole
surface of the sphere. This is not possible on any other shaped body, even on the circle; for if you make a
smaller circle in the circle, or rather on the surface of the circle, it will surely no longer be in the center of the
circle, but on the surface of a sphere it is everywhere in the center. See, so the ball, like no other body,
expresses the highest possible perfection, as does the highest possible freedom of spiritual life.

But how? On the surface of the sphere, you can place a smaller circle or point wherever you want, and it will be
perfectly centered, in the center of the entire surface of the sphere. And then you can do as you please, and you
can not possibly transgress this most mathematically correct law in any way.

See, so it is also with the perfect freedom of action of the completed spirit. He can do whatever he likes and
wants, and it is a pure impossibility for him to violate the most perfect divine order. And this is the foundation of
this highly symbolical statue.

If we now know this, the perfectly masculine statue shows us nothing but a man perfected in the spirit. The
upwards gaze is the unobstructed view to God and justifies the sentence: "Look steadily at Me!" The left hand,
placed on the heart, shows the exclusive love for God; the other hand, stretched out into the distance in ruling
fashion, says that everything is subject to the law of love.

The symbolism of the man standing on the sphere, shows his sublimity above all of creation; for all of creation in
its perfection makes up the whole content of the sphere. No other sublimity is to be found on its surface; only
man, like a mighty ruler, stands above all creation, like a second god, over all of infinity.

The half-open mouth shows that besides God, there is no other being capable of speech than man alone. The
nails on the fingers, which shine as the stars, denotes the creative might, power and wisdom, which are present
in every perfected spirit.

Further, the blue pillars, the unshakable permanence and their transparent golden capitals, signify the divine
wisdom, and that the slight elevations of the floor shows the quiet, regulated, simple life, need scarcely be
mentioned.

Since we have come to know this important ornamental piece of this fifth floor in such a useful and convenient
way, we can go up one floor again. You say: How are we going to get up there? for in these pillar-circles we see
no circular staircase? But I say to you, look a little more closely, and you will see it soon. It is here made only of a
very transparent, but otherwise firm material, in order to characterize the purely spiritual ascension or the most
impeccable way in which every step can be fully observed. As we are still aware of these things, we shall
therefore cheerfully proceed to the sixth floor, or the seventh gallery.

Chapter 39.

Sixth Floor - Man shows his weaknesses In the state of fear.

You say: Dear friend and brother! On this very strongly transparent circular staircase, it is a little awkward to
climb upwards, for it seems to us as if one is going to rise up into the open air, and then look down onto the ever-
deepening ground; it is something rather dizzying! And if the ascent is so strange, the return will surely be even
stranger. Yes, yes, my dear brethren and friends, the matter certainly seems so and seem to justify your concern;
but you will instead in the end find out that all the circumstances you now worry about, will work out as such, that
you will not at all notice how easily and gracefully we will return.

I also have to mention that the heights are only dizzying for those who stay in the depth of the plain; but for
permanent inhabitants of the heights, and for those who have much to do with the heights, they are not at all; in
either a more natural and civil state. So does the mountain-dwellers, and many other friends of heights, climb up
and over the cliffs and crests, whose sight makes a permanent inhabitant of the plains almost feverish, while the
inhabitant of the mountain and heights gazes jubilantly over the most terrible abysses with his journeying and
climbing apparatus.

Thus, even if a man of low rank is in a situation, where he has to appear before his sovereign, and in fact in his
splendid court, with what fear and awe does he approach the face of his sovereign. His feet becomes heavier
with every step, the closer he come to the chamber, in which the prince of the country usually keeps his counsel.

If, on the other hand, we consider a minister or a high commander-in-chief, especially if he is still a prominent
favorite of the sovereign, and therefore also the insignificant court servants. These certainly approaches the
country's prince without the slightest oppression, and the latter, who are accustomed to this position as if inborn,
often mischievously frolics over the steps which seemed so dizzying and threatening to our simple countryman.

Yes, even from a citizen point of view there are no lack of examples;?let us assume a simple, well- educated
young man, whose life circumstances and conscience permits him to take an dear wife. He knows a house, and
the daughter of the house pleases him very well; but the circumstances of this house surpass the earthly
advantages of his own significantly. He knows that the family father of this house is a very respectable and
honored, good man; but the superiority of his position gives so many dizzying doubts to our bridegroom that he
can hardly dare, even with the aid of reliable guides and signposts, to overcome the difference of class with his
chosen house.

But since he cannot eradicate it, he have to take the risk; but how does he fare when he enters the doorway of
this fateful house from which he expects his happiness? His pulse is quicker than when he would climb a high
mountain; he becomes short of breath, and his whole body begins to shake as he approaches the door behind
which the housefather, father of his bride lives; Fear, faith, hope, and love are all intermingled.

At first he barely utters a word, or he measures every syllable before he pronounces it, in an attempt to show no
signs of weakness, of which every man is secretly so very conscious. But why? For man shows his weaknesses,
his vulnerabilities, even his faults, more easily than when he is in the state of fear.

Take for instance a virtuoso, even if he is ever so capable, but is still aware of a few places in his plays to be
performed, which have sometimes failed him somewhat under two ears and eyes, he develops a dread for these
places which he struggles to master, and therefore keep making these mistakes at these very doubtful places.
Fear was therefore the condition in which our virtuoso showed its weaknesses.

A good walker on a flat country does not know of any weakness in his walking. But if someone would tell him:
Friend, you must go with me to the top of that mountain; will he do this? So our good walker would probably say:
What do you think of me? That I shall not dare to go to the top of the mountain? I who have already walked
several hundred miles in the field. But then it becomes reality. Our good walker is facing a great height for the
first time in his life.

When climbing a very steep part, his feet begin to tremble; after every step, he begins to doubt the next one, and
begins to seriously reconsider whether he should continue or not. But if his friend shows him the crescent, our
good pedestrian will begin to tremble all over, and let himself be tied together with the others with the safety
rope.

What is to be deduced from this? The fear of height has revealed the weakness in the feet of our good walker, so
he lets himself be tied with the safety rope, still considering every step very carefully, and yet is still afraid,
avoiding with all the effort in the world to make the slightest misstep. So it is with our bridegroom; he was quite
confident in his daily walk of life; but on this serious height, where the safety of every step is important, one has
to weigh every step, every syllable, on a very accurate scale, as you are used to say: to make no tallow from the
pastry.

However, as is the case with these three examples of earthly presented human viewpoints, it certainly
corresponds with the spiritual.

The fraud of the fruit of fear does not end: the higher you go, the more fearful and timid you become in your
mind, and thus also correspondingly weaker in faith.

If I wish to speak to you in the fashion of highest heavenly wisdom, you would begin to despair and lose heart,
and if none of you would be able to write down even three lines, even with the most courageous attempt.

But I will therefore speak with you according to your nature, and I will or I will walk on your habitable ground and
terrain, and will elevate you barely noticeable, little by little. But even with this scarcely perceptible elevation, you
begin to feel a little dizzy on the ascent to our sixth floor or the seventh gallery on this rather strongly transparent
staircase.

But if our countryman, who visits the sovereign of the country, will spend some time in discussion with the very
condescending prince, he will get over the stately vertigo and all fear, and he will have a much more pleasant
return journey over the named steps of the palace than before, towards the palace of the sovereign.

The high-altitude climber will be bolder and less dizzy on the top of the mountain, and the way back will, as you
say, be a real pleasure.

Thus, even our bridegroom, when he has come to know that he has found firm ground in his beloved house than
he expected, will surely have a more cheerful return, than he had going there.

And behold, it shall be the same for us; we shall still experience some vertigo to reach the height of this building;
but the summit will then balance everything, and we shall experience a cheerful return journey.

On this occasion of our instructive conversation, we have also ascended our very transparent staircase, as you
may notice, quite comfortably, and in this way we take advantage of each step.

Now, however, we are already on the seventh gallery, or on the sixth floor, and thus I say to you: Look at
everything here at your leisure and attentively; for what you will find here will be of much greater interest than
anything we have ever seen and then discuss it in the manner of the wisdom of these inhabitants. So, as I said,
on this sixth floor or on the seventh gallery, actively take your eyes in your hands, look at everything well, and
then relate to me what you have seen; and we shall surely not miss the meaning.

Chapter 40.

Ascent from love into wisdom.

I notice that you have looked at everything well, and now you can also reveal what you have seen; and so you
say what you saw on this seventh gallery, or on the sixth floor, as something particularly conspicuous. I can tell
you that you are not yet quite familiar with this mode of representation, and you can not describe the thing you
looked at properly;?therefore I must help you somewhat.

First things first, my dear friends and brethren, you can see the rounding of this seventh gallery, while in the
lower galleries, you have not been able to perceive the form, due to the great size. Secondly, you will notice that
the pillar-circles here are no longer of the considerable extent as in the earlier galleries; also does a pillar-circle
no longer consist of thirty pillars, but only of twenty pillars, and the inner space is therefore also somewhat more
limited. Thirdly, you notice that here the floor is light red, the columns, the walls, and the ceiling are light blue, but
the doors in the walls of the main building are a dark crimson red. In all this you do not notice any flames, though
instead a very strong glow, and you say in yourselves: with regard to the outward splendor of this present gallery,
it is a bit less than the previous; but for the balustrades of the gallery and the ornamentation of the pillar-circles,
these are at least at first sight, very much the same as the preceding ones.

Firstly is this gallery made up of nothing but stars, with which whole fixed decorations are formed, and then
made into a useful whole. The stars are of very bright brilliancy, and they radiate in a thousandfold colors, and
the circular staircase within the pillar-circle seems to be composed only of stars, and no other solid material can
be seen between these stars.

This is, however, also the extent to which our language is sufficient to portray what we see here. But as far as
the central ornamentation of the circle is concerned, it is an object which is too high above the horizon of our
language, therefore we can not describe this object.

Yes, yes, my dear friends and brethren, that is what I have already remarked on at the beginning, and I have
perceived that the description of this subject may be a little difficult for you. That's why I passed it over at first.
And so give attention! We should like to present this ornamental object as exact as possible, so observe it with
full take it with all attentiveness.

We are now as close as possible; and then look down at the floor of the pillar-circle. What do we see? A single
circle of stars, seven klafter in circumference, in the order of the colors of a rainbow, and the width of the circle is
three spans. Within this circle, a violet altar rises to a height of six spans and has a circumference of about three
men's klafter, after the outstretched hand measure. The upper, rounded edge is bordered with a small railing of
flaming gold; on top of the border is a half-span high railing, composed of pure round, glossy white pillars. Above
the railing pillars is again a broad hoop made of transparent crimson gold, over which, just at the places under
which the pillars are placed, there are small, perfectly round dark blue balls, and each of these spheres has a
small circle of stars around its middle.

But from the middle of the railed surface of this altar rises a perfect light-green pillar, and above this pillar is a
great circle composed of stars. Within this circle, a large number of geometrical figures are composed of bright
red and white stars, which, together with their circle surrounding them, creates a very mysteriously impressive
sight.

Another circle hangs from the ceiling on a massive golden cord; it hangs not upright, but horizontally and is of
equal size with the upright one, standing on the green center pillar, but looks very much the same in every other
respect. See, that is the form of the ornament of this pillar-circle, which you had difficulty to describe.

You say: Dear friend and brother in the Lord! Everything is very sublime, beautiful and good; but this
ornamentation, like the former, will surely also have a profound meaning, as you have already described;?but
what significance does this one have? That is another question. If we were to discuss it, we would have done
enough, if we had coped with the description, and would have left the correspondence to eternally better times.
But since you have helped us out of so many embarrassments, we are here also firmly convinced that even in
this case it would not be too difficult for you to give us a little light about it.

Yes, my dear friends and brothers, we are here on the first step of about half the height of this building, and we
are already dealing with objects of pure wisdom. So far we have been basically, that is, in love, but now we go
out of love into wisdom, which is a just way before God. But since objects of wisdom about the most significant
are more difficult to grasp than objects of love, we must be a bit more collected here, in order not to be thrown
out of the saddle, as you say.

You indeed say that you do not really see the reason for this, since the highest wisdom is also present in love; if
we can grasp it by being united with love, will it not also be easy for us to work through all things. Yes, my dear
friends and brothers, you judge otherwise quite correctly; but this time I must tell you that you have already hit
only air. But that you may not only hear this from me alone, but also understand it yourselves as clear as the
sun, I will give you a few examples which will suffice to confirm my statement. and so listen!

If you walk on your earth-body, and encounter numerous objects, all of which are well lit by the sun, you will not
find one whom you can not touch and carry with your hands unless its weight exceeds your strength; no one can
therefore say that he is not capable of picking things up, and when you take hold of it, you also picks up its light
together with it. But now try to take hold of the free light and carry it around in bundles. I think this will be a little
difficult.

If the light is already bound to a solid body which corresponds to love, then you can take hold of the light
together with the body, and then carry it back and forth at your pleasure; but as already noted, the free light does
not allow such an act. That would be a good example. Let us consider another, from which it will be evident that
man can enjoy the light, and be able to make use of it in a corporeal manner; but only on the way of the Divine
order. But how this is done, we shall now show with the following example.

Out of what and from where does the full ripeness of the fruit of the tree and the wheat come? You say:
Undeniably from the light and from the warmth associated with the light. You have answered well. We know
therefore that a fruit is a product of light and warmth.

The light, however, allows itself to be taken captive by the heat, and the more heat, the more light will be
imprisoned. And from these two, a full-fledged fruit comes forth, which you can then enjoy, and in this way, with
the fruit which is enjoyed, with the lightest effort from the world, the captured light necessarily arises in you, and
this captive light is also that etheric substance , which gives your organism the life-giving food.

Could not somebody say that if this is manifestly and surely correct, then one would only be able to oppose the
luminous sun, and diligently absorb the light into oneself, sparing oneself to have to eat. But I say: It is only a
trial. The sun-meal is also already known; that a person should only stick to a pure sun- meal for ten days, and
already on the second day his organism will tell him how much of the food he has absorbed.

From this example, however, you can see more clearly than from the previous, that the light alone cannot be
enjoyed in its free state, and that no one can be satiated by it. But only when it is caught in the Divine order by
the Divine power, it becomes enjoyable and nourishing. For this reason, man is to capture all his world-light in
his heart, wherever it is bound by the warmth of life, and from this light he will receive a right food for his spirit.
Here we must likewise firstly take into captivity the pure forms of wisdom by our love of the Lord, and then we
shall be able to look at the development of the same in ourselves, and so prepare ourselves an efficient meal.
The Lord will also open this altar to us, as He opened it for us in the avenue.

Chapter 41.

Relationship, order and harmony between love and wisdom.

Now look and pay attention; I have spoken thus in myself, and you have done the same through me, and it will
also be easy to grasp the more free wisdom with the power of the Lord within us, and to make it understandable
to us. But in order to properly understand and appreciate the matter, you should firstly consider the number of
floors and galleries.

We are on the sixth floor or on the seventh gallery, so in fact, over half of the building. Thus, just as the lower
half, and by far the bigger part of the building, corresponds to the breast of man, and thus to all that is of love;
likewise does the upper half correspond to the head of man, and thus understanding and wisdom.

Here we are therefore at the first stage of wisdom, or at the stage where pure wisdom and love are combined. If
you pay some attention to this, you will begin to distinguish the ornamentation of this pillar- circle, as well as the
decoration of all the circles of this floor.

Look at the altar here! Its virtual shape, color and decoration depicts love reaching out into wisdom. The small
pillar, in which the mysterious circle is embedded, represents the neck of man, but the sense of the greatest
possible humility. But what comes out of humility? Look at the fixed circle. This circle represents the head of
man; it corresponds with the light of wisdom which proceeds from the warmth of love.
The starlets of which it is composed, together with the figures, likewise composed of starlets, which fill this free
space, signify the manifold wisdom and insights, which, of course, are all together and combined, part of
wisdom. But the lower circle of stars on the floor around the altar says that love, the true humility, and also their
wisdom, are of Divine origin, and come from the work of the men according to the Divine will.

The sevenfold circle is the visual representation of the divine will.

Its individual stars, however, signify the works which man performs according to the Divine order, according to
the knowledge of the Divine will. But it is clear from this that no one can love God, unless He fulfills His will. But
whoever fulfills God's will by taking his own will captive through self-denial, has a first share in love of God. And
so are the works according to the will of God the noble seeds, from which grows the exceeding over all blessed
and life- giving love of God.

When one partakes in such love, he has gained with it the wisdom equal to the Divine wisdom, because love
itself, being the origin of this wisdom, is Divine. That the multifariously shaped symbols in the circle depict the
multiple contiguous and exalted concepts of the Godly order and wisdom, need hardly be mentioned at all.

In this respect, we would have also unraveled our ornaments. But we can still see, from the ceiling, a circle
similar to that which has been inserted into the small column, and this horizontally suspended circle, touches the
uppermost sphere of our circle precisely at its center, which is fixed onto the small pillar. What will this circle
indicate?

This circle signifies the divine wisdom, which constantly flows from the heavens, and continually enlightens and
directs the wisdom of every man who lives according to the Divine order.

The touching of these two circles signifies that the true Divine spirit of wisdom penetrates man into the depths of
the same, represented by the center. He can, therefore, understand heavenly and Divine things, and, indeed,
deal with the Lord Himself as a child with his father, or as one brother with another. - See, this is the complete
explanation, presented as briefly and intelligibly as possible.

You of course say and ask here: "Dear friend and brother!" Wherefrom do the men of this central world-body get
such wisdom, in which literally the whole spiritual life of every person living on our earth is shown with the
highest degree of clarity? If, according to spiritual correspondence, human beings on earth were to build the
same, it would be understandable that, as you know, the Lord and Creator of all the heavens and worlds lived,
walked, and taught on this earth. But on this world-body, which certainly stands at an unspeakable distance from
our earth, to have such wisdom, which wholly resembles the divine earthly, is indeed very strange.

How is that possible?

My dear friends and brothers, this question would expose you to great laughter in a community of heavenly
spirits. What do the fingers and extremities of your body feed on? You do not eat with the extremities; the feet
have no mouth or gullet to receive the food specially intended for them, neither do the hands nor the fingers
have the same, and so your body still has a countless number of large and small parts, all of which do not need
to be separately fed.

Man has only one mouth and a stomach, in which he takes up, and pass on the food, properly prepared, to all
other parts; likewise does he not have a heart in every member, but he has only one in his breast, and this
spreads its veins and vessels through his whole body, and through them he sends his life into all the fibers of the
whole body, and this everywhere according to the well-calculated, useful capacity for life.

But you have heard that the whole great creation of God is, in its spiritual nature, a human being, which man, in
the endlessly great universality, certainly has only a stomach and a heart. You know the great Food-provider, and
you also know the food with which the great Provider feeds this great man; it is the bread of life, or as you would
say it in German: 'sie ist die Liebe Gottes! (it is the love of God)!

But if you find in all parts of your body the same food which you have put into your stomach, and everywhere
that same blood which flows from the heart into all your body parts, it will not be a miracle either, that one would
find in this part of the great cosmic man, beings with the same Divine love and wisdom that you have found on
your earth; have found, and always will find.
Such a central sun is, in a sense, a major nerve in the great world-man, and the smaller suns and planets are
equal to the smaller, secondary nerves, fibers, and threads; and the main nerve is certainly nourished by the
same juice with which the smaller nerves, fibers, and fibers are fed and nourished. Where there is a Lord, a
Creator, and one and the same God, there can be, in His immeasurable creation, only Divine love, Divine
wisdom, and Divine order! Unless you would like to accept some other God and Creator, provided that your mind
and understanding are capable of such folly; then one might well look at a different order of things, and at all
events raise a question such as yours. But in the case of circumstances which are only one God, there remains
a single food, singular wisdom, and one order. But as we now clearly see all these things, we shall go up again
to the seventh floor, or the eighth gallery. If this circular staircase looks rather airy, it should not matter to you; for
it will bear us; and so we will go.

Chapter 42.

Seventh floor - Absolute wisdom appears transparent and impenetrable like diamond.

See, our ascent has gone better than you thought. We are, as you see, already on the seventh floor or on the
eighth gallery. How do you find this place?

You say, dear friend, here it looks very airy; the pillars of the circles are as if from the finest transparent glass, the
ground on which we are standing is likewise of a blue-whitish matter, which is very smooth and glossy. The
balustrades, which enclose this gallery from the pillar to pillar, are also made of a very transparent material, so
that one can look through it with a very insignificant weakening of the light of the eye, and when we look upwards
to the ceiling, we see the same light-blue matter, which also appears to be quite transparent; because you can
see places quite easily on the next gallery above.

Yes, my dear friends and brothers, that is all right. You would like to know whether this very strongly transparent
matter is of the same firmness as the somewhat less transparent matter of the lower floors? I tell you, you can
be fully assured of it; for the more transparent in the hard state some matter is here, the more solid is it in its
parts.

You say: It would indeed be according to proper building order to lay the foundation with the solid matter, which
must bear the whole load of the building, and the less solid, even though less transparent, in the upper parts of
such a building, where the building becomes increasingly lighter:

You judge rightly according to your custom, and the building order on your earth body would thus certainly be
better-taken care of; but in another world operates a different building code. You nevertheless know that hard
objects are brittle and less giving, while the softer ones still have great firmness, but are more flexible, less frail,
and can thus withstand without injury greater pressure than the completely hard objects.

Think of what might be harder: a ball of solid glass, or a ball of solid copper? In order to cut or scratch the
copper, it is true that one do not need the hardest cutting tools; with an ordinary bread knife you can cut or
scrape off quite significant pieces from it without effort. In order to damage the glass ball, you need very hard
objects such as the finest quartz, the hardest, finest steel or diamond. Now take both balls, put a weight of a
thousand hundredweight on each, and give both a perfectly hard support. The glass ball will be crushed to white
dust, but the copper one will escape with little flattening under the pressure.

From this example, you can see why the harder materials have been used for the top of this building. At the
bottom they would most likely have had the fortune of the glass ball under the weight of a thousand
hundredweight;?but here they are fully capable and strong enough to carry the load resting above them, and we
have nothing to fear because our weight.

But the fact that everything here becomes harder, more brittle, and more transparent, has an important meaning,
but we cannot say too much about how hard materials can never be broken even into big chunks by the hardest
tools. The diamond on your earth is surely the hardest and at the same time the most transparent body; but
those who grind it, or cut it according to your art-speech, will tell you exactly what it takes to remove only atomic
parts from it.

See, so it is with the ever-purer wisdom; a chunk of it is harder to consume and disassemble than a whole world
of love. One might say that such wisdom is like a box full of fleas, which, when the box is opened, bounce away
in great haste, and asks for a great deal of dexterity to catch but a few of thousands. Hence, as has been said,
the hard and transparent character of the material of this seventh floor or of this eighth gallery cannot be said to
be too much.

But so much is certain and clear that the objects in the light of wisdom, that is, of absolute wisdom become ever
more transparent, but always more and more impenetrable; and the higher they rise, the more transparent and
harder they are, so that, in the end, one is standing and walking on the solid matter, but one no longer sees due
to their transparency. So it is also the case with absolute wisdom. One has a reason to be on one's ground; but
that is all to be said of it. If you would examine it more closely with your eyes, the longer you observe such a
body, the more you will lose it in the light of your eyes, and what you have seen at first sight, will no longer be
there.

Is it not precisely the case with the absolute wisdom? Yes, you may know this from many experiences. If,
however, the matter is still not sufficiently clear to you how the absolute wisdom behaves correspondingly to the
material of this great house of habitation, I will give you a little chunk of wisdom, and you may gnaw at it as you
like, and you will amount to nothing. And so listen:

Seven circles are intertwined; the circles penetrate, the penetrated ones gets consumed, and the consumed
ones elevate themselves in those who are not consumed, and the seven circles have no measure and no center.
They are seven without end; a number which penetrates the circle of the seven, and the seven, the one!

Look, this is such a crumb of absolute wisdom! In a few words I have told you so immensely much that you
would not be able to deal with it with ordinary concepts for all eternity. But if you read the wisdom sentence, it will
seem to you at first as if you had to come to some, if not total, then partial solution. But try to scrape and work on
it, and set the microscope of your mind to this matter; the more you will give up on it, the more airy the matter
becomes and the less apparent is in it, and it automatically disappears more and more from the light of your
mind.

I think you will have enough to come to the conclusion that there is not much to be done for a still bound spirit
with absolute wisdom.

Therefore, we are only as handsome as the diet which the good Holy Father prepared and blessed for us; but at
the time when your mind becomes more unbound, you will also be capable to bite of greater chunks of the
absolute food more than at present. But little is sufficient for the wise, we shall be fully satisfied with the smaller
bits which will be presented to us on these wisdom- galleries. But we still have here the ornamental pillar of the
pillar-circle; consider it, and we will then see how much we can deduct from it.

Chapter 43.

Absolute wisdom is not useful for a bound spirit.

I notice that you have been done a proper visual investigation of the ornamental room, and have looked at it
quite intensely from atom to atom;?therefore it will not be difficult for you to speak about, and to describe it as
fully as you have looked at it. So you can begin with the description of this ornamentation. But it appears to me
that you will not be able to finish the examination. What is it about the ornaments that fixes your eyes on it? Is it
probably the ornament itself or are its parts?
I clearly notice why you cannot finish the observation. The ornamentation of this pillar-circle is unstable, and you
do not know what to make of the constantly changing form. Yes, yes, this ornament is a true kaleidoscope, in
which every form of turning is different, and the previous ones do not re-appear again. I tell you therefore also:

It will help you little; if you wish to look at this ornament for a whole eternity, you will never come to a final form,
but instead, the disappeared forms always get replaced with even more peculiar forms. Hence you can only
describe the form of the ornament itself, which is static, and let the inner changing forms be. So what is it then?

You say here, dear friend and brother, the whole ornament in and of itself is of a very simple kind, as far as we
can see with our eyes. A glass globe is placed in a simple gold ring of more than two klafter in diameter, as in the
case of a heavenly or earth globe within a moving brass meridian. The ball is continually rotating within this large
ring, which it almost completely fills. The ring is not at all fixed on the floor, but is attached to a massive gold
cord, which is embedded with stars, reaching from the ceiling to the height of a man. With every slight twist, new
forms appear in this large, transparent glass-globe, which are rather dull, yet colorful, and the forms are not so
often so attractive that one cannot stop looking at them. But as soon as one want to take hold of a form to look at
it, it is no more; and another, having no resemblance to the preceding one takes its place; and this goes on and
on.

But when one would think to again see a form which have just formed at a certain point, again at the next
rotation, you are greatly mistaken; for there will be no trace left of a form which was once observed. This is, dear
friends and brothers, all that we have discovered in this strange ornament to be highly remarkable.

We can easily see from here that the other pillar-circles also have the same ornament, we can see quite well
from this point. The question here therefore is: who is driving this sphere continually round its axis, and what
does this whole ornament mean?

My dear friends and brothers! See, there is already hangs a fatal, absolute chunk of wisdom on this ornament,
from which you, with your insight, will not be able to bite much off of it. As to the rotation of this sphere, it is easy
to explain and understand.

If you only know that the large, perfect round rod is internally hollow, and a very cleverly calculated mechanism,
which can be regarded as a true "perpetuum mobile," is placed at the point where the spindle of the ball is
inserted into the hoop, by which precisely this transparent sphere, which appears to be made of the finest glass,
is brought into a continually equal rotation, then you can be completely satisfied with this answer.

You would like to know more about the driving force of such a perpetuum-mobile mechanism. If you would know
this, which is not going to be too difficult to explain, you will still not understand the ornament any bit better than
without an explanation.

But I see that you are very eager about the perpetuum-mobile mechanism; so I must inform you somewhat; do
imagine yourselves some indestructible material, which is only present on such world-bodies as on this central
sun. Such a material cannot be found on the your earth, because all the earthly materials originate from an
inexplicably lower degree of light and heat than those of such a central solar world.

If we keep this in mind, then the representation of this mechanism is of the simplest kind imaginable. What does
it look like? See, about the lower third of this completely sealed ring is filled with an indestructible liquid, about
the kind and composition, which you could possibly compare with an exceedingly purified mercury in a perfectly
transparent and exceedingly easily fluid state. From the top of the ring, however, a so-called "polyorganon"
descends into the liquid, but only on the one side.

This polyorganon, according to its powerful attraction to the liquid, sucks it up. This polyorganon, however,
reaches down to one-third of the whole ring on the opposite side of the ring, and lets the fluid which was sucked
up on the other, side drip down this side. Before the end of the polyorganon, a funnel- like droplet collector is
installed, the lower tube of which is directed to a well-calculated spoon-like blade. This scoop is fastened directly
to the spindle on which the sphere itself is suspended.

When a small spoon has been filled by one or more falling drops, the little spoon is, of course, heavier, then
descends, and in this way swings around the whole large sphere. If the little spoon has poured out its liquid
down low, another is filled and sinks again. And since the polyorganon absorbs the fluid at the same rate as it
can be dripped down on the spoons, the perpetual motion is, under the conditions given above, extremely easily
possible, if you consider that this matter, from which the spindle and, Ornament, is not capable of wear, and thus
no friction. The smoothness of the spindle and of the cylinder in which the spindle is running is so great, that it
does not pose the slightest resistance to the rotation. It is as if such a spindle were moving in the purest aether.
And since the large glass-like sphere also hangs in the spindle in a highly mathematical precise spherical
manner, its rest is already sufficiently disturbed by the weight of a small drop. Such a product, however, does not
belong to the category of miracles for these most wise men.

You say that this perpetuum-mobile mechanism is now quite complete;?but the constant change of form in the
glass sphere, we shall hardly understand. Yes, my dear friends and brothers, there will certainly be a little
problem; but it is impossible to gain any insight into it. On your earth body such a representation would probably
be a pure impossibility, because on the earth body, the most varied so-called imponderable substances cannot
be permanently retained; but this is easily possible on a central solar world.

And so you have learned from experience that this ball is internally hollow, but is filled with all kinds of such
imponderable basic materials.

At the slightest rotation, these substances intermingle continually, without being completely mixed with each
other due to their differences. By this mixing, however, new formations of the shapes takes place continually,
which must necessarily change in the course of a continual, perpetual revolution of the glass sphere. You can
see on your earth-body something similar on great scale, where also the imponderable substances within the
great air-ball, which naturally surrounds the entire body of the earth, continually bring new forms into
appearance. But these imponderable substances stand on the earth-body on a much less active potency than on
such a central sun; hence its structure is usually unstructured, as can be seen in the cloud-formations, and many
other aerial appearances. In this sphere, however, these substances are, to some extent, enclosed in their most
concentrated power; hence the developed forms are also indescribable, and, if only on a smaller scale, grant the
most impressive visual effect.

I think that we have deciphered this appearance as far as it was possible for you to understand; but what does
all this mean? This is a very different and extraordinary question. It is, as we have seen in the beginning, a
wisdom which cannot be completely fathomed, and we shall have to be content to throw a very fleeting general
glance at it. The whole thing can therefore be summed up by the fact that this ornament presents the absolute
wisdom itself, and from this point of view is something constantly moving and morphing. Its meaning and inner
connection can only be deciphered by the owner, but never by anyone else.

So it is also on your earth. Who can understand the countless forms of the clouds? The supreme wisdom
continually sinks back into the dust, and must say: Lord! We are like nothing at all, all men and spirits are like
nothing before You! Likewise, we would also like to do here, and instead of an empty discussion, we would
rather go straight to the ninth gallery or to the eighth floor. The staircase looks as if it is very airy; but it will
certainly bear us, and so we begin our ascent.

Chapter 44.

Eighth Floor - About entering the being of the spirit.

We are above; look carefully and pay particular attention to the ornaments of the pillar-circles. From these, as
you have learned so far, we learn from floor to floor the wisdom of the people living here, and at the same time
the general world-order of a whole solar region, especially of the central sun where we are at present.

As far as the rest of this gallery is concerned, there is not too much to be discovered for our eyes, for the all the
building material, except for the inner continuous wall, is already perfectly transparent, so that one can recognize
only the bright surfaces, which is a material, but otherwise it is, as already said, perfectly transparent like the air.
The inner continuous wall, however, is blindingly white; the doors into the inner apartments are light blue. Now,
however, we are already finished with the colors of the building; so we go straight to a pillar-circle, in order to
have a look at something peculiar, which will raise us up to a very real spiritual gallery.

We are in a circle. You may say, dear friend and brother, here one must feel the pillars of this circle more than
look. They are, indeed, very bright when one comes right before their surface-mirrors; but if one looks away only
fleetingly, indeed, one could very well run into the pillar without having seen before what a stone of offense
awaits you.

You said earlier that we should take a keen look at the ornamentation of this pillar-circle, because there is
something great behind it. But we are already looking left and right, up and down, and can only with difficulty
discern the pillars, and along them an exceedingly pure, delicate and completely transparent spiral staircase,
furnished with a uniform balustrade on either side; but we can not discover, even with the keenest attentiveness,
the slightest trace of an ornament inside this pillar-circle. If, however, we would want to draw from it something
which is profitable for our inward quest for knowledge and wisdom, then we must have something clear before
us; because from this nothing will impossibly come anything more than nothing.

Yes, my dear friends and brethren, see, the sight of man is established by the fact that if one comes from one of
the two extremes, it is useless for a time. If a man has stood for a long time in stark light, and then comes into a
dark room, he will not be able to distinguish the objects in it with the best vision. This is also the case in reverse;
if someone has been staying for a long time in a dark room, and suddenly comes to the bright light, he will not
see anymore in the first moments in the light, than the birds of the night at daytime. Only after a few seconds will
the pictures become increasingly clearer to his eye.

Likewise with you here; because the difference in light from gallery to gallery, from floor to floor is very different
and is caused by the application of the ever brighter and lighter building material. We therefore have to linger
here at this light level to practice our eyesight.

And so things will come to light, which we may not now see at first.

You ask: How are we supposed to do it? I tell you, only look at the white wall; your eye will soon be sufficiently
adjusted to the light glow, and you will begin to see the outlines of our ornament. Here, of course, you say: Dear
friend and brother, as we are, the matter will not be right;?for if the spiritual eye is homogeneous with the
corporeal, it can only be blinded by a looking for long at this brightness, but not enlivened and strengthened.
Therefore, we would think that if the eye is held in some darkness first, it will then become stronger for the
reception of the light.

Yes, my dear friends and brothers, apparently it should be so; but such assumption is not suitable for this place.
But if you wish to see the reason for it, I will draw your attention to it.

How do you find the morning or evening sun at the first glance you are looking for? You say: Dear friend and
brother, unbearably strong; and we cannot discern the round form of the body, but the shape is like a formless
fireball. Good, my dear friends and brothers; but what would happen if you overcome yourselves and begin to
constantly look at this fireball? You say:?the glow gets lost gradually, and our eyes see only a snow-white disk,
which seems to vibrate on its edge, and if we look a long time, we can see the largest spots on its surface as
very small black dots.

Very well again, my dear friends and brethren; but why can you do this? Has your eye been strengthened by the
constant bright light of the sun? Oh no! Your eye has actually been weakened, which you can easily see, if you
turn your eye away from the sun to another object. How will you look at such an object? Behold, as in a dream,
or in a dark night.

But if we know this from experience, we shall readily understand why the somewhat longer-lasting aspect of the
white continuous wall of this building should be good; for which the longer sight of the sun was good. -

You would have seen the pure sun-disc even with its patches through the longer sight; and we shall gradually
begin, in this light mass, to see the ornament of this pillar-circle.

You again ask here, and say, "Dear friend and brother, do the inhabitants of this building of all buildings also
have to look for so long, to see their ornaments with which they adorned this pillar-circle, as we did? O no, my
dear friends and brethren; their eyes see all this with the same ease as you do the various objects on your earth.
But your eye must be practiced a little to observe things here.

You may say, dear friend and brother, this eye preparation for us seems to be a bit vain, for we are indeed of the
earth, and can with the best will in the world not relate what you are sharing with us by the grace of the Lord. We
indeed write our subject, but we see only that which surrounds us; our eyes cannot behold all these glories, but
hitherto only our ears.

Dear friends and brothers! From the very strongly natural side, this is quite clear and correct, but from the rather
more spiritual, basically wrong. If you put your outer, gross senses into the limelight, it will certainly be a difficult
thing to do with the intuition of these glorious things; but I speak here of the habituation of the spiritual sense;
and the eye of the spirit is your imagination, your feeling, and the fantasy connected with it.

You must open this eye and turn it into the white light of the spirit, and in this turning, tarry a while; then you will
begin to see what we discuss here, with your spiritual eyes as well, the same as you would see with your fleshly
eye.

Thus every man who wishes to enter into the life of his spirit must daily enter into the complete peace of his
spirit, and he should then not wander about with all kinds of thoughts, but should take hold of a thought and
steadily observe this specific object.

The best thought here is, of course, the Lord. And if any man continue to do this with eagerness and all possible
self-denial, sight and hearing of his spirit will always gain more and more inward sharpness, and after a not too
long time these two sensory tools of the spirit may become so greatly increased, that with the greatest ease he
will see the spiritual forms of the most wonderful kind, where he previously thought was nothing but a formless
emptiness. And so he will also be able to hear words easily, where once seemed to be an eternal stillness. I think
you will understand what I have been saying to you, and hopefully you will also see that your objection regarding
your sight, was of significantly less worth than my advice on how you should strengthen your vision to the further
sight of these glories.

Therefore, observe now my advice, and look at the white shining wall, or in yourselves, the side of your minds,
which are free of vain worldly thoughts; and you will soon and easily see the very simple but meaningful
ornamentation of this pillar-circle.

Just look; on a transparent white cord hangs a very simple, pure and translucent ball, which is about a klafter in
diameter, and from the floor of the pillar-circle rises a perfectly round, very narrow and equally translucent cone-
form pyramid with the point up to the sphere. Do you see it? You say: We already perceive this as in a very quiet
image in us. Good, I tell you; but think only a little about it, and see if you will not find the meaning of this
ornament. - At the next opportunity, I will then properly illuminate your discovery.

Chapter 45.

Godly spiritual wisdom is foolishness to the world.

You have done this and have thought about it a little; and I say to you, here is the relation: you could have
thought about what you wanted, and you had to meet a perfectly correct and true picture of the inner meaning of
this ornament. Here, of course, you say with a somewhat astonished temper:

If this is so, then one have it very easy in the realm of spirits. One can ponder all sorts of incoherent phrases one
by one in a completely thoughtless and senseless way, and still compose the answer to a most important
question of life, and in the end have by means of void ravings, unintentionally created the greatest wisdom.
But we are, to the contrary, of the opinion that in the spirit, in order to speak truly spiritually, one must speak with
incomparably more conviction than on the earth, and that for the sure reason that the pure spirit also has much
more cogent and concise means to its disposal , than in the crumbled external world, where he is still trapped
and oppressed by his heavy flesh.

Yes, my dear friends and brothers, you are indeed partly right, if you measure the spiritual with earthly measure;
but if you are spiritually intelligent, you will easily perceive that your present conclusion is based on very
inadequate ground. You have certainly read in the letters of my dear brother Paul, where he often expresses the
wisdom of the wise in Christ before the world to be barbaric folly. This is also true; but how then?

Look, if you count, you think the order in your system of payment is perfect and has no gaps. I tell you, however,
that there is an unfillable gap between all numbers, and this gap can only be filled with the highest spirit. What
would your judgment be then, if a spirit filled with the highest grace stands before you and counts between one
and two in countless billions of billions, and says in the end: still the gap between your two systematic ordered
numbers is far from being filled. And if he will lead you there into deeper and deeper unfilled gaps between the
billions he has counted, which are all between your one and two, you will say:

This being has insights in the highest degree, and babbles about infinite magnitudes, while we see nothing but
two adjacent units.

Another spirit may come to you and tell you stories about your earth, about the gray past as well as about the
recent past and present, which have never really happened on Earth. Yes, he can do another trick, he can put
real deeds from the present back into gray antiquity, and vice versa the deeds of the gray old age into the
present time; he can also confuse the places where one or the other act was committed. So he can also
exchange the earth with the sun, and the like, even more such stuff that is terribly contradictory to your
judgment. He can place a thousand where you have one, and so vice versa. What are you going to say with your
earthly wise ordered assessment? Surely you will bring out nothing but: Behold, the spirit twaddles.

You say in your worldly wisdom: If I am and think, I am the one who I am and think. But the Spirit will say to you,
I am and am not; I think and think not; I am who I am not; and I think I do not think. What will you say? There is
nothing else but: the spirit is twaddling again! For a definite being cannot be in a non- existence at the same
time.

But, from this, you can easily see that the spiritual wisdom is never measured according to the earthly standard.
But in order that you may get some slight concept, I will only illumine the being and the non- being, the thinking
and the non-thinking according to spiritual wisdom. And so listen!

When the Spirit says, "I am, and I am thinking," he indicates that the Lord is in him all in all things; and he says
of his own accord: "I am not and think not," he says, "that without the Lord there is no essence for himself. But
how is the Lord, in deep wisdom, saying of Himself, who is eternally all in all? See, then, show that the Lord
Himself is eternally perfect and thinks in Himself. But when He says, "I am not, and I do not think, it is as much
as: All beings are creatures of Me, and are My living thoughts held by My will; and there is no thing in the whole
infinity that I had not thought and creatively created with My will. In order that My creatures may achieve
complete freedom, I give My thoughts as perfectly as if I have not conceived them and not created them, so that
they can now freely think, act, and rule as though they were not of Me in the least, and as if I were not at all.

See then, the wisdom of the spiritual concepts, which, with their earthly order, must, in their spiritual simplicity, be
regarded as ravings.

But as with this example of wisdom, which is somewhat illumined for you, it is the same with all the mathematical
and historical examples cited earlier; and you may ask a spirit: How much is two times four? and the Spirit would
answer you: two times four is Judea or China, or Asia or Europe, or Jerusalem or Bethlehem, or King Solomon,
and likewise countless more, and he would have always given you the unmistakably true answer.

But you will say: That two times four is eight; we see, but that two times four equals countries, cities and
peoples, seems to be a strong delusion. With earthly ordered understanding, sure; but with spiritual, where each
number has an inexhaustible corresponding spiritual principle, the answer will be perfectly correct. But I see that
this statement stimulates your inquisitiveness too much, and you would like to have a quiet thought about it, but I
will still let you have a few examples.
Look, two times four is eight; how is it Jerusalem? In the number 8, the number 7 is infallibly contained. The
number 7, however, is the authority of the seven spirits of God, which have correspondence in the seven colors,
and therefore also with the life of every man. But now we have the number 1 in the number 7; what does it say?
It says that these seven spirits are not seven, but are, in fact, entirely one Spirit; and this is, as it were,
expressed in the number 8, in which number, at the same time, the Spirits of God are separated, and then
represented in unison with each other; and this combined 'one' with the formerly divided seven, gives the perfect
number.

Now, however, Jerusalem also presents the Lord under the active standpoint of love and wisdom; which you may
well see from the occasion of the origin of this city and its appropriate arrangement. Thus the Lord, or His love
and wisdom, or the very city of Jerusalem, is perfectly identical;?and the number, which represents the Lord as a
perfected Being, must then also signify all that which is also the Lord in His united perfection. But Jerusalem
does this; so it can also be designated with equal right, under the number 8.

But as is the case with Jerusalem, the reason is basically the same with all others; since the Lord is certainly
everywhere in everything; and hence can the number 8 in this specific sphere, depict equally perfectly, either the
one or the other.

Here, of course, you say: If it is so with 8, it must also be so with all the other numbers. This is correct and sure;
but as long as you are still battling with earthly numbers and scales, and you are of the opinion that God and the
purer spirits must count the same as you, you will not be able to comprehend them in their full depth.

When a prophet says, "Before God, a thousand years are like a single day, and the number of all men is equal to
zero before the Lord; what do you say of this mathematical equation? For you have to say: God has set the
years and the days, and composed the year of three hundred and sixty days plus; yet, He had to make
distinction between days and years, or else it would surely not be possible to make days and years follow upon
each other in such well-ordered and well-distinguished succession.

But as the Lord has done such a clear calculation, and certainly knows best how many days a year is, how can
He forget his own order, so that He would ignore it and compare a thousand years with one day of a year?

You see, such a judgment is much more natural to you, because you have become more accustomed to it, heard
it already oftentimes, and have already made more or less appropriate comparisons about it. But if you have
never heard of it, it would sound as miraculous to you as if I would tell you:?seven hundred and four years are
twenty-seven days, and a few hours and an hour and one minute apart.

From this, however, I will only show you that the figures, years, days, hours, and minutes in the spirit, do not
signify what they are, but the wisdom of the spirit is different from that of the earthly understanding. And so then,
hopefully, you will begin to understand a little, that I have spoken perfectly correctly to you, when I said to you,
"You may have made a correspondence about the meaning of this ornamentation, and you would have perfected
the true meaning of the ornament of this pillar-circle.

In order, however, to convince you of this more vividly, a coincidental representation of the importance of this
ornament is set up as by chance, and I will show you with the grace of the Lord on the next occasion that I am
absolutely right in its assertion.

Chapter 46.

Convergence of eternity and time.

I have examined you, and have seen your comparative picture, and I must confess to you that on your earth in a
short time you might be the owner of millions, so that the main contestant from the lotteries would be as sure to
you as your fundamental comparisons inner meaning of our present ornament. You hit the nail on the head. But
that would not have meant too much here; because where one can not hit the nail anywhere else but on the
head, then it ceases to be an art, even a success, to hit a nail on the head. For you might as well have said: the
lower pointed pyramid means a "mouse," and the hanging sphere a "cat," and you would have described it as
"time" and "eternity." But that all this is correct is immediately shown by our subsequent observation.

That a sphere, which nowhere has a beginning, and nowhere an end, most aptly depicts eternity, as also the
infinity which is closely related to eternity, is already an ancient symbolic truth.

A circle also means eternity, but only in the sense that it is to be viewed as an infinite sequence of times; but the
eternity in itself, which is neither past, nor future, but the continual present of all the events which have
happened before since time immemorial, and which is still present in time, as in an infinite time- span, is
symbolically presented by a ball.

A pointed pyramid of circular shape (pointed cone), however, denotes the order of time; why then? Because, for
firstly the rounding of the pointed pyramid indicates the forthcoming from eternity by actually describing a
stretched sphere, the circles of which always become more and more constricted towards the point of stretching.
If you cut such a ball, stretched to two sides, at the center, that is through the belt, then you will get two pyramids
(cones), which means that by this manipulation, the actual eternity has been extended to a time sequence. And
since you distribute the outstretched ball through the belt, all the facts lie in between; for there is its beginning
and its end.

So you can not think of limited time, but a divided one. But if you divide the stretched sphere to a time- divided
eternity, there is, as we have said, some fact from its beginning to its end, without which we can not think of a
division of time. For think only once, how long do you already have time? From your birth to the present life
period. See, this is your division; this includes the beginning and the end of your earthly life, and on either side is
an endlessly extended line, the end of which is nowhere to be found as only for you in your life-divisions, that is,
before your birth an eternally long time has passed, and after your crossing over, also an infinite sequence of
times will continue.

Now look at our ornament! A ball, perfectly transparent, hanging from a completely transparent smooth cord.
This sphere touches with its lowest sphere the tip of our circular pyramid. What does this then say?

The complete eternity or infinity, represented by the sphere, expands into the pyramid in an eternal sequence of
times, and flows out of the sphere as if from an eternal primordial sphere, as it were, through the pointed
pyramid, into the working and productive periods of time.

In these sentences, by which as much as possible was explained, you will surely see quite clearly that your
picture for the preliminary explanation of this ornament was surely quite successful, for you may turn and twist it
as much as you wish, and you will always reach the same final result.

But how about the cat and the mouse? See, you can only reverse the matter and the picture is right again. The
cat is an animal that is continually filled with murderous zeal for mice and other mouse-like animals; the pyramid
thus represents a mouse, as already described in the beginning, and the ball the cat.

But as the cat, a beast of prey, always wants to devour a mice, eternity is continually devouring all the time
sequences which have escaped from it, and all the works therein.

In eternity you can meet everything: the past, the present and the future, as if on a point. But if it is to be found
as such, then it must be found as if devoured.

Look at our cat; if you could spiritually look at it, you would see nothing but an aggregate of countless mice and
mouse-like animals. That this is true, the rather significant similarity between these two species of animals
speaks for itself. In the case of the cat, everything is rounded off, which represents the greater completion of the
contents, similar to the sphere. With the much smaller mouse, everything is more pointed; which shows by far
the lower level of completeness.

You of course now say: If an explanatory picture is to be perfectly correct, then it must also signify the departure,
and not merely the ascent or decline, or the yield, as well as the re-consummation. It is true, the cat is devouring
the mice, as eternity devours the times and their works;?but the sequence of times and their works are also from
eternity. But whether the mice emerge from the cat? The many wise men of the morning land seem to be silent
on that; and we are of the opinion that we shall, even with a wisdom stone as big as a central sun, scarcely be
able to offer a solution!

Yes, my dear friends and brothers, with your earthly wisdom, it would probably be a bit difficult. But the old wise
men had nevertheless a whole treasure of proverbs, by which it was quite possible for a wise man to show that
the mice would emerge from the cat by a certain natural circular transformation. You already say that every rag
has its offcuts; the ancients said: 'Similis simili gaudet', each to his own, and many more of such similar
proverbs.

You know, however, that when an animal dies, its nerve spirit rises into a higher order; the remaining body as an
aggregate of lower natural powers then decays again and returns exactly through the natural cycle, to the level
which was its ordained predecessor.

The cat takes the life of the animal world that consumes into itself and carries it into a higher level. But the body
of the cat makes a backward movement, and the forces still existing in it, reform themselves through the cycle
again into mice and therefore - to each his own - the cat also likes its being, which has returned by the ordained
cycle in the mouse and in all those animals which are related to this level.

So now you see that this picture is also correct, and on this occasion we have given a very comprehensive
account of our ornament, and will not be able to get much more out of the very transparent matter or to the tenth
gallery.

Chapter 47.

Ninth floor - About entering into the essence of the spirit.

We have ascended the very delicate circular staircase and now we are safe and sound on the ninth floor or the
tenth gallery. So then, now look carefully, and then tell me, in the usual way, everything you have seen that is
new and memorable.

I see you are making big eyes and hesitates. What is it that seems so strange to you here?

You say: Dear friend and brother, except for the light whitish-gray, continuous wall of the main building, we
discover nothing else, except, as we see downwards, parts of the former galleries; but we see nothing on the
one we stand on; that is, neither a floor, nor a pillar-circle, nor a railing, and least of all any pillar- circle ornament.
But if there is anything to discover on this terribly airy tenth gallery, we seriously ask you for an eyesalve, for with
our current visual ability we shall have terribly little to see and unable to make a judgment about all miraculous
and wonderful things that might be on this tenth gallery.

Dear friend and brother! If there are also human beings living in the interior of this ninth floor, and these are also
as thoroughly transparent as this present gallery, we think it will not be dangerous for us to look at them; so little
as it is on the earth for men to be of any sensual enchanting danger, even though they are surrounded by the
most beautiful and heavenly beings, but they do not get to see one atom of them.

If we look really attentively at the continuous wall, we do not even find any entrance doors; and it seems very
clear that there were either pure spirits, or no one living in them. Indeed, one could seriously make some fun with
this very airy arrangement, for where there is nothing to be seen, there is no object for the subject. We would like
to know how one could come to some comprehensive concept without an object, we would like to know,
however, how one can create some concept out of his own imagination without an object, then shuffles them
around like playing cards, throws them into his lucky jar, make a blind draw from it, making it the main subject.
Indeed, it really seems that at this gallery we shall have to take refuge in a blind hypotheses, and must say what
can possibly be found here;?but not what is really available.

Yes, my dear friends and brothers, you are apparently right in many respects here; but your statements and
conjectures, as well as many funny phrases, are in reality even more airy and transparent than the objects of this
tenth gallery.

Have you never heard on the earth, and have you never seen what the blind use instead of the light of the eye?
You say: They grasp and feel, whether and what is there. Well; if you are as good as blind for these objects, then
feel, and you will surely convince yourself whether there is anything or nothing.

I tell you, we are close to a pillar-circle, which here consists, of course, only of twelve individual pillars. Feel
around a bit, and your touch sense will tell you soon how the matter is. See, there is a pillar behind you; and you
shall definitely feel it.

Well, you have done this; have you discovered a pillar or not? You say, 'Dear friend and brother, we have
discovered an exceedingly firm pillar with our hands; but what is this terrible matter, which is so transparent, with
such an extraordinary strength and transparency, that no trace can be found of it even with the sharpest eye? On
earth is such a phenomenon inconceivable.

Yes, my dear friends and brethren, I tell you nothing other than: Everything depends on the form (essence) of the
thing. However, examples will be found that allow this phenomenon to be explained quite well even on your
earth. Experience will teach you, if it have not already taught you that very similar objects, that is, objects of
completely the same color, are not distinguishable from one another under certain conditions, even with the
keenest eye.

Take as a first example, a perfectly white wall, and then paint a landscape on the white wall with only white paint,
and when it is finished, try to see if you will discover anything of the landscape? See, there we already have an
example.

Take a cut diamond and place it on the coals, of a kindled small oven.

The diamond will soon, or immediately become just as glowing as the coals, though in such heat it will not at all
evaporate. Then call someone who does not know the place where the diamond has been laid, and he can stare
into the glow for a whole day, and you can be assured that he would not, same as you, be able to locate the
diamond. Why not? Because, as a highly transparent body, the diamond is not distinguishable from its
environment as a highly transparent body under the same conditions of light and incandescence, its edges
rendering it impossible to stigmatize its shape under such very similar circumstances.

Look, this is another example on the earth. Go to a glass factory;?take glass beads or other glass objects and
throw them into the incandescent glass mass in the melting pot, then look at them keenly and describe the
different glass bead shapes, what they look like, and you will discover as much as nothing at all. Look, there's
another example on earth.

Now a very obvious example! Pour some pure water into a pure glass and try to find out whether you can see
the filled glass, the inner wall, where the water is, of course? Even more examples: Put a perfectly pure glass
into likewise perfectly pure water, and you will not see much of the glass.

In addition, you should cut a window-pane from a perfectly pure glass, which is polished as smooth as a mirror
on both sides, and try to discover from the room this piece of glass of the window-pane. You can be assured that
every stranger who will come to your room will say to you, "But why do you not put glass in it?" Why will he say
this? Because he cannot distinguish the matter of pure glass from the pure air.

Then, on a foggy day, go to a lake, and try to discover something of the water when the mist is on its surface.
You will be able to discern other objects at the same distance; but only the surface of the water is
indistinguishable, because it naturally assumes the same color of the mist over it. Likewise, you will not be able
to discover anything on a glacier even with a faint mist from the ice forms, even under your feet. The cause is
likewise in this light.
Say for instance that you find yourself in a planetary sphere having two suns, but the one sun often at a
significant distance seemingly moves in front of the other one, like with a solar eclipse, your moon apparently
conceals the sun. In the Moon, you can see exactly how far its apparent disk is drawn over the apparent disk of
the Sun. Would you be able to distinguish between two apparent sun-discs the same way? There would be
nothing but a fusion of the two suns into one; but the demarcation of the one seeming disc in front of the other
will completely escape your eyes because of their similar light.

I think that we have enough examples from which you will find the invisibility of the objects of this gallery easy to
understand. The reason lies in the fact that the objects are of the same color and transparency, with the etheric
light which completely surrounds them.

But this is not only materially correct, but also spiritual. Think of a society of perfectly equal wise men; how will
they behave together? I tell you, no other than the blind, the deaf, and the dumb, for no one will have anything to
say to the other, because he already knows in advance what his neighbor certainly knows, and what he wants to
tell him. Such situation is evident in your ordinary life.

What do two acquaintances, when they now and then meet? See, as soon as one asks the other: Well, what is
new? If one can tell a new story to the other, the other will listen to him with great attention; but if both know
nothing, the discourse will be of very short duration. Why then?

Because, in this case, the mutual light of knowledge is of the same color. It will also be the case if both have
known one and the same thing for quite some time. As the one will begin to tell the same, the other will at once
say to him: Oh, that is already something old; if you know nothing better, our conversation is over with.

It is likewise the case when one blind man would guide the other, or a dumb one should teach the other. How far
such people will come is known and need not be discussed further.

It is for this very same reason that men upon earth cannot see the spirits surrounding them, because they look
with their eyes, which are homogeneous with their mind, and also homogeneous with the formal substance of
the spirits.

But when a man goes into his love, which is a different light than the light of pure wisdom, he will soon begin to
see the spiritual forms, and these will disappear as soon as he takes them into his reasoning. See, this is such a
small beginning of what we are going to get to know; you can therefore now begin to investigate your surrounds
by touch, and we shall have enough material to discuss next time.

Chapter 48.

The twelve supports of life.

You have already investigated several pillars; now, therefore, get yourself here in the middle of this place where I
am, and investigate something a bit higher up here, and tell me what you understand.

You say: Dear friend and brother, if our feeling is not deceiving us, we feel spheres about the size of a man's
head. These are placed on two cross-bars, forming an equilateral, horizontally suspended cross from the
ground, hanging at a height at which we can reach it quite easily with our hands. But that is all we can discover
here.

In the enclosure of the pillars, we have also discovered an ascending staircase, which is enclosed by a low
railing. But how it is possible to step upon the stairs of such an invisible staircase, the forthcoming experience
will teach us. This encompasses everything we have experienced so far, and you, dear friend and brother, may
give us an explanation of this, if an explanation is possible at all.
If we were really concerned with it, we would be much more inclined to go down from this transparent gallery a
few floors, than to go up a few more steps to a probably more transparent gallery; but, as we have said, it's all up
to you. We are done with the figuring out of this highly invisible memorabilia. That we shall lend you an inclined
ear, we do not need to assure you in advance.

Good, my dear friends and brothers; you have correctly described the curious objects on this tenth gallery,
excluding a few weak jokes, which are not quite so good. It is true that wit is also a product of wisdom; but as
such it stands at its lowest level. Everything so-called satirical is always aimed at certain human weaknesses
and is therefore a bad defense master; for a hero who is drawn to the field against children and wants to show
his strength before these weaklings, and hides in the mountains at the sight of a real hero, deserves no such
name.

The lion is not a mosquito catcher; but he who catches mosquitoes and busy himself with the weighing of sheep-
wool, certainly does not have the nature of the lion. Thus have the satirical and other related jokes very little to
do with the depth of spiritual wisdom; one could call it a very good and most typical and true parasite on the
foundation of the deep inner knowledge of life.

So, this is also good, that ye may know it; for the things which we have before us are too highly exalted, that we
would, in a certain sense, decorate them with the vain greenery of the parasites. But how great and significant
these objects are, you will at once learn from my following discussion; and so, listen:

The pillars of this circle represent the vital forces of man. You have discovered twelve pillars. If you pass through
the field of life-giving forces, you will find it easy to rest on twelve analogical supports.

But what are these supports, what names do they have? Let us go through it very briefly; the first support is:
Believe in the only God.

The second support: the name of God, which is holy, holy above all, thou shalt never desecrate it;?neither by
words, nor by thoughts, desires, or deeds.

The third support is never to cease to practice the peace in the Lord, but remember God your Lord and Creator
in your heart. For only in this rest, the Lord your God will look at you and bless your life.

The fourth support is to always pay obedience, love, and respect to those who have begotten you in them
through the power of God, and you will thereby gain the favor of God; and this will be a powerful cause of all the
prosperity of your life!

The fifth support is to observe life in all your brethren, and you will acknowledge the value of each other's life; if
you kill one of your brethren, you cause a deadly wound in your own life.

The sixth support is as follows: Respect the creative power in you, as you do the receiving power in the woman;
for behold, The Lord your God has put this omnipotent spark out of His highest and deepest love into you. You
should therefore never abuse this holy power of God in you, and do not dispel it in vain; then you will always let
grow your own life and the life of your begotten children.

The seventh support is: Behold, all that is, is the property of the Lord your God and Creator; what He has done,
He has done for all. But if your brother took a fruit from the tree, he took it from the hand of God;?therefore you
shall not arbitrarily appropriate yourself the right to take away from him, the brother, the received fruit in whatever
way. It is better to take nothing and have nothing than to take and to possess something which another brother
had already received from the hand of the Lord: for only the Lord is the sole giver of His things. Whoever
therefore presumes the rights of God for himself, is a sinner and the Godly mercy have petrified in his heart,
rendering him incapable to receive life.

The eighth support is: God is the eternal Truth. He spoke His Truth in His eternal Word, and the Word Himself is
the Truth of God. From this word thou art a man; therefore thou shalt remain faithful to this eternally holy origin,
and even all thy words shall always be faithful and true to the one from which thou hast proceeded; if not, you kill
the original word in you and thus your own life.

The ninth support is: God the Lord has given you manifold senses and powers. You shall keep these in check
like a young tree in the garden of thy life, that it may grow mightily in force and strength into a powerful tree. But
if you let your senses, instincts, and desires be thrown into all directions, your tree of life will never awaken to the
unified power, but will either wither or become vain scrubs and bushes, in which all sorts of vermin will abide, but
wherein the birds of heaven will never take their dwelling.

The tenth support is called: do not look at women with eager eyes, the wife of your neighbor and of your brother,
and regard the desire of your heart, as if it is not there; you will thereby free your own spirit. And if thou shalt be
in the power of thy spirit, it shall be a easy thing for you to truly marry the power of the Spirit in thy wife, which
shall be a true marriage before God. But if you bind yourself with your wife only according to your desire, which
is still immature, you will only bind your spirit with the spirit of your wife, which will then become an helpless
slavery between two spirits, and one spirit will not be able to give to the other the sacred freedom of life, but
continue to lose their original freedom of life in ever more powerful enmity.

What is the name of the eleventh support? It is thus: God is in Himself the eternal and purest Love. You have
emerged from this infinite love; therefore you are a work of love. Therefore, you should also, with all your love,
take hold of God your Creator who has formed you completely from His Love, with all your love, and love Him
above all things. If you do this, you will inherit the everlasting, imperishable life and live eternally in it. If you do
not, you are separated from life, and the lot of your separation is eternal death!

The twelfth and last support says: See, man, just like you have all your brothers come forth from one and the
same infinite love of God.

Therefore, you cannot love God above all, if you do not love your brother, who, as well as you, are nothing but
the Almighty love of the Lord.

My dear brothers and friends! I think our pillar-circle has been adequately lit. - An invisible cross hangs in the
middle of it, and is composed of as many globes as the number of pillars which we have counted here; but only
through the feeling, and not with the light of the eyes.

Do you see the mystery of faith here? even while you cannot perceive, you believe as if it is eternally fixed
before your eyes.

First, feel the inner life-support within you and then go into your inner being, there you will see all life forces
united in this holy sign.

Each vital force is a pillar and a globe at sign, the pillar representing the force, the ball the completion of life in
every branch.

The cross, placed on your earth, is, in brief, a picture of faith. In its details, it represents the love of God with the
vertical beam, which is greater and longer than the horizontal beam, which is the love of the neighbor. This
horizontally hanging cross, however, signifies the wisdom, the light of the spirit in its perfection, and its separate
parts the pure heavenly love which is equal in God to God, like unto the neighbor. This is already deep wisdom
and lies in the great secrets of the cross as in the twelve, which the Lord had chosen. - You can now understand
all this; but how? With love!

Chapter 49.

The main key to spiritual mysteries.

Do you want to think more deeply? Do you want to illuminate the secret of this mystery? Do you want to grab it
with your hands? I tell you, all this is fruitless. As little as you can distinguish and take out the outlines of a white
painting on a white wall with the eyes of your flesh, you will stare for years and years, and you will not be able to
penetrate into such secrets with the usual methods of investigation and judgment.
because everything is the same step.

The viewing of the objects of this gallery, where you can see nothing, and the understanding of their inner,
deepest wisdom are, as said, one and the same steps. But I say: You can comprehend everything with love, in
the love of the Lord you can understand everything. Love gives new form and color to things of wisdom, and that
what is endlessly distant in the light of wisdom, love draws into a narrow circle of contemplation. But it must be
true, perfect love; for a half or quarter part of love will achieve little.

This is, of course, understandable; indeed, nothing could be more intelligible than that. We have many
examples, and many are visible before you, and you learn one and the same thing from it all.

Let us assume that somebody would like to build a house on some estate;?but the construction of the house
involves a variety of materials. It takes a lot of effort and work to bring the material together; it takes a lot of
patience, so many sacrifices, a lot of attention, and so much more, until the house is finished.

With the mere pleasure and joyous thoughts the house will hardly ever be able to stand. But if a powerful love of
the house is aroused in the mind of the one who wants to build a house, all conditions are taken hold of with
great zeal. And if these conditions are brought closer and closer to the building-site, love becomes even
stronger; at last everything is gathered together at one place, and the hands of many men are put into active
motion through their own lives. And the house as a work of love will soon be perfected, and then you will say,
when you look at the pretty house: Who would have thought that half a year ago, when the material was
scattered far and wide, a pretty home would be built here so quickly? Well, however, the human spirit has
organized it, and the house is there, a quintessence of the most diverse materials, all of which are connected
and united unto one purpose.

Now you ask yourself: Who really was the builder here? Who brought the materials and the builders together?
For example, the builder's money or his firm will or insight? I tell you, neither one nor the other; but love alone is
the powerful foundation stone for building this house. The love of the builder drew the material together and
called the builders; without this the builder would have given neither money to the building, nor would he have
brought the material and the builders together.

And since the house is finished in this way, everyone can look at the expedient form, while without the firm love
of the builder, all the materials would have laid scattered, as if in formless chaos, dispersed far and wide in its
originality. I mean, this example is so profoundly intuitive, and certainly does not need further discussion. Let us
go over to another object. Think of a man who, according to his formative imagination, has a great ability to
become a visual artist. This man takes much pleasure in seeing finished products of art, being inspired at the
sight of sublime nature, to become such an artist; but he still lacks the seriousness to sit down and make a
practical study of this art.

What is the cause of the fact that this man with such splendid talent has not yet taken up the pen and the brush,
in order to eagerly study the groundwork and principal elements of such art?

I tell you, this man is lacking nothing but the true love for this art.

When he is imbued with love, we shall soon begin to see gloriously designed forms from our budding creator on
the surfaces intended for this art, and soon, really glorious masterpieces.

Who is the actual informator? Who connects the inner imagination with the external forms? Who produces the
forms through the colors with the brush on the white-primed canvas? Do you think that it depends on the good
instructions or on the preliminary sketches?

Oh, I say to you, all this is null and void, but only his own great love for this art has formed a new great master,
drawing together the formless from the endlessly scattered wisdom light sphere and presenting it in new
splendid forms, making it visible for all to see.

See, this is another clear example of our cause, that needs no further discussion. But let us give another
example here, one that is very close to your nose.
Let us go over to the very meaningful musical art. You will surely find among humans quite a lot of friends of this
art, who are all very delighted when they hear a magnificent production of a true artist. But are they artists
themselves? I think you will be able to judge well enough that, among the delighted listeners, there will be very
few who are worthy of this name.

Yes, but why are all these delighted listeners not artists themselves, but merely lovers of art? Why does only the
gifted man stand on a platform before them, cheering his audience with his tones borrowed from heaven,
proclaiming to their souls a different, higher, more perfect life?

Can one not say, "What is possible for one, should not be impossible for other people in the same way." Every
human being, according to his nature and his talents, could, with the complete awakening of his spirit, being a
descendant of Divine perfection, could certainly be capable of the same. Would it be acceptable if one would
remark, and say, "Yes, it depend on the masters?" Would they have had great masters, they themselves would
have become great masters; but "ex trunco non fit Mercurius," as you say, so even a clumsy master can scarcely
form a master of his art. It is true that whoever cannot do anything, will not be able to teach another too much.

But if we consider how many pupils of a true art-master, often have the same instructive direction, and consider
how very few of the art students of the school of such an art-master become any kind of notable artists, we have
to come to a conclusion, saying:

Since so few artists emerge from the best possible art schools, the real reason what makes the pupil become a
true artist, must be something different than the master, who is himself a perfect artist in all respects.

Do the students have too little talent, too little diligence, or are they prevented from doing so by some other
circumstances?

Ah, I already see what someone wants to say. This master has only the misfortune to have no genius among
many of his students. And I say quite frankly: this master has, with a few exceptions, almost only geniuses
among his pupils, and yet no genius has become something. But he had no one among his pupils who had been
filled with the inner, most powerful love of art.

For this reason, one is only a true artist, whose heart is continually lighted up by the powerful love for art.

Breathe love, that is true, living love, into the heart of your student, and you can be assured that through this fire
all the organs necessary for this art will be so wonderfully trained in a short time that every listener will be
astonished and say: yes, this is a truly great artist, in his perfection!

Here is love again the real true master, it creates in the musical artist an inner greatness of feeling, which none
other can comprehend, and it makes this greatness of feeling to subject all related organs in such a short time
that all so-called technical difficulties can be overcome with wonderful certainty.

As love is here the pure all in all, it is only and in principle the great art of life! With love you can penetrate depths
before which even so many spirits shudder; but without the love or with just a bit too little love, a perfect artist will
never enter the daylight of the spirit. That is why at first I said, "If you want to look more deeply into these things
of high wisdom, then you must take love by the had in all earnest, but it must not be a half- or a quarter-measure
of love, but love in its fullness.

Therefore, take hold of our most loving Lord and Father in Jesus Christ so firmly in your heart, and you will soon
be convinced all the love of God is capable of.

Verily, I say not too much: If you have love in full measure, you also have the mighty living faith; and with such
love and such faith-light in you, you could tear down stars from the firmament! Awaken, therefore, and we will still
see wonders at this tenth gallery!

Chapter 50.
About love and the love of Jesus.

You say, dear friend and brother, you may well be right, and so it is, as you have said. But, behold, it is a hard
thing with the sudden awakening of love, which we now and then know from experience. We also have in this
respect somewhat of a problem with so-called 'being in love'. If we really consider the matter, one soon learn that
one by no means have love in its power, and we can not say that we can be in love with a being, whenever we
wish, but according to the circumstances and conditions; and a lover is not an active, but a purely passive being,
and must, in the literal sense, often drag love along like a hundredweight; and there is sometimes no means
whatsoever to rid itself of it as of another burden.

And so we think here also, if we were real masters of love, it would certainly not be wanting that we would take
hold of the Lord with the blazing zeal of our hearts. But we can do what we want, we can pressure our heart and
force our feelings as the grapes are pressed in a winepress, and everything comes out, rather than a flaming
love described by you.

Hence we are of the opinion that either the love of the Lord must be of a completely different character than that
when a man in the prime of his life not seldom find a beautiful maiden; but if the love of the Lord would be like
the love for a virgin, it must be poured directly into the heart by the Lord Himself, according to His great mercy;
otherwise it is almost impossible for man to be able to grasp the Lord with the strongest love out of his own
power, when- and however he wanted.

And if, then, it then depends on us to suddenly awaken the greatest love for the Lord, the view of the wonders on
this gallery will surely also present a great problem. For we can want it as much as possible, and yet, despite all
our most intimate will, we can not inflame our heart in the moment of wanting, as if we light a candle at night. So
here, dear friend and brother, a good council is very much needed.

Yes, my dear friends and brethren, you are right on the one hand, and love is always the master of mankind, as
we have seen yesterday in the examples, because it is real life itself. But life cannot be mastered by what is not
life; therefore, there must be something else which love would obey, and willingly follows the higher road of
which it obeys.

But what is this means? This means consists in the clear idea of what one really wants to take hold of with the
fullness of love.

Try to see if you can fall in love with any maiden, just by name, even if it would sound so majestic! Yes, you will
not be able to go too far regarding love with such an acquaintance; for what one either knows either little or
nothing of, cannot be loved, just as little as one can grasp with one's hands, which is not there or is only barely
there.

If, however, you would be given a full description of the mentioned maiden with regard to her person and
character, and if you would also receive a personal handwritten note from this girl in which she assures one or
the other of you her devoted love because she was very positively impressed by the description of you given to
her, your love for this girl will soon awaken, and you will begin to experience the most intense urge in you to go
as soon as possible, where the girl waits on you in all love. And your love will become more and more intense as
you receive even more positive information about the girl on the way there, or in the course of time.

Look, this is certainly true from experience. But I ask you now, how can you so mightily take this maiden into
your heart, since you have never seen her, and she also deliberately does not give you a portrait, in order to give
you a foretaste, which could weaken the true love? The answer is easy and rooted in experience: Because you
have already formed a well-founded idea by which the above-mentioned girl has always been increasingly
revealed to you in the most advantageous way.

Her qualities, her beauty, have captured you, and you cannot help but, besides the advantages she offers you, to
respect and be fond of her; you have to also love her.

In this natural example, however, it is quite obvious how one can take hold of love for the Lord.
The recognition of the Lord is the mighty motive which unites the sparks in the heart, and then, through the
same, the whole heart is kindled into a blazing flame.

Who would be able to love God, if he did not know Him? But those who recognize Him more and more will
always love Him more and more.

But you should not flatly compare the love of the Lord with the love of a girl, but you should rather compare it to
the purer love between children and parents.

This love, however, is not a kind of passionate fire, but it is a gentle breeze which do not disturb men in their own
sphere of freedom, just as little as the childish love of the children in their activity. - They certainly love their
parents exceedingly; of course, the good children are understood here. Yes, they often do not know how much
they love their parents.

In order to see the measure of such love, you only have to be present at the grievous death of either the father
or the mother of such children, and the tears and wringing of the hands will soon tell you the very weighty
measure of the love of children towards their parents , And yet, during the lifetime of the parents, you would not
have detected such intensity of love, even if you observed keenly. See, so it is with the love of the Lord.

As I have said, it is a gentle breeze, a feeling of high esteem, a sublime delicate tone trail, and does not disturb
anyone in its sphere of freedom.

The hearts of those who love God is not laden with passion, but fills it with great joy and sufficient living food,
and continually saturates the spirit, heart, and body of man. Therefore you need to call your 'Father'

only in your heart, and you have done enough! And the Father will always saturate and strengthen your heart
with His love, as far as it is necessary.

You do not even need a picture, but only the realization in your heart from God, and you have enough love, as
far as it is necessary here, to illuminate the miracles that are before our eyes. So do this, and then look!

Chapter 51.

Reason for all things and phenomena.

You have followed my advice as much as you can, and now, as far as I can tell, you are astonished at the sight
of the wondrous things which now stand out clearly in a very different light.

You indeed say and ask: "Dear friend and brother, how is this possible for the Lord's sake? Behold, as we were
thinking of the Lord like that in our minds, the white light, in which all things are bathed, gradually turned into a
reddish one, and this reddish light we can now clearly observe all the objects.

We now see the pillar-circle, the gallery, the doors in the inner building, the hanging equilateral cross made of
spheres. The balls are now visibly exactly twelve, as we have previously counted them only tentatively.

And behold, what a splendor in these spheres! Each one seems to be a small world, in whose inner spaces,
near numberless miracles can be seen as if alive, and in every sphere is something entirely different. And as far
as we can see with our eyes, these inner forms of creations seem to correspond exactly to the twelve articles
which you, dear friend and brother, have shown us in twelve demonstrated sections.

Oh, what a glory it is to see such miraculous things! Truly, one can never be satisfied; there are continuously
new charms to see in these miniature world scenes in these twelve globes, which forms the cross.
And just look at the pillars for once. They indeed are polished externally so smoothly that we cannot imagine the
surface of the ether more smoothly; but the interior of the column looks like living forms, and corresponds in a
more extended and detailed manner to all the marvelous phenomena in the spheres. It is extremely beautiful to
see how the colors alternates with the most diverse moving forms within such a pillar.

A gentle iridescence stimulates the eye anew, for in the slightest turn other colors appear, and the most
remarkable is that these colors, which are the same on the earth, assume a quite different character. - We also
have a red, a green, a blue, a violet, a yellow and the most diverse transitions of these colors; but whoever
wants to think and like, should do so, and establish a basis for every color, and on this basis determine the
reason for it. Yes, you would say that red is the basic red, the green is the basic green, the blue is the basic blue,
the violet the basic violet, and the yellow the basic yellow, from which all other color nuances are derived.

What red is the real red? Is the blood red the actual or the rose red or the purple or the scarlet or the carmine
red? Everything is red, and yet all reds does not look the same. Is the dark red the more the basic red or the light
red? Every color has such differences; what is the reason for each one? See, dear friend and brother, no one
can determine this on the earth, but here we see the basic colors in their foundation, and this appear to us as if
one speaks of a ripe pineapple, if which it is said that it contains every imaginable taste in itself.

And so we see here from within, true colors, which not infrequently radiate through as if from the background.
These colors have such notable iridescence, that one can see in the red, all the nuances simultaneously, and
this iridescence is almost directed at the desire of the spectator. The red, which man most easily imagines, is the
most prominent at present, without destroying the actual basic red color. Indeed, a poor sinner on the earth can
never dream of similar colors.

So on the earth we have probably more or less divided and broken colors; but we have absolutely nothing of a
basic color, which took all its nuances within itself. There are also shadows in us in the nature of color, but in
these shadows a completely different color appears in every turn. In this iridescence only the nuances of red, in
the green all shades of green, and so on through all gradations of color.

Besides, we are discovering new strange colors in a wonderful way, which have never before appeared on our
meager earth. Yes, indeed, on the earth, everything is only a partial work, all a mere dull, a highly broken
glimmer of the glory, which we see here in such a state of abundance.

O dear friend and brother! Tell us how to take this thing? Why could we not before see a great deal in the white
light, yet now in this reddish light, so endlessly much?

Yes, my dear friends and brothers! See, it is all love and light. I told you at the outset: In the absolute light of
wisdom there is nothing or little to see for a limited spirit. But in the light of love, the light of wisdom is forced into
forms, and cannot escape from the form once set, so long as the light of love, or better, the fire of love holds it as
with a thousand mighty arms. In the absolute light of wisdom, man resembles a vine, separated from the vine, he
withers, loses himself with time, and never brings forth any fruit. But in the light of love, he abides in vine and
yields a thousandfold fruit. That this is quite literally correct, may you bring to the clearest experience with the
slightest effort from the world in your so-called cold worlds. These people despise love, even declare it to be
foolish, and continue to enthuse themselves in extrasensory speculations, build principles about principles,
hypotheses about hypotheses, and lose themselves among the countless principles and hypotheses in countless
vain conclusions, which are as vain as their principles and hypotheses themselves. And when you would finally
ask them some or the other about their principles, hypotheses, and conclusions, they will give you an answer
which they in the first place do not understand themselves; and their most wise conclusion which the most wise
states in the end, is that they know nothing, has nothing but nothing, and are nothing.

But to see this more clearly, I can still lead you to a few such worldly wise from the old and more recent times.
You would surely have heard and read of Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. These three wise men, though they must
be counted among the better, have, with all their wisdom, by no means produced the one-millionth part of what a
simple child, barely able to read, can bring forth, when he for the first time faithfully says: "dear, good heavenly
Father"!

They hunted for phenomena and experiences; but what did they benefit from them, since they could not grasp
the foundation which are solely in the love of the Lord?
Who would really want to count the countless phenomena, who would in infinity penetrate to their foundations?
For who shall believe to have found one, he shall find himself in the deceptive center of infinity, from where it
naturally again move away into all directions of infinity.

But he who has love has the foundation of all things and of all phenomena in himself, because he has the Lord
within himself, and therefore can always come to the foundation with the least effort in the world; but the wisdom-
or infinity-hunter, in infinity, will scarcely find any target to which he could direct his volatile and vain wisdom-
bullets.

I think, from these few examples, the matter is probably quite clear to you, especially when you take a few
glances at the worldly wise of your time, all of whom are directing their missiles at the Lord, and want to catch
him and measure with the el and the measuring rod. But what have they won with all their wisdom in the end?
Nothing but the loss of the Lord!

What they sought after in the infinite, in the inaccessible, they did not find, and in the end were compelled to
create a god out of their own nothingness, which is, however, only a god, if they as overlords could incorporate
such a concept into their imagination. I think that to see at first glance to be the most blatant stupidity, does not
take a child of more than five to seven years of age to understand. The simplest man, to whom even the word
'wisdom of the world' or 'philosophy' is just as foreign as the two earth poles, will at the first encounter with such
a concept of divinity, give the simplest but most appropriate reply:

Hey, Friend, how can that be? If God were only God when you think of Him, then I would like to know who
created you, and that you can think of a God, who has given you this ability? For what you are saying about God
is even more dull than someone who is quite serious in asserting that a house is built by himself, without a
master builder, and a man only becomes a builder when self-built house accepted him as such.

See, in his simple statement, has not the simple man spoken wiser about the incomprehensible than the whole
high-level philosophical committee together. Yes, one can say: He has hit the center of the nail, and has slain a
whole flask of white shining blowflies in one stroke, for a blow-fly is undoubtedly the most striking image and
symbol for an absolute philosopher; it also shines as if it were covered with gold. If we see this fly in the open,
we should suppose that this animal must contain the most exquisite light-ether, through which it attains such an
external splendor.

But only put a heap of excrement, whether human or animal somewhere, and we shall at once come to the clear
which spirit-child, and what food nourishes this animal. Would it find a heap of dung, it sucks as long until it has
sucked up everything that tastes good. Then he lays his eggs into the remains, and soon a lot of worms would
hatch from this not too aesthetic dwelling, producing even more flies of the same kind.

Do not your philosophers do exactly the same? When you look at them outwardly, they have a reputation as if
they were bursting with the most profound gold of true wisdom, and their occupation they call a purely spiritual
one. But if you ask them in a serious way for something purely spiritual, you will at once be met with the greatest
materialism, according to which it will presently be made clear to you, that nothing spiritual can be manifested
without matter, that the spiritual must be deducted from matter and can absolutely not exist anywhere as an
absolute, but must always have a material organism to be able to function.

If the latter disappears, all spiritual effect and utterance are also eliminated. The human capacity for thought is
then nothing more than the effect of the material organism in which the forces must develop as if in a chemical
retort, in order then to work so long as the retort is not smashed. If, however, the retort has come to the end of its
existence through an unfortunate impact, it also implies the end of the chemically developed and active forces.

See, just so philosophizes our blowfly also and says by its action: I live only from the unrate and live as long as I
find some dung. If you take away the dung, my life is over with, for I am sucking my vitality only out of the unrate,
and therefore, in all my parts, am nothing but shining excrement. Take this away, and the brilliant blowfly will be
finished! Good for me that I still have reproductive power; otherwise, if the dung would be removed, not only
would I completely perish, but my whole race would be exterminated with one blow.

So absolute philosophers adhere to matter, because they believe to have found a center or an actual standpoint
in it.
But why do they stick to matter? Because, like a blowfly, they are continually moving about in the unstable airy
sole wisdom light. But because they find nothing there, they must be able to sit down on some material chunk,
and try to pump out the spiritual food with their scientific suckers. But when the latter is soon exhausted, they
have no choice but to reproduce themselves either in their students, or at least in their published writings, so that
the last remnants of the excrements are consumed, and in the end nothing of them are more valid than their
names, and that, with all their spiritual labors, they have found nothing spiritual.

See, all this was taught and shown to us in the reddish light;?therefore, in this light, we shall at once go to the
tenth floor or the eleventh gallery. Here is the staircase; so just bravely get started on it.

Chapter 52.

Tenth floor - the essence of question and answer.

We are on the spot. So, be very keenly attentive; look and tell me what you see here; take note, if you want to
see the objects here, you must remain in the red light. In the white light, you would observe just as little as on the
previous gallery.

I notice a particular question in you. It does not, however, fit in quite well here; but since it is already there, we
will also take care for a satisfactory answer. So the question you ask in yourselves is:

Dear friend and brother! It is all sublime, beautiful, true and good, as we see here, and especially what we hear
from your mouth. But there is one thing here which we cannot really get to the bottom of, and this matter is now
manifesting itself through this question, which has nevertheless been made known to you by us.

See, we actually ask and speak, and are also cited as personally speaking and questioning; and yet we are not
talking and asking, but you are always the one who speaks for himself as well as for us. So you often see a
question in us of which we have no idea yet. In the same way, you make known to us our own discussions and
judgments, of which we have not yet dreamed of. You ask us, and we answer you from your own mouth; for if the
answer would depend on us, we would stand there as if mute, and we could not answer a syllable to many of
your questions.

Tell us, then, my dear friend and brother, how should we bring all this together? How do we speak through you,
and how did we now present to you this present question, of which we had not yet felt a slightest stirring in us a
few moments ago?

My dear friends and brothers! I will soon help you out of your dreams.

If you show the root of a plant to a very experienced and skillful botanist, he will at once describe to you the
shape of the plant or record it from point to point. And if the plant is then cultivated before your eyes, then you
will soon recognize it as a well-known one.

If you give some skeleton, that is, a mere bone skeleton to a skillful anatomist, he will be able to state quite well
the shape of this particular person from the shaping of the bones; for he knows this from the position and the
connection of the bones. If he is a skillful wax-sculptor, he will be capable of covering the bones with the wax to
such extent, that the living person you knew, will stand as if resurrected before you.

A skillful chemist, to whom you show a composite fluid of which you do not know the composition, will, with the
least effort in the world, divide the fluid into its former parts, and you will soon recognize the parts, whether they
are sulfur, lime, etc.

If you find a seedcorn, and do not know which plant it is, you may go to a very skillful gardener, and show him
seedcorn, and he will tell you immediately what plant it is, and will also show you a similar plant which carries
such seeds.

Could not you also ask and say, "How is that?" How can one perceive such very minute characteristics, and then
conclude from that with certainty the preceding or the following?

See, my dear friends and brothers, it comes in a certain way from the root. The fact that I know your questions
as well as your answers is because, as a pure spirit, I am a spiritual botanist, a spiritual anatomist, a spiritual
chemist, and a spiritual gardener, and then I reveal to you your question in your roots, which is presently still
unknown to you. As an anatomist I look through your inner build and look with great ease at the interaction
between your feelings, judgments and conclusions drawn from them. As a chemist, I understand those
judgments in you, which are still chaotic and tangled together, as soon as they become classical, and can then
present them to you in the just order. As a gardener, I know all the seeds in you, which consists in the various
words and concepts. You do not yet know what will grow out of them when they will germinate the inner living
ground of the spirit. But I am a gardener, and I can show you in advance all your spiritual plant species, which
must come forth from this or that seed, which you by far do not yet recognize.

Therefore I can ask and answer on your behalf, as you would basically ask and answer. On earth you in fact do
almost exactly the same.

If you ask something to someone, you do so because you know the germ, but not yet the adult plant of the
answer; and if the questioned answer you, then this is not his answer, but your own one from the other's mouth.

It was already mature within the questioned person, but not yet with you.

After the questioned gave the answer, however, you soon understand it and it feels as if it had grown in your soil.

It is likewise also the case when someone would ask you something or put a question into your mouth, as you
would say. Then you will also easily answer and ask, but not as if the answer or question were yours, but as if it
were the ones who gave it to you. For it will be certain that you will not ask anything you know, nor will you give
an answer to anyone who asks you nothing.

The question is a need which precedes the sprouting answer. But if the question is a sprout, would it not be the
greatest nonsense to allege that the flower and fruit which follows the sprout when it is developed and ripened by
external heat, belongs therefore to a tree other than that from where the sprout grow?

But I think, anybody who asks, asks from their needs, in order to obtain a satisfactory answer. But if the answer
is a necessity for him, it certainly belongs to his sphere of life and not to that of another, to whom he can no
longer be a necessity, because he already has it.

From this you will easily be able to understand the spiritual dynamics between us, that I ask on your behalf, as if
you are asking, and therefore also answer on your behalf, as if you answered yourself.

You would also ask and answer as I ask and answer on your behalf, when your questions and answers are
already ripe. But since they are not yet ripe, and we now have no time to wait for their maturation in you, I must
nevertheless ask and answer in advance from your roots, from your manifold chaos, and your seedlings, as if
you were doing this yourself.

I think that we should be clear with this little thorny point, so you should no longer feel offence in the future
towards similar phenomena, but continue to take keen notice of everything; for here, as I have already remarked,
I am your guest, so I may well take what is yours and show it to you. If this would sound a little peculiar with you
on earth, then do not take it seriously, for this is the usual mode of conversation in the spirit. There is no
language in questions and answers, but in perfect mutual knowledge, and so one speaks continually from the
other, as well as one from all and all from one. When I answer and ask of you in this way, I do not do anything
spiritually unusual, or as you say 'unnatural.' Take a look at this eleventh gallery, or on this tenth floor, and there
will be something to ask and to answer.
Chapter 53.

Eleventh floor - love for God (Jesus) and out of that for the neighbor leads to the perfection of life.

Now, since you had a good look around, you can start to say what you saw. You say: Dear friend and brother!
We have seen a lot of the most wonderful things here; but who can describe them so fully with our restricted
conceptual and word-richness that someone could become wise from it, and from the description clearly explain
what these things are? This is why we think it would be quite good here, if you would like to be the interpreter.

Yes, my dear friends and brethren, your questionable statement of the limitedness of your conceptual and word-
richness is true, but you should nevertheless say as much as you can about all that you have seen, with your
understanding and vocabulary; because you must always keep in mind that you are here really quite on your
own ground, and my discussion about it should come to you spiritually. If I tell you with pre-eminence what you
have seen, I am overriding your own reason, and there is no immediate connection between my discussion and
your inner receptivity anymore.

The case is almost like two friends would bid each other welcome by the hand; one of whom receives the other
in his house. As a rule of friendship, the landlord must at first stretch out his hand to the visiting friend, and only
then the visitor responds.

Here, however, you would like to think and say: With such rules we never take it so precisely; therefore they
cannot be regarded as a perfect standard proof for us; we consequently would like to first have an introduction of
what we have seen here.

But I say to you, my dear friends and brethren, if this friendly example of the house seems invalid to you, I can
serve you with a more convincing impression.

See the relation of your earth to the sun; the earth is certainly your home, and the sun is to be seen only as a
guest who is always visiting her.

But what must the earth first do when it is to be illuminated by the rays of the sun?

You say that the earth must turn its surface around the other at first towards the sun, and then the rays of the sun
will soon fall upon the facing part.

Good, my dear friends and brothers; look at the earth at nighttime, is not just as full of the most varied things as
in the day? But you can see only little of what is and how it is; but there is something there, that is certain, sure
and true. But if the earth should stand still, and wait for the sun to rise above its unlit part, verily, it would in the
first place have to wait a terribly long time, and its things will never be seen in its fullness and its true nature. But
as the earth continually rotates, and pushes one surface after the other under the sun, things will soon be seen
on the same in their perfection, which can barely be seen at nighttime.

Behold, you, too, as a proprietor of your own house, must first turn you over to me, who am now with you entirely
in the name of the Lord; and the part which you are going to turn to me will also be illuminated at once, so that
you can see it more clearly and more correctly.

And so do begin to anyway describe what you find to be familiar. Count the pillars of a pillar circle; how many do
you find here on the tenth floor?

You say: Dear friend and brother! If we are not mistaken in round hall, they are now two less than in the previous
gallery, that is, only ten. On the other hand, in the center of the pillar circles, instead of some other
ornamentation, we find two very mighty, strong opposing pillars, which, like the other ten, help support the ceiling
of the pillar circle and the entire gallery, and no ascending staircase passes the round of the ten pillars, but
ascends in the center between these two pillars.
Incidentally, everything here appears perfectly smooth, and we may look as we please, but nowhere is there
anything to be discovered of an ornament;?the ceiling of this eleventh gallery is no longer vaulted, but rather flat.

Everything is of the same exceedingly snow-white color and transparent;?only the inner continuous wall seems
to pass over into the reddish-blue, and the gates are as if they were of transparent silver.

Now, dear friend and brother, we are already finished, as far as things are possible for us here. But the fleeting
forms, which in the solid mass of the pillars, as well as the other parts of this gallery, are alternately represented,
cannot be described. For in the first place, they are too fleeting and too fast, and secondly, their forms are not
very intense, and our eyes cannot see much more than just continuous intertwined chaos, and so we would be
done with all that we have seen. But what it means, we leave it, dear friend, to you.

All right, my dear friends and brothers. I am perfectly satisfied with your announcement, and it would be very
foolish of me to ask you more than you can give. But be careful now, we will at once create some light for what
you have seen.

The ten pillars of this circle are possible to grasp with the hands;?for they signify, as a matter of fact, the ten-
commandment-law which actually proceeds from the divine wisdom. For love gives no laws, but only the divine
wisdom, which is the foundation of the divine order; for the laws are a marked way which one is to walk, in order
to reach the goal of life, and they are at the same time the foundations upon which life rests according to the
divine order.

But how would one help someone in the darkest night, even if he would want to walk in it? Just as little would
some point of support suffice, if he were to search for it in the most dark night.

Therefore, the laws which were given in the night of love, must serve as an illumination on the way and as a
point of support, so that the wanderer may not get lost on the way, and always may find the proper support for
life.

It is therefore easy to see how these ten white, radiant pillars clearly signify the ten laws of the order of life from
God. In the lower gallery we have seen the two pillars of love still included in the outer row. But in the middle of it
was the peculiar cross, which also represents suffering love.

Here, however, we see the two pillars of love at the place of the cross in the center of our pillar circle. They are
put together, and the staircase leading upwards is taken away from the outer ten pillars, and wound only around
the two central pillars.

I think it will not be difficult to guess the importance of such a position. You only need take the gospel of the Lord
in your hand, and you will find that He would transfer the whole Mosaic Law, as well as all the prophets, into the
sole branch of love, namely, 'Love God over everything and your neighbor as yourself!' These two laws have
been designated by the Lord Himself as equal, for the two pillars in this center are in the first place the same,
and secondly they are connected, and are the sole bearers of the way upwards. - I think you understand this.

But as to the chaotic changing of forms in the pillars which is so marvelous to you - this signifies the
changeability of the human mind, which is within the laws. But from where does such a continual chaotic change
of form arise in these pillars? What is the reason for such a phenomenon?

The reason for this is the intense light from outside, through which this air is forced into a continuous swing. But
since the material of these columns is highly polished like a mirror, and highly transparent and radiant, these air-
waves, or air-vibrations, are quite lively, and we thus seem to see certain forms wandering up and down the
columns. Now we place here a man being under the laws. He finds himself in the bright light of the Law, which
from the inside, is always active in it, and then this man finds himself in externally in the light of the world, which
however also always surging, influences him from without.

But what is the result in man? A continuous change of ideas; soon the forms of the world takes over, and then
again the forms of his inner light sway him. If the external light acts strongly upon man, the forms of the inner
light are obscured, and no longer have any clarity; On the contrary, the more the inner light begins to react, the
forms of the external light are always rendered void and weaker.
If someone takes the forms of the inner light and fixes it with his mind, the previously ever-changing flexibility of
the light-forms become a constant form, which continually and humbly resists the influence of the external light;
and man has thus been brought to a clear understanding of the inner eternal life of the spirit.

This corresponding picture shows you the two central pillars, in which you do not find any such formations. But if
you look more closely at them, you will see in each one a perfect, most nobly formed human form, which is
clearly and equally illuminated in all its parts.

See, this shows that man can only attain to the perfection of life through his love for the Lord, and from this, for
his neighbor. I think, you'll be pretty much clear for you now. As for the other parts of the gallery, they are nothing
but the perfect order of true wisdom, which is the basic truth in the spirit and a light without any other
ornamentation and decoration, and is what you call the naked truth. But now that we know these things, we will
ascend at once with the staircase around the two pillars, to the great open plain above.

Chapter 54.

Twelfth floor - Higher development of the spirit.

You ask and say here: "We are coming to the actual roof of this building, where you spoke of a large, free place.
That would be all right, dear friend and brother. In this open space we would be on the eleventh floor or on the
twelfth gallery? But since the roof cannot be regarded as either a gallery or a storey, we can not explain that we
have actually seen twelve floors from the distance from the well-known mountains. Were these twelve floors
merely an optical illusion, or did it have a different explanation? We have mentioned this disagreement in the
course of the ascent of this wonderful edifice, but at that time you told us to wait for a more appropriate
opportunity, and said that concerning the explanation, we shall be told in the right place and at the right spot. And
so we would like to know from you a little in advance, whether there will be such a right place and spot in this
free place, since we want to know this?

My dear friends and brothers! I tell you,ascend cheerfully, and up there in glorious freedom, you will anyway see
what you will experience.

The matter which is so dear to you is not so important as you imagine it, but is of such a nature that it will
anyway explain itself at first sight in the upper freedom. We will, however, in this freedom, encounter quite
different things, which will be of much greater importance and higher spiritual interest to you than the still missing
twelfth floor. And so go up now cheerfully and swiftly, so that we can reach our freedom as soon as possible.

See, if you speed up your steps, you reach your destination quicker than when you are sluggish. This is true and
correct and does not need mathematical proof; but the spirit is also capable of progress, and far more than the
formal body. But how can the spirit accelerate and slows its steps? See, that cannot be understood so quickly;
therefore it will be necessary to say a few words about it, even before entering the upper free place, and so listen
to me!

You know that the progress of the Spirit does not consist in an increase of wisdom, but only in increasing filling
with love for the Lord, out of whichever greater love-fulfillment anyway gives rise to all the other perfections and
abilities of the spirit. But if this is clear and evident, the question arises: how then shall it be possible for man to
attain the love unto the Lord? For it is well known how so many men can be very deeply concerned with the
Lord. But if on enquire after their spiritual perfection, they say:

As for our spiritual perfection, the dear God will know what it has to be done with it. We keep His
commandments as much as we can; we observe all the other rules, we keep the daily Sabbath rest, and pray
much to God the Lord, and also ask him at any time for the soonest possible completion of our spirit. But still we
have but little noticeable progress, and if we do not pay much attention to ourselves, it seems to us as if our
spirits have not only made no progress, but rather a step backwards; making us sometimes very quietly doubt,
and secretly thinking: Either we are not called for such an spiritual advance, or the whole assertion of the
perfection of the spirit is, at least in earthly life, nothing more than a pious fable, or at least a hypothesis.

Now, my dear brethren and friends, this is the usual answer to the question of the hesitant progress of the spirit,
which is probably the most common among men on earth.

Should there be no true acceleration in such progress? Should there be no more Corneliuses, over which the
Spirit of God comes even before they gets baptized by Peter? This is a very different question, and its answer is
certainly of the greatest practical importance. But how will we answer such a question of such great importance
in the most satisfactory way for all to clearly understand? This is not going to be so difficult for us;?for, if there
are enough examples for something, one only have to go to the gospels, and the answer will be self-evident. We
shall therefore no longer be concerned with introductions, but will immediately resort to the next best example.

Let us suppose that there are a thousand musical students in some great city. Among these thousands, at least
a few hundred are gifted with truly excellent musical talents; how many of them will emerge as true artists and
virtuosos from all these pupils? Perhaps one, but perhaps none; and a city will be congratulated at the end, if
over a time of ten years, one or at most two of the ten artists will emerge, who have made the titles 'artist'

and 'virtuoso' their own. But is not this a barbarous disgrace for mankind, that every man can say: "I have an
immortal spirit in me, an image of God."

But how is it with such images of supreme perfection, as few can hardly work themselves up above the
mediocrity? The greatest number, however, remains under freezing-point anyway, although they also contain the
image of God. Why this is so, we will immediately see in the study rooms of our music students.

Look, there is an lane, having a hundred houses, where at least a thousand students of music live. Let's go into
No. 1, Behold, the student is still soundly asleep, and still far from his instrument; will he become an artist? I do
not think you learn art in your sleep. Let's go into house no. 2; see, the student have just decided to profit from
the beautiful day and make a little country outing, of which he is a great friend. Will he become an artist? I think
art is not learned in the streets, in the fields, or in the woods. - Let's go into house no. 3; see, there sits a student
at his instrument and yawns at his task. Will he become an artist? I think a yawning zeal is too inadequate for art.

But let's go on to the next house. Look, we do not meet any student, and the music, which seems to be quite
well preserved, gives us sufficient proof of the zeal of our student. Will an artist grow out of this? I think the whole
instrument could become gold instead of the student becoming an artist. Let's go to the next house; perhaps we
will find a developing artist. Listen, someone is indeed busy practicing; but look at him, his eyes are full of tears,
for his father who are paying much for his studies, have just admonished him to study with a hiding. Will he
become an artist? Then you say: Ex trunco non fit Mercurius; which is just as much to say as: Out of the beaten
love of art, not very much artistry will come to light. Shall we go into more houses to visit similar art-disciples? I
do not consider it necessary.

But see, at the very end of the lane, in a quite unsightly tavern, lives a poor family; we want to go there and see
how the arts are practiced there, because even a child of this poor father learns music. Behold, the boy has at
that time already studied his eight hours; but in the evening the father of the boy wants to take him with him for a
little walk. But look at the boy as he presses his instrument to his heart and caresses it as if it were his life's
greatest friend! Only with a great deal of effort and a great eloquence on the part of the father, does our artistic
youth, with tears in his eyes, separate from his darling, and say, "My dearest treasure! In a short time, yes, in a
very short time, I will be back with you again! I ask now: Will this student become an artist? Go, listen to his
tones, which he has learned to draw from his instrument in a short time, and you will say: Oh, this is miraculous!
One wants to believe them to descend from outer spaces. Yes, yes, my dear friends and brothers, this disciple
will certainly become a great artist; for the latter has already the right teacher in his breast, and this master
teaches him to sacrifice everything for art, and makes him feel and find no greater pleasure than to learn his art.

All the previous were probably also disciples of art, but they had no love for it, and therefore they would never
carry it out without this master. But why did they not have love? Because they were more inclined to vain worldly
pleasure than to self-denial and a full earnest of the love of art. For this reason, however, they will reap only the
fruits of their worldly vanity, but never those of splendid art.

Now, this example gives us a sufficient account of the foundation of the acceleration of spiritual progress.
Will one arrive at the inner perfection on walks, in theaters, or with sociable circles of friends, or with secular
shops of other kinds of art?

Oh no; from all this worldly vanity, no Cornelius ever grow, as the Lord Himself has distinctly stated through the
parable, when someone invited several friends to a banquet in a parable, and the friends excused themselves
with all sorts of reasons, so they would not accept the invitation. One has something to do with a pair of oxen;
another is about to marry; a third bought a field, and so no one can come. - Look, these are worldly vanity, which
certainly does not accelerate the progress of the spirit. They are indeed very respectable friends of the Lord,
otherwise He would not have invited them; but they lacked the time to come.

And the Lord said to the rich youth: Give up all things, and follow Me, and you shall prepare a treasure in
heaven, or in other words, you shall pass over into the perfection of your spirit.

He who does not follow this call, as you know from my brethren, the apostles, who have followed the Lord at the
very first call, must also be content with the Lord's response to the called ones who tried to bargain with the
Lord. From this however, we can draw the following very brief rule:

The more worldly folly, the less spiritual progress; the less worldly folly, the quicker the progress of the spirit. But
with no worldly folly, a Cornelius can grow in every human being. You need nothing more; therefore open the
little gate and ascend into the bright, free space!

Chapter 55.

Description of the highest level.

We are on the spot; what do you say to this scene? Has the eye of a man living on the earth, I mean, the eye of
his soul, ever fathomed something similar in his deepest imagination? Look, the extraordinarily large round place
on which we find ourselves is bright-green, and this radiance is not a surging, but a calm ray. With what could
this surface be compared? For example, with an extremely well-polished emerald? What a meager comparison
would that be.

Should we compare the surface with the very finest silky velvet, which shimmers as if the threads it is made of
are like green gold? I say this comparison is dull and does not do justice here. Yes, with earthly comparisons we
will not be able to get anywhere. We shall therefore have to aim a little higher; we will stretch our hands far out
into the endless space and meet on the same individual planetary sun which illuminate the surrounding world
bodies with such a green light. Yes, it must be a sun, and this must have been placed here as a flat disk; then
the comparison would be correct.

So that would be the ground on which we now stand; it is like a mighty radiant etheric surface of a sun, and yet it
is solid as a diamond. What do you say about this endless splendor? You are silent and cannot bring forth a
single word. Yes, my dear friends and brothers, this is also perfectly understandable; for where it becomes
difficult for us light-emanating spirits of heaven to speak, it will surely be so much harder for you, since you have
never seen anything of such immeasurable exalted fulness of light in your beings.

Let us leave this; we have looked at the surface, now we turn our gaze to the inexpressibly splendid
surroundings of this great vacant place.

Behold, a single white railing encompasses this whole great free place. At every ten klafter, a hundred klafter
high obelisk rises from the railing.

Their color is also a dazzling white; on top of every obelisk are fairly big radiating balls of alternating colors: first
red, then green, then blue, then violet, then yellow, and many color nuances in between. It seems as if every
such obelisk, of which there are hundreds on this vast, free plateau, carries a really great sun, mightily
illuminating this open space.

One could say here, of course, why so many luminous bodies on such a central sun? It would be more pleasant
for the eye to diminish the light rather than to amplify it. I tell you, that is precisely what is taken care of with the
installation of such powerful luminous bodies. This, you say, is not easy to understand. But I tell you that this can
be understood very naturally and easily. Why then and how? For this, my dear friends, there are already a lot of
quite palpable examples on the earth, taken naturally and spiritually.

See, in the summertime, all the vegetation of white color emerge, and though it is apparently white, as is the
snow of winter, I can assure you that you can impossibly get out into the open at any time during the day in the
very strong power of light, lest you be completely melted and dissolved; for the rays of the sun fall too intensely
upon the surface of that part of the earth which you inhabit at summertime. In winter, however, the white color is
of good effect; for without this, the light would have little effect; and in time the cold would increase so much that
it would be impossible for her to hold out in the open air. But the white color of the snow throws back the light
and subsequently heats the air.

In summertime, however, the vegetation must cover the surface of the earth in a variety of colors; by this wise
design, the intensive rays of the sun is most effectively consumed, and only the gentle part of it reflects back
from the multi-colored surface of the earth. You could also attempt a similar phenomenon artificially on a small
scale, and for this, I will give you the following.

At night, place a strong argand lamp on the center of a table. When you look at them individually, their light will
offend your eye; but if you take several lamps, place them around the white flame, and put stained glass
cylinders over her white flames. This will give you a light of all sorts of colors, that is each of these surrounding
lamps will radiate a differently colored light. But what will be the effect? The effect will be that you will be able to
look at the light of the middle white lamp with great ease, and it will seem to you as if it has made your room at
least ten times darker than when only lit with one white lamp. The truth of this is evident every day in the whole
of nature, as well as the experience you have drawn from what I have explained to you.

This needs to be spiritually correct too; why then? Because it must be present in the spirit first and then in
natural analysis. If, however, it is spiritually correct, the proof is also indisputably given for its natural correctness.
Will such evidence of spiritual correctness be difficult to deliver? Oh no! You already have a very good proverb
for this, which in this case explains our subject in the best way; and this proverb is: Ex omnibus allquid et toto
nihil. - A person who wants to be versed in all subjects of human knowledge, surely has many colorful light rays
in the chamber of his soul. If, however, all these rays are combined, they will scarcely have so much strength as
to illuminate a room at night as would a glow-worm, and in the spirit, such an effect will be expressed most
clearly; for such highly educated men are neither in detail, nor generally proficient, in order to give one or the
other opinion regarding a situation, which satisfies all requirements.

I think this is so clear that we need not say one word about it anymore, and so we can turn back to our beautiful
open space, and we can see the purpose of light-alterations. With this we would have adequately looked at the
ground of this place and its surrounds.

Now, however, look into the middle of this great open space; there stands a mighty great pillar-circle, which is
covered with a dark red radiant crown. Thirty pillars bear this crown; they are all spaced two klafter apart. In the
center of this circle, you will discover a crimson altar on which our well-known cross-timber is placed. We shall
go to it at once, and then we shall very well know what is to be done on this magnificent open space. At the
same time, however, I also draw your attention to the fact that this mighty pillar-circle, whose pillars are of a pale
blue color, forms the twelfth floor of this building, which you have missed, but seen from a distance. Since we
now will work with this decorum, we shall go to the circle at once, and wait for what is still to be seen. -

And so we go.

Chapter 56.
Why is one so alone in the midst of all this splendor?

We are in the pillar-circle and the altar; as you can see, we are here, as you would say, mother-soul- alone. You
are indeed saying that this is also strange enough in this world, wherever we come, we may well discover the
greatest splendor, and the most wondrous wisdom is gloriously expressed; but the people seem to have an
everlasting holiday here and sit amidst this great splendor, in their chambers. It would indeed be pleasant and
exceedingly amusing to see even a couple walking together;?but we see nothing but the dead splendor, which
seems to be almost completely lacking life. So here, too, we are encompassed on this open place by the
wonders of human boldness and wisdom; but the builders are, God knows where, hidden.

Indeed, this main building, in its totality, is something so magnificent and sublime, that we cannot even think of it
as a work of humans; for such a thing is only possible for God to build, but for creatures it seem scarcely
possible. And if they have earnestly been built by the creatures of this world, they must firstly have gigantic
powers;?they secondly must have perseverance and courage, of which no human spirit can yet make a concept
of; thirdly, they have to possess such aesthetic wisdom, that no man can fathom anything beyond it. And yet
there is in this open space nothing to be seen of all these wonderful people. Why not?

Are these people so shy, so timid, or have they, as already remarked, exactly at this time, when we arrived here
a feast day, or because there are no days here, a measured resting time?

Dear friends and brothers, you have found the right reason in your last words, by virtue of which, at the very
moment when we are in this place, these people hold a certain repose or rest. If this is at an end, then you can
believe that on earth, not the most densely populated city would seem so alive as in this place.

For it would not be easy for you to find on earth a more densely populated place than the one on which we are
present. You can well believe that there are more than ten million people in this building; for you have been able
to form some concept of the size of this building already from afar.

Just look at this place on which we are still, and you must acknowledge that it is big enough to accommodate
one of the largest cities of your Europe; yet it is barely a quarter of the floor surface of this large building. We can
therefore only oversee such magnitude with our spiritual eyes, making it bearable for us.

With your physical eyes you would only be able to look at very small parts at a time; for the scale is too great for
the pupil of a carnal eye, and would narrow itself in all directions, and begin to lose something in the blue. From
this, however, you can surely come to the conclusion that in the free times, in all these spaces, and in the whole
vast area, things are very lively.

It is especially necessary here, too, that you do not see any of these exceedingly beautiful people until you
became somewhat acquainted with the very sublime things which are full of the deepest significance. For if we
would encounter these most wonderfully beautiful people before you have looked at everything else important
and properly profitable, you would get so distracted by these human beings that everything else so magnificently
splendid and meaningful would be to you as if you would get sold a hollow nut! For this reason, I had to bring
you to this place at a time when the inhabitants of this place usually have their repose.

But you will very soon be convinced that they are very much alive here.

We will, by our well-known manipulation, ignite this wood on the altar, and very soon the space of this vast plain
will begin to fill from all sides.

You would like to know whether these people have any idea about our presence here, or whether they are able
to see us? I tell you, neither the one nor the other. But we shall show ourselves to them here, and also enter into
dialogue with them, and so that you may know everything as it is here;?for when we leave this place, we shall
ascend from this world as soon as we paid a little visit to the radiant surface of your sun.

Therefore, let us also show ourselves here to the inhabitants, and discuss many things with them, to experience
for ourselves what kind of spirit they are the children of.
But I warn you beforehand that you do not approach or touch anyone, for that would take you away from this
world before you, and you could not bear the power of such impression. You need to take note of this; even I,
who have long been freed from all natural things, have to heed this and cannot touch any man who is still living
in his body.

You of course ask why I should not. With me, the opposite is the case.

These men have a too terribly great concept of the children of the Lord;?and their respect and love for these
children of the Lord is too indescribably severe and strong, that they would at once be consumed through my
touch, and finally be completely dissolved.

It should therefore not be a surprise to you if you will see me speaking seriously with these people; for I must do
this out of love for them. You should do the same.

By a seemingly affectionate treatment, you would by far be more harm than good; for all things are according to
the order of the Lord.

The body of man also has different parts which, though they indeed are and have to be part of a common life;
but if any man should cut any limb off himself, and desire to attach it to his heart, for the sake of his love, he will
not only kill the limb, but also the heart.

The same order therefore remains among the manifold things and creatures in the immense creations of the
Lord. They are all reciprocal to one another and serve each other unto the same life; but they must not transpose
themselves and confuse things through a disorderly and untimely love, if they do not want to spoil each other.

By a just, regular, wise restriction, we can approach all creatures, and place ourselves with them in a just
exchangeable rapport, in the manner in which all members of a body stand in constant rapport; what is more
than that, is corrupt. Therefore, compose yourselves; I will lay my hand upon the altar, the flames shall ignite the
wood, and you will see people hurry hereto from all directions.

I now put my finger on the altar; see, the wood is ignited by the flames, and now look around as the gates begin
to open!

Chapter 57.

Every world has its order and laws of existence.

Keep looking! From the hundreds upon hundreds of pavilions great crowds are already rushing and hurrying
here. Look at the glorious people; how indescribably beautiful are their forms; what softness and harmonic
delicacy in all parts! The men are distinguished from the woman only by a moderate beard, and by the flat
breast; in all other respects, he is also of great softness and delicacy, and presents in his fullness a perfectly
masculine figure. His whole garment, as you see, consist of a single shirt, reaching a little under his knees. The
man's shirt is of a light blue color, and has the splendor of the feathers of a peacock. The woman has a rose-red
skirt hanging only around her waist, covering from her belly down to the calves, so also her thighs and buttocks.
The upper body is partly free, only covered with abundant locks of light golden hair.

Now look at such a female figure nearby; look at the indescribable delicacy of her skin; can you remember if you
have ever seen such a delicate surface of an object on earth? Do you see on this body any wrinkle or fold of the
skin, caused by a bone or cartilage of the internal body?

See, as white and gentle as the most perfectly rounded and polished sphere is the body of such a woman, and
no unevenness disturbs the aesthetics for the eye; there is no difference between young and old; on the
contrary, the older both women and men become, the more perfect their forms develop; indeed, at an advanced
age, sometimes more than a thousand years, these people become so extraordinarily beautiful that their true
etheric beauty cannot be represented by any might or power of the word.

Yes, the beauty of such a grown-up human pair is not seldom so great, that if they were to be on your earth, they
would, in all seriousness, melt away the hardest stones like wax.

Yes, your whole earth would not be able to carry such splendid beauty of a human form or be able to exist
beside it. If the earth would be able to master such beautiful form, no earthly inhabitant would still not be able to
bear the inexpressible and inconceivably intense light of these people; for you can assume with certainty that
such a human being is able to emit a greater mass of light than a planetary solar system for the enlightenment
and warming of its whole planetary realm.

Now you of course ask: If this is the case, then what matter does the body of these people consist of, which can
exist in such an endless and unmeasurable, all-powerful wealth of light? For on the earth we know that even a
diamond cannot exist in the concentration of sunrays caused by concave mirrors which focus the rays on a point,
evaporating it in a moment. Still is such a beam-spot not even an aeonic fraction of the total light intensity of the
sun. Here, however, a single, not much bigger human than we are, contains such an intense mass of light within
himself and around him, that with such a light, a whole planetary sun with all its planets, all through the vast
region, could be saturated with completely sufficient intensity of light all through the vast region.

Thus, in such comparative consideration, dear friend and brother, the question arises very much from which
material such people are created, in order to bear such an inexpressibly powerful degree of light?

My dear friends and brothers! If, in this sun, you judge according to purely earthly concepts and circumstances,
you will scarcely ever arrive at a correct result; but if you make it a principle, and say: Every world and every sun
has its own laws under which it functions, then you will have taken hold of the truth and the basic cause of such
an existence in the light much more closely.

In addition, you have similar conditions already on your earth. Go from one country to another, from one
continent to the other, from one island to the other, and you will find such great differences in your living
conditions that you will not be able to wonder about it. If you also look at how there are still living beings in
countless numbers in all the elements, you will get even more clear about the fact that life can be expressed and
sustained under the most various external circumstances. But if such things are already materially noticed on the
earth, how much more is it the rule for different world-bodies.

There are animals among you in countless numbers, who cannot live without water for one minute; but then
there are animals and beings who are only able to keep their lives under the earth in the thickest mud, and even
in the stones. Such mud animals in the depths of subterranean incursions are probably still quite unknown to
you; but stone-animals like the stonefly, stone-spider, stone-bee, stone-toad, and so on have already been found
here and there by the naturalists of the earth; but only naturalists know that such animals produce themselves in
the different rock types themselves, gathering the life forces which permeate the stone, and as intelligences build
themselves up naturally into their forms, according to the order placed into them by the Lord.

Yes, if you were to look at the matter with a sharp light, you would find that all the stones, indeed, the whole
being of your earth, is nothing but powerfully encased clumps of pure animal bodies or life-larvae, and that these
life-larvae while still strongly bound in the basic life-force, will here and there begin to become slightly freer again
and together with the lighter matter surrounding it, create a new co-living form, and then it stays like this for a
long time to gain more powerful strengthening for this first new form of basic life.

See, such a being can then exist in such a matter; but if you bring it from there into the free atmospheric air, it
will last only a few minutes.

The opposite will also happen to those beings whose vital element is only the free atmospheric air. But if you,
who are only able to live in the atmospheric air, would like to go into the very light aether, then you will be just
like a fish when you lift him from the water into the open air.

Likewise, there is also an abundance of invisible living beings in the region of the ether; these can only live in the
ether and not in the air, and even less in denser matter. But the beings who are able to live in the ether are also
able to live more and more in the light. They of course have bodies which are not visible to you; but that does not
mean they don't exist, and then indeed in such infinitely endless numbers, that you will never be able to make a
proper concept of it.

So you must not think of these men as being grossly physical-material, but rather extremely ethereal- delicate
and finely material, whose composition cannot be affected by light at its greatest intensity.

Such conditions are also found in the pure spiritual realm where there are spirits which are exceedingly
ponderous and dark, and can therefore lead their lives even in the densest innermost parts of the earth;?and
again, there are spirits, which are somewhat lighter, and therefore occupy the upper parts of the earth, as well as
the waters, and their life, and their being; and again there are spirits, who live in the half-lower air region, and
carry on their nature; and again there are spirits, of course of a more perfect character, inhabiting the upper,
more pure air regions for instance, from the region of the glaciers; and again there are spirits in the first region of
the ether, and then spirits inhabiting the highest and clearest ether regions and wide open spaces between the
world-bodies; and finally there are the most perfect spirits inhabiting the uppermost spheres of the sun, which
are an eternal light. And the spirits from below to the top cannot see each other;?or said more clearly: the spirits
of a lower level cannot see a higher level; but this is possible in the opposite direction, and is also practicable in
this order.

But this is also necessary, for if the lower imperfect spirits would be able to see the upper, more perfect ones,
they would thereby be impaired in their liberty; but the more perfect ones must see the more imperfect, so that
they can always maintain the proper relationships.

From this consideration, I think, it should be clear to you how these people are able to survive in such light
intensity.

Though you have previously pointed out the rays' activity of the sun by a hollow mirror, but I say to you, it is true
that the very intense point of light, which emanates from the concave mirror, has such a great dissolving power
in itself; but where does this ray come from? From nowhere else than from the image of the sun taken from the
concave mirror, and finally from the concave mirror. You might ask: How might its ray destroy the diamond, while
the much more easily destroyable matter of the concave mirror itself does not suffer the least damage?

A still greater question would be this: judging from the dissolvable light intensity of a focal point from the concave
mirror, the sun must have such an extraordinarily dissolving force on its etheric surface, that a world which is still
larger than that of your earth, is like a water droplet on a white-hot iron which would be dissolved in a moment, if
we would come as close as a few thousand miles to such a sunlit surface.

The sun itself, however, is also a dense material, though probably of immense size; how is it that this lump of the
infinite dissolving power is not immediately destroyed? See, why the sun can keep existing, and also other
beings upon it, you can find in the initial introduction to the sun, which is communicated to you by the Lord
Himself; and so I say to you only so much here that the light is always working outward in such destructive
vehemence from a luminous body, but never back towards the luminous body .

But you know that we are here on a central sun, on which the light is present in immeasurable intensity. For this
reason, everything here is polished to the highest possible degree, so that all the light which is applied to the
objects is reflected almost to the last drop, and therefore cannot interfere with the bodies.

And now, for the same reason, the skin of these men is so inexpressibly delicate, and their form is as perfect as
possible. As a result, the impact of the light on them is quickly thrown back and can have no destructive effect on
them, just as the light emanating from the hollow mirror cannot have a destructive effect on the hollow mirror
because it is thrown back by its highly polished surface. It is true that the surface of a world-body must be
directed according to the degree of the intensity of the light.

From this can be seen that in every world, the form-enveloped life is quite essentially under the necessary laws.

I think that we do not need to say any more about this point, for you can already conclude firstly that a central
sun is, despite all its light intensity, suitable for carrying freely living beings, and secondly, you can almost grasp
with your hands that the human beings living in such a world must necessarily be of such delicacy and beauty,
without which they could not exist on such a world. But as we now know this, we can already enter into a closer
encounter with these exceedingly beautiful people.

Chapter 58.

Encounter with the inhabitants of this central sun.

How shall we do this? First of all, such an effect depends on the Lord and then on our firm will; with this we have
to fix ourselves in a certain way, and when we have done so, our essence will soon appear visibly before these
people.

So we do this, too, and you will be convinced in your inner vision that these people will see us as fully present.

We have done this. And now, see how these people begin to make very big eyes, to see three totally strange
guests among them! Some of them feel quite eerie, so they retreat, the others do not know what to do with us.

Therefore, a deputation has already been given to the elders of this palace, that he may come, give judgment on
us, and determine who we are.

There are discussing what they should think about us; but as we easily notice, no one has the courage to
approach us and question us about our nature. It might well be asked why these otherwise wise men do not
have the courage to approach us and ask us. The cause is not so difficult to find as it might seem at first glance,
so listen.

On some occasions spirits do appear to these people. But in this place, a spirit has ever shown itself to them
according to their knowledge, and since they are accustomed to seeing the spirits only in certain places, it is all
the more striking to them, here where spirits are frowned upon, to see beings they recognize to be nothing other
than spirits. This reason does indeed sound a little hollow, but it is not real and can be equated to similar
phenomena on the earth.

Let us suppose there are on earth some people who have the ability to see spirits, while the majority do not.
When such people are for instance in old castles, in cemeteries, or in other notorious regions at night, or see
some other spirit being, it will be regarded as usual. But should it happen that they would see such beings in a
very unusual place like on a public highway, on a general amusement park, or in a public folk festival, such an
appearance will make a surely extremely distressing impression upon those who noticed it.

And look, our appearance are making a similar impression on these people in this place; and this is all the more
so because in these people it is the rule and order to see no spiritual being here, since this is a place of
liberation where all spirits are prohibited to come.

But we shall soon experience the outcome of this matter, for the oldest is already approaching us with a lot of
spirit-banning and ghost-busting props.

Look at the long staff, wrapped with all sorts of shining stripes, another carries in his hand a seven- corner table,
with a different mysterious sign engraved on every corner. This shows us that this is a spirit exorcism. Another,
besides the elders, carries a great golden hoop, which is, of course, hollow inside; but in this cavity, an artificial
rope is fastened, and is, so to say, of a similar magical effect to the faith of these men, as is with you the amulets
or scapularis. A third, behind the wisest and elders, carries a whole bundle of shimmering red bars like a once
Roman lord. A fourth one carries a large bundle of rolled-up cords.

What do these props all mean?

Experience will presently show it to us. Do not expect that anyone will talk to us and ask us who we are. All this
will be done by these instruments; and so only pay attention!
Look, the elders have laid down the circle on the ground, and let themselves be lifted into it by two other
wisemen; for he cannot go there himself, or else he would not be sufficiently isolated from the spirit, and could
not administer the proper strength of will. He now stands in the circle, lifts his staff, and looks as if he were to
administer a mighty blow to us. By this he is demonstrating to us the power of his will and the determined
firmness of his dominion over us spirits. If we were the most ordinary spirits of this world, we should, as you
would say, hit the road.

But since we are not spirits of this world, we stay standing. But what will happen now?

Look, now the mysterious table is set in the circle, and the elder breathes over the corner marks, then streaks
the table with the staff, and directs it to our faces. If we were spirits of this world, and of a stubborn nature, we
would have to take leave as soon as possible if we would not want our heads to catch fire.

Since, however, this manipulation have not affected us, the cord is now handed over. One end is fastened to the
staff, which the elder holds in his hand and at the same time supports him on the mysterious table, but the
bundle is then also handed over. And see, all those present take this bundle from hand to hand, unrolling it, and
each one keeps the cord in his hand. What does that mean? This means the reinforcement of the will; one could
call this cord a magnetic one. Through this general demonstration of collective will, we shall surely give way as
soon as the staff is lowered over us; - but we are not leaving.

Therefore, our handsome spirit exorcism manipulators of both sexes make desperate, frightened faces, and they
have no choice but to take the exorcistically powerful staffs. Look; the bars are quickly distributed, and the oldest
in the circle takes three, while each one receives only one. The elder now thrusts his shoulders three times; so
does the others. This should have chased us away, if we were spirits. But since we are not giving way and fare
quite well despite all this fatal manipulation, we are now no longer held for spirits, but for beings of their kind; but
not of those born in such a palace, but of the most common peasants who have unquestionably been audacious
enough to enter this extraordinary sanctuary of the most prosperous and wise men of this great district, which,
indeed, has more space than one hundred thousand of your earths. But what will happen to us in this situation?

See, the circle is lifted, the table carried away, and the exorcism physically applied to us.

But now see, the elder has just directed a blow with his three rods on my armpit, and his rods have, so to speak,
easily passed through my body.

But that was also enough to put this entire multitude of human beings in a desperate fright.

What will these frightened people do now? Some more distant ones, closer to the gates, and who were fortunate
in not being able to participate in the cord exorcism because of their remote standing, have already retreated;
that is, they have taken the quick Consilium abeundi.

Those holding part of the cord, together with the elders, would also like to do the same. But the elder does not
want to show cowardice before his children; so he has already decided not to address us, but to address and
encourage his own. - Look, he bids them to pay attention, and presently directs these words to them:

Hear, my children and children's children. I have put into practice, against these three mysterious beings,
everything which has always been a powerful influence on such guests, wherever they have shown up. If they
were of a good nature, as we are, they immediately revealed themselves to us, and faithfully related to us for
what reason they appeared. If, however, they were cunning, as are usually the spirits of those from the territories
whom it was never permitted to draw near to this sacred delusion, according to their impertinent way of life, they
themselves, in their greatest sly obstinacy, would soon leave at the final staff-manipulation and at our fullest
confederation.

If they were natural beings, they would certainly have been gone before my triple staff-stroke; but, as you all
have seen, my stroke went completely through the being in the middle, and it did not stir. So this is a sign that
these beings must be of a higher kind.

Therefore have I with resolve decided to approach this being and to inquire with much humility of him myself,
after the reason for such an entirely unusual phenomenon. But keep holding on to the cord, so that we may, with
one heart and one will, be able to effectively approach this mysterious being.

Look, after this address, our elder, who, according to his appearance, may be called the youngest, moves over
to us with the greatest moral reverence, which consists in placing his two hands over his forehead to indicate
that his wisdom before us is null and void, and then, with a free breast, opposing us, to announce that he is
ready to sacrifice all his love and his life.

Now he stands before us; what nobility, what a most exalted beauty in its form! Can something more delicate
and softer be suspected? I mean, this will probably be impossible for you. But now this indescribably beautiful
human being are addressing us, and so we will listen to him!

Chapter 59.

Conditions for becoming a child of God.

Listen to him, for he begins to direct words at us and the words are:

(The Elder): Listen to me, you very mysterious beings! I have, according to our wise nature, used our protective
means which have always exerted a certain security; but they did not help. You are spirits; for I recognized this
because of the staff-stroke, and you must be very powerful spirits, since all my means of protection could not
hinder you. Pray tell me who and from where you are, that I may prepare myself, with all my great house, for a
worthy reception of your being.

We have knowledge in our deepest wisdom that God the Lord, the Almighty Creator of all things, our great world
and other worlds, and all high spirits, have once descended to some world, and have made the children of this
world His own. And these children, as children of the infinite God, possesses infinite power and strength, and
connected with it, both the effective power and the required wisdom.

Tell me, are you from there? If you are from there, then woe to all the poor inhabitants of this world! For we know
from our deepest wisdom that the spirits of such children of God, are able to destroy not only such a world as our
own, but whole armies of such worlds with a quiet hint.

If, then, you are spirits of this kind, and if we are gross sinners before you, demand sacrifices unto atonement;
but only do not destroy our world!

Now I say, Hear me, thou wise elder of this place. We are what you have called us. But we are not in the
slightest degree here to destroy your world and you, and not even a hair shall be bent on you, nor will you offer
us the least sacrifice; for this is due only to God our Lord, our most loving Father, who lives, reigns, and reigns
forever and ever.

But we would like to ask of you that you should receive us for a very short period with the same love with which
we have come to you, namely with the love of God in your hearts.

But the purpose of our journey is, according to the will of the Lord, to give an instructive glance into your world,
and on this occasion also announce to you the great and infinite love and mercy of God to all His spiritually living
creatures!

So do not be afraid of us; but be cheerful and full of serene courage;?for God, our Lord and Father, has created
all His creatures for joy and salvation only, but never for fright, sorrows, torments and pain.

Now the elder says: A very great honor and an equally high praise to the holy Creator of all things, that He has
so graciously visited us in His endlessly generous children. We are now convinced that you have not come here
to our destruction, but only to our great prosperity; hence we bid you welcome like no other creature in this world
in the greatest fulness of love from our hearts!

Here the elder turns to his children, and saith unto them, Behold, all the children of my house. The great God
has kindly visited us to show us the voidness of our wisdom and the weakness of our love. See, those who are
insurmountable, very simple and plain, without splendor and glamor, are true children of the ever-omnipotent,
great God. What is all our splendor, and all our glory, against the incomprehensible sublimity of such magnificent
serenity, which is nevertheless filled with all the fullness of the Divine power? Fall down and praise and worship
the Great God, who has shown unto us infinite grace and mercy.

Behold, the wood have burned on the altar only a few times, and none of us had the courage to lay our hands on
it, to enter into the world which God the Lord created for His children, to obtain the childhood of God, either in a
new body or in a protective spiritual position. Now, however, we have the opportunity to learn the foundational
conditions necessary for this. So far we knew well from the signs of the flame all that the great God is asking of
those who want to pass into His childhood. The signs were certainly correct; but not our knowledge and our faith.
They will tell us what we have to do to get such an infinite grace, and so pay attention, for the high spirit in the
middle has understood me, and he will make known to us all that is the pure will of God, and what we are to
become well-pleasing unto God.

Now I say: Hear, O honorable elder of this house! Your ceremony, your flamboyant interpretation is entirely
superfluous in order to achieve your purpose; this ceremony is scarcely an outward image of what you should do
within you. But I will show you, and therefore to you all, in the fullness of the truth, what is the right way; and so
listen to me:

Do you know what is the love of God? If thou would be a child of the Lord, thou shall not be the first and the most
important, but be like the lowest servant to all you lead. You must not teach them the wisdom within you, but the
humility and love within you, then you and yours will establish that true wisdom in which all the effective power
lies. The whole rule is therefore this:

Be humble with all your heart! Love God out of all your life's powers, and by this fulfill His will, that you may love
your brethren and sisters, and consider them more than yourself. If you do this, you are a child of God, and need
not to lay your hand upon the altar; for therein is the difference between the children and other rational, wise
creatures of God, that the children lay their heart, but the creatures only their hand upon the altar. But God never
looks at the works and signs of the hand, but only at the works and signs of the heart.

What good is it to you if your children, with the learned wisdom and power, would perform even greater works
than this building which carries us? Behold, the Lord is able to do this with the slightest thought, and His children
are able to do it through His powers in them; indeed, they can not only create such works in a moment, but
whole creations with a single thought into existence. And if you look in contrast at the work of your children's
hands, which they must laboriously perform, tell me, what are they in comparison? Nothing but vain effort for
what is unattainable in this way.

Therefore, pay attention to what I have told you, and there will be a different light of life for you all; for beings, as
you are, have been created by the infinite love of God not for slavery but for eternal freedom! But you can never
achieve this freedom through your wisdom, but only through humility and love for God. - You ask me how to do it,
to love God above all else?

I tell you, just as much as you do when your heart burns for some great work to be performed. Then nothing else
exist for you, and you live only for your work. Turn the matter around, and consider your whole world to be
worthless, and set the Lord above all in your heart, and so love God above all; and in this love the Spirit of God
will dwell in your heart, and from this moment you will be a true child of God! Now you know everything.

If you wish to do so, you will also obtain what you want to achieve.

For, behold, the Lord God, the good Father of all His children, hath no joy in splendor and glory; therefore we,
His children, are simple and plain;?and He Himself as Father is the simplest and plainest among His children!

Therefore, you will never bribe Him with all this great splendor, for He can produce such things with a thought as
He has created this great world and numerous other equally great, and even greater worlds.
But with a pure, loving heart, you will bribe him, and He will give you in a moment more than you can achieve
with all your wisdom over unthinkable times upon times.

Now you also know how God the Lord is to be taken hold of, and how to love Him; therefore you may act
according to it, and you will not necessarily have to translate yourself into another world.

But now, consider, gather these words together, and then make known to me how you have conceived them, and
I will then show you more comprehensively how you have to apply them to attain the true love of God.

Look, our eldest lays his hands on his breast and begins to think. But we will wait, and then we will know with
what results he will come up with.

Chapter 60.

About the Incarnation of God in Jesus.

Now the Elder speaks, and we will listen to him, for he has considered the matter wisely, and you will be
astonished at what deep wisdom our man will come up with. His words however, are:

High Emissary of Him who is all-powerful and has created all light and all the mass of the world! Your advice is
so very good, generous, and most wise, that not the slightest objection can be raised against it.

It is true that the love or the impulse in the heart for his Creator, is capable of everything; for when I have taken
hold of the Creator with my heart as the foundation of my life, I have certainly been fully connected with Him and
thus made one with Him, and have thereby, with the foundation of my life also fully subjected my will to the
almighty will of the Creator , it is inconceivable that I can will anything other than what is the will of the Almighty
God.

Up till now, sublime messenger, everything was in the most perfect order, and not the slightest objection could be
made; but now comes something else. If this is combined with the abiding principle, then, of course, everything
is won; but if this cannot be done, then the attainment of the childhood of God remains a problematic issue, and
we can at most carry the pious desire within us, but still never attain to the childhood of God. The point, however,
which runs counter to the upper principle, is as follows:

It is known to me that all bodies of the world, together with their inhabitants, are in perfect, unchangeable
correspondence with a perfect man, and that is, that one world corresponds to one limb, another, another;?and
so countless worlds correspond to the countless details from which a perfect man is created by the power of
divine wisdom.

But now we also know that the limbs and all the parts of a man are serving one and the same life- purpose; but
experience evidently teaches that a foot can never become a hand, a hand never a head, a mouth no ear, a
tongue no eye, a nose no chest and so on. Man has thus a living heart within himself, being active in his breast.
The whole body lives from this heart, and it can not be asserted that in itself any part of the body is less
important than the other according to the Divine order; but, nevertheless, all life has its foundation only in the
heart, and all the members of the whole body can never replace the heart if it would be destroyed.

But if this is irrefutably true, then, how could it be possible that those who are perfect in their nature can achieve
the childhood of God, whom in their own nature does not correspond to the heart of the great God because they
are not in a world which God have associated with His heart?

What use it is for a limb, if it would have the greatest urge to be transformed into a heart? Will this ever happen?

Therefore I am of the opinion that, according to our science, the inhabitants of this world correspond only to the
eye of the Lord, and that we can never correspond with His heart; we can never achieve the full childhood of
God, unless we would be completely destroyed. Only then would a new form of creation be evident in our order
of being. This does visibly happen when the most courageous lay the hands on the flaming altar, whereupon
they immediately cease to exist, leaving nothing but a dumb fluid, which is present in any stone, plant and every
other living being, which is unconsciously in correspondence with the heart of the Creator.

See now, most exalted envoy, this is the second principle, which necessarily completely obliterates the
inhabitants of this world the moment you speak the word, at least according to my present knowledge.

If you would perhaps show me another light by which this my founded knowledge would be outshined, would you
be so gracious to share it with me, and I will therefore accept it and make it my own as if no other light had
illuminated the inner chambers of my life.

Now I say again, Listen, my honorable elder of this house! You have spoken wisely in your way; but your wisdom
is not supple and not fluent, because it always proceeds from the rugged external form. You are continually
drifting in nothing but correspondences, and you will therefore remain like a member of your body, and you
cannot leave your place.

See, this is but the peculiarity of the externally directed form; but the pure free spirit has no judgment, and can
therefore in its entirety, always be in perfect harmony with the love of God. For there is no other life in the whole
of infinity than the life which proceeds from the power of the love in God.

Even if, according to your essential external form, you do not correspond with the heart of God, your existence
as you are, does fully correspond with the heart of God; and if this were not the case, you would have no life
forever, and your spirit would not be a spirit if it were not a force with the infinite power of the everlasting love in
the heart of God.

According to your formal nature, which is embodied in harsh correspondences, you can of course never attain to
the childhood of God, but in your spirit you can just as well as I, if you would by the love of God can release
yourself from your coarse being.

But this is only possible if you can, in your inner desires, completely free yourself from all your worldly beauty
and glory, and then, with the full force of your life, take hold of nothing but the very essence of the love of God.

This being, however, is the Divine Human, or, the unfathomable God who, in His essence, as a perfect man,
have been incarnated in a world called the Earth, took the flesh upon Himself, and became a perfect man, just
like all the people created by Him.

And this perfect man of all men even wanted to suffer the most painful death of His flesh out of infinite love for all
His creatures, thereby opening to them the endlessly holy gate through which they can reach Him as His
children and see and speak as though they were also gods, as He is God from eternity.

The name of this man of all men, who is God of eternity, and hath created all things, is now called Jesus, which
says that He is a Savior of all His creatures. His Word, which He spoke, was directed to all creation, and He also
called all His creatures to the salvation of His love, and you are as little excluded from it as I, who was a
contemporary of Him on earth.

He himself said, "But I have many sheep that are not in this fold; and I will bring them also here, that there be
one shepherd and one flock.

Behold, among such sheep or creatures that are not of that earth, you, like all the inhabitants of this whole world,
also belong; take hold of this God-man Jesus in your heart and place no value on your world, then you are
already "children of God", if you live and strive according to it.

I am not saying that you were to tear down your great, most magnificent house, and put in its place unsightly
dwellings; but tear it down in your heart, and possess it as if you do not possess it. Give all things to the Lord,
and walk in all humility and love to Him, as to your children, brothers and sisters, and the Spirit of the Lord
Himself will come upon you, and guide you into all the wisdom of the heavens. See, that is what is necessary;
but everything else is null and void before the Lord.
Think of how great the love of this God-man must be, since He, the eternal, only Lord and Creator of infinity,
wants to be completely poor, so that all His children might become all the richer!

But now that you have experienced the depths of the pure Divine wisdom and love in me, seek to escape all
wealth; give with the greatest love, everything back to the infinite love of the Lord, and seek to possess His Own
Self, and nothing else; the supreme wealth, then you will possess the highest riches in infinite abundance.

Do not search for the strength and power of the Lord, but rather seek to become the weakest and lowliest in His
kingdom and to have nothing but His love and nothing but to be with Him, then you will be eternal life like a
tender, much-loved child on the holiest arms of the everlasting Father!

See, this is the true principle; live accordingly, and you will not need to touch the altar with your finger, but you
will still be able to completely attain to the childhood of God in this world of yours.

But do not bother yourself because of my now much less beautiful form than yours; for there is nothing in the
form. Your endlessly beautiful form is only an external need for this world, which is designed by the Lord, to
illuminate with its powerful light almost numerous other smaller worlds, which are not enveloped in the light like
this one. So for this world, such delicacy of the external form of your being is a need, since it would be
impossible for you to exist with another in this world; but it is quite different with the beauty of the spirit. This is
never directed to the external form, but only to the sole love of the Lord; for this is the true and supreme beauty
of life!

Now consider, my honorable elder, these words of mine, and then tell me how far you have understood them,
and to what extent not, and I will then, as soon as I can, settle every doubt that may arise from your soil, for you
to easily see the true foundation of the eternal truth of God - and so do that!

Look, our eldest and all his children fall upon their faces, and begin to stir in their hearts. But we want to wait and
see what's going to happen.

Chapter 61.

Humility and childhood of God.

The elder now rises again, and as you can easily perceive in your spirit, he is again ready to speak to me. So it
is! I have allowed him this; so he shall speak, and says:

Most exalted among the messengers of the great God! Since you were a contemporary according to your
testimony on the earth upon which it pleased the great God to become human like His creatures, in order to
open the gates of eternal life unto all creatures, I tell you that I have considered your words from the deepest
possible bottom of their foundation, found them right, and pressured my wisdom to find any contradiction. But I
also could not reach a point where I could find anything remotely suspicious in the great truth of your testimony.

I now clearly understand that according to your doctrine, one can attain to the childhood of God in every world, if
one only acts according to it, and frees its inner life in the name of the God-man. I also see that laying hands on
the flaming altar is, as it were, only an external picture of what the human creature basically and actually should
do.

In all this there would be nowhere even the slightest doubt; but a very different thing is in the background here,
and in this respect I am still in a great darkness, in spite of this bright world, and this dark point to me is thus:

You have said that humility is the basic condition for obtaining the childhood of God; since it is the exclusive
origin of the love of the only God. Now, however, no one can ever deny that to be "a child of God" says infinitely
more than if a man in this world would be the highest and most perfect spiritual being. Here I cannot discern or
explain at all the "conditions or actions in order to become more", for there is no talk of maintaining humility here.

Say for instance I want to be as a child of God the very least and stand at the very lowest level, and I do not
want any power or might, but only the blessed ability to love God the Almighty more and more with all powers of
the spiritual life, it would certainly be the least possible demand in the condition of the childhood of God.

But if I consider that, in my present state, I do not constitute an atom against the sure greatness of such a very
least child of God, I would certainly become more and more important by becoming the least of the children of
God. With us, such humility through which a man want to become more, is a shameful sleaziness. How then is
such spiritual humility to be taken before God, when one is compelled, in necessity, to become more in the worst
case than what men were from the very beginning of the Divine Order, or where, in the best case, one must at
the very least, become most definitely, more. If "becoming more" is not anticipated, then your path, which has
been set before me, should be accepted in fullness on every point. But since this fatal "more" cannot be
abolished in one way or the other, I cannot regard this humility as the virtue which is necessary for the
attainment of the childhood, since it is this virtue that ultimately can only be regarded as hypocrisy, servility, and
pretense.

To this point, however, there is another question, and this consists in the fact that if a freed, self- conscious, and
liberal creature have the right, under any pretext, to be dissatisfied with the position given him by the very
highest kindness and wisdom of God from the beginning of the primordial beginning? What is this
dissatisfaction? It is firstly the discontentment with what was given, and therefore also ingratitude for what was
given.

Now I ask myself: If I would become, through love and humility, a child of God, and therefore unspeakably more
than what I am now, how is it then with my contentment and gratitude for what I am here through the infinite
grace of God?

Are humility and love, in view of this fact, sufficient to stand in as an equivalent for such unthankfulness,
especially if even God himself cannot take away the ineffable "More" in the condition of the childhood of God?

I think you most exalted ambassadors will probably understand what I have meant, even if somewhat
incoherently, yet out of clearly formed ideas.

Yes, if you say that as a child of God I am lesser, weaker, more imperfect than I am here, humility is a right way
of attaining the childhood of God;?but with the consciousness of becoming more in every respect, humility is
manifest, at least for this my present conceptual state, in the most unsuitable way.

For, behold, with us, as you shall surely know from the wisdom of the Lord, it is such an immutable custom, that
no man should ever anything for the other for any remuneration, but the mutual need and mutual brotherly love
must be for all time of times the sole motivation to act. But if I love my brother, that he may then serve me, or at
least love me; if, through my brotherly love, I desire nothing more than a mere love, or even the shortest thanks
for a given action - that with us, is a crude vice.

If I humble myself before someone, and give him great honor, only that he may show me a friendly face, I am
already a hypocrite in the first lesser degree. Short and good; we know no other motive than the mutual need.
Deeds are according to need, regardless of whether there is thankfulness or ingratitude; no hand is moved, and
no foot is moved forward where there is no need. All people are therefore continually equal in rank, and no one
can surpass the other in any other way than by a deeper wisdom, by which he is enabled to recognize all
possible needs in his brethren, and afterwards also to arrange his acts in order to benefit the brethren without
the least remuneration. If, according to such actions, the beneficiary would meet the benefactor, and show him
gratitude and love, he can well accept them for the sake of his brother's joy; but never for the sake of receiving
any reward for his action. If you consider this custom, you will find that even if you would stand even higher than
you do now, that it just would not do to attain the childhood of God through humility and love.

Do not let me gain anything, and I will destroy all these great glories here in the next moment, and dwell in a hole
that I will drill into the ground, like a worm created in our world in order to loosen the earth to a certain depth. But
to be "more", I want to take exactly the opposite path, and do not want to seemingly descend in order to come
up; I want to ascend without this. And before God, every step that I do should be a perfectly true one, with never
even a hint of hypocrisy.

Whoever comes to me and wants to be more, I will test whether he has the abilities for "more"; if he possesses
them, I will give him a higher place, since he has come to me with a sincere heart. But he that cometh to me,
immediately falls down onto his face, saying, Hear me, O elder! I will be happy, if you would only put me outside
in the most remote tree row as the lowest terrain cleaner. Then I say unto him: remove yourself. You have a
sneaky and creepy mind; you want to be appointed here in the lowest office, only to gradually creep into the top
floor. Here, however, no sneaky mind can find a place here, so humble yourself completely, and leave my place
at once, without any prospect of getting a place here. For why did you not act sincerely and truthfully? If you had
done this, I would have examined you; but as long as you remain a deceiver, you will not have access to my
dwelling.

I think, the most perfect way cannot obviate these maxims of action, for truth is the foundation of all divine order,
against no free acting being should transgress as long as one wants to be worthy of your God.

But I do not want to pre-empt you with these clear opinions; since you have the right, from the principle of the
inner truth that every free-thinking and free-willing creature of God, has the right, to, according to his inner order,
reveal his opinion and to try, with the best of intentions, to try and convince him of another order. Therefore you
will surely not take exception to my statement, and will give me a satisfactory answer, as I expect.

It is possible that I have not yet comprehended the nature of the childhood of God. Without this, however, I think
it would be difficult to find an approvable middle way here, for there is everywhere only one truth, and this is the
self-conscious ground of every created man. Two truths, however, cannot always exist side by side, since the
one would annihilate the other; therefore can neither you and I be right. But if this is the case, only my
incomprehension is still in the way, preventing me to recognize your truth as my own. Therefore, it will be
necessary for me that you would express yourself more clearly; firstly, what is the foundation of humility, then the
true love and the childhood of God to be attained thereby. Do explain this to me, and I will, according to perfectly
recognized truth, observe every dot of your word faithfully with my whole house of my own accord, so I ask you
on behalf of myself and my whole house.

Chapter 62.

True humility, love, and the childhood of God.

Now I speak, and say, Hear, my honorable elder of this place, and chief of this whole great district. What you call
humility is also humility with us, but what you have described is in now way humility, but is pure deception, where
the humble man deceives himself, because he is in a state of life where he will not be taken up into a higher
stage.

But since you think that the attainment of the childhood of God and with it the 'becoming more', can impossibly
be prevented with the very best will, I also tell you that you have greatly erred in this respect. But to prove the
truth of my words, I want to take you to the brightest light of the most infallible Word of the Lord God, the Creator
of the heavens and earths.

But the word is as follows, "Let the little ones come to Me, and do not withheld them; for the kingdom of heaven
is theirs! "The Lord said," If you will not be like children, you will not enter into the kingdom of God. "

And even further, He said, "Whosoever shall be the first and greatest of you, be the least and the servant of all;

See, this is the essence of the childhood of God. If you think that in the Lord's ministry you will be more, you will
have a greater power, and will be richer in all splendor and power, I will tell you: Stay what you are. Because
there is no question of getting any more in every respect.
Here you are bodily, as well as spiritually, a perfect master. As long as you live in your body, all matter of the
surface of this world must obediently submit to the power of your wisdom, but if you are in the spirit, then this
world of yours must be subordinate to you from its center, since you, the inhabitants of this world, are in the spirit
of wisdom and will, as you can see from your moral and state institutions at first sight.

But since countless other worlds depend on this world which you inhabit, consider what a ruling power in the
spirit have in fact been entrusted to you, to govern this world on which depends the order and preservation of
countless other world-bodies and their inhabitants.

But if we consider a child of God; what does this have for a power, what a ruling district? Behold, I can tell thee
with the greatest certainty, that a child of God, as long as it lives in the body, cannot even claim a dust-particle,
nor even his body, nor his life, but have to disregard everything and should always be willing to say in the
fullness of truth: Nothing belongs to me, I am nothing, even the life that I have is only of the Lord. This is their
worldly ration; is there any spiritual radiance? Oh, not at all! The spiritual must exist in the center of poverty.

In this world one can at least take a piece of bread for himself, and one can go as he pleases; but this freedom
only exists in the spirit. One is, however, an eternal "guest of the father," and the children can only enjoy the
bread they receive directly from the Father's hand. They can only go wherever the Father wants them. They
cannot live in shining buildings, but in very simple huts.

The children must never be idle, and, as often as the Father will, they shall diligently work His fields, and bring
the harvest faithfully and diligently into His barns. And if they have done all their labor so industriously and
faithfully, yet they must go to the Father, and instead of receiving a sign of reward, they have to humbly confess
that they were only wholly useless and lazy servants.

As you have remarked, you may, in your mind, travel with great power and strength through the endless space of
your spiritual world regions to your great pleasure at your own will, but the children of God will not even put their
feet over the threshold without Him willing it. You can argue as you like; we children only say what is put into our
mouths.

See, that is the difference between the sublime and mighty spirits who direct all creation of God, and us, the
children of God.

You can do everything you want; but we can do nothing out of ourselves, but only when the Lord wills it, and
then not even a little more than what the Lord wills.

We are, therefore, placed in relation to the Lord, as are the members of a body. These limbs, indeed, constitute a
being with the internal life of the body; but not a member of the whole body can do for itself what it wants, but
each of its actions and all energy of action does not depend on its own power, but only on the fundamental
power that prevails in the body.

Thus the limbs themselves cannot feed themselves, even though they are most diligent, but must first surrender
all their acquisition into the main chamber of the inner life; then the living force distributes the proper food to the
limbs that have worked there.

But the situation is quite different with the relation of external free men who are not bound to a body as
members, but stand as free beings for themselves. Behold, I may well say, Have goodness, and do this work,
and the friendly people will do the work. But after the work is finished, they are free from my will and can do for
themselves what they want.

But I ask you, is this also so with the limbs of my own body? Oh, not at all! These continually depend, in all their
parts, on my inner will-power, and can never resist it; for they must be one with the will of the inner living force,
otherwise the whole human being would surely perish.

See, if you only think a little of what I have just said, it will be quite clear to you how things is with your sharply
qualified reasoning of the "surpassing" of the children of God.

If, therefore, you wish to achieve the childhood of God, you must be completely removed from the idea of
winning something. You must then not look at yourself as a child of God in an endlessly perfect position, but you
must take the situation exactly reversed. And if you have done this, then it will be evident to you whether the true
humility and love for God is a perfectly just, or a deceptive way of attaining the childhood of God.

For you can well imagine this from God, who is the infinite, supreme Truth Himself, that He will not through a
given means, reach a very different goal than the form of the means itself represents.

Would anyone who would always shrink and diminish in the humility of his heart, be able to reckon that the Lord
will magnify him in the opposite direction? Yes, He will enlarge it, but not in your supposed "becoming more", but
only in greater humility and greater love. And this is a true magnificence in the spirit, because man, as a child of
God, is the one which one strives to attain the lowliness in the most perfect way.

Hence the love of a child of God for God is not flattery through which any omnipotent favor of God could be
gained, but true love must be an inner impulse to acknowledge God above all as the sole perfect Lord, but also
to regard himself to Him, as a complete nothingness. One must seek the supreme happiness in loving God the
Father above all things, for He is God and Father. And for such love, one cannot commemorate any
remuneration forever, except for the grace of loving God the Father.

See, my honorable elder, so are things. Just think about it a little bit, and then tell me how you will find the path I
have set before you for the attainment of the childhood of God. But you must keep in mind that there never was
any reality in your "becoming more" as a child of God.

Understand this well and then give me your opinion!

Chapter 63.

The essence of the childhood of God.

Listen! our elder says: High messenger of the great God! Now I am quite clear, and the matter of the childhood
of God now has a completely different face. But as the matter is certainly so, and not otherwise; here you must
forgive me, that I, seen from my side, is not only in a certain way against the Godly order, that in order to strive
for the so-called true childhood of God, according to your present statement, indeed, little, if not nothing is
allowed at all. It would even be an obvious folly not to permit one to possess anything of the good and the
abundant. I say, no more about God and Father, and no more about me as a child of God, if one were to be
wholly without profit.

On the one hand, it cannot be denied that the thought of having God as a Father and that through the most
intimate mutual love, overshadows all other thoughts, for no created being can fathom a greater relationship.

But, when one would look at it from the other side and take into consideration that, despite this great thought and
great name, one can and must be nothing at all, indeed, that one must always be willing to stand ready for the
least service unto all creatures, then is such a thought and such a great name for our people of this world, really
nothing at all.

If we can have here all that our hearts desire, temporarily and especially eternally in the spirit, but if as "children"
we are not even allowed to cross the threshold as we will it, listen, then we certainly stay what we are; for in
order to become nothing, would require to cease to exist! But once a being is there, this existence presupposes
a continually higher development of its forces; but not (if one considers that one here continually increases in
knowledge and strength) -that man can expect afterwards, when one would expect the highest perfection,
nothing but a complete destruction of all powers and knowledge which we have acquired here.

I think you will have understood me thoroughly, for I have thus spoken here, as a reasonably wise- thinking being
should necessarily have, as you have discussed the circumstances of the childhood of God in the manner
described above.
I am of a different opinion about the childhood of God, though, and I am stating quite firmly that the childhood of
God is much more obscure than you have told me. It may be that, as a child, one can voluntarily give up
everything out of the highest love of the Father. This is quite peculiar in the character of love: -that, on the other
hand, one can expect something unspeakable for such a small sacrifice, that I can eternally not deny!

We have, according to our spiritual doctrine, the great ability to travel as spirits to all the depths of the creations
of God, and to delight ourselves unspeakably in His eternal, innumerable miracles; but as I imagine it so
profoundly, the children of God can look with a glance at what we need eternity for. As spirits we have power to
regulate the things of our world and, as well as that of other dependent worlds; but the children of God, as united
with God in the close and intimate way, are certainly co-creators. And while we always can only arrange things,
"the children of God their Father", have power not only over the entire endless material creation, but also over
every spiritual creature.

See, this is my opinion, for whose truth I offer everything as a pledge, whatever I may call my own in this world.
Though you have certainly said that a child, without the will of his Father, is not allowed to cross the threshold,
he must not eat himself, and must dwell in simple huts. I can do all that with pleasure. But if as a child of God,
with one glance, all the endless glories of God can be overseen, then I would well want know why you should put
your feet across the threshold? Moreover, if one is in the eternal center with the perfect creative capacity with
God Himself, from where all the innumerable creatures are fed, I would also like to know the reason why it would
be necessary to feed oneself, since one stands at the center of all life. And so, I think, it is with the simplicity of
the dwelling-place of the children of God. Whether it be a hut or a palace, it is everywhere the same, since all the
glories of God are obviously united in them.

When man finds himself in the glory of all infinity and eternity, which no creature can ever reduce, one can
nevertheless be a very lowly servant and a servant of all servants; for what does he lose? Must not the whole of
creation, if need be, be punctually obedient even to the slightest hint?

It is true, we spirits also have strength and power to control our own world, but are they lords of the same? Oh
no! We indeed do what we want, but we cannot will what we will. Our will is subject to your will, but your will is
free in Him who is your Father!

High Messenger of the Lord! I believe that I have judged the matter correctly; nevertheless, I beg you, would you
explain to me a little more, so that I might know to what extent my judgment is related to the highest truth.

Now I say, saying, Listen, my honorable elder of this place. I knew that you would find the right light in you, if I
had shown you the right way. Your judgment is correct; this time you have precisely recognized the nature of the
childhood of God. As you have called the thing, so it is; but with humility and with love, you are compelled to
obtain the "more," which you have so condemned, and not the "less" you have so far praised.

But what can be done? For see, you are neither satisfied with one or the other. In the course of many years,
humility and love are a bad means, and therefore no virtue. The lesser attainment of such virtue appears to you
as folly. How, then, should the matter be ordered that you would be content? I want to solve this riddle.

Behold, you are still of the notion that one must only get more if one asks more, and less if one asks little. But I
say to you, this is a creaturely measure; but the Creator is a completely reversed case. He who requires much
receives little; who requires little, receives much; for whoever wants nothing, everything will be given!

This thing you would probably find a little unnatural; but, see, there are similar correlations with you, and in this
respect you do not act any different than the Lord. For example, he who asks for a great reward, how will he be
received in your heart? You say: He will be received badly. But if he has done a great service to you, and
requires little for that, how will be received in your heart? You say: He will be well received. But if any man have
done unto thee anything that thou wilt ever desire, and in the end do not ask of thee, for he did all things out of
love unto thee, tell me, how shall he be received in your heart? You say: I will put him on my right-hand side, and
he shall share my full possession;?for my heart will be fully indebted to him!

See, my honorable elder, that is exactly the relationship of God to His creatures; and if you does the last, you are
a child of God, and shall also be set up by Him at His right hand. Love does this, for God does not look to work,
but to love alone. If the work proceeds from love, then it has value before God; but if it proceeds from wisdom
only, then it has no value, or only to the extent to which love was thereby involved. Now you know everything,
and I have nothing more to say to you. If you wish to walk the path you have clearly described, you now know
quite well what goal you can achieve; if you remain as you are, you will also reach a good goal, but not that of
the very actual childhood of God!

Now see, our eldest became be very humble, and consider my words well.

He will soon begin aa address to his children; we will listen to this, then bless this people, and then go forth from
there.

Chapter 64.

Inhabitants of the sun on the way of the childhood of God.

The elder is opening his mouth, and we will straightway listen to him.

His words are thus, "Listen to me, you all my children, those of you who are here, and give them also to those
who are not here, which I will speak to you. You know that on similar occasions, when the wood on the altar was
burning by a higher power, we have read, from the flame of the burning wood, the exceedingly difficult
conditions, by whose fulfillment alone the attainment of the high childhood of God is possible. We have never
been lucky enough to hear from the mouth of a child of God, how, in the shortest possible time, the childhood of
God can be attained, and what is really hidden behind the childhood of God.

This distinguished guest with his two companions, has shown us from the original source and from the primordial
foundation, that which all our wisdom could never have achieved. We now know that God, the omnipotent
Creator of all things, is a perfect Man, and always dwells among those who are His children.

Then we have very basically and most accurately experienced what a child of God is and why he must be
recognized as such. Then, as the third point, we have been very clearly informed that, us all, which have been
created as free beings, conscious of themselves and recognizing God as their Creator, can become the children
of God in the simplest and most effective way possible.

We need no further proof that this is correct; for we have in the first place the guarantor of the fulness of such
truth still among us, and secondly we have my own wisdom, from which I, as you all know, have stated to the
high messenger all conceivable objections to see whether his testimony may stand firm against the most severe
examination of wisdom.

But all of you have also heard with what brazen firmness the high guest always came to meet me, and led me
out of the madness of my knowledge onto a straight path. If we now have such tangible proofs of the great
validity of this messenger's statement, what more do we want?

The only question here is whether we wish to seriously change the ways we have described, or whether we wish
to enter the path of humility, love, and self-denial in spirit and in truth, or not? Which question say as much as:

Do we wish to, after the laying off of this fleeting body, remain an eternal guardian of this world of ours, which is
already a great world, or do we wish to already become the children of God in spirit, and go there where the
eternal and Almighty God and Lord dwells among his children, and loves them with all the infinite loving power of
His heart?

See, my dear children, this is an extraordinary question of great importance, which can only be answered by the
deed, but never by the most profound words. But let me draw your attention to the fact that our state is, after the
body's departure, in spirit, a most glorious one, which, by its splendor and glory, surpasses much more than
anything else imaginable.
We are already so beautifully formed in our bodies, that our form is even, as I have remarked, a great admiration
for the children of God; and yet this corporeal beauty is hardly a fleeting shadow against them, which is a
property of our immortal spirit. Thus our external physical habitations are already so splendid that inhabitants of
other worlds would certainly lose their lives at the first sight. And yet their edification costs us a little trouble; for,
with the power of our united will, we are perfect masters of matter, which must submit, form, and raise up
according to our will.

But what is even the most awful and great material building magnificence against those of our spirits, who inhabit
that distant light-envelope, which surrounds our world, which is spatially, boundlessly infinite.

See, we already know all this from many experiences; for there are several of us who have been allowed to very
vividly see the spiritual things of our world. As a result, our lot is an unpredictably glorious one, for we, as spirits,
are truly great lords, to whom not only their whole boundless world are at the command of the slightest
contemplation, but numerous other worlds all more or less depend on this great world. All of this, my children,
united under a single point of view, can tell us nothing more than:

What more do you want, you most happy children of a world, which is a light bearer for myriads and myriads of
other worlds? So it is also true:?who has as much as we have, who is as happy as we are, with whom it would
be a certain degree of foolishness, if he would want to attain even more and become even happier.

Look, this surely wise conclusion I have portrayed to this lofty guest, and he has given me an equally favorable
answer. But listen to me now, my children! The attainment of the childhood of God is by no means a matter of
becoming more or lucky, but of perfecting and living in the love of God. But you all know from our own
experience that here our greatest happiness, as well as our greatest bliss, is not only due to our mutual love.
The more we love each other, the more intimately we are united in love both physically and spiritually, and the
happier we are!

Do we not have the happiest of times when, within the walls of our homes, we are united in mutual love, and do
not even cast a glance at the whole wonderfully beautiful outer world? All of you can only reply to this question
from your living experience as: This is the full and living truth!

Well, then; see also the great difference between our greatest, but at the same time always outward happiness,
and the most inward blessedness of the children of God. But if our mutual love among us creatures is so happy,
how endlessly happy does love have to be, where creatures as children of God can behold their Creator as
Father visibly in the highest love, and are also lovingly embraced by Him? Where in this whole great world is
there a being who can only grasp an atom of the greatness of such bliss where the creature as a child is able to
approach his Creator, his God, and embrace Him with all love, and in return is again embraced with the greatest
Love!

See, my dear children, this is the infinite difference between us and the children of God! Think how endlessly this
small spark of love must be against the endless fulness of love which dwells in God. And yet this endlessly tiny
little one makes our greatest bliss! How great, therefore, must be the salvation of those beings who can play with
all the infinite wealth of the love of their divine Father!

So what do we want to do? Do we want to remain what we are, or do we want to rush into the arms of the
Almighty, Holy, Eternal Father with new life force as children?

I now read on your faces that you all want to leave everything to get to the Father! Yes, this is my most perfect
sense; we will love Him, as if we had a thousand hearts, and we will be humble, therefore, as if we had no
existence, only to go after this external life, where this Holy Father dwells.

And you, exalted messenger, take this assurance in the fullness of truth, that we are all of one mind, and want to
walk the way which you have shown us. Bless us on this new way, that we may be happy in the place where you
certainly already have had a long and most glorious stay in the dwelling of God, your ever-holy Father!

Look, after this, the priest falls upon his face, and his children follow his example. We now bless them, and since
we have blessed them, let me rise a little from them. Now see, we have lifted ourselves, and our beautiful world
hovers already as a tiny starlet in an endless depth. But look down; it is your sun. We are not far from her, but we
will not hurry to quickly approach her holy surface. But this time not the material, but the spiritual, which
corresponds precisely to the material in the same place. And so let us let ourselves down gently!

Chapter 65.

Different appearance of the 'spiritual sun' outside the sphere of Jesus.

See, we are already on the spiritual surface of your sun. How do you like it here? I notice you are making highly
astonished faces, and say, "Here, too, it is inconceivably splendid and graceful. It is true that no trace can be
found of that almost fearsome splendor of the former sun-world; but nevertheless are the lovely gardens and
exceedingly splendid flowery meadows, with small, cute cottages built all over, also very pleasing to look at. But
what increases the wonderful sight here is that here in the gardens and in the open, and especially around the
little houses, we see a multitude of children, and also greater human spirits, who busy themselves very amiably
with these children. But only one thing here seems very strange.

See, dear friend, the Lord Himself has set us upon the spiritual sun after the contemplation of the natural sun.
But there we have not seen the slightest of all that we now see; we have only seen an endlessly extended
surface, which was indeed decorated with a kind of grass, and here and there also with small trees. Then we
saw on that immensely wide surface, spirits wandering to and fro and up and down, like one would see the
ephemerides on the earth at the sunrise or close to sunset. But that was all. If we wanted to see more, we
needed the sphere of a spirit.

But three important points of view are now emerging for us. The first is thus: Was the "spiritual sun?" which we
so simply saw in the presence of the Lord, identical with this, which we now see? The second point is: If this sun
is identical with the first one, the questioned is whether its surface is quite a different place than the one we saw
first? But the third question is also: if this is the sun, and on our surface we cannot see what we have seen in the
presence of the Lord at the first sight of the spiritual sun, whether we owe it to your sphere?

Though you have told us at first, that we were not in yours, but you were only in our sphere. It is true that an
exchange of spheres may have taken place for us unconsciously; therefore we ask you what this situation is?

My dear friends and brothers! I must report to you here in advance, that no answer will be given here to all three
of the questions; and simply for the reason that you have not asked the question in a way by which the answer
would be part of the revelation of this present appearance.

When you have entered the surface of the spiritual sun in the presence of the Lord, you have not entered the
surface of the sun in a special way but in the infinite sphere of the Lord, for in the sphere of the Lord, a finite
special sight for anyone alone is never conceivable. In His sphere, every specific phenomenon immediately
contains in itself unlimited, infinite, and the simple ground which you have entered then was a ground of the
infinite spiritual sun of the Lord in which all infinite spheres are realized.

The spirits that you saw walking to and fro, are not individual spirits, but every single such spirit you have seen
on that surface is a whole union of numerous spirits, in which in and for itself still numerous smaller associations
exist, which also consist of blessed spirits of a special kind, as we are now together. You can easily see this as
perfectly convincing, from the fact that in the sphere of such a great spirit you have come to the more specific
view of the spiritual and heavenly things.

You make a very puzzled face here, of course, and say: But listen, dear friend, how is that? This statement is a
little nonsensical to us, for the Lord has given us the names of the individual spirits who approached us, among
which there were also some who were close to us on earth, but these can not in themselves be such a general
heavenly community of angels.

Moreover, after retreating from their spheres, we have seen them as before, and they have spoken to us as you
have led us; how can this be understood?

I tell you, my dear brothers and friends, it will be quite difficult for you to see the circumstances of the heavens so
clearly. But what I can do for your spiritual correction, I will do, and will bring you again all sorts of examples, by
which you at least can get closer to the great truth.

- What did the Lord say when He once gave testimony to John the Baptist?

His words were: "None of those who had been born out of women had been greater than him; but the smallest in
the kingdom of God is greater than he! "What does that mean? Nothing else: Of all the special men, none is
greater in itself than John; but those who, according to the teaching of the Lord, will be accepted into the new
kingdom of heaven as pure children of God, the least of them will be greater than the greatest special man in
and for itself.

Why then? Because they grow not only in and by themselves in their love for the Lord, but as their love for the
Lord encompasses infinities, they become leaders of the heavenly associations, and in the face of the Lord, the
love-sphere of such a blessed spirit extends as a second great man. And this sphere is, in and of itself, actually
such a heavenly community, in which all the good spirits are accommodated who has the same love unto the
Lord as the leader, which is then also the creator of this community.

Similar examples are also available on the earth. The state associations are already an outward picture of this,
and every citizen of the state carries, so to speak, the name of the supreme head of state, who is either an
emperor, king, duke, prince, etc. Smaller societies are cities, markets, villages and municipalities; every
inhabitant carries, so to speak, the name of his society, and it is said that this is a Parisian, this is a Londoner,
and this is a Viennese, and so are also our religious affinities, which are certainly unsuitably called "sects". But if
we accept the sect, we shall find that everyone has its chief founder. What is such a main reason for the sect
founded by him? He is the head of such a sect, or of such a society, which, taken spiritually, is formed into a
general form which is wholly similar to that of the founder.

If one for example has fully accepted the Lutheran faith, he spiritually already lives in the general spiritual form of
Luther, or he is a resident of the Lutheran society. Such an association is already a great one, which in itself
already has a multitude of smaller societies, which all together have their leader, which may be called
'congregations'; and such a congregation has its everlasting chief and leader, who is, as it were, a general
spiritual body, or a smaller society to be inhabited by all those who are of his faith and love.

So it is with the first spreaders of the doctrine of the Lord, as well as with Swedenborg, whom you also know. But
your secular relatives are, of course, only the inhabitants of such a society. But since, by the works of their love,
so many men have approached their hearts, they have thus formed a society, and are thus, in their own way, a
little prince of their associations, for what reason they are also in the commonwealth in the sphere of the Lord
visible as a single spiritual society.

I think you should, through this small explanation, now have a pretty clear idea about this. But that this really is
so, you can also see clearly from what the Lord said to the apostles, when they asked him what they would one
day receive for the sake of them having left all. "You will sit on twelve chairs, and judge the twelve tribes of
Israel." - Which will say just as much as: From the word which you shall preach in My name and from My Spirit to
all peoples, will be established in your number, you, according to your kind, will be chief and leader. - I mean, this
is easy to grab with the hands. But so that this matter may become clearer to you, we shall soon take refuge in
another example.

Chapter 66.

A communal spirit and also a special spirit. Why do heavenly communities have the human form?
How can one be in a certain way a communal spirit, while simultaneously also a special spirit, we want to, as
said, test a few examples. An example is evidently the most unambiguous in a word of the Lord Himself,
therefore He says:

"I am the vine, and you are the branches." What does that say? What use it is for our concept? The Lord is the
all-righteous "communist," since each individual human being and angelic spirit is perfect in His just measure,
and then all the numerous spirits together, again perfectly resemble in unity, the One Spirit of God. But as the
Lord again compares it to one spirit, and it is the case with all spirits united, it is likewise the case between the
human spirits.

This united spirit of men, which is closest to the Lord through His love, humility, and wisdom, is an ever-
increasing community, because His love, humility, and wisdom have drawn many other spirits into His sphere,
and still continue forever in some when such congregational spirits have long ceased to exist on earth.

However, this is represented in the spiritual world as an association, which is thus educated, so to say, in the
broadest extent, as a particular community, which stand as a personality in itself.

One could of course ask here: How then does such a society actually become the spirit of such a communal
spirit man? He might well look like a habitable world. Why, then, does the form of a man in the high realm of the
spirits be the formal substratum of a society inhabitable by heavenly beings?

To answer this question in a comprehensible manner, I must draw your attention to the fact that the natural
habitable worlds for you are really nothing other than certain, at least for your eyes, chaotic conglomerates from
souls to souls, who, in the primordial times of times, served as the proper vessels of the spirits out of God, which
had to necessarily fall together with the one great communal spirit. From these souls or spiritual vessels, the
worlds as they are, were created by the Lord's merciful and endless will- power, and are now therefore these
souls which are to be reunited with their spirits according to a wise sequence of steps.

But look at all the barely countable stages of the process and ask yourself about your previous knowledge: What
is the goal of such a gradual progress? The answer will give you the next best view of every human being.

What is therefore a human being? In his completed godlike form he is, in a certain sense, a common life of
countless preceding special lives, which began to develop in the rock moss, the first manifestations of life, then
penetrated through all the plant worlds, transcended from the plant world into the animal world, and from the
communal animal world to the completed, fully formed image of man.

In man, therefore, all earlier torn souls and minds begin to gain their original form; it is only natural, then, that in
the realm of perfected spirits there can foundationally be no other form than the original form of the God-like
man.

Thus a society in the form of a man is indeed the right form, and is to be called, in the true and perfect sense, a
glorious habitable world for spirits, because this form corresponds in itself to every single part of man, and thus
no inhabitant of such a world has to sow and reap. In such a perfect world he finds his destined place, where he
is given to him all that he as inhabitant has ever needed, as no nerve in the human body needs to sow and
harvest for himself to be nourished in his place in the body where he resides; he is provided in everything on the
spot, and he needs nothing but to live and to enjoy.

I think that this rather extensive example should make it clear to you. Only one circumstance still remains,
namely, regarding the concept of the communal spiritual in a person from the sphere of the Lord, and for this
situation, we shall use yet another example. The question therefore is: how can it be possible that a special spirit
can be raised in his unity to the point that he as such sees a whole spiritual multiplicity as single personality
before him?

This is a rather difficult point; but as I said, a well-nourished example will restore your balance. But in order to
make this example as effective as possible, let us first find a handle in the natural world; and so listen!

Is it possible for you to see the whole earth ? You say: Not at all, for her surface is too broad to possibly look at. I
say: good, but why is it possible to have a full view of the much bigger sun ? You say: Because it is so far from
our eyes that we can see all the rays that emanates from her whole surface, fall upon our eye at such an angle,
which according to its design, make it easy for us to perceive. Well, we have already enlightened our cause as
perfectly as possible.

See, as there are phenomena in the natural world, where one can say that this thing is near, yet it is remote in
space, so there are also appearances in the spiritual world through which an object retreats to a great distance.
And if this in itself is so great and consists of countless multitudes of spirits, it will nevertheless be easily seen in
a spiritual distance, as a single concrete being.

But the spiritual distance is obviously not the same as the natural, in which those objects which the eye see to be
far away in space, are really far away. In the spirit, those things which appear to be spatially distant are not far
from the eye of the beholder, but maybe just as close as what is seen to be up close, for the spirit no longer
perceives any distance. But to the contrary can things which seem to be very close, also be very distant, and
then they are seen as to be in palpable proximity;?but, as we have said, they are very far away.

You say: This sounds a little puzzling. But I say: Nothing less than that; only a little hint still needs to be added,
and you will have this riddle completely solved before you. The question is:

When is one the most remote from every other being? Surely only when one is in the immediate vicinity of the
Lord; for between Him and every other being, there is a perpetual immeasurable chasm, and yet again, in the
spherical proximity of the Lord, one is closest to all things in their community, because the Lord is in them all in
all.

But you were on your first spiritual sun directly in the sphere of the Lord. How, then, did all the heavenly spirits
have to behave towards you?

Clearly understandably impossibly any different than very distant.

Nevertheless, you have also seen them as if in your close proximity.

This is because the Lord is in the first place all in all, and the eye of every spirit in the sphere of the Lord is
similar to that of the immature children, who not infrequently reach for the moon and the stars as if they were
really in their close proximity, while you know that they are very far away.

I think that the matter about the spiritual sun should now be clear to you, which you first saw in the sphere of the
Lord. And so let us look more closely in the groves, the lanes, and the gardens of the sun, which corresponds to
your sun, and become more familiar with her very youthful inhabitants. The next garden, which we see before
us, is to receive us for this purpose.

Chapter 67.

Practical guidance on self-development of children in children's homes.

Here is the gate already before us; so enter boldly! See, we are in the garden. See how cute and in the most
beautiful order everything is set up!

Small tree avenues intersect the large garden, and at each intersection we discover a small tree circle, which is
decorated in the middle with a small temple. The paths are covered with the most beautiful lawn and thus
provides way a very gentle path to walk on. Between the avenues we discover open spaces, on which a lot of
the most beautiful flowers grow, perhaps like with a good early spring on the meadows of your earth.

You say here: how is it that these flowers are not arranged according to horticultural art, but are simply growing
all mixed on the meadow? This is because this is already a perfect world, and thus is all growth in perfect
correspondence with the mental conceptual abilities which the inhabitants of such a place possess.
Here, however, the (souls of the) youngest children live, who died on the earth soon after their birth. These little
children cannot possibly have any definite concepts or perceptions of the Lord and His Word;?therefore is
everything here young, small and a colorful mix.

Look ahead. There in the middle of this large garden you will discover a building that has almost the shape of a
large greenhouse. What is it? We want to go there, and we'll see what it is.

See, we are already there; let us enter through the open door before us, and we shall at once see what will be
done in it. We are in it; see, an almost indefinitely long row of small little beds is arranged as if on a terrace about
three feet above the floor. Keep looking! Behind the front row can be seen another row, as though separated by
an alley, a second;?then a third, fourth, fifth, etc. to tenth. And look, in each of these little beds, we see a child
resting, and in every such alley, several hundred attendants and nurses are continually pacing up and down,
carefully tending to the need of one or the other child.

How many such beds would be present in this room? We can easily calculate this; on a row there are ten
thousand of such beds, and we have counted ten rows in this division, which would be a hundred thousand. But
how many such departments are there in this building? There are ten of them; and so in the whole building a
million of such beds will be available. The amount of children entering into this department increases from day to
day according to your calculation; and the little ones who are now maturing in this department in these wonderful
life-beds, will soon be taken to the next department.

When the children have, in this way, matured in all of the ten sections of this building, they are transferred to
another building, where they are no longer allowed to rest in such beds, but special low rows of railings are
erected for them where they learn to stand and walk. This building, too, has ten sections, in which walking is
continually being trained. If the children have perfectly mastered their walking, there is again another building
with ten sections; in this building, where the children is taught to speak with ingenious methods, making it well
worth the effort to go to this school and have a closer look.

In this building, we do not have much to learn anyway; for it is self-evident that these little children, who were
very untimely brought here from the world, are merely matured by the love of the Lord, and that the guardians
therein are angelic spirits, who were fond of children on the earth. Knowing this, we are going to the third
building.

Behold, there more in the direction of the midday, is an already quite large, elongated form; so let us go there
and get inside at once! We are already in one department, and indeed in the first; do you not notice how it is
teeming with little students, and among them, friendly and patient teachers? And see how these little children are
provided with the most varied and colorful sets of all kinds of toys. What do these serve for? It is firstly, for silent
concept formation in the soul; which is here actually the essence. Here we hear nothing yet; but let's go to the
second department.

Look, the children are no longer walking about so helter-skelter, but sit on low, long, soft, rows of banks. In front
of every ten children we see a teacher holding the one object in his hand, naming it, and letting the children
imitate him voluntarily, as well as possible. The objects are always chosen so that they attract the attention of the
children.

Moreover, you will also note here that the long rows of banks are divided by ascending transverse walls between
the groups of ten children.

This is, therefore, the reason for the fact that, when an object is pointed out, the adjacent group of ten children's
attention is not distracted by the exposition of an object.

In this section, the children learn to name the simple objects. In the next section they are already directed to the
naming of composite concepts, where one concept is the basis and the other a determination. In the fourth
section, they are learning to join the concepts by themselves, as well as the words which describes actions and
activities, as well as words by which conditions, qualities, and characteristics are expressed.

In the fifth section, there is already formal conversation. This is done by the teachers, by means of displaying all
sorts of objects on tables for visual instruction, as well as small theater performances, after which the children
are instructed about what they have seen and what has happened.

In the sixth section, this branch of teaching is being continued in a somewhat larger and more meaningful way.
The display tables are bigger, and theater themes are directed in order to relate to the Lord; only the children are
not yet told of it except for the external image, and they must then retell the story in that same lesson period, as
they have seen it.

In the seventh department, where the children can already speak quite formally, and their comprehension has
attained a markedly higher degree, and already became significant, general historical representations referring
to the Lord become the norm not only in the form of picture tablets, but are also in drama, and usually in such an
appealing manner for the children that they are formally conceded and interrogated, and precisely because of
this, are all the deeper impressed by all they have seen and heard.

In the eighth department, the teachers begin to let the children perform small pieces themselves, and then
recount what was represented by such a lively picture.

In this way the children are guided in the most appropriate way to self-activity and to self- contemplation.

In the ninth department,the children must begin to invent new representations, naturally under the guidance of
their wise teachers, and then present them, at first merely mute, but later, also with speech.

In the tenth department, we will see a lot of actors and playwrights, and their language will be so well- formed
that you will have to say: Indeed, many a man cannot speak like that on the earth even when he has already
gone through a university. It must be said, of course:

One learn in the spirit quicker than in the material body, which is not infrequently afflicted with great weaknesses
and awkwardness. This is admittedly true. But if a similar method of teaching were also observed on the earth,
the children living and growing there would also reach the goal of their spiritual development immeasurably
quicker than when the child is first bombarded with all sorts of rubbish, which have to first be laboriously
removed later, before the child would be receptive for anything pure.

To give you a picture for clearer understanding, I will only draw your attention to what you have already often
experienced. If you have a musically talented child, what would be the right thing to do for early, true and proper
instruction? If, instead of a formal teacher, such a child is given the most impotent bungler, who, by his very
nature, understands everything else better than that what he teaches, and also gives the student a bad
instrument which produces little or no sound, is regularly disrupted and all this under the pretext: This is good
enough for a beginning! Will such a talented musical student ever get to anything? We shall see.

After three wasted years, we finally give our student a slightly better master. The latter, however, needs at least
three years to train all the taught nonsense out of his student. Now six years have passed, and our student
cannot do anything yet. One wants to make the first mistake good too, in order to make something of the child,
give him an excellent master.

This master, however, has no patience, and the student no longer experiences great joy. Another three years go
by, and our talented student had hardly brought himself to a very mediocre amateur, while in the first three years,
he would have been able to do something significant with a fair, basic course.

See, so it goes with all the teachings on the earth, therefore are the progress of the education so slow. Here,
however, everything is arranged in the most appropriate manner, and therefore all education proceeds with giant
steps. The continuation will show us more brilliant results.

Chapter 68.
Visual instruction in graduated departments in the children's kingdom.

You have seen now how the immature children learn to speak; But what follows after speaking? See, there is
another building before us. In this we shall enter, and it will immediately show what is happening with these
children. We are already in the building, which is beautifully built, and we no longer see the former departments,
but the whole building presents a very large hall, which has space enough to convince you with inner vision of a
million such disciples, and a teacher for every group of ten.

But what happens here? Behold, there is such a group in front of us, you see in the middle a round table, around
which ten little students are comfortably seated together with a teacher. What do the students have before them
on the table? We see books with somewhat stiff pages, and on the pages are small, but very masterful pictures.

What do the students do with these pictures? They look at them, and then relate to their teacher about the
picture they looked at. This is the beginning of reading; only elaborated pictures are being read here.

Look a lot of tables in the foreground, which run in a straight line across the width of the hall; there, as you can
see, are all the beginners of reading. You are saying here, of course, and asks, "This is all right, correct, and
beautiful, if it is merely about reading of pure picture-writing; but even if the reading by means of mute signs or
so-called letters is common here, we still do not quite see how these silent, single signs will emerge from these
cute pictures.

Let it be well, my dear brothers and friends! What you have here before you, will be clear at the next row of
tables; and you will be able to convince yourself that you can learn to read in an entirely natural way, without the
preceding spelling and syllable forming.

See, there is the second row; what do you see here? You say: nothing but fundamentally the same books, but
the pictures are no longer fully elaborated, but only given with the outlined contours. See, there is more thought
to this, in order to find out from the connection of the lines the formerly well-elaborated picture again. At the
same time, however, you will see from this that the inner spirit is thereby directed to activity, because of the
omission of some of the external vision of the image, or the inner mind is guided to perform the filling in of the
lacking parts itself.

We now have seen what the students do in this second row.

Let us go to the third; we are here. What do you see here? You say:?again books as before; but here we see
only basic lines around which the other contour lines are expressed only by dots. Look, here it is harder to figure
out the actual picture; but it is evident that one has already been led back to the actual basic meaning, to some
extent to the foundation of the image. At the same time, the meaning of the images is read more thoroughly, and
the lines begin to gain more significance in themselves.

It is also explained at the same time what is a straight, a curved, and a circular line.

Let's go to the fourth row; what do you see? Again books, where only the basic lines are still present; but they
are more encompassed with the contour points. Since, however, the existing images represent a lot of historical
situations which are usually related to the Lord, and thus one or more human figures occur in each picture, these
basic lines clearly show all the parts and outlines of humans; how the parts of the human being are ordered, and
what significance the simple lines have in relation to the different parts and outlines of man.

But what is the outcome of this? We will see this in the next row.

See, we are already here. Here we see the same lines closer together, and here and there the end- parts of the
lines run to certain points. What does that say? It is still the first picture; but the lines are already transforming
into a mute form, and the students have to recognize these mute characters as if they had the complete picture
in front of them.

Let us go back to the next row. Here in the books you see only one, two, or three principal lines, and on a much
smaller scale. These individual principal lines are here and there connected with small globules to indicate that
they belong together. The secondary lines are only suggested here and there with a few short dashes and dots.
See, is not that a formal font? Yes, it sure is; and it is the very real right (or original) script which corresponds
with the whole essence of man. You say: That's right; but how does it look with the individual sounds or the so-
called A. B. C.? I tell you, that is all in it; for the so-called self-clauses are indicated by the dots and small
squares, but the consonants are represented by the principal lines and their connections.

You therefore never read the individual letters here and do not get to know them in advance because of the
reading, but this way has it exactly reversed. You will first learn the general signs, as you have seen, and from
these general signs you will then learn to recognize the individual basic signs, and then to compile them
together, and to recapture the general signs from the compound ones.

See, this is the way to teach the students reading in the shortest and most appropriate way.

It is barely worth mentioning that learning to speak, is a very important part of the learning to read, since it can
be very easily understood. For the difference between these methods consists merely in the fact that the
teaching of speech are plastic and dramatic, but with learning to read, it is drawn flat and presented on a small
scale.

But here we see several rows; what is happening there? Reading instruction still continues here; and this
consists in the principle that the students should find by means of correspondences, from the form of this inner
spiritual writing, in the end also all the secular, external writings; and they leave this building with nothing else but
the ability to read. It is scarcely worth mentioning that students are learning to write of their own accord; for
according to this method, as you will say, two flies are slain with one stroke.

You of course ask here: "Yes, if these little children, who are perhaps five to seven years old, according to earthly
measures learn all these things, what else remain to teach them? For, as we have seen, they have, in the
speech lessons, by means of the countless varied picture-books, already learned almost everything which man
can conceive in his spirit, and they have been taught much more through the reading lessons, for in their
pictures there were so many and varied situations, that one could fill a whole infinity with their realisation. It is
certainly not easy to see what a higher school can offer here.

Let it be for now; the sequel will show you what they have to learn.

You must not think that in the realm of the spirits as a spirit itself, as you say, you get to eat all the wisdom of the
heavens with the spoon, and you only have to swallow. For that would indeed be an extraordinary monotonous
life, if one would be in a position, in which man would no longer be capable of perfection. But if the Lord Himself,
which you would not quite understand, continue in the development of His infinite power, which you can easily
see from the progress and propagation of all things, how could there ever be a standstill for His children? But
how such advances occur, the sequel will show.

Chapter 69.

Heavenly schoolhouse for geography and world history in the kingdom of children.

Look, here is already another and by far larger house; what is taught here? We'll be right there. You know that
these little children had never been able to know their place of birth, the earth, for the reason that they died too
soon after their birth. But since the Lord's knowledge is necessary to know the place which He has chosen to be
the chief place of His mercy, these little children also have to get to know this place more closely, to see when
and where the Lord has become a man to redeem the entire human race and establish the earth as a teaching-
house for His children. Therefore is the geography of the earth in fact taught here, and this certainly in a much
more effective way than is the case with you.

The method by which the geography of the earth will be presented here, we shall at once convince ourselves of.
In the middle of the great hall where we are now, on a large, beautiful shelf, rest an earth globe is almost in the
way that you have on earth. You must not merely accept this, but be of steadfast conviction that nothing exists
on the earth which have not first existed in the spirit for a long time. Such an earth globe on the earth is therefore
by no means an invention, which have not existed for a long time, yes even for an eternity, in the pure domain of
the spirit.

You can also see this very well, if you ask yourself: What was first:?the earth, or a globe made by man, which
represents the present form of the earth only in a very deficient and poor manner?

I believe, however, that since the earth has certainly existed for a long time in the spirit of the Lord, it would be a
good reason for the existence of this image of the earth. Therefore can this globe, spiritually seen, be quite in
order here, and in the fullness of truth it is also considerably better ordered than it can ever be in you on earth.

Go closer and look at it. Its surface have not been painted, as is the case with you on earth, but it is a sculptured
plastic radiation-type, like your so-called images of light, which likewise project even the most inconspicuous
object on the smallest scale. The great difference, however, between the external terrestrial radiation type and
this inner spiritual, is incalculable; for, in the most precise observation, not one atom must be omitted, and the
whole nature of the earth must be exactly represented.

But that this is accomplished here, you can see at first sight in close proximity here; for the brooklets, rivers,
streams, and seas are quite natural; the brooks, rivers and streams flow, and the sea receives them.

Look on! The mountains of the earth, which are completely faithfully represented on small scale, are evidently
from the same substances. The glaciers have their snow and ice, the limestone mountains their lime, the lower
alps their pastures, and deeper down, their forests. and just look closely, every city and every village is precisely
displayed.

For example, your city. Look at it, and you will find that nothing is omitted. But also see how clouds and fog even
move in the same directions and in the same forms as they are at the same time always on the real earth. See,
this is certainly the most perfect globe. It is of course quite large; its diameter, according to your scale, maybe
about twenty klafter.

But how can he be seen from all sides? Very easy; for see, if firstly hangs from or rests on the large frames by
means of a powerful (horizontal spindle parallel to a circular gallery which reaches precisely the height of the
poles. Our students are on this gallery, among them their teachers, and they thoroughly examine an entire
meridian. Have they investigated this well, the globe is advanced by one meridian, and so on, until the whole
earth has been studied.

But is this the only globe, and have the students finished their geographic studies in this studio? Oh no! Look,
there is yet another great hall before us in which is a similar globe, representing the earth a thousand years
earlier, and again another imposing great hall, representing the earth again a thousand years earlier, and so it
goes on, back to Adam.

The students learn in this way also the history of the world together with their geography; only, they always go
the opposite way. They begin with the present, and thus go from the phenomena to the cause; which is just as
much to say as going from outside to inside.

You ask here, and say, "On the earth, indeed, changes happen from year to year; how can these be learned by
the great globes, which are only depicting every thousand years? Then I say nothing else but look around a little,
and look at what is contained in such a great hall. Look, in a certain distance there are ten more, somewhat
smaller globes in each room.

These represent the earth at every hundred years, and indeed, just as vividly as can be seen in the big one.
Behind these ten globes, you will again discover a great multitude more in a good order, showing the earth from
year to year, and behind it the last and widest row, you find very small globes of hardly three feet in diameter,
presenting the changes on the earth from day to day.

In the first hall you may notice that a new globe is added in this last row, according to your calculation, every day;
that is in the hall, which represents your present millennium. But in order for the students to not have to deal so
much with the small globes, the teachers on the great globe are already prefiguring all the changes which have
taken place here and there on the earth. As a result, the students already experience everything and can then
convince themselves by their own affirmation on the small globes.

At the end of the last hall, where the earth is depicted at the time of Adam, there is also an opening through
which our disciples can see the real earth as if through a tube, in order to gain the complete conviction of all that
they have been taught about the earth in these halls.

How long does such a course take according to your reckoning of time?

Maximum of six to seven days; for you have to take into account the far greater and more unchallenged, purely
spiritual comprehensive ability of such an awakened child, who can absorb in one minute more than he would in
one year on the earth. On the contrary, it is true that in the realm of spirits, which are imperfect, there are
situations in which a spirit progresses less in a hundred years, than a man would in a minute on the earth.

So are there also, on your respective earth, and especially on the Moon, educational institutions for spirits, in
which they make very poor progress. But those do not belong here, since these spirits here find themselves in
perfection and purity.

But what do the children learn after these courses? See, in front of us, further towards noon, there is already an
enormously large building.

What will be taught in this? I tell you: nothing else than what is naturally the foundation of the external earth
system; that is, the natural geology and the origin of the earth. If all this is understood first and foremost, it is
then transcended into the historical and from this, to the spiritual earth. But as all these things will be presented,
you will convince yourself of this just as you have convinced yourself of all things so far.

Chapter 70.

Instruction on the nature and origin of the earth in the kingdom of children.

The new building stands in front of us and we enter. What do you see in this great hall? Obviously, you see
nothing else but a raised globe, which does not differ from the previous one. But how should geology be studied
on this globe? Let's go a little closer, and take a closer look.

Look, in the first place is this globe divided into two parts in the middle, from pole to pole. You only have to press
on it and the whole inner shape of the earth becomes visible from pole to pole. The structure and the build
represents the real earth exactly; even the mineral, as you can see it here, is perfectly the same. When you look
at the now divided sphere, you will see how the earth still contains in itself a smaller earth, but which
nevertheless is connected with the external earth by solid organic bonds.

In this smaller earth you see more towards the North Pole, a somewhat elongated sphere, split in two; it is full of
veins and canals in its interior. Just below the equator you can see a large, hollow space, which here seems to
be webbed all through with a fire-like mass. From this fire-mass you see the fire rising to the outside of the earth
through numerous organs, and from this inner fire-cavity, you also see, especially at the South Pole, several
large spiraling tubes, through which a great number of burning vapors are seen. These burning vapors are
produced by the water which continuously flow from the surface of the earth into this furnace, while their
powerful outflow towards the South Pole, bring about the daily rotation of the earth.

It is not time for you now to dissect the whole earthly being, but merely to show the way in which our more
advanced spiritual students learn to know the inner nature of the earth. I think it is scarcely necessary to mention
anymore, since every one of you can at first glance see that the geology or construction of the entire earth
system cannot be taught in a wiser and more sensible way, and be better recognized by the students, than in
this way.
At the same time, here, in addition to material geology, we also point to the fact that all the substances and the
organs formed from them are fundamentally nothing but intellectually corresponding forms in which a captured
spiritual life is prepared for its liberation. It is also shown how the captured life, rising from the center of the earth,
ascends through countless steps, and, on the surface of the earth, manifests itself again in numerous new forms.
- See, all this, the students learn in this room.

You ask, of course whether with so many spiritual pupils, such a globe will be too small? Just look around a little
in this hall, and you will be able to look at a great number of similar apparatuses, some of the same size and
some of smaller dimensions. And all these globes are arranged in such a way that they can be divided into all
possible parts. Now that we have also seen this, we can again move to another hall.

We are in the second adjoining hall. Look, this one has the form of an exceedingly broad and high rotunda,
which is divided all around in about a thousand considerably large and rather deep pillar niches, or in a certain
way, chapels. Here, in the middle of this rotunda, is nothing but a floating, white-light gray cloud above a large
table.

What does this mean? Look in all directions at the round windows of the chapels, from whence light is directed
straight to this table.

The collision of the rays produces the apparent cloud. But what should the students learn from it? Nothing but
the orderly formation of a world.

But how a world arises from such conflict of rays, according to the will of the Lord, can be seen in these
thousand encompassing chapels.

In the first chapel, we see on a somewhat smaller scale the same phenomenon we have seen in the middle of
the hall. In the next chapel the formerly disorderly cloud formation has already formed an elongated round
shape, which, however, is still rather wavering.

In every successive chapel, the form becomes more and more permanent, and more certain, also more solid. So
we go through a hundred chapels.

After the hundredth, we can see a crystal-clear water drop hovering through the slightly transparent mistball. And
when we have walked through a few hundred chapels, we will see the water ball in each one, until he finally gets
to the size of the former fogball.

From this time on we see small transparent crystals in the middle of the water-ball, not unlike those smooth,
frozen snowflakes, which often fly like small diamond-shaped plates in considerable cold.

In the following chapels we always see more crystals of this kind, about which the center turns into a sort of
bluish network, and in this way connects the previously disconnected crystals.

In the progression of these chapels, we keep seeing a gray and opaque clump in the center of the water-ball,
around which, as in the cold winter, new clear crystals are being formed again, and glimmer like diamonds inside
the water-ball.

As we proceed, we again see these newly formed crystals being bound by a new bluish tissue, and from the
ever-darkening lump we also see a lot of round air-bubbles rising up on all sides, already causing a kind of
atmospheric air to develop around the water-ball. You can see that this process, as we continue, becomes
increasingly greater and more predominant.

When we have again passed a few hundred chapels in this slow development, we find here a strongly foaming
lump in the center of a fairly large water-ball. Great bubbles oozes from it, and are here a carrier of a kind of
hazy substance, which spread all over the surface of the water as a light fog, when the ascending bubbles burst.
And see, these actions become increasingly violent from chapel to chapel. At the hundredth chapel, we can
already perceive here and there inside the already highly crystallized water globe, some glowing spots, from
where continually ascends vapors as if in boiling water, in countless bubbles of various sizes.
Further on, we are already discovering significant crystal tips above the surface of the water and the waterball is
here and there free from the vapors floating above it.

Still further ahead, we already see significant fiery rays from the interior, tearing the surface of the water,
churning it violently. Newly formed little crystals are washed into the inner crevices of the earth through this
churning, thus rendering the surface of the inner opaque ball increasingly more round and even, as the surface
of the water becomes more evenly round in itself as well.

Continuing further from chapel to chapel, we encounter flashes, produced on a small scale in the vapors, which
cover so much of the actual ball, that we can only see them with difficulty.

Toward the end of this world formation education, we see quite mighty fiery eruptions which elevates the
innermost firmest foundation over the surface of the water, thereby forming mountains and other solid dry land.

During this progression we discover here and there the bare, solid rock already covered with moss, and in the
deeper regions a softer soil, which has formed by the mossy growth of the rock and by the disintegration thereof
through the fire.

In the continuous progression, we already discover animated infusoria, and the formation of the vegetative soil
proceeds more rapidly. In the next chapel, we discover a kind of worm in the water. The animal formation in the
water becomes increasingly more potent and rich; and thus, by such progress from chapel to chapel, the earth
finally reaches the state where man's creation begins. But this is not to be seen here, but in a next room.

But what measures of time would these chapels represent? I tell you: Although these periods are not of exactly
the same length, you can still measure millions of years from chapel to chapel, and you will not be too wrong.
For, when you consider the greatness of the earth, you will also be able to comprehend what multiplication of
time would be required to obtain a dew-drop from utterly void light-eater, and the latter, after all, The size of the
earth, and to finally see it solidified. I hardly need to say more.

It is self-evident that this way of intuitive instruction way by which the students learn about the formation of a
world, is the most practical.

We can now proceed to the next room, where the creation of man is presented, and thus also the beginning of
the historical and spiritual earth.

Chapter 71.

About the school of life in the kingdom of the children.

It is, of course, not the place where we should present the whole history of man's creation, neither all history
from point to point up to the present, but we only look here at the way in which all our little spiritual students are
taught.

You may well accept it in advance as sufficient, that here, in the realm of the perfect spirits, everything is done in
a proportionately wiser and smarter manner than on the earth, in order to accomplish any good purpose. This is
done for the very simple reason, one here does not begin with counting from one into the infinitum, but one
begins here with the infinite, and counts back from there to one, or likewise does one not go here from the inside
to the outside, but from outside to inside; which, indeed, would be the best way also on Earth, if men were not so
foolish and stupid.

But since the people of the earth strive only for the most trivial and vainest things, they believe and trust the Lord
only for so long (well, at the best measure of men), as long as they do not bodily lack anything. But if a small
temptation comes, they soon fall back into their old doubts, and throw themselves into the arms of a useless and
very badly helping world, instead of the Lord. Such are even the best people already constituted;?proving thus
that their inclination have not turned inward, but only outward.

But where the faith, trust, and love of the Lord are so exceedingly and impotently meagre, there can be no
expectation of a similar spiritual formation, by which man would make greater progress in one minute, than in the
ordinary, most miserable secular does in twenty years, and sometimes even in a hundred, if human life would
last so long.

It is true that the Lord have instructed all men to accept no education other than this, but they leave the sacred
school of life to stand idle, do not at all know what they are to do with it, and prefer to busy themselves all their
lives with the insignificant knowledge of dead nature and its conditions. And when they ask themselves at the
end of their lives, what important and great things have we achieved by our laborious study? Their own feelings
will give them the answer: We have made it so far that in the most important moments of our lives, we do not
even really know whether we are men or women; and do not know whether we have yet to expect another life or
not.

Are heaven, hell, and spirit world fairy tales then invented by work-shy monastic rulerships; or is there something
about it? If there is nothing behind it, what then, and what will happen to us? But if is there something to it, where
do we fit in, from above, or below?

See, these are the sure fruits of secular external learning. It will, of course, be said that if the fruits of the
scholarship are thus, what will be the fruits of those in the countryside and in the cities, which grow up with an
education not much higher than the cattle in the pasture and the beasts in the woods? Here I tell you nothing but
what the Lord Himself has said:

He that is not reborn in his spirit, shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven, nor have eternal life.

For whosoever wish to obtain the rebirth of the Spirit, however, the observation of that sacred school of life is
necessary in all its parts, which the great holy Master of all life has preached to the people of the earth from His
own holy mouth, and has sealed them with His own blood.

Whoever does not want to actively attend this school, as it is explained, have only himself to blame if he thereby
forfeits the life of his spirit.

But it is definitely certain that everyone who owns something, no matter how simple, must very well know that he
is in the first place the owner of this item, and secondly, what item it is, as well as its value.

If any man would want to dispute his possessions, he will surely have put himself up for a rough trial;?why then?
Because he certainly knows that he is an owner, and knows what he possesses.

But if someone is the owner of the eternal life in the Spirit, can he ask whether his soul and spirit will pass away
with the life of the body or not? He who ask after the how, when and what, whereto and from where?, he is
certainly not an owner of eternal life, but is nothing but a fine wage-laborer in the world, and is afraid of losing the
life of his body;?why then? Because he knows no other.

But those who are there, and were formerly true disciples of the Lord's school of eternal life, despises the death
of the body, and simply await with great joy and delight for the complete deliverance from the heavy external life-
chains of this world. They testified to the truth of the school of life of the Lord - as martyrs with their blood.

Seek in the present time the martyrs! There are, indeed, now and then truly brave defenders of the sacred
school of life from Christ the Lord, but these defenders resemble the chickens in the trees, which make fun of the
fox that dances underneath them, because their instinct tells them that their enemy cannot get to their skin. But if
the chickens are on the ground, and the fox comes among them, it is done with the laughter over the enemy, and
the death angst compels our brave, feathered heroes to the most rapid flight.

Such is now also the case with faith. As long as a man feels himself safe from the claws of the any corner of the
earth, before the claws of the dominating and greedy great ones of the world, so long he will speak like a Moses
on Sinai. But if these great and mighty friends of the world, and enemies of the truth have tracked our Moses,
and are ready to receive him in a worldly, most unpleasant manner, our truth-teller will look to see if there is any
door open for escape. Should this be barred, then, on strict worldly examination, the strongly threatened prophet
will take the so-called courageous measure which your astronomer Copernicus took, when he saw the stake
before him, or, as some of the truly pious men of Spain have done at the perilous times of the Inquisition, since
they would rather burn some of the doctrines taught by the Lord Himself than to bring about a great
inconvenience over themselves.

These are still in and for themselves praiseworthy people however, because in themselves they are nevertheless
convinced of the truth, they only outwardly do not have the courage to confess the same.

But the Lord has certainly said, "Whoever confesses me before the world, even I will confess before my Father."
Or to put it another way, whoever has truly took Me into his spirit, will also confess Me in the fullness of the
power of truth in him before all the world; Therefore I will also recognize him in the fullness of My love as Father.

But if it is expressed as such, then nothing else will appear from it, than firstly, as it is in the Lord's words: "Many
are called, but few chosen," or, as it is made clear: many will receive eternal life in the beyond, but only a very
few will be lucky enough to be taken in as children, into the true Father's house. For the attainment of this grace
requires violence; and who would not take it by force, they will not get it.

But on the other hand, it is also said, "My yoke is gentle, and my burden is easy." This passage may be
consolation for those who have the truth convincingly in themselves, but still have so much of the world, that it
deprives them of the courage to openly acknowledge the truth before the world. They really have a gentle yoke
and a light burden on the truth of eternal life which is present in them. But the few who have banished everything
of the world, attain the spirit of power and strength, fear the world no more, and openly acknowledge the ever-
living truth in them, and pull with the violence of their faith and their love for the Lord the Father's house to them.

But you may also see from this that if any father of a family had his estate in the country, he would have several
well-serving servants, together with his children. But when thieves and robbers break into the house, the
servants will hide themselves out of fear and angst; but the adult sons will, with all their might, seize the impious
robbers and thieves, and protect the life of the father and the mother with their might and their strength.

Are the servants bad because they have crawled? No, they are not; but they are weak, little animated, and
therefore discouraged beings. But the children have the life of the Father in their foundation; therefore nothing is
so holy to them than that. But should they, the servants, be rewarded for cringing? I mean, you do not need to be
a lawyer to see that in this case you would not pay any wages for fearful cries.

But this also stands in the words of life: "He that soweth much shall also reap much, and he that soweth little
shall reap little.

I believe that from the description so far, it will not be so difficult to recognize that men have in their present world
schools not made much of eternal life; and the exceedingly meager sowing will also result in an exceedingly
meager harvest.

Therefore, according to the will of the Lord, I also show you the living children's schools in the sun, so that you
should learn from it how the school of life should be handled on earth. We are now standing in the hall, where we
shall soon learn about the history of man's creation, and his further history on the earth, and their spiritual
condition of it.

Chapter 72.

Classroom of the creational history of men in the kingdom of children.

See, in the middle of this very large hall center is a huge globe around which a gallery is attached. And since this
hall is also a large rotunda, and the circular wall is provided with many great chapels, we see in these chapels
also a great number of smaller globes, which serve their pre-determined purpose.

Let us go to the gallery and see the large installed globe; there we shall look at the history of man's creation. -
We're on the gallery; so pay attention to how a teacher present here, will explain these things to his students.

Look, he bends over the big ball and touches it. And see, at the place where he had touched it, soon a strong
light shines, the light becomes concentrated, renders itself into a form, and the form is like a man. Keep looking:
the teacher touches the ball again, and a fine dust rises from the touched spot, envelopes the former light, and
the light does not give off any more light, and is already covered in the same form with an earthly shell.

And now the teacher bends over and breathes the still unmoving form and it comes to life, moves itself and looks
at the things him. And look again:?the form becomes tired of the viewing, falls down and goes into a sleep state.

But now the teacher bows down again and stirs the sleeping form by the side, and you see again a light rising
from the side of this form, the light occupies a second human form and stands immovably before the still
sleeping first form. But the teacher again touches the first form, and a little wet cloud-like mass, like a hanging
drop, dislodge from the first form, dissolves into a small mist, and envelopes the second form of light as such.
The light disappears, and the second form is similar to the first, but not yet animated;?therefore, the teacher
touches her again - and see, she lives and moves happily back and forth.

But now the teacher also touches the first figure again; see, he rises, and when he sees the second one, which
is similar to him, he has a great joy in it, and is already speaking with some expressive language to her.

The teacher here represents the Lord, and is now demonstratively and very realistically doing what the Lord has
done, with the power given to him by the Lord. He also speaks the same words as the Lord has spoken, and the
students also note the great power of such words.

But now look how the teacher reveals himself to this first created human couple and how he teaches this human
couple.

Look, the teacher is touching his chest. Immediately a bright ray emerges from the touched spot towards the
newly created human pair, and stands before the same as a third light-man. And what the teacher now speaks to
the students according to the words of the Lord, which is familiar to you, he also speaks as the third man
presented by the beam from the teacher's breast, to the first created human couple.

It is no longer necessary to let you see the representation of the further progression, for everything you know
from the old and the new words literally takes place, but the moments of procreation are concealed.

For there still will be another certain spiritual time, when our students will be more mature in their beings, when
they will be educated in a highly edifying way about this.

I remind you, however, that the teachers, in the same way, present to their students all the further guidance of
the human race in the most appropriate manner, and finally end up populating the whole earth's surface, and let
these peoples act independently upon the surface of the earth. These build huts and cities, restrain animals for
their use, wage war and pursue each other exactly as it was on earth. And see, all this happens up to the
present time.

The special moments in the great history of the world, as the creation of man, then the flood of Noah, then the
covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then the great leadership of the Israelite people under Moses and his
successor, then the story under David and Solomon, then the birth of the Lord, and from then on the most
important moments of the propagation of the doctrine, form the principal sections of this teaching.

If one such a main section is completed, the students are led to the small globes standing in the chapels, and
they have to repeat to their teachers in a self-creative way what the teachers have shown them on the great
globe. In this way, the whole of the teaching itself becomes alive, and the pupils then know the events of the
earth from point to point just as vividly as if they had been witnesses on the real earth themselves.

When the students have learned this important subject, then they are led again to the great globe, and the
teachers then show them the spiritual earth and how it is formed from the human race.
They show them the spheres, and how they are always forming themselves increasingly purer and brighter over
the actual material earth, and how these spheres becomes a landscape as soon as the spirit of a deceased
person ascends into some sphere, and takes possession from it, of what is congenial to him.

At the same time the teachers show the students the subterranean ever-darkening spheres, and how the souls
of evil deceased men sink into such dark spheres. Wherever they take some agreeable possession, there are
also several who are compelled to press themselves, and thereby, in anger, to kindle themselves, and when they
have kindled themselves, the students look on as such sinister souls transform in the most diverse ways into the
most horrible forms, and sink into the ever deeper and darker spheres.

On this occasion, the students are also told what sin is and how a free being can commit sin on the earth.

If the students have understood all this, they are led out of this hall and directed to another larger garden, where
all the higher educational establishments are situated. It is self-evident that the students in this first garden
naturally do not learn uninterruptedly without having well-arranged play hours between the sessions; for the spirit
also needs organized resting periods for its strengthening, as the Lord have appointed a seventh day of rest day
after the known six works of creation.

And in the time of Christ, the Lord Himself showed that He have rested after some work like any other man. The
spirits here must likewise have periods of rest, in which they strengthen themselves for more teaching; and so,
especially at the time of the transfer from one school to the other, a considerable period of rest ensues. During
these are the students allowed to, if they so wish, to pay a visit together with their teachers, their relatives on the
real earth-body, which, however, usually only happens when their related inhabitants of the earth are in deep
sleep, and in the waking state, only very rarely know anything about it; especially if they are more earthly than
spiritually minded.

Some such students, since they know much about the Lord, have a desire to see the Lord. Such desire,
however, is seldom fulfilled, and that is because, as spirits, they are still too weak to resist the everlasting,
omnipotent spirit of God, and to endure such closeness. Their most favorite recreational activity, however, is to
be allowed to visit Mary, as their general spiritual supervisor and mother. Mary often visits all these great
institutions; but not always visible to the little spirits, but certainly to the teachers.

You ask whether all deceased children must go through these schools from birth until their twelfth year?
Certainly, but not in one and the same garden; because there is a separate starting garden for every age. But as
for the second garden, they all come together. How and what the innumerable many children's spirits learn there,
and on what conditions they pass over, will next time be shown to you.

Chapter 73.

The first commandment in the first classroom - explanation.

We do not need a long and wide voyage from here, for the next garden is before our very eyes. Look, at a
moderate distance we are already greeted with endlessly stretched rows of trees, behind which we see an
exceedingly large and equally splendid palace. This is already the garden in which we have to be, in which you
will even meet those children whom the Lord has taken from you on the earth.

But if you would recognize them at once, is certainly another question;?for in the spirit, the children no longer
resembles the physical traits of their earthly parents, but they only resemble the Lord to the extent of their
receptive capacity for the loving-goodness and faithfulness from the Lord. Nevertheless, on certain occasions,
they can also accept the earthly similarities which are bound in their souls, and thus make themselves known in
form to those who have come here from the earth, and are not yet too much acquainted with the spiritual
conditions.
We shall not, however, spend any more time speaking about this, but rather to go straight into the garden, to
convince ourselves of all that with our own spiritual eyes, which we would otherwise have to attain with the
mouth here.

We are already in the tree-rows or avenues, in which you have discovered the most beautiful flowery lanes, and
also here and there children, walking gaily on it. Let us go in deeper, and we shall find ourselves, as soon as we
are there, at the palace we have first seen.

See, it is already standing in front of us, with a nearly indefinitely stretched length. Thousands times thousand
windows are set in rows. Every one measures seven klafter high. Above the height of the windows, we find a
smaller row of windows, which are placed exactly above each of the lower large windows.

You say and ask, "But for the sake of the Lord, is this whole building, this immensely long palace, but a single
hall? I say unto you, It is not, but is divided into twelve divisions. At the height where you see the second row of
small windows, a splendid and wide gallery runs along the whole hall, from which gallery one can, without
disturbing the students on the floor at all, overlook the twelve sections one by one, and convince oneself of what
is in them. Now let us go in, that everything may be clear to you.

Look, here we are at the entrance. But we do not need to go up to the gallery because we are to remain largely
invisible to these little children. Only the teachers will be aware of us; but these are already told why we are here.

Well, here we are already in the first room. What do you see in the middle of this great hall written on a white
tablet placed on a column standing upright? you say: At the very top, the number 1, which is known to us, and
which will surely be the number of the hall, and below: the path to the freedom of the spirit! That is, I tell you, not
the number of the hall, but the first law of God by Moses.

You ask, "What are the many children, whom are already looking quite mature, to do with the earthly law of
Moses, which is considered to be for mortal, disbelieving people, but certainly not for children, who as pure
spirits have long been convinced of the existence of the one God; since, as we have seen, this is shown to them
at the very beginning of the first elementary lecture, as a vivid illustration, at every possible opportunity?

My dear friends and brothers, the matter is quite different from what you think. But you also find something
similar on the earth, where you can ask the children wherever you want, and you will find everywhere with them
a truly living faith in a God. For none is more believing than a child, and yet there is surely no such mean
parental couple to be found who would deny their children, at least in the beginning of their lives, to acknowledge
a God, since every religion prescribes it, and the parents have to, at least from the moral point of view, allow
their children to learn about and recognise it.

Would not it also be believed that such children, taught by God, do not need any further instruction about God by
this time? You must confess, and say: yes, every human do require such teaching till the end of his life; for it is
only too easy for the first impressions of childhood to become blurred, and then are these people who have
outgrown their children's shoes, as if they had never heard of God. I tell you: such a blurring is, of course, not
easily possible here; but you must understand that these children, because of their early arrival, had no
opportunity on earth to react on the freedom of their spirit, which is the actual motive for life. Therefore, this most
important action for the life of the spirit, must be put into the fullest action here. So far, these children's spirits
have been, to a certain extent, spiritual living machines. Here, however, they are concerned with becoming alive
out of themselves, and therefore they must also learn all the commandments, and then test them in their own
right, and learn how they themselves are living spiritual beings under a given law.

And so here is the first commandment given, which is, "Thou shalt believe in one God, and never think that there
is either no God, nor that there are two, three, or several gods."

Here, of course, we ask ourselves again: how can one command a believing of a God who believes in God
anyway, and has no doubt about it?

This is indeed a good remark; but the children are here subjected to all sorts of doctrines and customs by their
teachers, in which they are afflicted by all sorts of doubts about the existence of God; this mode of instruction is
called the desolation of one's own spirit.
But in order to do this with these children, the teachers not infrequently make the most remarkable things
happen as if coincidental before the students' eyes, let them have a look at it, and then ask them whether God
was needed for this, since they have not seen Him acting. If the children say that God can do this only through
His will, without necessarily have to be present, then the teachers let their students themselves think of different
things, and whatever is thought by the children, would appear immediately before them. Then the teachers
would again ask the children: who has done this?

Thereby several are brought into the twilight. Some say that they themselves have done this, others think that
the teachers have done it according to the recognition of the thoughts in the students. But some say that they
have thought of such things, but the one omnipotent God must have admitted it, so that the thought appeared as
a finished work before them.

If the students still remain faithful to the one God, then the teachers would ask them how then do they know that
there is a God? The students then usually reply to them: The first wise teachers have taught us this. Now,
however, these teachers probe further, saying, What then would you say, if we, as equally wise teachers would
say and teach that there is no God, and that all that you see is made and built by us? And what will you say
when we say of ourselves that we are the actual true gods?

Behold, here the children really hesitates, and then ask the teachers what they should do in this case?

But these teachers say to them, "Seek in you what you must do; if there is a God, then you must find him in you,
and if there be none, you will never find any.

When the children ask how they should make such a search in themselves, the teachers say, "Try to love the
God which you believe that he exists, in your hearts, as if He really exists. Let this love grow, and if there is a
God, He will answer you in your love, but if there is none, you will not receive an answer in your hearts.

See, here the pupils begin to go into their inner being and begin to love the God whom they only previously
believed in, in a childlike fashion.

But then it happens that God, the Lord does not report as soon as expected, and our children are in no small
doubt. But how they are brought to conquer this doubt, from these, the persecution will show.

Chapter 74.

How should one seek God?

There are already some who have just turned to their teachers, and have made the remark that they are now
compelled to believe that there is no God besides the teachers who perform miracles before them, while this
God, whom they have took hold of with their love in their hearts, have not shown up among them in any
perceptible way.

But what do teachers do in reaction to their students' statements?

Listen to how a teacher, who received such a report, responds: he (the teacher) speaks to his students:

My beloved children! It may well be that God has not yet spoken to you;?but it can also be that he have spoken,
but that you are too inattentive and have not noticed it.

Therefore tell me, Where were you, when you took hold of God in your hearts? Were you outside under the trees
of the garden, or in the galleries of the hall, or were you on the great floor of the hall, or in some chamber, or
were you in your boarding-rooms, which were built outside this great school? And tell me what you have seen,
noticed, and felt here and there.

The children say, "We were outside among the trees, and we saw the glories of God's creations, which we
should believe in, and rejoiced that He had done such splendid things. We imagined Him to be a very dear
father, who likes to come to His children, and have thereby also felt a great longing in our hearts to see Him, and
then to meet Him with all our childish love, to embrace Him and to love Him with all our might.

But no Father came to us from any side. We also asked each other carefully, whether one or the other have not
yet noticed the Father. But every one of us can honestly say that we have not in the least seen anything at all of
Him.

We then left the square, hurried to the booths of the lecture hall building, and did so there. But the success was
the same as under the trees. We went from there to our dormitories, in the opinion that here the Father would be
most likely to visit us, for we prayed a great deal, and begged Him fervently to show Himself to us. But it was all
in vain! Since we have obeyed your advice in vain, we now feel compelled to agree with your doctrine that there
is not a God. And so we have decided among ourselves that if there is already a God, there is not a whole, but a
divided one in all the living and free beings as you and we are. God is, therefore, only a totality of the corporeal
power, which first and foremost recognizes Himself and others in the beings, as you are, and also acts
powerfully as such.

See the little philosophers here, and at the same time recognize the reason or the false seed which is the fruit of
all these slippery rational speculations.

What does our teacher say about these philosophies of his disciples?

Hear, therefore, his words: My dear children! Now I have shown you the reason in yourselves quite clearly why
no God has shown up for you, neither under the trees, nor in the solitude, nor in the dormitories (that is, neither
in the inquiry in nature through experiences nor dissections thereof, nor by the way of higher speculations of
reason and intellect, nor in your not much better than daily life) because you have already gone out with doubts.

You have not definitely expected God, but only expected a probability.

But God must be in Himself the highest degree of definite determination.

When you have sought with doubt in your thoughts, faith and will for the highest Godly certainty, how could He
reveal Himself amidst such indefinite probability? Therefore, remember what I will tell you now:

If you want to seek God, and you also want to see Him, then you must step out with the greatest certainty and
seek Him as such. You must, without the slightest doubt believe that He is, even if you do not get to see Him for
how long. Then you must embrace Him with your love with the same certainty as your belief in Him. Then it will
be shown whether you have attained the greatest possible determination in your thinking, faith, will, and love.

If you have obtained the same, God will surely show up for you, if He does exist. But if you have not attained this
determination, you will return to me without having achieved your object, as you did this time.

Look, the children consider the teaching of the teacher, and one, seemingly the weakest of them, goes to the
teacher and says: Listen to me, you dear, wise teacher! Do you not think that if I went all alone into my dormitory,
and if I would like to embrace God the Lord as the most loving Father with my love, in the right way, since I have
never been able to doubt whether there is a God, but I remained, despite all the contradictory proofs, forever and
steadfastly sure of God. Do not you think he would show up with me if I wanted to love Him alone? For that
many thoughts and beliefs, after all, seem to me a little arduous.

The teacher said to the child, "Go, my dear little child, and do what is good to you; who knows for the present
whether you are right? I can now give you neither a yes nor a no, but say to you, "Go and find out what love can
do!"

Now see the child running out of the hall into his dormitory-room, and the other students question the teacher
whether he preferred the enterprise of the one child, which now went to his dormitory-room, to what they are now
doing according to his advice, to go out with all certainty and to search for God.
But the teacher said, "You have heard what I said to your fellow student, that is neither a yes or no; I also say to
you. Go out or don't;?do what is best for you, and experience will show which path is the better and the shorter
one, or whether the one is false or the other right, or whether both are false or both correct.

Now see, a part of the children understand the determination concept, but others only the love. Those who enter
into determination go out into the garden in full depth of thought, willingness and firm faith; but a part goes into
the dormitory-rooms to seek God.

But as you can see, the child, first led by love for God, is led into the hall by a simple man and goes straight to
the teacher. What is he going to say?

Listen, he (the child) speaks: Dear, wise teacher, come here! When I began to love the dear great Heavenly
Father in my dormitory-room, this simple man came to me and asked me if I was really so fond of the Heavenly
Father. I told him, O dear man, thou canst read it on my face. But then the man asked me how I imagined the
great Heavenly Father in my mind. And I said to him, I imagine Him as a man; but only He must be very great
and strong, and surely also have a great radiance, because this world and the sun shining upon it, are already
so exceedingly glorious and splendid.

Here the simple man lifted me, pressed me to his heart, gave me a kiss, and then said to me, "Take me over to
the tutor's school; there we want to discuss everything, and to properly see what the Heavenly Father looks like,
if He exists, when He is, and how He creates, directs, and governs everything out of Himself. Now, behold, my
wise teacher, here I am now with this simple man. Who do you think this man would be, because he treats me
with so much fondness?

And the teacher speaks in the most obvious love and respect: O most happy child, you have already found the
Right One; behold, this is God, our most loving Father! And the Lord now bows down, and takes the child upon
His arm, and asks him, Am I the one whom thy teacher have announced unto thee? And the child speaks with
great excitement: Oh, yes, it is You, I recognize Your infinite goodness, for who else is as good as You, that he
would take me into His arms, and would cuddle and caress like You?! But I also love you so incomprehensibly
much that I can never be separated from You ever again; do therefore not to leave me here, my dear Father. For
I have never felt such kindness and love as now on Your arms! And the Lord says, Fear not, O my child!
Whoever has once found Me like you will never lose Me forever. But now you must be very quiet about Me; for
the other children who have sought Me, have not yet found Me. We will put them up for a small trial so that they
may find Me;?so be quiet until I give you a hint!

Chapter 75.

Longing for God as an important testimony to His existence.

Now see, the other searching children have just come in. It is clear from the expression on their faces that they
have found in neither one nor the other way, the One they are looking for. They approach their teacher a second
time quite timidly, and the teacher asks them: Well, my dear children, How did it go with your looking among the
trees or on the floor or on the galleries, or with the search of that part of you who have chosen to seek the Lord
in the dormitory rooms? As you can see, all of you shrug your shoulders; have you not yet found and seen the
good dear Father, the God of all heaven and of all the worlds? How is your faith ordered? Do you still have
doubts about the existence of God?

The children say, "Oh dear, exalted teacher, as far as doubts are concerned, we now have them more than ever;
for behold, neither our firm will, nor our most living faith, nor all our most established thoughts on God the Lord,
nor our firm love could achieve anything. If there were any God and Lord, He must have revealed Himself to us
in one way or another;?for behold, in the end we all have united and firmly believed that there must be a holy,
good, loving God and Father. We have embraced Him with all our love and called out His name announced by
you, saying, "Oh dearest, Holy Father Jesus, come, come to us, hear our childlike supplication, and show us that
you are One and also love us as we love you! ? And behold, dear exalted teacher, thus we have called for a long
time; but no trace was heard of any heavenly Father. It was all in vain; therefore we are perfectly certain that
there is no other higher teacher or God besides you exalted teachers.

We indeed do not want to claim this by saying: our doubts are based on a firm ground. But we can safely
assume that after such ineffective efforts to investigate the existence of God, more doubt than a firm belief in it
can arise.

But we also see the one who has separated himself from us, seeking the Lord with love alone; did he not find
anything either?

The teacher speaks: My dear little children, I cannot tell you about that for the time being. The children, however,
continue to ask the teacher: Dear, exalted teacher! Who is that strange, plain man there, with whom one of us is
busying himself and looks at him with so much love? Maybe his father has arrived here from the Earth?

The teacher speaks: My dear little children, that's something I cannot tell you. For the moment, however, you
may take note of the fact that this plain man is exceedingly wise, and you must therefore pay keen attention if He
would speak to you about this or that.

The children say: Oh, dear teacher, can such a simple person also be wise? For behold, we have learned till now
that the teachers, like you, become more sublime and shiny the wiser they become. That man, however, does
not look so sublime and brilliant, but is much simpler and plainer than you. It seems a bit strange then that he
should be extremely wise.

The teacher says: Yes, my dear little children, with the deepest inner wisdom, the external glow does not matter
at all, but it says: the more shine from the outside, the less light from the inside, the more light from the inside,
the less shine to the outside. But just go and ask Him something, and you'll see straightway how wise He is.

Now the children go to the Lord and ask him, still suspecting nothing: You dear, plain Man! Would You not allow
us to ask You something?

The Lord speaks: O with all my heart, My beloved little children! Just ask, and I'll find My way with the answer.
The children ask the Lord: Since You have allowed us to ask You, we are just asking You what we care most
about. Behold, we have been searching and proofing for some time, for and against, whether there is a God who
is an exceedingly good Father in Heaven of all human beings who ever lived anywhere. But we cannot find any
trace of this Father anywhere, and our teacher himself does not want or cannot tell us anything well-founded in
this matter. But he has told us that You are exceedingly wise; Therefore, we would like to know from You if there
is such a God and Father or not? If you know anything about it, tell us. We will listen to You carefully, and not a
word will escape Your mouth that we would not pay the greatest attention to.

The Lord says: Yes, little children, you have indeed given me a very difficult question that I can hardly answer
you; because if I would tell you that there is such a God and Father, you will say: that is not enough for us, as
long as we do not see Him. And when you say then, let us see the Father, what will I say to you then? I could
point you there or there with My finger, and you would see nothing; for wherever I would show you would never
find your God and Father. But if I would tell you: Children, the Father is here among you! Will you believe it?

Would you not ask, where is He? Is he one of the teachers of this great hall? And when I say to you then: O no,
my beloved children! What will you do then? You will look at Me a great deal and say: Behold, the man keeps us
on a line. If it is not one of the many teachers, who is it? You would not be it? Because as simple, plain and
lackluster as You are, the very noble Heavenly Father cannot look!

And if you have given me such an answer, what option should I offer you as reply? Therefore you should just ask
Me for something else; because answering this question does not seem to be the right thing to do.

The children speak: O dear, wise Man! See, that's not possible. We are not interested in another question to be
answered; but only to know whether there does exist a Heavenly Father or not. For if there is a Father in heaven,
then we would all be exceedingly happy, but if there is none, we are all here as if without reason, and we do not
know for what, through what and why? Therefore, if you can, just answer the first question; that is what we
urgently ask you for.

That you are a very wise man, we have already taken from your evasive answer. Therefore, lead us at least a
few steps closer to the one Father, because there must be one. We notice this from the fact that we have an
ever greater longing after this very heavenly Father, the more He wishes to hide behind our childish doubts.

If He would not exist at all, where would this longing within us come from, which is as alive as we are? The
certainty of the existence of a heavenly Father must indeed grow together with the yearning!

The Lord says: Well, little children, you are just taking the words out of My mouth! Indeed, in longing there is a
great proof; But what is the consequence of longing? Is it not true, little children, that the result will be that one
want to be sure of what you long for. You say that's a good answer. But I ask you now: what is the reason for the
longing? You tell Me, it's the love for the one you long for.

But if one wants to see something fundamentally and in the fullness of truth, is it sufficient to remain only with
yearning and its consequence?

You tell Me: Oh no, dear man of great wisdom! You have to go back to the bottom of it. If the great truth does not
manifest itself then everything is wrong; But if it announces itself there, then one has come to the vivacious
conviction that it is never anywhere else to be known and seen.

But look now, you little children! That one brother of you went that way; he has found the Father! Ask Him where
He is, and he will point his finger at the Father!

Now the others fall over each other and demand that of him. And this one says, O my dear brothers! Look at Him
whom you thought to be plain and simple, It is He Himself whom you have sought for so long in vain, that is the
good, dear heavenly Father - holy, holy is His Name! Believe me, for I have already seen His glory. But do not
believe it because I tell you, but approach Him alone with your hearts, and you will certainly find Him as true and
glorious as I have found Him!

Look how these children now all call out, as they recognize the Father: O Father, Father, Father !!! It is You, yes,
it is You! For we already had a strong suspicion in Your proximity! But since we have found you, would You never
again hide from us, so that we will not have to look for You so hard again!

And the Lord says, Amen! Little children, your faces should from now on never again be turned away from Me! If
I do not always stay with you, as now, I will be there in that sun that shines on you! The rest will be revealed to
you by your teacher.

Chapter 76.

Instructions on the second and third commandments in the second and third halls.

But we do not need to follow what these children will still receive here from their teachers about the Lord; for they
got through the period or state in which they have completely lost the Lord, and thus also the first classroom of
which, as you have seen earlier, there are twelve in this division. - It would be too long to take part in the
continuing education of these children in all the following classrooms. But in order that you may know what is
taught in these halls, and in what way, I tell you, that you may have gathered this from the first tablet in the
middle of the first classroom, as to what this great doctrine is - none other than the ten commandments of
Moses, and finally the two commandments of love.

In each succeeding hall, a new commandment is practically taught and practiced, and that throughout, in the
same manner as you had had sufficient opportunity to observe with the first commandment here in the first hall.
Thus, immediately in the next hall, the commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of God vain," is discussed.
In fact, you yourselves also do not understand what this commandment fundamentally means, and that is why I
also want to correct your understanding of these commandments through some examples and explanations.

Thus, in this second room, this commandment is not interpreted as if no one should not, on secular occasions,
pronounce the Name of the Lord without due respect and reverence, which prohibition would certainly be of no
use here. For if someone thinks that he has to pronounce the name of the Lord only in the most extreme case of
need, and always with the highest reverence and respect, this would have meant nothing more and nothing less
than: one should certainly never pronounce the name of God, by which two conditions are presupposed under
which the name of God is to be pronounced.

These conditions are, however, in the first place based on such screws, that none can say for certain and with
conviction, which occasion would be such an extreme emergency which would justify the utterance of the most
holy Name. Secondly, even if such a case would occur, such as in extreme life-danger, which can happen under
various conditions, it is still to wonder whether any man in such most dubious conditions would possess the
presence of mind and the capacity to dignify the name of the Lord as would be proper?

So, if you look at the explanation of this second commandment, as it usually occurs on earth, you must
necessarily arrive at this final conclusion that the name of the Lord should never actually be pronounced, and for
the simple reason that the two hardly discernible, given conditions can ever agree with each other. I would like to
know those people on the earth who, in their highest distress, would be able to place themselves in that quietly
exalted reverent and devout state, in which he may utter the name of the Lord with dignity.

If this would be so, then no man should pray, for in prayer he also names the name of the Lord. But man should
pray daily and give glory to God and should not restrict prayer to the most extreme emergency.

It is clear from all this that this commandment is wrongly understood.

But in order to put an end to all brooding over it with one blow, I will tell you in a nutshell how this commandment
is to be fundamentally understood. And so does: Thou shalt not call the name of God vain, mean as much as:

Thou shalt not merely utter the Name of God with your mouth, not merely utter the articulated sound of a few
syllables, but since God is the reason of your life, you must always utter it from the very bottom of your life, that
is, you shalt not pronounce it mechanically, but always alive in all your actions; because whatever you do, you do
with the power God has given you. If you use this power for evil action, then you evidently desecrate the divine in
you; and this is your power, the Living Name of God!

See, so much does this commandment say, that for the first time you should know the name of God, what He is,
and what He is; and then he should not pronounce it vainly with outward words just like another name, but
always actively, because the name of God is the energy of man. Therefore, man should also do everything he
does in this name. If he does that, he does not speak the name of God in vain with outward words, but actively
and vividly.

And see, in this way is this second commandment practically taught to the students in this second hall, and
practiced by each one until he has reached a just skill in it. If he achieved that, he then goes to the third hall for
the third commandment, which is, as you know:

Thou shalt hallow the Sabbath. "- But what does that mean, especially here, when no more night alternates with
day, and only perpetual, eternal day exists? When is the Sabbath? Since the commandment is of Divine origin, it
must be an eternal and not a merely temporal rule, and must have a fully valid meaning in the realm of the spirits
as on earth.

With you it is said that one should, on a sabbath, being a compulsory day of rest, do no servile work, by which is
meant all gainful occupation.

But it is permissible to perform a show, to play, even to dance like the gentiles. It is necessary to fast one day
before the Sabbath in order to be able to eat better and more on the Sabbath. So even the hosts are allowed to
sell their food and cheat their guests on a holiday more than any other.
That is, according to law, to hallow the Sabbath; the more blessed work in the field and in the acre may not be
done, but everything else is fit for the Sabbath.

But the Lord has shown in the world that even on the Sabbath one can work fitly and do good. But if the Lord
Himself worked on the Sabbath, then I believe that every person should have enough proof that the 'hallowing of
the Sabbath' should be understood as something quite different from not working, or taking something in the
hands which is useful and beneficial.

But what is meant by the sanctification of the Sabbath? What is the Sabbath? I want to tell you very briefly:

The Sabbath is neither Saturday, nor Sunday, nor Easter or Pentecost, nor any other day of the week or year,
but it is nothing but the day of the spirit in man, the Divine light in the human spirit, the rising sun of life in the
human soul. That is the Living Day of the Lord in man, which he is continually to recognize and sanctify through
all his actions, which he is to do out of love for God and out of love for his neighbor.

But since man cannot and will never find this holy day of rest of the Lord in the chaos of the world, therefore, let
him withdraw from the world and seek that Day of the Life of the sacred rest of God.

Therefore the people of the Israelites were commanded to appoint at least one day of the week, when they
should withdraw from worldly affairs, and seek in themselves that day of life. But the law was observed only
externally and materially, and in the end it was brought to such an extent that even the Lord of the Sabbath was
not recognized, the Holy Father, when driven by infinite love, came to earth on his children!

I think that you would fully understand from these words what was meant by the sanctification of the Sabbath
and how it should be kept.

You should as well be able to understand the question of whether your Sunday keeping is a true sabbatical
sanctification, whether one can, through an hour of worship, followed by worldly entertainment, reach the
innermost, eternal Living Day of rest of the Lord?

If I were with you on earth, I would like to set a very high price on the proof, whether by attending church, then by
hard eating, and finally by going for a walk, driving or riding, sometimes even by dancing, playing and drinking,
not infrequently through lies and deceit, through ordinary personal visitations, and more enterprises of the like,
one would find the true Sabbath in spirit and sanctify it. Who knows if there are not philosophers who could
provide such proof? Of course he would be exposed to be like a false coin with us.

It is barely necessary to mention that here, only the living Sabbath-sanctification is taught to and practiced by the
children. You can form for yourself a thorough concept of how these commandments of the Lord are actually to
be understood.

Just like these two commandments and the previous one, we also want to walk through the others, for you to get
a proper concept, in which sense all the commandments here are being taught to the children. And so we will
proceed and take a close look at the next one, the fourth commandment in the fourth hall.

Chapter 77.

The fourth commandment in the fourth room (in the spiritual sense).

The fourth commandment, as you have it on earth, is: "Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live
long and you may prosper on earth." - This commandment is as good of Divine origin as the first three.

But what does it require and what does it promise? Nothing but the obedience of the children to their parents and
for this obedience, a temporal benefit.
Can everyone not ask and say: How can such a divine commandment sanction itself through mere temporal
promises and has apparently nothing in the background which offers eternal spiritual advantages? What is up
with such a temporal benefit? What does the well-being mean, what the long life, if nothing higher follows after
it?

It's true: a good and long life is better than short and bad. But when, at the end of the life-period, the inhospitable
death appears, and what advantage does the good and long life have above the bad and short? I mean, you do
not need to be a fundamental mathematician to say that the difference is overall a pure zero; for the first as well
as the second overcome a bare nothing, and then it matters very little whether the road to this reception was
good or bad.

By this measure, the Fourth Commandment would be based on a very slippery ground, and the parents would
indeed be sick of it, if their children were born into the world with such philosophy, and the children themselves
would find little reason in such consideration, to obey her parents. Furthermore, the following critical
consideration can be made of this commandment: As the commandment sounds, it has only a temporal basis,
that is, merely representing the duty of the children toward their parents.

The question then arises: What is the purpose of this commandment here in the spiritual realm, where the
children are separated from their parents forever? For if they are separated from their parents, surely they will be
relieved of their earthly duty. Nevertheless, here in this fourth hall we notice this commandment written on the
blackboard. Should it be related to the Lord for these children? This could be heard, however, if only the
prophecy did not stand under it: "To live long and to live on earth?" If it were there: "To live forever and to live
well in heaven", such a transversion of the law would be easy to understand; but a temporal promise in the
eternal realm of the spirits sounds a bit strange.

What do you think, what will be done here, to give this law a fully established Divine prestige? Of course you
shrug your shoulders and say quietly in yourselves: Dear friend and brother! If it would depend on our discretion
here, then there will be a significant snag with the purely Divine sphere of this law; for, according to the above
consideration, one would think it is easy to find not too much spirituality here.

But I tell you that exactly this commandment, like almost no other, is purely spiritual. You are now making big
eyes; but the thing is no different. But in order to see this at once, I will do nothing but say this law with slightly
different words, as it is also said here in this lecture, and you will immediately see the fullness of the truth. But
how is it said here? Listen!

Children! Obey the order of God, which proceeds from His love and wisdom (ie father and mother), so that you
may live long on earth in well-being. What is long life, and what is eternal life compared to it? The "long life".
denotes life in wisdom; and "long" is understood not as duration, but as expansion and ever greater power of life;
for the word or the concept "life" already implies eternal duration. But the word "long"

does not mean any duration, but only a spreading of the life-force, with which the living being always gets deeper
into the depths of Divine life, and thereby makes his own life more and more perfect, firm, and effective.

This we now understand; but "well-being on earth" what does that mean?

Nothing other than the taking-unto-self of the Divine life, for by the "earth" here is meant the proper being, and
the "well-being" in this being is nothing other than the free being in itself, according to the completely taken-unto-
self Divine order.

This short explanation is enough to see that this very law is completely of a purely spiritual nature. If you want to
check it out more at your leisure, you will find it to be so on your own earth. But here too, it is practically taught to
the children, and with the greatest benefit.

But now that we know this, we immediately proceed to the fifth room.
Chapter 78.

The fifth commandment in the fifth hall - spiritually explained.

You once again see a tablet installed in this fifth hall, and on it is written in an easy readable script: "Thou shalt
not kill." If you consider this commandment only somewhat moderately and then consider the history of the
Israelite people, your eyes would have to more than triple cross, if you would not see it at the first moment that
there is a strange problem with this commandment "thou shalt not kill!" How, where, when, and what?

What does "kill" mean anyway? Does killing kill the body or deprive the spirit of its heavenly life force? If killing is
restricted to the human body, the killing of the spirit cannot possibly be meant by it; for it is said that every man
should certainly kill his flesh in order to enliven the spirit, just as the Lord Himself speaks: "Whoever loves his
life, that is the life of the flesh, he will lose it;?but whoever loses it for My sake, will receive it. "

Likewise, this is also evident in the nature of things. If the outer bark or pod of a fruit would not die, the fruit will
not come to any living germination. But it is clear from all this that the killing of the flesh cannot at the same time
be the killing of the spirit. But if this law is understood merely as the killing of the spirit, then who is sure of his
physical life?

It is in contrast, well known to all that the prevalent contemporary multifarious exaltation of the flesh, is nothing
but the "killing of the spirit." If you would compare it to the history of the Israelite people to whom, as you would
say, these laws were freshly baked, you will find the strange contrast that the lawgiver Moses himself, was the
first to have many Israelites killed; and his successors had to do the same with transgressors of the law.

"Thou shalt not kill "- this law was as good as all the others in the ark of the covenant. But what did the whole
Israelite army do when it entered the Promised Land, with the former inhabitants of that land? What did even
David do, the man after the heart of God? What about the greatest prophet Elijah? See, they all killed, and very
often, and often quite cruelly.

Whoever is of a sober and unbiased spirit, does not have to pronounce the judgment in himself and say: What is
this commandment, against which, as otherwise against none, even the first prophets appointed by God were
obliged to act?

Such a commandment is as good as none. Even in our times, the killing of brothers in war is even a matter of
honor! Yes, the Lord Himself kills legions of human beings day after day; and yet it says: "Thou shalt not kill!"
and David had even had a military commander killed, for he had spared a place which had to be destroyed,
despite the swearing of an oath.

Good, I say, so it is with the commandment on earth. But here we see it in the heavenly realm, where one being
cannot kill the other anymore, and certainly no one will even remotely conceive the slightest thought of killing
anyone. So why is it written here on the board? For example, from a purely historical point of view, so that the
students should learn here, what commandments have been given on earth? Or should these very good-natured
children's spirits, for some time be brought into a lust for murder by this commandment, to then fight against it in
themselves? You could indeed accept that; but what conclusion or end result will you get from this? I say to you
nothing else than: If the murder-lust must finally be removed from the children, if they have proven themselves
as sufficiently resistant against murder lust according to the law, one must assume also that they would not have
gained or lost anything thereby, as if they had never been filled with the lust for murder.

But I see that in this thorough account of the matter you do not know what you are supposed to do with this
commandment. Do not worry; just a few words will suffice to put everything that is doubtful in the clearest light
before you, and the law will be just as worthy as on earth, even in heaven, as a sun shines in the sky!

But for you to grasp the following explanation easily and thoroughly, I only point out to you that in God the eternal
preservation of the created spirits is the unchangeable basic condition of all Divine order. Now if you know that,
look for the opposite, that is, for the destruction; and you have the full spiritual and physical implication of the
commandment before you.
Instead of saying: Thou shalt not kill, one should say: thou shalt not destroy, neither thyself, nor all that which is
thy brother's; for preservation is the eternal basic law in God Himself, according to which He is eternal and
infinite in His power. But since on the earth also the human body is necessary for the everlasting education of
the spirit until God's appointed time, without an explicit command of God, no one has the right to willfully destroy
neither his own body nor that of his brother.

So, when we speak of the required preservation, it goes without saying that everyone is just as little entitled to
destroy the spirit of his brother as his own by whatever means and make one unfit for the attainment of eternal
life. God, of course, kills human bodies every day; but at the right time, when the spirit has matured in some or
the other way. Even the angels of heaven, as perpetual servants of God, kill the bodies of men on earth; but not
unless they are commanded by the Lord, and then only in the way the Lord wants it.

In this way do the children here learn in spiritually practical ways in which the preservation of created things
consists, and how, united with the will of the Lord, it must always be handled with the utmost care. And if you
have understood this only to some extent, it will certainly be plausible to see for yourself, firstly the great dignity
of this law, and secondly why it also occurs here in the realm of the heavenly children's spirits. But since we
know such things, we can immediately go to the sixth room.

Chapter 79.

The sixth commandment in the sixth room - What is unchastity?

Here again we see a tablet in the middle of the sixth room. On the board is written in clearly legible writing:
"Thou shalt not practice unchastity, nor commit adultery." This is unmistakably the sixth commandment that the
Lord has given to the Israelite people through Moses (Exodus 20:14, Deuteronomy 5:18, Matthew 5:27). This
commandment is certainly one of the most difficult to grasp in its fundamental condition and then to exactly
observe it in the very basis of life.

What is forbidden by this commandment? And who cares about this commandment, the spirit, the soul or the
body? Who is not supposed to drive unchastity out of these three life potentials? That would be a question.

But what is actually the unchastity and what the adultery? Is unchastity the mutual act of mating? If that is the
case, then by this commandment every act of procreation is included; for in this simple commandment we find
absolutely no conditional exception; it is said, "Thou shalt not practice unchastity.

So if the act of intercourse is, in a certain way, regarded as the culmination of unchastity, I would like to know
even the one who, under the present form of things on earth, could beget a generation without this forbidden act.
Whether in marriage or out of marriage, the act is the same.

Whether he is really committed with the intent of child-making or not, it is the same. Moreover, the
commandment itself has no condition in which a regular marriage would be exempt from unchastity.

On the other hand, however, every human being must understand that the Lord is very much in favor of the
reproduction of the human race, and to a wise education of the same. But by what means should the human
race reproduce, if the act of procreation is forbidden on punishment of eternal death? I think that every human
being can easily understand that there is a catch here.

But for that, everyone must necessarily bear witness that, among all the commandments that should be kept,
nature will generally throw a mighty stick before the feet of man over which he must stumble, as with exactly this
one. Anyone who enjoyed an even moderately decent education, has no problem, or at most only a very slight
one, in the keeping of the other commandments; but with this commandment, nature always draws a strong line,
even through the account of the apostle Paul!
We see an apparent prohibition of carnal pleasure, which is inseparably connected with the act of procreation. If,
then, the prohibition lies only in carnal pleasure and not at the same time also in the act of procreation, then it is
to be wondered whether carnal pleasure can be separated from the orderly act of procreation? Who among you
can prove this and claim that two legally ordered spouses do not feel the temporal desire in the act of
procreation? Or where is that couple that would not have been at least halfway driven by the imminent carnal
desire for the act of procreation?

But we can see from this that we cannot possibly understand this commandment with regard to unchastity with
regard to the bodily act of procreation. There must be either a pure act of procreation which has nothing to do
with the lust of the flesh, or if such an act cannot be proved, the carnal act of procreation need not stand under
this law and be regarded as a voluntary, unpunishable act of people. For it has been said before that the law is
relentlessly expressed and without room for exception.

The necessary existence of people speaks out loud against the prohibition of this act, as well as the always
relentlessly desiring nature. For, regardless of someone's class, he will not be acquitted of it when he has
reached maturity. He would then have to kill his nature through mutilation, for nothing would curb his
concupiscence by any means, even if he would be prevented from doing so by external circumstances.

So is there nothing to be done with the flesh. Maybe this law affects only the soul? I mean, since the soul is quite
the living principle of the body and the free action of it depends purely on the soul, which is dead without the
flesh, then it would hardly be difficult to find a super-scholar anywhere who could seriously claim that the soul
has nothing to do with the free actions of the body.

After all, the body is only a tool of the soul, artfully furnished for its use; So what can we do with a commandment
only applicable to the body, which in and of itself is a dead machine? If someone made a clumsy hit with a hoe,
was it the fault of the hoe or his hand? I think nobody would to say that it is the hoe's fault.

Neither can one attribute the act of procreation to the body as a sinful act, but only to the acting principle, which
here is the living soul. Thus, our previous critical illumination of this commandment must apply only to the soul
which thinks, wants and acts in the flesh; and so the soul is necessarily free from this commandment, according
to the applied criterion. So, since it's not possible with the soul either; will it be applicable to the spirit? We shall
see what is to be gained with the spirit.

What is the spirit? The spirit is the real life-principle of the soul, and without the spirit, the soul is nothing but a
substantial etheric organ, which possesses all ability to absorb life, but without the spirit is nothing but a
substantial-spiritual-etheric polyp, only continuously spreading its arms after life and suck up everything that
corresponds to its nature.

The soul without the spirit is therefore a mere dumb polar force, which carries the dull sense of satiety in itself,
but possesses no judgment, from which it would become clear, with what it saturates itself and what this
saturation serves for. It is comparable to an arch-cretin who feels no desire other than to satisfy himself. With
what and why? He himself has no idea. When he feels a great hunger, he eats what comes to his aid, whether it
be filth, or bread, or the impure food for pigs, all is equal to him.

See, the same it is with the soul without the spirit. And these driven cretins have also only a soul life, that is, in
whose soul either too weak a spirit or often no spirit is present. But to know that this is so, you need nothing
more than to look into the world of the dark spirits; What are these? They are living souls after death, who lived
their lives in the most reckless and often malicious manner, and have so weakened and depressed their spirits,
that in such a condition they are scarcely capable of procuring the life-saving stimulus, often pushing back all
life-benefits into the eternal background!

How does such beings act in the hereafter compared to blessed living spirits ? No different than bums, therefore
as spiritual insane ones, being still in all possible ways malformed, showing no evidence of a human stature.
These beings are often with regard to their actions in the spiritual realm, just as accountable as a cretin on your
earth. This shows that not the soul in itself, but only the soul in possession of the spirit, can be held accountable,
for only in the spirit dwells the free will; in essence, it is all in the spirit.

But if this is now evident, then the question arises: How and in what way can the absolute spirit commit
unchastity? Can the spirit have carnal desires? I think there could hardly be a greater contradiction than if
someone wanted to seriously think of a 'carnal spirit', which would necessarily have to be material in order to
even have gross material desires in it.

But just like an arrested one does not find any comfort in his arrest, the absolute spirit has even less passion to
unite forever with his free nature with coarse matter, and to find his pleasure in it. Therefore would the notion of
an unchaste acting spirit surely be the greatest nonsense a person can ever pronounce. Now one wonders:
What, then, is unchastity, and who should not do it by seeing that neither the body, nor the soul, nor the spirit can
impart unchastity to themselves, as we now came to know them?

Chapter 80.

About two kinds of love.

While some may say, Moses later elaborated on this by lawfully allowing the act of procreation only between the
blessed spouses, but forbade it otherwise, and has ordained the other kind of procreation, especially if a married
man wishes to commit this act that such an act should be regarded as adultery and that adulterers are guilty of
death on both sides. This is correct, but subsequent ordinances nevertheless do not give a different form to the
law which was simply given in the beginning. Whoever wants to commit himself to this must assert his trial in the
first law; for neither unchastity nor adultery are forbidden in a certain way.

So far, we have clearly explained what you could possibly understand by unchastity. But since all this points to
the act of procreation, it is impossible to regard as forbidden the kind of unchastity we have hitherto supposed to
be known by this law.

Now, however, a well-informed one announces himself in the matter, saying: Under unchastity, which is
forbidden there, only the empty gratification of the sensual impulse is understood. Good, I say; but if a man with
another man's wife, who cannot be fertilized by her husband, seriously longs for a child, I ask: can this be
counted as sinful adultery?

I also ask: If a young man, driven by his nature, has fathered a child with a girl, can that be counted as a sin of
unchastity?

I also ask: If a man knows from experience that his wife is not fertile, he nevertheless sleeps with her because
she has a rich flesh that stimulates him, and he therefore evidently only vainly satisfies his sensuous instinct; can
this act be credited to the sin of unchastity?

I ask further: There are, especially in this time, as there have been at all times, an immense number of people of
both sexes who are well able to produce and have a nature which is powerfully urgent; but they are unable, by
virtue of political and meager circumstances, to marry. Now, if such doubly afflicted people commit the act of
procreation, do they again sin against this sixth commandment?

It will be said: They are to sacrifice their instinct to God and not mate, so they will not sin. But I say: what judge
can declare such a failing as a real sin? What, then, does the rich have the merit of being able to take a decent
wife, but the poor are denied this bliss? Should the privileged have a greater right to procreation than the poor?
Does money thus sanctify procreation because the rich can afford the proper possession of a woman, which is
impossible for a thousand less privileged ones?

One can still ask: Who is really to blame for the multifarious impoverishment of the people? Certainly none other
than the fortunate kingdom, who attracts many treasures through his self-serving speculation, by which not
infrequently a thousand people could adequately qualify for ordinary marital status. And yet should the rich
husband alone be free from the sin of unchastity, when he bears children with his own wife, and the poor man
alone should be the scapegoat because he cannot take a wife? Would not that be just as condemnable as if one
would on earth decide to go on a pilgrimage to a place, and be given a commandment that no one should visit
this place on foot in order to receive any grace there, but everyone who visits this place and would want to
receive grace, must go there in a most elegant equipage?

He who should find such a command righteous must certainly be in earnest of such a world, of which the Creator
of heaven and the earth Himself knows nothing, that is, of a world which does not exist anywhere;?or he would
have to be a member of Satan!

But we now see from these considerations that it does not quite do with the explanation of our sixth
commandment. What will we do to gain the full meaning of this commandment? I tell you in advance: It's not as
easy as anyone would like to imagine. Yes, I say:

In order to gain the right meaning of this commandment, one must burrow deeply and grasp the matter at the
root; otherwise one will always find oneself in the dubious position in which it is easy to regard as sin what is not
a sin in the farthest sense, and what is really a sin, scarcely worth the trouble, considers it to be a sin.

But where is this root? We will find it right away. You know that love is the foundation and the basic condition of
all things. Without love, nothing would never have been created, and without love, no existence would be
conceivable, just as little as a world would ever have been formed without the mutual attraction of the will of the
Creator. For example, if you do not understand this, think of one world without the mutual power of attraction,
and you'll see how all the atoms of a world suddenly separate and vanish into nothingness.

Love is therefore the cause of everything and at the same time it is the key to all secrets.

But how can love be brought into an explanatory connection with our sixth commandment? I say to you, nothing
easier than that, because in no act in the world is love as intimately interwoven as in the one we count as
uncouth.

But we know that man is capable of a twofold love, namely the Divine, which opposes all self-love, and the self-
love, which is contrary to all Divine love.

The question now is: if someone commits the act of procreation, what love was there the motive: the self-love,
under whose authority also any craving for pleasure stands, or the Divine love, which only wants to communicate
what it has, completely forgetting of itself? See, we are already pretty much on the track of the actual main
principle.

Let us now take two men: one commits the act out of selfish lust for pleasure, the other in gratitude for the ability
to procreate, to impart his seed to a woman in order to awaken a fruit in her. Which of the two sinned? I think it's
not going to be difficult to judge here and make a decision.

In order for us to understand the matter completely, we also need to familiarize ourselves with the concept of
'unchastity'. What is chastity and what is unchastity? Chastity is that state of mind of man in which he is free of
all selfishness, or in which he is pure of all the defects of self-love. Non-chastity is that state of mind in which
man takes only himself into account, acts for himself, and completely forgets his fellow-man, especially
concerning a woman.

Selfishness, however, is nowhere more disgraceful than it is in the case of a deed in which it is a matter of a
man's perversion. Why then? The cause is as clear as the day. As the ground, so the seed, so also is the fruit. If
Divine love is the chastity of the seed, a Divine fruit will also appear; But if self-love, self- indulgence and
pleasure-craving, that is, the unchaste state of mind the seed, what fruit will come forth from this?

See, in that lies what is forbidden by the sixth commandment. If this commandment had been observed, the
earth would still be a heaven, for there would be no selfish and domineering person on it! But this commandment
was already transgressed in the beginning of man, and the fruit of this transgression was self-serving and selfish
Cain.

But from this it follows that not only the so-called falsely named 'fornication', which should better be called
'pleasure-seeking', belongs in the series of our sins to be treated, but any enjoyment of pleasure, whatever its
design may be, but especially if a man makes the already weak woman selfishly useful for enjoyment, then it is
to be regarded as a sin of unchastity. - A short pursuit will make things clearer.

Chapter 81.

What is fornication?

One could say here, in the Sixth Commandment, that only "Thou shalt not do unchastity," and that fornication
cannot be regarded as forbidden, since in the sixth commandment there is nowhere: "Thou shalt not commit
fornication." But I say: What is whoring, of whatever kind, spiritual or carnal? It is a certain accommodation of
vice in the following way: One philosophizes about the sinful possibility, places all phenomena in the realm of
'natural needs'. If one expresses to his own being the demand to satisfy them, then, according to his reason and
his inventiveness, man does only something praiseworthy and fruitful, so that, for all the needs of his nature
which are being demanded, he can bring about means by which the same goal can be accomplished , The
animal must satisfy its needs in the most crude instinctive way, because it has no mind, reason, or
inventiveness. In this way, however, man rises above the common, natural animal, that he alone can satisfy the
requirements of his species in a refined manner.

Therefore, the mind of the cultural man says:

Who can account it a sin to a man if, with the help of his intellect, builds an imposing house for his habitation,
and thus exchanges a former burrow or a hollow tree with it? Who can account it a sin to a man, if he refines the
tree fruits, and produces from the sour apples and pears, something sweet and tasty? Who can account it a sin
to a man if he builds a chariot, tames the horse, and then journeys much more comfortable than with his own
weak, troubled feet? Who else can still account it a sin to a man, if he cooks and spices the natural fruits to his
nourishment and makes them more tasty? Or create things in the world for another purpose than to be useful to
man?

How much beautiful and useful things have man discovered for his comfort and amusement! Would this be
reckoned to be a mistake if he would pay honor to his Creator with his intellect, without which the body of the
world would appear as uncultivated as a barren desert on which everything grows together in a chaotic disorder,
such as cabbage, beets and stinging nettles?

If, however, mankind's diverse cultivation of the earth cannot possibly be counted as a misstep, even though it
contains no other purpose in itself than a more pleasurable and more comfortable enjoyment of things in the
world; On the other hand, a refined pleasure in procreation cannot be attributed to man as an error, for otherwise
even the most educated man would be, regarding this act, the least differentiated from an animal.

Thus, even this instinct of man must be satisfied in a more refined and cultivated manner, for the same reason
why one builds comfortable dwelling-houses, makes soft clothes, prepares tasty meals, and so on. That is, more
amenities.

Just assume for instance that a man of the educated class, has to choose between two female persons for his
satisfaction; one is a filthy, mean peasant maid, but the other, as the daughter of a respectable house, is a well-
bred, very well-dressed girl, flawless in her whole body, and all together lush and charming. Question: Who will
the educated man choose? The answer will not cause a headache here; certainly the second one, because the
first one will disgust him. So here, too, refinement certainly a most convenient purpose, because man attests to
it, proving that he is a higher being, who has everything in his power to purify and dispose of everything
unpleasant and dirty and make things clean and pleasant.

But since the man and the woman in this regard often have a great need to satisfy themselves, and yet cannot
always make the demand to produce a child, would it again be their duty to exercise the intellectual powers,
setting up the means to satisfy this impulse, be it only by blind intercourse with a woman or by self- gratification
or, in an emergency, through the so-called boy's desecration? For this is what makes a man different from an
animal in that he can satisfy this most natural instinct in other ways than just that which he has been instructed
by rude nature.

And so, after all, well-conditioned brothel houses and such institutions are to be endorsed, and can by no means
dishonor the intellect of man!

See, what objection can be raised against this from a natural perspective? For it is true that the animal cannot
achieve such cultivations and all sorts of nuances to the satisfaction of its sexual instinct, and so, in a sense, the
mastery of the human understanding is undeniably to be discovered. This is all right, the animal has its time in all
of this, yet otherwise, it remains dull unto the satisfaction of this urge.

But what is all this sophistication? It is a quick question, but the answer is big and weighty. Surely this
sophistication has nothing to do with basic motives, but with appallingly exasperating lust for pleasure.

But pleasure-seeking, we know, is an unmistakable child of self-love, which is quite identical with the lust for
power.

It is true that living in a stately home is easier than living in a lowly mud hut. But let's take a look at the
inhabitants! How proud and lofty we see the inhabitants of a palace company, and how humble the simple hut-
dweller bows before such a splendid palace lord!

Let's take a look at the inhabitants of a big city and those of a small farming village. The inhabitants of the big
city do not know how to help each other out of sheer lust for pleasure, they all want to live comfortably, they all
have to talk, they all shine and maybe they can reign a bit. If a poor country-dweller comes to the big city, he has
to address at least every boot polisher: 'Your Grace', if he does not want to expose himself to any rudeness.

But if we go to the village, we will still find fathers, not infrequently peaceful neighbors, who do not call
themselves 'Your Grace'

and 'Lord of'. What is preferable: when one farmer says to the other:?'Brother'! or if in the city, a slightly more
middle-class appeals to a slightly more privileged: your grace', and 'Lord of' and the like?

I think it will be barely necessary to go on pursuing such nonsensical offshoots of the sophistication of the human
mind, but we can at once make the main proposition: All such pleasure-seeking refinements are, according to
preceding considerations, nothing but idolatry; for they sacrifice the human spirit, to the outer dead nature.

But if they are idolatrous, they are also the hardest whores, and their tendency cannot be accepted into the
sphere of chastity.

Why was Babel called a whore? Because every imaginable finery was at home there. This also includes, the
whoring urge in the true sense:?unchastity serves all their life force. Thus, a rich husband who, for the sole
enjoyment of a sumptuous and randy wife, is nothing but a barbarous fornicator, and the wife, a hard whore. And
so here too, unchastity is shown in its foundations, as it is a most base desire for self- service and self-pleasure.

It was necessary to shed more light on this commandment for you, because man does not pass over any
command as easily as he does this one. -

Therefore I think that you now also understand this lecture; and so we will immediately go to the seventh room.

Chapter 82.

The seventh commandment in the seventh classroom of the children's kingdom.

We are in the seventh hall. See, in the middle of it on a tablet on a white pillar is written in a clearly legible font:
"Thou shalt not steal!"

Here, at the first sight of this law-table, the question inevitably comes to everyone's mind:

What can be stolen here, since no one owns any property, but everyone is just a usufructuary of what the Lord
gives? This question is natural and has its good meaning, but it can also be posed with the same right on the
world- body; for even on the earth body, all that is there is the Lord's, and yet men can steal from each other in
every possible way.

Could not one also ask and say: has the Lord not created the world equally for all men, and does not every man
have the same right to all that the created world offers for the various pleasures? But if the Lord has certainly
created the world not only for individuals, but for all, and therefore everyone has the right to enjoy the products of
the world according to his needs, what good was this commandment by which man is obviously given the right to
own, creating the possibility for theft? For where there is no mine and no thine, but merely a universal everything
for all, then I would like to see the one who, with all his will, could steal something from his neighbor.

Would it not have been wiser then, to abolish every right of ownership for all time, instead of giving the
commandment by which a separate property right is dangerously granted? This commandment would therefore
be completely dispensable, all property courts of the world would never have arisen, and people could easily live
among themselves as true brothers.

It must be remembered that the Lord gave this commandment through Moses just at a time when not one person
had any of his own wealth among all the numerous children of Israel; for the gold and silver taken from Egypt,
was the common property of the people under the supervision of their leader.

But as far as clothing is concerned, it was extremely simple and so poor that a single garment in your present
time would certainly not exceed the value of some poor cents. Not one of the Israelites had a supply of clothing,
but what he wore was all he possessed.

Then came this commandment. Surely the Israelite people had to ask each other with wide eyes: What should
we steal from each other? Perhaps our children, yet everyone is in this present distressing situation content to
have as few children as possible? Should we steal each other's pots? But what should we gain? Anyone who
does not have a pot has the right to cook in the pot of his neighbor if he has something to cook. But if he has a
pot, he will not have to seize another, so that he will have more to carry back and forth. It is truly unclear what we
could steal from each other here. Each other's honor? We are all servants and laborers of one and the same
Lord, who knows well the value of each person. If we also wanted to belittle each other, what would we achieve
in the face of Him who always sees us through and through? So we do not know what we should do with this
commandment. Should this commandment be valid for future times, should the Lord once want to grant each of
us a separate property? If that is, then He should rather leave us as we are, and the commandment will abolish
itself.

See, so did the Israelite people occasionally reasoned in all seriousness, and in their position in the desert, they
could not be blamed;?because everyone was equal in riches and equal in reputation.

But could not the present people, believing in the New Testament, raise their heads before the Lord and say: O
Lord! Why then did You once give such a commandment, by which a special right of ownership was granted to
men on earth, and because of this right of ownership an innumerable multitude of thieves, robbers, and
murderers were formed? Therefore, abolish this commandment, that the army of thieves, murderers and
robbers, and all sorts of deceivers, and a second army of world judges, who have ceased to be active in all
manner charity, would stop their doing!

I say here: The call can be heard and appears under this critical lighting as completely valid. How and why?
Firstly, one can certainly expect nothing but the very best from God as the most loving Father. How could one
possibly think that God, as the very best Father of men, wanted to give them a constitution which must make
them unhappy, temporally and eternally?

But if one must ascribe to God the supreme goodness, the highest wisdom, and thus omniscience, according to
which He must know what fruit such a commandment will unfailingly bear, then one cannot help but wonder:
Lord! Why did you give us such a commandment, why did we oftentimes become unspeakably unhappy
because of it? Was it really Your will, or did You not give this commandment, but the people only added it later on
because of their self-interest, for example, by isolating themselves from the general number of their brethren and
then legitimising themselves in such a state to collect peculiar treasures, to help them rise more easily as rulers
over all their poor brothers? See, all that can be heard, and nobody can deny it. On top of that, one has to
sprinkle some grains of real frankincense on a human mind, at least during this time, if he found it worthwhile to
critically illuminate the laws of Moses in this way. But who won anything in this review? Not the people and
certainly not the Lord, because this criticism does not express the Divine love and wisdom.

But how then shall this law be taken and understood, that it may appear as perfectly sanctified before God and
to all men, that it would utter the highest Divine love and wisdom, and bear in itself the wisdom of the Lord for
temporal and eternal bliss? Well, as it have been explained up till now, especially presently, it has indeed only
caused mischief.

Therefore, by the Lord's mercy, we want to reveal the true meaning of this commandment, that men should find
in it their salvation, not mischief. But in order to accomplish this, we will first consider what must be understood
by stealing.

Chapter 83.

What does 'steal' mean?

The fact that under the concept of "stealing" it was impossible at first to understand the unauthorized removal of
the material possessions of another is clear from the fact that, especially at the time of legislation, no one from
the Israelite people owned any property. Even when the people had moved into the Promised Land, their state
constitution was ordered as such that no one could have full ownership in this land. But apart from that, property
was communal as much as possible, and every poor Israelite, if he lived in the Divine order, could find
everywhere the most hospitable reception and lodging.

But if in this commandment meant by "stealing", the arbitrary and deliberate removal of the goods of another,
then, as has been shown sufficiently clear in the course of this illustration, the blame would inevitably fall upon
the legislator, thereby quietly procuring the industry and would also defend usury. For that must be obvious for
everyone at first glance, if he is only capable of somewhat brighter thinking, that the right to property is then
introduced as perfectly sanctioned and confirmed, as soon as one gives a law by which the property of each
would be completely secured.

On the other hand, how could one expect such a law from that legislator who spoke to His disciples with His own
mouth: "Do not worry about what you will eat and drink and what you will clothe your body with, because that is
what the heathen are after. But above all, seek the kingdom of God;?everything else will be given unto you.

The same legislator continues: "The birds have their nests, and the foxes their holes, but the Son of Man does
not have a stone that He puts under his head!" On the other hand, we see His disciples even on a sabbath
rubbing corn ears, and thereby obviously steal. But when the landlords complained about it, who got a reprimand
and a very sensitive rebuke from the Great Lawmaker? You only have to look in the Book and everything will be
clear to you.

We again see the same Legislator once in a position to pay a toll. Did He reach into His own pocket? Oh, no, He
knew that in the nearby lake a fish had swallowed a lost stater. Peter had to go and take the coin out of the
throat of the fish held by the power of the Lord and pay the toll with it.

But I ask: Does the finder have the right of ownership in any good find in whatever way? Did not the Great
Lawgiver have to know - or did He not want to know - that what He had only the right to freely own only one-third
of what He have found in fish, and that only after He made His find publicly or officially known? He did not do
such. Accordingly, He apparently committed a double theft or, as much as it did, an embezzlement.

Further, one might ask after the principles of law - assuming that few Jews fully knew who Christ actually was -
who had granted Himself the right to have the known donkey taken from their owner, and then use it Himself at
His own discretion.

One can say here: He is the Master of all nature and everything anyway belongs to Him. That is correct, but how
then does He speak in worldly terms, saying that the Son of man has no stone, and on the other hand He says
that He did not come to abrogate the law, but to fulfill it to the dot.

If we wanted to follow His story, we would still find many things where the Great Legislator, according to the
present principles of property law and the comprehensive juridical explanation of the seventh commandment,
has obviously transgressed these legal principles. What would happen to anyone who destroyed an owner's tree
or destroyed a large herd of pigs and more? I think we have enough of the examples that make it abundantly
clear that the Great Lawmaker has intended with this seventh commandment, a very different meaning than was
later given to it by a greedy and selfish humanity.

One can now say: This is now very clear and obvious, but the meaning He has connected it with, is still behind a
dense veil! But I say: only patience! As we have until now properly illuminated the misconception of this
commandment, the true meaning of this commandment will certainly be easy to find; for someone who can see
in the night, will not be afraid that he will have too little light during the day.

What does it mean then after all, in the actual truest sense: "Thou shalt not steal?" - In the true sense it means
as much as:

You should never abandon the Divine order, not put yourself out of it, and seize the rights of God.

But what are these rights and what do they consist of? God alone is holy and all power is His alone! Whom God
sanctifies Himself and gives him power, he rightly owns it; but he who sanctifies himself and seizes the Divine
power in order to rule in the luster of selfishness and avarice, is in the true sense a thief, a robber and a
murderer!

Therefore, whoever is arbitrary and self-loving in whatever external appearances and deceptive means, be it
earthly or spiritual, and rises above his brothers, it is he who transgresses this commandment. This is the sense
in which this is taught to these children here, and it is shown in a practical way, that no spirit should ever
arbitrarily use the power and might inherent in it, but only and at all times, in the Divine order.

But one will say now: If so, then the well-known stealing and robbing is allowed. But I say: Only patience, the
next episode shall bring everything into the clear. But for now let us settle this by knowing what is meant by
stealing, and that the Lord has never established a right of ownership by this commandment.

Chapter 84.

Comments on social issues.

It can now be asked, since the Lord never introduced a right of ownership, and therefore never gave any
commandment by which one should specifically respect the accumulated fortune of so many stingy usurers, and
that in contrast to a host of the very poorest people, whether one then may steal; namely, what such "usurers"
contrary to the Divine law, have accumulated? Because one takes away, according to earthly laws, the stolen
items from a thief as soon as he is found. Should one then not have the right to take away from the most base
thieves and robbers who transgressed against the Divine law, the accumulated riches and distribute them
amongst the needy?
According to the intellectual conclusion, none could not object to this demand; but the true man has higher
powers in himself than his intellect.

But what will these say to this intellectual endorsement?

Let us ask our charity and our love of God. What does it say in our inmost, eternally living spirit out of God? It
says nothing but what the Lord Himself has spoken, namely: "My kingdom is not of this world - and who loves his
outer life, he will lose the inner; but he who flees his outer life and pays little attention to it, will keep his inner
self." This is what the inner spirit speaks.

Nowhere do we see an invitation to help ourselves from the goods of the rich. The Lord Himself says: "Pay to the
Emperor what belongs to the Emperor." Likewise does He not command the rich young man to sell his goods,
but only gives him friendly counsel and the promise of eternal life.

Therefore, since we nowhere come across a commandment from the Lord, by which He had expressly
commanded to somehow seize the wealth of the usurers, it is certainly as clear as day, that a true Christian has
no right to disown the goods of the rich. Even the one who is in the greatest distress has no justifiable right to
seize the goods of even the basest thief, but in the case of a great state of emergency, a whole people has the
right to do so.

Why then? Because then the Lord Himself appears among the people as a ruler and thus causes a just
judgment for the insatiable usurers. Not even then should anyone, except in the highest emergency, allow
himself to assassinate the usurers and the hard-hearted rich, but should only take from them as much of their
most superfluous treasures as the people need to support themselves, to get themselves on their feet again to
be able to peacefully acquire sustenance again.

But the rich usurer should still be left so much that he does not suffer in the world; because that is his only
reward for his work. The Lord does not want to punish anyone, but only reward everyone according to the nature
of his activity.

But since the rich and the usurer cannot expect anything after this earthly life, it is quite fair that he finds his
reward there for his talent, where he worked.

The Lord also will not judge a person completely in this world, so that there can still be a possibility for everyone
to voluntarily turn from the world and return to the Lord. If everything were taken away from such a rich usurer,
he would already be completely judged; for despair will take possession of him and an endless anger, in which
he can never possibly enter the path of salvation.

But if a sufficient fortune has been left for him, he is for the time being exposed to no earthly misery and does not
appear completely unrewarded for his austerity; but secondly, in this condition, he is not yet completely judged,
and he still can obey the counsel that the Lord has given to the rich youth, to thereby attain eternal life.

But where such extreme action would be taken by a deeply impoverished people, it should never be done in a
gruesome way; for as soon as this happens, the Lord no longer works with the people, and the people will not
see their deeds blessed! For if they prevail today, they will be beaten again tomorrow, and one bloodbath will
flow into the other! Man should never forget that all men are his brothers. He should always do what he does
with a love-filled heart; He should never want to do anything bad to anyone, but only to do something good at all
times, especially regarding the spiritual share of eternal life.

If this is his purpose, then the Lord will bless his action, but on the contrary, curse it! For if the Lord, even though
all authority in heaven and on earth is His, and He has no one to query what He does or does not do, does
Himself not want to be an eternally deadly Judge, the less should any man on earth do something according to
his ardent will.

But woe to the people which rises without the utmost necessity against the rich and powerful! These will be
bitterly punished for this act;?because poverty is of the Lord. He who loves the Lord loves poverty too;?the
wealth and the well-being, however, are of the world and of Satan! He who seeks that which is of the world, and
loves it, has taken Satan into himself from head to toe!
Therefore, as long as any people can only be partly saturated once a day and still be able to sustain life, so long
should it not rise. But when the rich and usurers have taken almost everything, so that thousands of poor people
are evidently threatened with starvation, then it is time to rise and share the superfluous goods of the rich among
themselves; for then the Lord wants the rich to be chastised to a great extent for their shameful self-love and
greed.

At the end of the treatise on this commandment, perhaps someone might ask whether the interest on borrowed
capital is not, to a certain extent, contrary to the seventh commandment. Here I say: If in a state the interest rate
is determined by law, then it is also permissible, according to this interest rate, to gather the interests of the rich;
but if someone has lent necessary capital to a needy person, he should not charge any interest.

If this poor man has helped himself with this capital to the extent that he is now bourgeois in his trade, he should
be inclined to repay the borrowed capital to his friend. If he wants to pay the legal interest out of gratitude, the
lender should not accept it, but he should remind the payer to give it to his poorer brothers according to his
ability.

But no one should lend capital to the poor, but what one gives them, should given them completely. That is the
will of the Lord in this regard.

He who does this, will love the Lord. Since we have thus touched everything concerning this commandment, we
may at once go to the Eighth Hall, in which case we shall learn a commandment which in many respects will be
like this seventh.

Chapter 85.

The Eighth commandment in the eighth hall - The material shell as a means to lie.

We are in the eighth hall, and there we see on the round tablet, well known to us from all the earlier halls, clearly
written: "Thou shalt not bear false testimony", saying as much as: Thou shalt not lie.

This command sounds strange in the realm of pure spirits, for a spirit in its pure state is incapable of any lie. A
spirit cannot speak anything but what he thinks, since the thought is already his word. A spirit in the pure state
can therefore bring no untruth on his lips, because it is a simple being and can have no reserve in itself.

The lie is therefore only possible for an unclean spirit when it covers itself with matter. But if a spirit, even of
unclean quality, is free from its coarser envelopment, it cannot speak any untruth.

For this reason, even the evil spirits envelop themselves with all sorts of coarse figures of guile in order to be
able to lie in this wrapping.

Thus the well-known "Satan" in Paradise had to envelop himself in the material form of a snake before the first
pair of men, so that they could thereby become ambushed and then afterwards think differently and speak
differently.

For this sole reason, men on earth are able to lie as often as they will, because they have a hideaway in their
bodies, and from there they can move the machine of the body in the opposite direction of what they think.

Such, however, as noted, is not possible to the pure spirits. Although they can express themselves in
correspondences when they communicate with earthly people, they not infrequently say something quite
different from what the inner meaning of their speech represents. But that does not mean lying, but placing the
spiritual truth in earthly images that correspond exactly to this truth.

But we see that this commandment is of no use for the spirits, because they completely lack the ability to lie.
But to whom in the afterlife does this commandment then apply? I know that you will soon be able find the
answer and say: It applies to the spirits enveloped in matter, and requires of them to use their covering no
differently than how their thinking is conceived in them, and act in correspondence to their purely spiritual state.

But we know that this commandment, as well as all earlier ones, proceeds from God, as the Primordial Source of
all spiritual things. As such, however, it cannot possibly have only material, and no spiritual validity.

But in order to get to the basis of it, we have to discuss what is meant by "lying" or "giving false witness." What is
the lie or a false testimony in itself? You will say: any untruth. But I ask: what is an untruth? And then somebody
will soon be able to deal with the answer and say: Every sentence that a human being pronounces in order to
deceive someone is an untruth, a lie, "a false testimony." It's all good on the outside, but not inside. We want to
set up a small sample for it.

Question: Can the will think? Every human being must deny such a thing by clearly having to say that the will
behaves like the cattle in relation to the wagon. They indeed pull it vigorously; but where will it take the wagon
without the thinking driver?

Next question: Can the thought will? Let's go back to the wagon. In the best sense of the word, can the wagoner
drive the heavy wagon without the power of the beasts of burden? Anyone here will say: Thousands of the most
clever wagoners can set up all sorts of philosophical principles next to the heavily loaded wagon, and yet they
will not, with all these splendid ideas, put the wagon in motion until they agree in their thoughts that an
appropriate power should be put in front of the wagon.

From this example we have seen that the will does not think, and that the thought can not will. But if thought and
will are united, the will can only do what the thought leads it to do.

But now I ask: If it is how it is, what is it in man who can lie? The will certainly not, because this is a something
that always depends on the light of thought. Can the thought be a lie? Certainly not, it is simple and cannot
share. Will the body be able to lie in man? How the body can lie, being a machine that is dead in itself, and only
stimulated to activity by the thought and will of the spirit through the soul, would be very strange to know.

I have just discovered a psychologist, and indeed from the class of spiritual dualists, who says: The soul of man
is also a self-conscious thinking being and thinks partly natural and partly spiritual images. Thus, two kinds of
thought may indeed be formed in it, namely natural and spiritual. It may therefore cover the spiritual in itself, but
since the will of the spirit is also at its disposal, it can, instead of pronouncing the truth or the spiritual thought,
express the natural, completely opposite thought than that of the spiritual truth. And if he does that, he lies or
gives false testimony. What do you think, is this conclusion correct?

This appear to be correct, taken from the external man's perspective;?but he is nevertheless fundamentally
wrong; for what kind of activity would result if, for the purpose of forward movement, one would harness the
same number of horses of equal strength in front and to the back of it, and have drivers to steer both teams?

As the car would never be moved from the spot, the same it would seem to be with one's life, if it would stand on
two opposite life-principles.

That would be just as much as plus 1 and minus 1, which adds up to zero.

So there just have to one single living principle; but how can this lie and give false testimony?

Either this principle, as proven, cannot lie and give false testimony at all, or the concepts of "lying" and "giving
false testimony" has to be understood to be something fundamentally different, than what has hitherto been
understood.

Somebody would of course say: If the matter is to be taken this way, any falsehood known to us, every false
oath, as well as every fraudulent word, is not to be regarded as sinful, but should be freely used. Well, I say: the
objection would not be so bad, but according to your proverb: "Whoever laughs last laughs best," we shall
reserve a similar pleasure for the conclusion.
Chapter 86.

What is false testimony?

But if we are able to disentangle this Gordian knot in a certain sense with one blow, let us immediately go into
the discussion of the main concept of this eighth commandment.

We know that the Lord gave every spirit a free will, and also a free thought was given to illuminate free will. This
thought in spirit is in fact the vision and the light of the spirit, through which he can see things in the natural
sphere.

Besides this light, which every spirit has received particularly from God, he also has a second ability to receive
an innermost, most holy light from God; but not through his eye, but through the ear, which is actually an eye.
Certainly no eye for the reception of external appearances, which are produced by the almighty will of the Lord,
but it is an eye for the reception of the purely spiritual light from God, namely the Word of God.

You can see that from your still natural condition, if you pay only a little attention to how different this is, what you
see with your eyes and hear with your ears. Through your eyes you can only see natural images, but with your
ears you can absorb rays from the innermost Divine depth.

You can hear the language of the spirit in the harmony of sounds, or rather, you can already externally hear the
secret forms of the innermost spiritual creation through your fleshly ears. How deeply backwards does the eye
stand in comparison to the ear!

See, it's the same with the spirit. By virtue of such a device he is capable of accommodating two things, namely
the external pictorial and the intrinsically essential reality.

In this double vision lies the secret of the free will.

Every human being, be it purely spiritual or still enveloped in matter, naturally hangs between the external and
the internal through this ability.

He can therefore always see a countless number of external forms, but he can simultaneously absorb just as
much of the inner, purely Divine truth.

With the light from the outside, he grasps nothing of all that is seen, but merely the external form, and thus can
be the creator of his thoughts in himself through the reception of these forms.

With these thoughts, he can also set his freely disposable will in motion, as and when he wants.

If he does not use the other eye of the inner Divine light, but is merely content with and deals only with forms,
then he is a man who evidently deceives himself; for the forms are empty appearances for him as long as he
cannot grasp them in their depths.

But if a man who simultaneously also possesses the inner light he received from the Lord and beholds it,
perceives the interior of the forms, but disguises it and testifies only to the outer forms differently than he does
about its great importance which he perceives with the inner spiritual eye, which is the ear; see, this is when he
gives a false testimony to the externally perceived forms.

Here we have already foundationally discussed what it basically means to give a false testimony. In the main
point is however once again, that it is important that man should not speak of Divine truth in any other way than
he perceives it in himself.
But with regard to the most inner things, the situation is as follows:?love is equal to the inwardly perceived light
of truth directly from God, and wisdom is equal to the radiating light from God through all infinite eternal spaces.

When someone would possess the love, but would not practise it, but would, with his outer light and his divided
will, continuously reach out more and more to the infinitely radiating rays, he becomes increasingly weaker, but
because of his spirit fraying at all sides, he becomes increasingly bloated and increasingly less receptive for the
inner, loving light of truth out of God.

If this is the case, then such a person becomes ever more dissimilar to God, and thereby gives with every atom
of his being, a fundamentally false testimony of the Divine essence, whose perfect symmetry he ought to have
been.

Therefore, he who hears the Divine word but does not follow it, but follows only that which captivates his outward
eyes, and thus excites his sensual will, he gives with every step that he makes, with every word he speaks every
movement of the hand he makes, a false testimony. Even if he wants to speak the purest Divine truth, the pure
word of the Gospel, he lies and gives a false testimony to the Lord because he does not act according to the
Word and the Truth.

Such a person who prays and performs his devotion to God, but does not live according to the word of the Lord,
is a liar, as long as he is warm and alive. His prayer is there but an external formula whose intrinsic value is lost
altogether, because the inner Divine light is not used to illuminate and enliven the interior of this external form.

It's just the same as if someone would look completely enraptured at a star. What good does all this delight and
contemplation benefit him if he cannot regard the star in close proximity as a wonderful world? He resembles a
starving person in front of a locked cupboard. He may still look at this bread-cupboard so yearningly and so
adoringly, but will he be saturated with it? Certainly not. For as long as he cannot bite into the inside of the bread
and absorb it into his stomach, all contemplation, worship, and delight from the bread-cupboard, will do him no
good.

But how can one open the bread-cupboard of true God-likeness and satisfy oneself? Certainly no other way than
by using the innermost means in oneself and directing oneself to the truth received from God. Also, to use the
external forms only for their intended practical purposes as far as one has found it to be identical with the
innermost light and therefore as a Divine truth. As soon as that is not the case, everything that man does and
endeavor, is a false testimony to the inner Divine truth and thus a gross lie to every fellow human.

Therefore the Lord says, "He who prays, should pray in the Spirit and in truth," and, "If ye pray, go into your
closet," and also: "Do not think what you will speak, for in the same hour it will be put into your mouth."

Here, evidently, outer thoughts are indicated, which are therefore in themselves no truth, because they are
thoughts; for the truth is inward, it motivates for action according to the Word of God, and is always manifested
rather than being a subsequent flood of thoughts.

Therefore should everyone also be guided by this inner truth and act accordingly. He will always more and more
actively connect his thoughts with this inner light and thus come to inner unity and thus to the Divine likeness in
which it then becomes forever impossible for him to be a liar.

But that everyone who speaks differently than he thinks, and acts differently than he speaks and thinks, is a liar,
is self-evident; for such a one is already buried in the very outermost, grossest matter, and has removed the
whole Divine form from his spirit. As such will this commandment also be explained to the students in its
innermost content.

Knowing this, we may at once move on to the ninth room.

Chapter 87.
Ninth hall - ninth commandment.

We are already in the ninth hall and look again at our round table, on which is written:

You should not long for what is your neighbor's, neither for his house, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor his land,
nor for everything that grows on it.

If we look at this commandment, we must evidently lose ourselves in the same judgments and undergo the same
criticism that we have already met in the seventh commandment. For here again there is talk of property, and
according to it, one should not have any desire for what one or the other was legally externally appropriated to
own.

Who could not at once come back to the question and say: How could this commandment be given to the
Israelite people in the wilderness, where there is no one who possesses a house, an ox, a donkey, nor any land
or seed? One would have to imagine this property among the Israelite people. And at the most it could mean: If
your neighbor imagines that he has something, then you should not imagine that you should have something
similar, or even the imagination of your neighbor, to have it as if it were seriously your property or as if you want
to actually own it.

I think that not many critical judgments will be needed here to see the utmost airiness of such a command at first
sight. A commandment must always be there only for some assurance of a fixed reality, the loss of which must
be something every one of them must have. But what would an air-castle architect lose to another air-castle
architect, who would take the unlawful audacity of his fellow air-castle builder seriously. I think the weighing of
such enormous damage would require a very fine, even ethereally spiritual scale to measure. If, according to the
opinion of a certain sect on earth, the Archangel Michael is seriously endowed with such instruments, I am firmly
convinced that he certainly does not lack such a very delicate weight-measuring instrument.

I have here only said this in order to accentuate the utter voidness of a purely imagined possession. If it is then
so, then why such a commandment, which can certainly not uphold any security of the property of another,
where no one has anything in the likeness of property, after which one should not desire, according to this
commandment?

But one will argue here and say: The Lord has foreseen that, over time, men will create a right of ownership
among themselves, and in this regard has already made in advance a command by which a future human
property is secured and no one has a mutual right to be allowed to disown the property of his neighbour in
whatever way. That would be a nice conclusion! I think Divine love and wisdom could not easily be inflicted more
dishonor than with such judgment.

The Lord, who surely will advise every human against acquiring anything on earth; the Lord, before whom every
earthly wealth is an abomination, should have made a commandment for the purpose and favor of greed, self-
love, of usury and avarice, a commandment for the sure awakening of mutual envy?

I think it will not be necessary here to spend any more words; for the absurdity of such an exegesis is too
obvious to anyone's eyes to require a long and broad discussion.

However, in order to make the case palpable for the blindest, I ask every law-abiding lawyer: What is the basis
for the right of ownership? Who gave the first person the property right of a thing? Take for instance a dozen
immigrants in an uninhabited land. They find it and settle there.

According to which ownership and ownership certificate can they take possession of such a land and settle there
as legitimate owners?

I already know what they will say here: whoever comes first has the basic right. Well, I say, who then has more
or less the right to the found land than the twelve immigrants? It will be said: Strictly speaking, the first instigator
of the emigration, or the one who had at first seen this land from the deck of a ship, has the most right. Well,
what advantage does the initiator have above the others? If they had not moved with him, he would certainly
have stayed home. What has the first seer more than the rest? That he might have sharper eyes than the
others? Should this advantage, which only benefits him, be a disadvantage to the others? That would be a rather
unfair. So surely all twelve must have equal ownership of this found land.

But what do they have to do to realize their equal ownership of this land? You will have to divide it into twelve
equal parts. But who does not see the coming quarrels at this division of the first land pieces? For surely will A
say to B: Why must I take possession of this part of the country, which in my judgment is obviously worse than
yours? And the B will reciprocate for the same reason: I do not see why I should swap my land part for yours.
And so we can let our twelve colonists divide the land for ten years, and we will not see that the division will be
all right.

But would these twelve agree among themselves and make the land a common property; can there then be a
commandment to secure property among the twelve? Can one take away something from the other, if the whole
country belongs to all, and thus also its products, all of which everyone can take as he pleases, without billing
the other for it?

In the first case one sees here that originally, a creation of property rights is not easily conceivable. To see that
this really is the case, you only have to look to the first settlers of certain areas of your own country, like the so-
called Herren-Kloster clergy, who were in a sense the first settlers of this region. If they would be content with
division and considered it good, they would certainly not have formed a common good.

In short, we can do what we want, but we cannot find any original ownership anywhere. And if somebody comes
with his fundamental right, I ask whether one should kill the descendant at the moment of his appearance in the
world, or let him slowly starve to death? Or should he be driven out of this country? Or leave him to the mercy of
the landowners, but at the same time immediately protect them against him by means of the latest laws?

I think it would be fair to ask on what grounds such a descendant can, from the moment of his arrival, be made a
scapegoat with regard to the right of land ownership, while the first arrivals could not sin against each other in
this? Which lawyer can prove such behavior to me as legally valid? I mean, one would only be able to prove this
if you have a satan as a lawyer; for every man, who thinks only reasonably well and fairly, would find such a
legal proof impossible.

But I can already see that it will be said that in the first colonization of a country there can be no reciprocal
property right between the colonists, especially if they have mutually compensated for the common property. But
between colonisations, out of which came the first formations of states, the ownership right certainly occurs as
soon as they have established each other's right of existence.

Well, I say, if that is the case, then each colony must have original property rights. But how can they, since they
only received a right of usufruct from the Lord, but no right of ownership?

The right of use has its certificate in the stomach and on the skin.

But where does the right of possession express itself, especially when one considers that every human being,
whether native or foreign, carries in his stomach and on his skin the same Divine legal right of use as the native
does? If one says: The right of ownership has its origin in the rights of use, then this sentence certainly removes
any special fortune, because everyone has the same right of use. But if one reverses the matter and says:
Ownership gives you first the right of use, because one cannot say anything other than the old legal word:
"Potiori jus", which in other words means as much as: Kill so many usufruct owners by the power of your fist, that
you alone can be complete master of a piece of land.

Should some foreign usufruct owners still have the appetite to dispute your fought for possession according to
their Divine right of use, then beat them all to death or use them, at least in a better scenario, as taxable
subjects, so that they may, on your conquered possession, work for you in the sweat of their faces, that you may
grant them their right of use according to your discretion. Step up whoever will, and grant me another right of
possession; indeed I will surrender all my bliss to him, and I want to be made the most needy citizen on earth for
it! Who, from the Divine side, can justify this war? What is he? Nothing but a most brutal coup d'état, taking the
right of use from the people and forcibly introducing a right of possession, that is, to destroy the Divine right and
to introduce a hellish one in its place.

Who then could expect a law from God which would abolish the original Divine Law of Utilization, which was
clearly documented in everyone's being, and replace it with divine power and authority, with a law of hellish right
of property? I think the absurdity of this assertion is even bright and clear for a completely blind man and can be
grasped with gloved hands.

But from this it is clear that this law must certainly have a different meaning from that of men, where it only
secures possession. As Divine law, it must also be valid in all heavens from the depths of the Divine order. But
where does anyone in heaven own houses, oxen, donkeys and fields? Heaven is full of usufructuary rights, and
the Lord alone is the owner. We therefore want to move on to the right meaning of this law.

Chapter 88.

Reflections on the ninth commandment.

However, before we give the full explanation, it will be necessary to make a few remarks in order to shut up the
mouths of many juridical wolverines and outraged international law publishers. For they would be able to derive
the right to ownership from the collection rights, by which they would apparently be able win the case against us.
Therefore, we want to entrench ourselves on this point.

However, it is not to be denied that everyone must have the right of collection before any rights of use. Because,
before someone picks up and prepares something with his hands and his strength, he cannot assert his right of
use. That's right, before anyone wants to put an apple in his mouth, he has to pick it from the tree or the ground.

For the "collection right" he also has several Divine documents.

Certificate No.1 is the eyes. With these he has to look where something is.

Certificate No.2 is the feet. With these he has to move to where something is. Certificate No.3 is the hands. With
these he has to reach out and take something. So according to this deed, the man has before the Lord the lawful
right to collect as an undeniable property.

But could it not be said here: is not the collected material then completely the property of the one who, according
to his Divine right of collecting, has collected it for his use? Now does another have the right to judge his hands
or desire by what his neighbor has gathered? Because one right obviously depends on the other. If I have the
natural right of use written by the Creator in the stomach and on the skin, then I must also have the right to
collect, because without the right of collection, I cannot satisfy the right of use.

But what good is the collection right if it does not secure the bite I bring to my mouth? Because, since everyone
has the right to take the apple, which I have picked up with my hand according to my collection right, out of my
hand, because he is too comfortable to pick one up, I must obviously forgo my right of use and must starve,
whether I like it or not.

It is thus necessary that the collection right would at least demand the property right regarding what one has
collected, otherwise no right of use could honestly be reasonably thinkable.

The right to collection is connected with the right of preparation and production is combined with the collective
right. If I would not be allowed to assert the full right of ownership over what I have prepared and produced, then
all activity is in vain, and I am compelled, firstly, to consume all the edible things in secret, and, secondly, to
always go about naked. Because if I make myself a garment and another, which is too lazy for this work would
take it away from me according to his right of use, then the question is: what would be the case with my right to
use?

If I build a house in a colder area and have no ownership rights according to the right to collect and produce,
then the next best company can drive me out of the house and exercise my own right of use in my place.
From this, however, it can be seen that, with the natural right of acquisition, a certain prerogative of property
rights should be granted to the actively producing person, without which such a property right, taken and
considered as is, the existence of a human society is not even remotely conceivable.

If, however, the right to collect and prepare are admitted as completely valid, then a piece of land, on which I
have cultivated a seed, like a tree which I have planted and refined, must also have been prerogatively
considered to be my property.

But ask further: who grants me such a right at the planting of a colony? The matter is easy to explain. The
colonists choose from their midst one void of greed and wise leader. They grant him the rights to divide and
distribute and thus also the responsibility to protect, under mutual oath swearing, as insurance for the
maintenance of and compliance to his decree. Because of this assurance, one or the other rebel would be called
to order by these order-abiding brothers on behalf of the leader.

The how and the means does not matter, for these can and must be first determined according to the degree of
the rebellion and then executed.

Who does not immediately see the submission and the first monarchical foundation of a state? Also, who does
not also see that, as soon as the right to collect, and the right of acquisition and preparation is systematically
connected with a prerogative right of property, nobody can be limited to the right of collection, acquisition and
preparation on his property granted to him. On the contrary, the chief executive must only endeavor to
encourage his subjects to collect and produce as much as possible on their possessions. And the more one
acquires by diligence on his property, the more pleasant a situation he creates for himself, and the less limited
becomes his rights of use.

However, once this right of ownership has been ascertained to secure the right of collection, acquisition and use,
this right inevitably leads to the right of hatred; for without this right, no one is the rightful owner of the property
he has received from the leader.

But this hate-law first requires a precise survey of the property.

Once the borders have been determined, only then can any owner make use of the hate rights or the rights of
defense of his property.

But this hate right is not feasible without authorized guardians. So we have to set up military men, who have the
unlimited right to secure everyone's borders. You must therefore have the right of execution, that is, a criminal or
punishment right. But who should guide these military men? Certainly none other than the head of the entire
colony.

Here, therefore, we have necessarily the emergence of the military state, but at the same time also the
determination of an unlimited power of the leader, who can now already command the military men and sanction
his commandments.

Have we brought it so far, who can still stand there and say: The present state constitutions are not based on
this Divine right? Yes, it is all right for a critic, only he cannot yet understand the overarching right of ownership of
the monarch. But I say: If one has proved the former in such a way, which was far more difficult, then the right of
ownership of a monarch beside it can be proved with a sleeping hood on. We shall see.

If, on the part of the leader's executive wisdom, the right of property is properly in place and the leader has an
army at his disposal, capable of guarding the colonists' possessions, does the leader not have a twofold right to
say to the colonists: I am in your midst, have provided for you through my wisdom, and you have made me the
leader because you have recognised me as the least greedy man among you.

Therefore, I have fairly distributed the land among you, and now protect your property with my wisdom and with
the wisely-led military men.

But in the distribution I have completely forgotten myself due to my lack of greed. But you will surely see, if you
would have need of my continual wise direction, that I cannot live off air. After that, what am I supposed to have
for my maintenance in order to live? I have no time for collecting, because I have to use my time to constantly
reflect on how your property needs to be continually secured.

So you will see that a faithful worker is worth his reward. That's why I'm declaring that you agree to support me
out of your secured supply. I can claim this from you even more rightfully, since the preservation of your mutual
right of ownership depends only on my consideration. In addition to my protection, however, the support of the
army, which secures your property, is also necessary, for they too, do not have time to work, by keeping your
borders in good order.

Your own salvation and well-being must therefore make it clear to you that I and the army are unlike you, unable
to work, and that each of you therefore should agree to pay me a certain amount of tax for his own benefit.

This announced demand seems completely legal and reasonable to all colonists, and they are content with the
regulation. In this way, the chief executive has already asserted his first natural, if not supreme, yet co-owned
right of all the settlers.

But there is such a small gap between co-ownership and the overruling right of ownership that even the smallest
child can get a hold of this concept. The boss just needs to say: My dear colonists! It is not unknown to you that
another colony has settled over against us. In order to protect us from it, you must give me the unqualified right
in everything, so that I can act as your leader in case of emergency, as the main owner of your property, and in
such a case can secure the external borders according to my wise insight. I must have the right, in your name,
for your own benefit, to negotiate with a foreign nation if it would be more powerful than us.

You should also, being colonists who is in need of my guidance, understand what is easy to understand, that I as
your leader, must have a permanently built place in your midst in which I can protect and preserve myself, above
all for your preservation. But it is not enough for my well-justified security that you build me a dwelling-house, but
in order to build my dwelling house, other dwellings have to be erected in order to accommodate the army, who
are only dependent on my leadership. In other words, you must build for me in your midst a permanent home
(residence) in which I am fully secure, both from strangers and from your own possible attacks.

Here we see with great clarity how the monarch necessarily declares himself the landlord of a country. But that
was not enough. We want to hear other reasons as well, from the mouth of the founder himself, for he continues
to speak:

My dear colonists, the indisputable reason for the establishment of a permanent place of residence for me in
your midst, I have shown to your insight. So you have the first reason. But listen to me: The land is vast;?it is
impossible for me to be everywhere myself. Therefore I want to audit you and I will distribute out of you the
wisest ones as my officials and deputies all over the country. These proxies then you will then owe the same
obedience as unto me, for their own benefit.

If, however, one or the other subjects under my wise management has been accused of alleged injustice by
these my chosen officers, then shall everyone have the right to bring his complaint to me, where he can then be
assured that the case will be attended to with perfect justice. On the other hand, for your own benefit, in order to
prevent all disputes, you must give me the most faithful and conscientious assurance that you willingly follow my
final judgment without the slightest further refusal.

In the opposite case, for the good of all, I must also be assured of the indisputable right by all, to deter a
rebellious person to defy my final judgment by means of a chastising force in order to obey my will. If all this is
done in order, then you will become a truly happy people!

Here we see a second step, derived from all former things: Firstly, the sole rule, and secondly, the sole
possession of the whole country. And so, in this way, we would have irrefutably displayed the first reason, which
was completely grounded in the nature of the matter. This reason can be called the natural, derived from human
society. But somebody will say that all this is in and of itself just as true to nature, as surely and certainly the man
needs the eyes to see and the ears to hear. We look at these colonists, who are still very crude, and find them to
be most zealous and fully obedient to their leader.

Yet, exactly from this obedience, the colonists begin to feel increased fear for their leader. And in this fear, one
and the other soon ask each other: why is it that among all of us this man is so clever, and we are all to be
regarded as true fools compared to him? This question, so small and inconspicuous as it appears at the
beginning, is of extraordinary importance, and in its answer is expressed the inviolable official signature to the
autocracy and of the sole property right of a monarch.

That sounds weird, some might say in advance. Have just a little patience, and we'll see it in another light right
away!

Chapter 89.

The inner sense of the ninth commandment.

See, until now we have seen everything develop from the natural ground;?but up till now there has been no
higher divine sanction on any ground, by which man alone on earth, especially in his simple state of nature, is
led to the inviolable consideration of all that has been imposed upon him by his leader as a duty.

The wiser such a primitive monarch initially guides his people, and the more the people are persuaded that the
leader is really wise because of his successes, the more they will begin to ask each other: wherefrom is his
wisdom and wherefrom our stupidity? The people still know very little or nothing about God, but the leader still
has more or less good ideas about Him.

What should he now do, if the people who are naturally organized as well as possible, approach him now with
such questions from all sides? He summons the more capable, proclaiming to them a supreme being who has
created everything and directs everything. Then tell them, in answer to their varied questions, that he receives
the wisdom to guide directly from this supreme being. He shows them, with the greatest ease, the undeniable
existence of a supreme, all-creating, sustaining, and governing deity, and that this deity only bestows the deep
wisdom to whom he has designated to be the beatific leadership of the people.

This then means something like: "By the grace of God," or as with the Romans: Favente Jov. " Once this step
has been taken, the sole ruler and the sole owner is ready to go, and now sits perfectly safe in his center of
power, supported by a powerful natural, and even more powerful spiritual necessity.

Anyone who has thoroughly gone through all this must finally say: Surely not one atom of this can be criticised,
because everything is so closely connected with the first natural-legal records of every human being that one
would not dare to split the thinnest thread in order to destroy a happy human society down to its innermost
foundations. You can take away anything you want, the defect will soon be visible in the first natural principles of
every human being.

But if, then, the matter is as such, it follows as clear as sunshine from that, that the Lord of Heaven and the
earth, through this ninth commandment, has set up nothing but the complete safeguarding of the particular
property for the maintenance of the first principles of natural law. And so there can be no other meaning behind
the commandment than what His words signify.

For if one wants or is in a position to subject this commandment to any other meaning, then one abrogates the
main reason of the first natural-law bourgeois association sanctioned by a supreme being. Ownership, when
lifted, necessarily removes the original documents of each person, and no one can collect and make anything
more. If he cannot do that, his stomach and his skin go under, and man will be worse off than any animal. With
the removal of the literal meaning of this commandment, one takes away in advance every leading chief, and
humanity stands in its first wild and chaotic state of nature, sunken beneath the animal kingdom.

That's right, my dear friends and brothers. So far we have seen that through the representation of the inner
spiritual sense, the external, natural sense in its just external effect has nowhere been violated. We have also
seen that through the ignorance of the inner sense, a given commandment is observed with either very great
difficulty, not seldom only for a third part, or not at all.
But if a commandment is recognized according to the inner senses, then the natural observance results
automatically, especially when someone puts a good seed into the soil. Then the fruit-bearing plant will develop
out of it, without the human being having to apply any manipulation to it at all.

And so it is with this commandment. If it is recognized and observed inwardly, then everything external, which
touches on the sense of the letter, is itself of the good Divine order. But if this is not the case, one sticks only to
the external senses, then one thereby negates all legitimate documents of man. The rulers become tyrants and
the subjects miserly and usurers. The skin of the gentle is stretched over the military drum or the good-natured
donkeys of subjects become the malicious tools of the powerful and usurers.

The consequences of this are full-scale uprisings, revolutions, state upheavals and destruction, mutual bitterness
among peoples, and then protracted bloody wars, famine, pestilence, and death.

What, then, is the meaning by whose observation all peoples must find their indestructible temporal and eternal
happiness? In short, it is as follows:

Respect one another out of true, mutual brotherly love, and do not envy one another, if one would be given more
grace by Me, the Creator, because of his greater love. The one who received grace, however, should let the
benefits coming from it benefit all his brothers as much as possible, and so you will thereby establish among you
an eternal life-bond, which no power will ever be able to destroy!

Who does not immediately recognize that in this explanation of the commandment, not a tick of the literal sense
is disregarded. And how easy is this commandment, of course, to think about when one observes it spiritually.
Because he who respects his brother in his heart, will also pay respect what he collected and produced. The
spiritual observation of this commandment avoids all usury and all exaggerated selfishness, but only find its
sanctioned representative or advocate only in those adhering only to the literal sense. A little review will put this
all in the clearest light.

Chapter 90.

Blessings of wise limitation.

In everything, as well as in the commandment, it is by no means stated as sinful or faulty in spirit or nature, for
someone to acquire the things collected and made with his hands for his needs; and to such a degree that his
neighbor do not have the right to deny him such ownership in whatever way. On the contrary, everyone in it finds
only a perfect guarantee of their legally acquired property.

But in everything that is said, as in the commandment itself, a wise limitation in the right to gather is offered to
everyone. But that the commandment seeks to achieve this in the natural sense, and is meant to be like this
even from the Divine order, is most easily visible from the primordial property birthright of every human being.
But how? We shall immediately see.

How much does the first legal expert in man, the stomach, need according to fair measure? This can certainly be
determined by every moderate eater. Suppose a moderate eater needs three pounds of food for the day, which
is easily calculated over three hundred and sixty-five days.

This is therefore a natural need of a human being. He is allowed to collect this quantity every year. If he has wife
and children, he can gather for each person the same quantity, and he has acted completely in accordance with
his natural rights. A strong eater, who has to do particularly heavy work, is allowed to collect twice as much.

When this is generally observed, the earth will never have to speak of need. For the way the Lord have
organized the fertile land area, twelve thousand million people can make an abundant and proper living with
proper cultivation and distribution of the land. At present there are hardly any over one thousand million people
on earth, and among them there are seven hundred million people living a life of great need.

What is the reason for that? Because the very conditions of this Divine law, which is founded in the nature of
every human being, are not brought into living practice.

Let's go further. How tall a man is, and how much skin he needs to cover, can also be easily measured. But
every human being is allowed to obtain a fourfold covering of the skin according to the season. This is the
natural standard for the accumulation of the clothing materials and their preparation. But I want to add once
again so much to the upper clothing, and four times more to the underwear, and that for the sake of a clean
change.

If this measure is applied, there will be no naked human on the whole surface of the earth. But if tremendous
garment factories are built on earth, which buy the raw materials with enforced shameful prices, then make an
innumerable quantity of more luxurious than useful clothes, and sell them mostly at ridiculous prices to paltry
humanity, as well as to many affluent ones, then in the course of ten years, especially the women, people are
provided with more than a hundred-fold change of garb - thus, natural proportion is utterly disturbed and of a
thousand million people at least six hundred million have to walk around naked. Let's go on. How big does a
house really need to be to comfortably accommodate a couple of people with family and necessary servants?
Go to the countryside and see for yourself, and you will surely come to the realization that a just and comfortable
accommodation does not require castles and palaces with a hundred rooms.

Anything exceeding such proportions, is against the order of God and therefore against His command.

How big must a property be? Take a mediocre producing country. On this, with moderate work, and on a surface
area of one thousand square klafter, even with a mediocre yearly harvest, a perfectly sufficient provision for a
whole year can be produced. With good soil, half of that is enough, with bad soil, the amount per person can be
doubled. The size of land accredited for possession according to natural law, depends on the number of people
living in a family house. But we want to be generous to the utmost extent and give twice as much for each
person and determine it as being fully approved of God as a natural law. Even if the lands were distributed in this
way, more than seven thousand million families on the surface of the earth could also find their fully secured land
property.

But the present state of affairs on the earth regarding basic distribution is that the land belongs to a few
landowners. All the rest of the people are either co-owning, under lease or leased out, and the vast majority of
the people on earth do not have a stone to support their heads.

Therefore, anyone who possesses more than this given measure, possesses it against the Divine and natural
law, and, such a possessor perpetually sins against this commandment. He can redeem this sin only by
possessing the greatest possible degree of generosity, and in a manner of speaking only as a guardian, to work
his too-large possession for a fair number of homeless people. But how this is foundational to this
commandment, we will see in the second point of this reflection.

Chapter 91.

Sin against the Divine order of the ninth commandment.

Secondly, this commandment itself expresses the wise limitation of the right to collect and produce quite
obviously and palpably. If we place the relative primordial property from the first point of observation adjacent to
it, the ninth commandment points precisely to this by expressly forbidding to have a desire for what is the other's.

So what is the other? The other is that the Lord have created just as much ground on the earth for the sole
maintenance of man as there is given to him by his measure of natural law, derived from his needs. Anyone who
collects and manufactures more than this measure, in fact, even in the first degree, sins against this
commandment, for in this commandment even the yearning desire is already shown to be criminal.

In the second degree, the lazy sins against this commandment, who is too lazy to exercise his original right of
collecting, but only with the desire to gain possession of what another constitutionally collected and
manufactured.

We see from this that one can thus make oneself guilty against this commandment in a twofold manner, namely
firstly, by an exaggerated want of collecting and processing, and secondly, by omitting it altogether. For both
cases, however, the command is the same as the wise restriction. In the first case it restricts exaggerated
collecting and processing greed, in the second case laziness, with the intention of finding the just middle road;
because it expresses nothing else than the respect united with love for the natural needs of the neighbor.

But one can oppose here and say that there are presently many rich and wealthy people who, with all their
wealth and riches, do not possess a square foot of country property. They have come into a wealth of money
through lucky trading speculation or inheritance and now live on their legal interest. What to do about these? Is
their property according to the Divine right of natural law or not? For by their possession of money they do not
restrict human property by refusing to buy anything anywhere, but they lend their money to good places against
the legal interest; or they make other permissible exchange transactions and thereby increase their capital share
by many thousands of guilders annually, where they do not need the hundredth part of their annual income for
their good food, according to the right of natural need. But they are not uncommonly very just, sometimes even
charitable people. Do these too, fail against our ninth commandment?

I say here: It does not matter, whatever it is, for a person to possess beyond his need, or to have too much
money or too much land. It is all the same. For if I have so much money that I can buy myself a few square miles
of land as estate property, that is just as much as if I had really made so much land for this money. On the
contrary, it is even worse and much more contrary to Divine order. For whoever possessed so much land
property, would necessarily have to be able to provide a living for a few thousand people, since he personally
would not be able to handle such a large land property.

But consider a man who does not have property, but so much money that he could almost buy a kingdom with it.
He can manage this money profitably only in the strictest case, or he needs at the most some accounting
assistants, who will receive from him, in comparison with his income, a very moderate salary, often hardly
enough to satisfy their needs, especially if they have a family.

But no such money-owner can excuse himself with the way he has made the money, whether by speculation, by
winning a lottery, or by inheritance. In any case, he stands before God like a receiver next to a thieve. How, you
may ask?

What does becoming rich through lucky speculation means? That is, and means, nothing other than acquiring for
himself the legitimate merit of many usuriously, thereby depriving many of the legitimate merit and appropriating
it for himself. In this case, a man who has become rich through lucky speculation, is a barbarous thief. In lottery
winnings, he is the same, because he acquires what is to be used by many, for himself. In the case of an
inheritance, however, he is a stooge who also takes possession of the unlawful property of his ancestors, who
could only claim it by the two aforementioned ways.

Chapter 92.

Usury, the most damnable before God.

But one will say: This provision sounds strange; For what can the heir have for inheriting the property of either
his parents or other wealthy relatives? Should he, in such a transfer, calculate the natural portion, take from the
heir only as much as that portion, and then give the other part to whom? Or should he accept all this fortune, but
accept only the part of nature which he deserves as his property, or manage the great surplus himself to support
lazy idlers, or perhaps surrender such surplus to charity organizations, or the directors of charitable institutions?

This question is only worth a monosyllabic answer. Are the Divine law and the law of the state, or the Divine
wisdom and care, and the secular state politics and so-called diplomacy, one and the same? What does the Lord
say? He says: "Everything that is great in the world is an abomination before God!

But what is greater in the world than an usurped state power, which, viewed from the Divine side, never submits
to the Divine counsel, but only to its secular state wisdom, which consists in politics and diplomacy; and uses
their powers for their own exploitative and consumptive welfare?

But if it is abominable and disgraceful if any man deceives only one, two or three of his brothers, how much more
abominable before God it must be when men know how to crown and anoint a man with all their might, and then
under such coronation anointing, deceive entire peoples in all imaginable ways to their own revelry advantages,
either by the so-called state wisdom, or, should it not do, then with cruel open force!

I think that from this little sentence, one can almost grasp the extent to which the rights of most of the present
states handle their affairs counter to the Divine. I also think that when the Lord said to the rich youth: "Sell all
your goods and distribute them among the poor, then follow Me, and you will prepare for yourself a treasure in
heaven", hopefully this statement will suffice to learn what kind of distribution the earthly rich man, if he wants to
reap the kingdom of God, should do with his wealth. If he does not do that, then he must ascribe it to himself
when the same verdict which the Lord has pronounced over the young man who has become sad: that a camel
would be able to get through the eye of a needle easier than would a rich man into the kingdom of heaven! Of
course, the circumstance must be taken into account that the Lord here has pronounced such a highly
regrettable judgment over a young man, who was also certainly an heir.

One might well ask: Why did "a rich young man" have to appear here, and why should not some old speculator
have appeared before whom the Lord had made known His eternal displeasure with all earthly wealth? The
answer is very close: the young man was not yet a diehard wealth manager, but he was still at the point where
such a youth usually does not properly appreciate the earthly wealth yet. For just this reason he could at least
approach the Lord for a short time in order to hear from him the right direction and the right use of his wealth. It
is only when he realizes the Divine will, that he then falls away from the Lord and returns home to his riches.

So the youth had this privilege, as a youth who was not yet liable, to approach the Lord. But the already
inveterate, old-aged rich landlord, speculator and usurer, stand as camels behind the eye of a needle, through
which they would have to squeeze in order to reach the youth like the young man. So it is no longer granted to
such a rich and given, like unto the young man, to meet the Lord. For these however, the Lord has unfortunately
cited another very important example in the story of the "rich glutton." I do not need to tell you more.

But whoever of you can think only a little, will with the greatest ease find out that no human vice is as
contemptible to the Lord of heaven and all worlds as wealth acquired through usury and its usual consequences.
For no other vices do we see the Lord of life and death very clearly opening up the abyss of hell as with this one.

Be it manslaughter, adultery, harlotry and the like, in all this, no one on earth has seen the Lord condemning him
to hell. But this sin of usury, He has punished with word and deed in the most urgent manner, both with the
priesthood and with every other privileged classes!

Who can prove to the Lord, in the face of all other human offenses, that He has raised His almighty hand over
such a sinner? But the money-changers, pigeon-merchants, and such kind of speculators, had to submit to being
beaten and chastised with a tortuous rope from the temple by the omnipotent hand of the Lord Himself!

But do you know what that means? This true evangelical endeavor will say no more and no less than that the
Lord in heaven and of all worlds is the greatest sworn enemy of this vice. In every other, His Divine love speaks
of patience, forbearance, but over this vice, He pronounces His anger and wrath!

For here he hinders entrance to Him through the well-known eye of the needle, evidently opens up the abyss of
hell, and shows in it a truly damned one, speaks up frightfully against the rule-hungry and greedy Pharisees,
clearly showing them how fornicators, adulterers, thieves and other sinners are more likely to enter the kingdom
of God than they.
Finally, He even takes a chastening weapon in the temple and ruthlessly drives out all the speculators of any
kind and calls them murderers of the Divine kingdom, turning the temple, which represents the Divine kingdom,
into a dungeon of murder.

We could cite several such examples from all those who could be inferred that the Lord is the supreme enemy of
this vice. But for whoever is able to think reasonably, this will be enough. On this very occasion we may take a
brief look at our ninth commandment, and we shall see from this view that the Lord has not limited the desire in
any other human relation, nor in any other self-forbidden opportunity and activity, as in the case of this most
detestable opportunistic usury.

Everywhere He expressly forbids only the activity, but here already the desire, because the danger which arises
therefrom for the spirit is too great. It totally withdraws the spirit from God and turns him completely to hell. You
can also see this from the fact that every other sinner feels repentance for a sinful deed, while the rich speculator
celebrates and triumphs over a happy successful speculation!

This is the true triumph of hell, and the prince of hell, therefore, seeks by preference to foster in mankind in every
possible way, love for the wealth of the world, because he knows that they are filled with this love, are most
repugnant unto the Lord and that they receive the least mercy! I do not need to tell you more about that.

For everyone who will heed these words deeply, because they are the eternal irrefutable Divine truth! And you
can know it to be true and believe it, because not one syllable in it is too much, rather you can assume that there
is far too little said. But everyone should remember this: the Lord will employ every possible means at every
possible occasion, before he will let anyone perish, but against this vice, He will do nothing except open the
abyss of hell, as He have said it in the gospel. All this is certain and true, and through this, we have come to
know the true meaning of this commandment. And I say once more: Let everybody take what is said here to
heart! And now nothing more. Here is the tenth room, and so we enter it!

Chapter 93.

The tenth commandment in the tenth hall in the kingdom of the children.

We are in it and see on the tablet written in clear font: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife!"

It hardly needs to be mentioned that this commandment here in the pure realm of the spirit, and especially in the
realm of children, surely sounds a bit strange to every thinker. For the moment, these children do not know in the
least what a married woman is, for instance, and secondly is marriage between the sexes absolutely not the
norm or the way at all, especially in the realm of the children. In the kingdom of spirits does this commandment
appear to have, according to this consideration, no application.

But it will be said: Why would the Lord not have given one out of ten commandments which corresponds only to
earthly conditions? For on earth, the connection between man and woman is customary and is therefore an old-
established relationship based on the Divine order, which without a commandment, cannot remain in the Divine
order. So one can assume here that among the ten commandments, the Lord has given one merely for the
maintenance of the order of an external, earthly relationship, so that by maintaining this order, a spiritual, inner,
superior order is not disturbed.

Well, if that is so, then I say: this commandment is then nothing but a highly superfluous repetition of the sixth
commandment, which in any case is quite the same. For even here, in its complete course, everything is
represented as forbidden, which has only some relation to fornication, whoring, and adultery, both in the
physical, and especially in the spiritual sense.

If we weigh this a little against each other, it follows that this commandment is not good for heaven, and that it is
a superfluous addition to the sixth commandment.

But I already see someone saying: Ha! Dear friend, you are mistaken.

This commandment, forbidding the very thing that is forbidden in and of itself, which is prohibited in the sixth
commandment, is nevertheless quite peculiar to itself and higher and deeper than the sixth commandment. In
the sixth commandment, evidently, only the real gross act is forbidden, but in this tenth, the desire, and the
desire as the all-time root-cause for action. For one often see that especially young husbands usually have
beautiful young wives. How easy it is for another man to forget his wife, who may not be beautiful, and to gape at
the beautiful wife of his neighbor, awakening an ever greater urge and an ever greater desire for his neighbor's
wife, and commit adultery with her.

Well, I say, looking at this commandment from this point of view, there are no more than a half-legion of
ridiculous and foolish things, by which the Divine nature of such a sublime commandment gets dragged through
the filthiest dust and the most stinking sludge of the worldly wits and minds of the people. For the sake of
example and explanation, we will, of course, cite some ridiculousness, so that it will be clear to everyone how
shallow and external this commandment was understood, explained, and acted upon, for over eight centuries.

A man should therefore have no desire for the wife of his neighbor.

Here it can be asked: What kind of longing or desire? Because there are a lot of honest and well-tolerated
longings and desires that a neighbor can address to the wife of his neighbor. But in the commandment it is
absolutely necessary to have "no desire". As a result, only the two neighbors may be in conversation with each
other, but each other's women should always be looked upon with contempt. This is no more and no less than an
almost Turkish conception of this Mosaic commandment.

Further, if one considers the matter literally and materially, surely one must literally take everything literally, and
not take a few words literally and a few words spiritually; which would be just the same as if someone would
wear a pair of trousers with on one leg black and the other a very subtle transparent white leg. Or, as if to claim
that a tree had to grow such that half of its trunk would appear with bark and the other with no bark. According to
this consideration, the tenth commandment prohibits only the desire for the wife of the "neighbor". Who can that
be in the literal sense? Nobody else but either the nearest neighbors or close blood relatives. Literally, therefore,
one should have no desire only for the wives of these two neighbors; the wives of distant inhabitants of a district,
and especially the wives of foreigners, who are certainly no neighbors, could be demanded without further ado.
For such a person will understand without mathematics and geometry that in comparison to the nearest
neighbor, one living a few hours away, or even a foreigner, cannot be reckoned for a neighbor or a close relative.
See, that too is Turkish, because they hold this commandment only towards Turks, towards foreign nations, they
have no law. - Let's proceed.

I ask: is the wife of my neighbor exempt from this attitude of the Divine law? For the law only states that a man
should have no desire for the wife of his neighbor. But there is no syllable of the commandment that a randy
woman should have no desire for her nearest neighbor. In this way, the women is evidently given a privilege to
seduce the men they see without hesitation. And who will forbid them to do such a thing, since there is no
commandment from the Lord in this case? That, too, is from Turkish philosophy; for the Turks know from the
literal sense of the Bible that the women are free from such laws. Therefore, they lock them up so they cannot go
outside and make other men lust after them. If a Turk permits a walkabout to one of his wives, she must make
her appearance so unflattering, that she would even inspire respect in a bear. She is only allowed to show her
charm in front of her husband. Who can raise an objection against it, as if such could not be recognized from the
literal sense of this commandment?

Obviously, this ridiculousness has its undeniable cause in the commandment itself. But let's go on.

Cannot the nearest neighbors have grown-up daughters or other pretty maids? According to the tenth
commandment, is it lawful or not to have desire for the neighbor's daughters or other girls, even as a husband?

Apparently, such is permitted, for in the sixth commandment, there is no talk of desire, but only of the act. But the
tenth commandment only forbids the desire for the wife, so the desire for the daughters and any other pretty girls
of the neighbor is permitted without argument. - Look; Here again we have a Turkish interpretation of the law. But
in order to make the matter clear as daylight we want to cite a few such ridiculous things.
Chapter 94.

Who is the 'you' in the tenth commandment?

The law says: "Thou shalt not desire thy neighbor's wife." - Is not it possible to ask: Who is actually "you"? Is he
a married man, a widower, an unmarried young man, a youth, or is it also a woman to whom one can also say:
Thou shalt not do this or that? It will be said here that this is primarily intended for the male sex, regardless of
whether single or married, and that women may incidentally also be included and should not have the right to
entice and desire other men, all of that is self-evident.

But I say however: If men are even able to determine their statutes, and in their very statutes they make fine and
clever dispositions for every possible case, then one cannot blame the Lord as if He had given inconclusive laws
out of ignorance, or, like a cunning lawyer, He would have put his laws on paper as such that people would
inevitably have to sin one way or the other.

I think that to come to such a conclusion at the closer consideration of this seemingly indefinite law, would be a
bit gross. It is therefore much more feasible to conclude that this law, like all others, is a most definite one. It has
been so distorted and misinterpreted over time, and especially in the period of the hierarchy that has arisen, that
by now, no man knows the actual, true meaning of this law. And all that happened because of sheer greed. In the
true sense of the word, this law would never have given a penny to the priesthood, but in its covert sense, it gave
rise to all sorts of taxed mediations, dispensing, and divorces; and of course in the earlier days far more than
now. For then it was the case that two or more neighbors could not protect themselves against the transgression
of this law. How come?

Of course, they had to conscientiously confess several times a year, out of great fear of hell. Then they were
diligently examined on this point, and even in the case of if some neighbour would give a beautiful young woman
at the side of a neighbour even a thought, a glance, or even a conversation,it was explained to be an adulterous
sin against this commandment, which was usually accompanied with a sacrificial penalty. If the approach was a
little closer, condemnation was complete, and the one who had sunk down to Hell on the pair of balances of St.
Michael had to throw very important sacrifices into the other empty scale, so that it would tip over again and pull
the poor condemned sinner fortunately out of hell again. The priests who held the power of God are not among
those who demand much, but they rather want everything in earnest!

In this way many very wealthy knights and counts once had to bite the bullet and, on top of that, as a remission
from hell, bequeath their goods to the church. Their unfortunate wives were taken into a convent as atonement
for the punishment of her unfaithful husband. Also the possible children both male and female were then usually
divided into such monasteries, where one must possess no earthly riches.

I think that this should be enough to see all the really nasty things that came out of the distortion of this law. The
indeterminate "you" of the law was the primary source of dispensing, which usually incorporated the most. If
someone had made a great sacrifice, you could modify the "you", so that the sinner at least would not go to hell.
On the contrary, however, this "you" could also be so damnably determined, by the presumed power of 'binding
and loosing', that only very significant sacrifices could help the sinner in salvation from hell.

We have now seen to what aberrations the indefinite "you" gave opportunity. But let us not content ourselves
with this, but consider some such ridiculous interpretations, so that it becomes all the clearer to everyone how
necessary the acquaintance with the pure meaning of the law is, without which one can never become free, but
must remain slavishly under the curse of the law! And so we proceed!
Chapter 95.

Examples of wrong views of the tenth commandment.

As the law says, we know that it prohibits a desire or longing. But now it comes to mind: some man is
impoverished while his neighbor is a rich man. The wife of the neighbor, as the neighbor of our poor man, has,
as he knows, a compassionate and benevolent heart. Our poor man evidently gets a longing for the benevolent
wife of his neighbor, and desires to silence his hunger. Question, did he sin or not? He obviously had a desire
and longing for the wife of his neighbor. But since it says: Thou shalt have no desire for the wife of thy neighbor,
who can justifiably declare this reasonable desire of the poor as sinful? For under "no desire, no longing," surely
every desire and every longing must be forbidden, since in the word "none" there allows no exception
whatsoever. So, therefore, a desire of whatever kind must be forbidden.

Does not this make it seem as if the Lord thereby wished to divert the female sex from charity, according to
which, then, every good deed that a housewife gives to a poor man, is to be regarded as a sin which completely
runs counter to the Divine command?

But is it possible to think of such an absurd command coming from the supreme love of the Lord? It could be
said here, of course, that the commandment is limited only to carnal, sensual desire. But I say: It is good, so if it
should be thus, then just allow me to make some remarks. If these remarks kill the "should be thus", then every
one of us must be content to take another course in determining this commandment. And so you hear the
remarks.

The commandment should therefore only prohibit a sensual carnal desire.

Good, I say, but ask: Is there a certain woman in the command, or are all the women included in the
commandment, or are there certain natural exceptions?

Suppose several neighbors have old, no longer attractive women. We can be assured that these neighbors no
longer have a carnal desire for both their wives. Accordingly, only the young women should be understood, and
only if they are beautiful and charming. Surely even men who are old and full of days, will not be much tortured
by carnal sensual desires towards whatever women of their neighbors.

From this, however, we see that this law is valid only under certain conditions. So the law has gaps and thus has
no general validity. For where nature already makes exceptions and a law does not even have the full natural
validity, how should it extend to the spiritual? If you cannot understand this, just break off a tree and see if it will
then grow and bear fruit.

But a Divine law must surely be so constituted that its blissful validity is "lawful" for all eternity. If, however, in the
course of the short earthly existence, it is naturally pushed beyond the applicable limits, and thus already ceases
to be active in the natural state of man, what shall it then be for eternity? Is not every law of God founded in His
infinite love? But what is it afterwards, when such a law is made invalid? Is this something different from what
one might claim that Divine love, under certain circumstances, also ceases to be valid for man?

But this is also the basis of the sad faith of your pagan-Christian side, according to which the love of God lasts
only as long as man lives in this world. Once he has died in his body and merely exists there in soul and spirit,
the immutable, terribly strict, punitive angry righteousness of God takes immediate effect, in which there is no
talk of everlasting love and mercy.

If man, through his way of life, deserves heaven, he will not go to heaven because of the Divine love, but only
according to the Divine justice, of course, through his own good and pleasing mercy. But if man has not lived
thus, eternal damnation is present immediately, from which salvation is never to be expected.

In other words, man say that there is some stupid Father who has set up a law in His household against His
children, which means:
I give complete freedom to all my children from birth until their seventh year. During this time you should enjoy all
my love without distinction. After the seventh year, however, I withdraw my love from all the children and from
then on I either want to judge you or make you happy.

Those who, as minor children, have kept my heavy laws, from the seventh year onwards shall enjoy their highest
pleasure. But those who, in the course of the seven years, have not completely improved one atom according to
my great law, from now on are to be forever cursed and rejected from my, the father's, house. - Say, what would
you say to such a cruel donkey of a father? Would not that be more than the most shameful tyranny of all
tyrants?

But if you were to find such a man indescribably foolish, bad, and evil, how horribly nonsensical must those men
be who can ascribe even far worse things to God, who is the Supreme Love and Wisdom Himself!

What did the Lord do on the cross as the sole Divine Wisdom, since, by manner of speech, He was as if
separated from the eternal Love? He, as Wisdom, and as such the foundation of all righteousness, turned
Himself to the Father or the eternal Love, not calling for just vengeance, but He implores Love to forgive all these
abusers, including the high priests and Pharisees their deeds, for they did not know what they were doing!

So this is what Divine justice does for itself. Should the infinite Divine Love then begin to condemn where the
Divine justice implores the still infinitely more merciful Love for mercy?

If one does not accept that the Lord was really serious in His request, and says that He has only done so as an
example, does one not then make of the Lord a hypocrite, by only seeming make Him ask for forgiveness on the
cross, but secretly man see in Him the irrepressible revenge, according to which He has long condemned all
these evildoers to the most intense hellish fire?

O world! O people! O most terrible nonsense that could ever be conceived in all infinity and eternity! Is it possible
to think of something more shameful than to make the Lord on the cross a liar, a false preacher, a traitor, and
thus a universal con artist, for the false, though temporally lucrative, justification of hell? From whose mouth as
alone from that of the arch-satan can such doctrine and words come?

I think it is enough here, too, to bring you to the realization of what abominations may come from a very wrong
interpretation and exegesis of a Divine law. That it is all the same with you in the world, you can already grasp
with your own hands. But why it is so, for what reason, you did not know and could not know; for this law's knot
was too confused, and no one could ever fully loosen this knot.

Therefore, the Lord had mercy on you, and let you in the sun, since it is certainly light enough, announces to you
the true solution of this knot, so that you may have insight into the general cause of all evil and darkness.

It will of course be said: Yes, how can so much evil depend on the misunderstanding of the Ten Commandments
of Moses?

I think: Because these ten commandments are given by God and carry in themselves the whole infinite order of
God Himself.

Therefore, whoever would step out of the Divine order in one point or another, no longer remains in the Divine
because it is equal to a straight path. If somebody deviates from this path, can he say: I have deviated only a
quarter, fifth, seventh or tenth of the way? Certainly not. For as he leaves the path in the least, he has already
departed from the whole way.

If he does not wish to return, it will certainly be possible to assert that the single point on the way, where the
wanderer deviated from it, had removed the wanderer from the whole way.

And so it is with every single part of the Divine law. It will not be easy to find someone who would have terribly
sinned against every law, as this almost impossible. But it is enough if someone would sin at a point and then
insist. He thus departs from the whole law, and if he does not want it and the Lord does not want to help him, he
would never return to the way of the law or the Divine order. And so you may also be assured that most of the
evils of the world unfortunately probably originate from selfish and malicious misunderstanding, or rather from
the malicious distortion of the meaning of these last two Divine commandments.
But we have now also sufficiently revealed the ridiculousness and false interpretations of this commandment;
Therefore, let us proceed to the right meaning of this law, in which light you will all see these foolish things
incomparably brighter enlightened.

Chapter 96.

Reason for concealment of the actual meaning of the tenth commandment.

Here are some who have read the preceding saying: We are seriously curious about what this commandment
has for a proper permanent purpose, since every sense we have previously attached to this commandment has
irrevocably been drawn into the absurdly ridiculous as it was presented. We seriously would like to know who is
the "you", and also, the wife? For out of this commandment, nothing can be established with certainty. "You" may
well be anyone, but whether a woman can be understood by that is still uncertain. At best, the neighbor could be
more closely defined, especially if one takes that word in a broader sense, whereby then anyone who needs our
help is our neighbor. But the wife is causing the greatest dilemma;?because one does not know if a married
woman or a single person of the female gender is to be understood. Of course, it is written as singular and not
the multiple; but that does not make the matter any more specific. For if one accepts polygamy in any part of the
world, then obviously the simple number would have a new catch. For all this, we are all the more curious about
the true meaning of this commandment, in that the literal sense is everywhere wholly inconsistent.

And I say: So it is certain and clear that with the assumption of the pure external sense of the letter, only the
greatest nonsense can be represented, but never any established truth.

It will of course be said here: Yes, why did not the Lord immediately give the law so that it would not be obscure
for everyone, but appear quite open in the sense it actually exist and how it can be observed in that very sense?

This objection, at first sounds rather wise; but considered in the light, it is so stupid that one cannot easily
imagine something more stupid. But for all to easily see the extraordinary absurdity of this objection, as if one
would stand only a few miles away from the sun, and then suddenly see it up close - or like one who cannot see
the forest for the trees, so I will make some natural, very brief observations for this occasion.

Let us suppose that a so-called naturalist and botanist would like to ask for the convenience of his investigation:
Why did not the creative power of the highest Creator create the trees and plants in such a way that the inner
core is outside and the bark inside? It would be easy to observe the rising of the juice into the branches and
twigs and their reactions and other effects with a microscope? For it cannot have been the intention of the
Creator to put the thinking man on earth in such a position that he should never penetrate into the mystery of the
miraculous effects of nature. - What do you say to this desire? Is not it extremely stupid?

Suppose, however, that the Lord could be bribed by such a request and thus turn the trees and the plants inside
out - will not other naturalists come in immediately and say: What good is the consideration of the external core,
if we cannot discover the wonderful formation of the inner bark? What follows from this? The Lord would have to
submit Himself again now and fix the bark and the core on the outside of the tree in an incomprehensible way.
Suppose, however, that the Lord had really done so and the interior of the tree consists now only of wood. Will
not another naturalist at once announce a new need and say: Because the bark on the one side and the core on
the other, all the wonderful formation of the wood is now concealed.

Could not a tree be designed so that everything, core, wood and bark were exposed or at least be as transparent
as the air?

Whether one can make a tree with all of its countless many necessary organs as transparent as air or at least as
pure as water is what opticians and mathematicians should decide. By the way, whether any fruit will grow on
perfectly airy trees, may be experienced in the regions of the North Pole or South Pole. For there are sometimes
such phenomena that, as in the winter, crystalline ice-trees burst open on the glass windows in the way you do in
the winter, but there, in the air.

Whether figs and dates appear on these trees, has not yet been determined.

With regard to the trees, where everything, core, wood, and bark, should be exposed, you can be perfectly
assured that it would be just as easy to make a square ball as such a tree. I think that by this consideration, the
stupidity of the above objection should be as clear as the sun before the eyes. But to make the matter, as usual,
really excessive, let's add a few more considerations.

Let us suppose that when a doctor who has to study a great deal, and has already swallowed a whole heavy cart
full of erudition like a polyp, is called to a dreadfully ill patient, he is often at the sickbed, like a pair of newly-
tethered oxen on a steep mountain. The doctor is asked by the bystanders: How do you find the patient, what is
wrong with him? Will he be able to help?

At these questions the doctor makes a scholarly, but still very questionable embarrassed face and says: My
dears! Nothing can yet be determined; I must first proof the illness with a medicine. If there are any reactions, I'll
know what to think about it. But if no reactions occur here, then you must realize for yourself that someone
cannot look into our bodies to find out the location of the disease and its condition.

But somebody says somewhat laconically: Mister Doctor, our Lord God would have done better if He had
created man like the carpenter does a cabinet that you can unlock and see what is inside. Or the Creator should
have placed the more delicate parts, which can be so difficult to reach by means of the fingers, ears, eyes, and
nose outside, so that this part can be easily helped with a plaster, an ointment, or with an bandage. But it would
be best if He had either created man transparent as the water or He should not have made him with such life-
endangering parts, but should have made him overall more like a stone.

The doctor wrinkles his nose a little, but still speaks: Yes, my dear friend, that would be good and better, but it is
not the way you just expressed your wish. So we have to be content with it, if we are only able to depend on
experience regarding the inner state of health and illness of a person by means of experience. For if man were
also to open like a box, it would be much more perilous for every human being than it is, because only one little
awkward grasp on the inside could instantly take a life. And if one were also able to inspect the entrails through
such an opening, that would be of little use. The intestines and their fine organs would have to remain closed
since all vital juices and every life activity would cease at the opening of the organ. But as far as the external
positioning of the internal parts of the body is concerned, my dear, that would give the human form a most
unattractive sight. And if the human being were completely transparent, each would be frightened of the other,
for he would simultaneously see the skin- man, the muscular man, the vascular man, the nerve-man, and finally
the bone-man. That such a sight would not be inviting, you can imagine for yourself.

I think that in this consideration, the foolishness of the above objection will be more obvious to you.

But there is someone else who speaks: It is, of course, absurd to think of natural, material things, that their
internal things should at the same time make up their appearance. But the word in itself is neither a tree, nor an
animal, nor a human, but it is in and of itself spiritual, in that it bears nothing material in itself. Why should it be
like a tree or humans, or any incomprehensible inner meaning? Or how should this be possible considering the
already extraordinary simplicity and flatness of the word?

Well, I say, let's take the word "father". What does it mean? Is the word already the father himself, or does the
word signify a truly essential father, of whom this word is merely an external feature type? It will be said:
Obviously here the word is not the father himself, but only an external designation of it. Well, but then I ask:
What then must one understand under the word, so that one recognizes this word as an external, correctly
identifying type? Answer: The word must be a man of an appropriate age, married, having produced living
children with his wife, and then truly caring for them physically and spiritually.

Who can deny in the least that this rather stretched and exceedingly essential meaning must be contained in the
simple word "father," without which this word would not be a word?

But even if in external relations every simple word must permit a more inward explanation and dissection, how
much more must each external word have an internal spiritual sense, for everything which is signified by external
words, has in itself an inward spiritual power and activity. A father certainly has a soul and spirit. Will the word
properly describe the term "father" if it excludes the soul and the spirit? Certainly not, for the essential Father
consists of body, soul and spirit, that is to say, something external, internal and deep internal. If, then, the
essential Father is thus alive, then must not the word indicating the father, just as perfectly reflect as in a mirror
in the Word, the Father in its essence?

I think that a necessary inner sense of the word cannot be represented more completely and clearly. From this,
however, it can also be seen that the Lord, if He manifests His will in the world, cannot announce it to external
people according to His eternal Divine order, except only through external, pictorial representations, which then
is obviously supported by an internal one and an innermost sense. Through this, then, the whole man is supplied
with Divine love from his inward to his utmost.

But now that we have more than demonstrated the necessity and the certainty of such an institution, it will be an
easy matter to find the inner, true meaning of our law almost by itself; and as it is portrayed by me, at least to
recognize the incontrovertible, the only true and universal. - And so we go straight to such a presentation!

Chapter 97.

The inner, self-evident meaning of the tenth commandment.

The law therefore reads, as we already know it by heart: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife," or: Thou
shalt have no desire for thy neighbor's wife, which is one and the same thing. - Who is "the woman" and who is
the "neighbor"?

The woman is the love of every man, and the neighbor is every man with whom I come into contact wherever,
who is possibly in need of my help. If we know that, we basically know everything.

What does the commandment therefore say? Nothing other than: Every human being should not demand the
love of his neighbor for his own good;?for self-love is in and of itself nothing else than to attract the love of the
other for one's own enjoyment, but not having one spark of love to give back to him.

This is then the law in its spiritual sense. But one says:

Here it is evidently reproduced in the sense of the letter, which one might have pronounced in the beginning just
as well as now, whereby many aberrations would have been prevented. - But I say: That's correct, though. If one
splits a tree in the middle, the core also comes out, and one can look at it just as easily as you could the bark
before.

The Lord, however, has diligently veiled the inner sense in an outer, natural picture, so that this sacred, inward,
living sense should not be attacked and destroyed by any malevolent man, whereby then all the heavens and
worlds could be brought to the greatest harm. For this reason, the Lord also said: "Before the great and mighty
wise men of the world, it shall remain hidden, and be revealed only to the small, the weak, and the underaged.

This principle is already prevalent in the things of nature. Suppose that the Lord created the trees so that their
core and their main organs of life would be at the outside of the trunk? Say you yourselves, how many dangers
would a tree be exposed to, every second?

You know, if you deliberately or wantonly pierce a tree's inner core, it's done with the tree. If any evil worm gnaws
through the main trunk root, which is in close contact with the core of the tree, the tree dies.

Who is not familiar with the malicious so-called "bark beetle"? What does he do to the trees? He gnaws first on
the wood and eats here and there into the main organs of the tree and the tree dies. If, in this already well-
guarded manner, the tree is still exposed to so many dangers of life, to what extent would he be exposed if his
essential life-organs would be at the outside of the trunk?

See, it is just the same and unspeakably worse with the word of the Lord. If the inner meaning would be exposed
at the outset, then there would have been already for a long time no religion among men. They would have
gnawed and clawed at this inner, holy meaning of their lives as if on the outer bark of the tree of life. The inner
holy city of God would have been a long time ago so thoroughly destroyed that no stone would have remained
on the other, as they did with the old Jerusalem, and as they did it with the outer words, which only exist in the
literal sense.

For the word of God in its outward, literal sense as you have it in the Holy Scriptures before you, is so very much
different from the original text, as today's most wretched city of Jerusalem is different from the ancient
cosmopolitan city of Jerusalem.

All this displacement and fragmentation, and also abbreviation only in the external sense of the letter, is not
detrimental to the inner sense, because the Lord, through His wise providence, has created His order since
eternity as such, that one and the same spiritual truth would stay preserved undamaged among a great variety of
external images.

But the case would be quite different if the Lord had at once given the naked inner spiritual truth without a
protective outer covering. They would have destroyed this holy, living truth and destroyed it at their discretion,
and it would have been done with all life.

But because the inner sense is so obscured that the world can never possibly find it, life remains secure, even
though its outer garment is torn into pieces. And so, of course, the inner sense of the word sounds when it is
revealed, as if it were equal to the external sense of the word, and can also be expressed by articulated sounds
or words. But that does not confuse the issue in the least. For this reason, the inner, living, spiritual sense
nevertheless remains, and is recognizable in that it embraces the whole Divine order, while the picture
containing it, expresses only a special relationship which, as we have seen, can never have one general
meaning.

But just as the commandment just described in the picture, is but an external envelope, and how the inner sense
now announced to you is a truly inner, spiritual, and living one, I would like to clearly explain to you with a small
reflection.

The outer pictorial commandment is known; inwardly it says: Have no desire for the love of your brother or sister!

Why is this content and vital commandment here wrapped in the image of the not to be desired woman?

On this occasion, I only call your attention to a saying of the Lord Himself, in which He expresses Himself about
the love of man for a woman, since He speaks: "So a son will leave his father and his mother and cleave to his
wife".

What does the Lord mean by this? Nothing else than man's most powerful love in this world is that for his wife.
For what does man in his order love more in the world than his dear, good, honest wife? In the woman,
therefore, the whole love of the man is contained, just as, conversely, the woman in her order certainly loves
nothing more powerfully than the man who corresponds to her heart.

Thus, in this commandment, under the image of the woman, the whole love of the man or of man is in general
set, because the woman is in earnest nothing but an outer, tender covering of the love of the man.

Who can escape the explanation that under the picture, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife", as much is
said as: you shall not demand to your own advantage the love of your neighbor, and all other loves, because the
world as wife also includes the whole love of man in itself.

If you would consider it with more detail, you will even grasp it with your hands, that all the outer, known
vagueness of the external pictorial law are nothing but pure inner general determinations. How, we shall soon
see.

See, the "you" is indefinite. Why? Because in the internal sense, "everyone" is understood, regardless of male or
female gender. Likewise, the woman is indefinite, for it is not said whether an old or a young, whether one or
more, whether a girl or a widow. Why then indefinite?

Because the love of man is only one, and is neither an old nor a young woman, nor a widow, nor a single girl, but
she, as love, is singular in each man. For this, the neighbor should have no desire, because it is each person's
own life. Anyone who has an arrogant, envious, or avaricious desire for this love, is as a murderer of his
neighbor, seeking to seize upon his life or love to his advantage.

So the neighbor is indefinite too. Why? Because in the spiritual sense, "everyone" is understood, without
distinction of gender.

I think it should be quite clear to you that the inner sense that I have shown you is the only right one, for it
encompasses everything.

There may be some who, boasting from their lunar quarter-light, may object and say, If this is the case, then it is
not a sin for anyone to tempt or long after their neighbor's wife or daughter. I say: Oh, my dear friend! With this
assumption you have strongly lost your way into the blue.

Under the fact that you should not desire the love of your neighbor, and indeed all his love, is not understood
among "all that he carries as a life duty" in his heart? Behold, therefore, not only the wife and the daughters of
your neighbor in the commandment are deprived of your desire, but everything that is embraced by your
brother's love.

For this reason, the two last commandments were initially given as one commandment. They are only
distinguished by the fact that in the ninth commandment, the love of the neighbor is more singularly to be
respected, but in the tenth commandment the very same is given in the most inward sense, representing the
observation of respect in general terms.

That therefore also the desire of the wife and the daughters of the neighbor is forbidden, surely every man can
reach with his hands. It is the same than if you give someone a whole ox, you also give its extremities -

the tail, horns, ears, feet and so on. Or if the Lord would give a world to someone, then he will give him
everything that is on the same and not say: Only the inside of the world is yours, but the surface is Mine.

I think the matter cannot be made more clear to the understanding of man. We have now fully acquainted
ourselves with the inner, true meaning of this commandment, as it is eternally valid in all the heavens and
conditions the bliss of all angels, and we have met every possible objection. So we're done with that and want to
go straight to the eleventh illuminated hall in front of us. There we shall find everything that has been said so far
in the clearest light, summarised and confirmed in one point. - So we enter!

Chapter 98.

The Eleventh Commandment in the Eleventh Hall - The Love unto God.

We are already in this hall, and here in the middle of the hall, we also see a round tablet on a large, white, shiny
pillar. It shines like the sun, and in its center is written in ruby-red writing:

You shall love God your Lord above all, with all your mind and with all your life forces bestowed you by God.

In addition to this meaning-laden, beautiful solar tablet, we see, more than the usual number than in the other
halls, of already grown children who, as you may notice, soon look at the table, then talk with their teachers
again, and then soon become absorbed in themselves, their hands crosswise over their chests, standing like
statues. The whole scene already implies that this is something extraordinarily important.
Some may perhaps ask and say: Such would probably be expected. But if one looks at the matter in the correct
light, then this commandment written on the solar tablet will say nothing other than what all the previous
commandments have basically said together. Why, then, does this tablet here have to shine, while all the
preceding ten tablets were simply white and, as usual, described with a dark substance? This remark is not
without content. Nevertheless, it loses its value here, just as all other doctrines and claims against a single word
from the mouth of the Lord must necessarily lose their appearance.

It is the same situation as is authenticated every single day in the world in the great nature. Suppose how many
thousands and thousands of thousands of smaller and sometimes stronger and slightly larger lights shine down
from the high heavens to the dark earth every night. The moon itself is often active throughout the night. In
addition to these beautiful lights, at night, people on Earth light almost as many artificial lights.

With this abundance of lights upon lights, one would think that at nighttime on earth, it would be impossible to
bear the light. But experience has always shown that on the earth, after each sunset, it becomes darker as the
sun sinks below the horizon, despite the ever-increasing number of lights in the sky.

Who can say these lights are not gorgeous? Yes, a mediocre admirer of the wonders of God must, at the sight of
the starry sky at night, beat the breast and say: O Lord, I am not worthy to walk in this Your sanctuary, in this
infinite temple of Your omnipotence! Yes indeed, one can rightfully exclaim every night: O Lord! Who looks at
Your works, experience a vain desire for it!

Why then vain? Because every human being has reason enough for himself, out of sheer pleasure and bliss, to
be piously vain because He who created such marvels, is his Father!! Thus, everyone has, as it were, a sacred
right to rejoice when, one more night, he looks at the great wonders of his Almighty Father. And indeed, the
flame of a lamp, and that of the hearth, is no less a miracle of the almighty Father than the glorious radiance of
the countless stars of the heavens!

And look now, all of this marvelous admirable splendor is like the Old Testament word in all its parts.

We see a barely countable amount of larger and smaller lights in this old nocturnal sky. They radiate splendidly,
and whoever looks at them is always filled with a secret, holy reverence. Why? Because his spirit suspects great
things behind these lights. But they are still too far away from him. He can look and grab and feel, but the little
lights with their great content do not want to move closer to his inquiring spirit.

But who are these heavenly lights in the old heaven of the spirit?

See, it is all the patriarchs, fathers, prophets, teachers, and leaders of the people who are known to you by the
Spirit of God. - But on earth there are also a lot of artificial lights, who are they supposed to be in the Old
Testament? These are the worthy people who faithfully lived according to the words that came from the God-
saturated men, who throughout their lives enlightened and refreshed their neighbors.

So we have this wonderful night scene in front of us. It is true that the nocturnal local storms occasionally
obscure the rays of the sky, with clouds drifting rapidly away. But the same storm that once brought a fiery cloud
over the glorious star-spangled sky, exactly this storm drives this cloud away over the horizon, and after him the
firmament becomes purer than it was before. Everything becomes fearful at such a short-lasting storm and
wishes again for the quiet, glorious night, illuminated by so many thousands of lights. But a naturalist speaks:
Such storms are nothing but ordinary harbingers of the day, so one should not be afraid.

So it is true. For where large forces are set in motion, one can rightly conclude and say: Here an even greater,
even the greatest primordial force cannot be far away, for these lesser winds are nothing but side streams of a
not-so-distant great hurricane. So our naturalist is right and we are still refreshed by the wonderful splendor of
the miracle night.

Like lovers we swarm around under the many windows of the big, magnificent house, and look with imaginative
and longing chests up to the light-filled openings of the house, dimly lit by a night lamp, behind which we sense
the object of our love.

Many fantasies, a thousand content-heavy thoughts twitch like shooting stars over our love-heaven, but no such
fleeting ephemeral light will suffice to satisfy the thirst of our love.

As such do people wander in the old night sky of the spirit. But what happens? At the rising of the sun the
horizon begins to redden. It gets brighter and brighter over the horizon of the rising. Another glimpse of the once
so beautiful sky, and what do you see? Nothing but the disappearance of one star after the other.

The sun, the glorious one, rises with its primeval daylight, and no star in the sky is visible anymore, for the one
sun has enlightened every heavenly atom with its singular light, which at night all those innumerable stars
together could not manage to do.

For the tarrying lover, who had raved in vain all through the night, one window of the for him very meaningful
house opens, and from this one window the longed-for object of his heart greets him, and tells him with a
benevolent glance, more than all his innumerable fantasies and thoughts during the night!

Thus we see every day in the great nature, a scene that corresponds perfectly to our spirituality.

The moon, like Moses, we see with diminishing and pale light dipping behind the evening mountains, when the
mighty sun rises in the morning over the horizon. Whatever had been shrouded in the night in the most
mysterious darkness, is now brightly lit before everyone's eyes!

All this is the effect of the sun. And in the spiritual heaven, it is all the effect of the One Lord, the One Jesus, who
is the only One God of heaven and of all worlds!

What He Himself is in Himself as the Divine sun of all suns, that is also every single word spoken out of His
mouth against all countless words from the mouth of enthusiastic patriarchs, fathers and prophets. Countless
exhortations, laws and regulations we see in the course of the Old Testament. These are stars and also artificial
lights of the night. But then the Lord comes, speaks only one word - and this word outweighs the whole Old
Testament.

And, for that very reason, this first word appears here in this eleventh hall as a self-luminous sun, whose light
illuminates innumerable stars, but it never lasts forever to make use of the counter-reflection of the stars. For it is
the primeval light from which all the countless stars have taken their partial light.

And so it will certainly be understandable here, too, why the former ten erected tablets are only white, that is with
a dull shimmer, whereas here we see the primordial sunlight, which requires no pre-light and no after-light, but it
is all light in itself.

Whoever takes this to heart to a certain extent will fully understand why the Lord has said, "In this
commandment of love are Moses and all the prophets." It is certainly as much as said, as one would of course
like to say: In the daylight, therefore, one no longer sees the stars and no longer needs their light, because all
their light gets completely overpowered by the single light of the sun. But how through this here the full truth
presents itself palpably, you will see in the sequel.

Chapter 99.

Love of God as the primordial material of all creatures.

The love of God is the primitive substance of all creatures, for without them nothing could ever have been
created. This love corresponds to the all-enlivening and generating warmth, and only through this warmth do you
see the earth become green under your feet.

Through heat, the rigid tree becomes leafy, flowering, and the warmth in its essence is what ripens the fruit on
the tree. There is no creature or thing on the earth's surface at all which could take its origin in the total lack of
heat.

It will be said and argued that ice surely lacks all warmth, and especially the polar ice. With that, the heat will not
be able to do much, because at near forty degrees below zero, one would like to know the heat measuring
instrument that could measure some heat there. But I say nothing else than that the scholars of this earth have
not yet invented an instrument with which they are able to discern the actual heat from the actual cold matter and
precisely determine it. With us, who are in the inner pure knowledge, a completely different measure is
introduced and in use.

The scientists of the earth begin with the measurement of cold, where water freezes. If at freezing point the
actual cold begins, then I would like to know the reason, according to which laws or in which way cold then can
increase? Why is a temperature of about four to five degrees below the so-called ice-point still tolerably
bearable? But when the thermometer has dropped to eighteen degrees below, everyone will feel the cold very
painfully. One cannot say with full rights here: Eighteen degrees of cold are therefore more sensitive than four
degrees, because at four degrees, apparently more heat than at eighteen degrees prevails. Can one now accept
eighteen degrees as complete coldness? Oh no, because you've already experienced thirty degrees of
coldness. This was even more painful than the eighteen-degree one. Why? Because it contained far less heat
than eighteen degrees. But forty degrees will be even more painful than thirty. But is it therefore justified to
declare the forty degrees as completely void of heat?

But I want to tell you that this is nothing but transitions from heat to cold, and vice versa. Therefore one can
accept this much more correct scale:

Every thing, every body that can still be heated, cannot be called completely cold, for the amount of heat it is
capable to absorb, corresponds with its size and density. A lump of ice from the highest north can be melted by
the fire and the water brought to boiling point. If this ice had no inherent heat, it could never be heated.

Cold is therefore the property of a being in which there is no longer any warming capacity. Thus, one can
justifiably attribute the formation of ice on the North Pole solely to the reaction of heat, where it is threatened by
the cold, seizing, contracting and solidifying its bodies so that they can resist the actual cold.

Warmth is therefore equal to love, but the real cold is like the real hellish lovelessness. Wherever it wants to
appear ruling, the all-enlivening and sustaining love arms itself against her, and the real cold, which kills
everything, cannot win any victory from the love thus armed.

After that, what does "love God above everything" mean? Of course, it cannot possibly mean something other
than:

Combine your God-given warmth of life with the original creative and preserving warmth of your Creator, and you
will never lose your life.

But if you want to voluntarily separate your love or your warmth of life from the Divine primordial warmth of life,
and want to exist as an independently ruling being, your warmth will have no more sustenance.

You will thereby move into an ever greater degree of cold. And the deeper you go down into the ever more
powerful, colder degrees, the harder it will be to warm you up again. But if you have gone into the perfect cold,
then you have fallen completely prey to Satan, where you are so cold that no more warming is possible!

What then would happen to you, no angel of the heaven would know one syllable to tell you.

In God, of course, are infinite depths. But who will be able to fathom these and keep his life?

I think that from this short discussion, one can already quite clearly begin to form an idea of why this
commandment, this one word of the Lord, is the epitome, indeed a sun of all suns and a word of all words. In the
following instance, we want to talk more about it.
Chapter 100.

What does it mean to love God above all else?

I see one who comes and speaks: It would be all right, but how should one realize this one Divine word to God
Himself? How could one truly love God, and above all else? Should one be so in love with God as a young
bridegroom with his beautiful and rich bride? Or should one be in love with God, like a mathematician with a
mathematical calculation or an astronomer with his stars? Or should one be in love like a speculator with his
commodity, or a capitalist with his money, or a sovereign with his dominions, or even like a ruling monarch with
his throne? These are the only possible standards of serious human love, for the children's love of their parents
cannot be properly established as a serious measure of love, as the example teaches that children can leave
their parents to either build a good marriage or to gain much money or to take a high honorary position. With all
this, the love of the children returns to their parents and must necessarily take a more powerful place. Therefore,
only the most powerful standards of human love are given here, and then it is asked, by which one should one
actually measure the love of God?

But if somebody comes and says: Like this or that, I say: friend! That cannot be.

It is true that the most powerful measures of love I have quoted are probably the only ones according to which
man's greatest power of love can be measured; but when it is said that one should love God above all, that
wants to say as much as: more than anything in the world.

So, how does one begin to raise love unto a power of which no human spirit can form any measurable or
comparable concept? One will say, for example, that one should love God even more than his own life. Here I
say in objection: With the love of one's own life, the highest love for God holds out even less of a comparison
than with the love of the children for their parents. Because it is already well known that the children do not risk
their lives out of love for their parents; on the contrary, they expect of the parents to fight for them for life and
death.

The self-love of children is usually far more powerful than their love towards their parents. But we see, on the
other hand, that the children of men often put their lives on the line for the sake of other benefits.

One is sailing across the ocean on stormy nights, another is facing the line of fire of the enemy's army, and a
third often goes to the unstable abysses of the earth to fetch metallic treasures. And so we see that these
external worldly-earnest standards of human love are certainly stronger and have a more general applicability
than children's love for their parents and the love of their own lives.

But of what use are all these standards, if far above them, the love for God should stand on such a level, against
which all other love measures should sink back into pure nothingness? See, my dear friends and brothers, our
objector has attacked us sharply, and we will have to stand up with much vigor in order to win against the
opponent's overweight.

But I just see a very serious-looking opponent again. This one is sure of his victory and says: Oh, we will deal
with this objector soon, because the Lord has even given us the explicit standard of how to love God.

Therefore, I need say nothing other than what the Lord Himself has said, namely, "He who keeps my
commandments, it is he who loves Me." - This is the actual measure of how to love God.

If the objector has enough sharp and strong teeth, he should still try to set up some other unbeatable measure.
Good, I say, the objector is still around and makes an effort to bite the bit with this objection. So we want to listen
to him and see what he's going to say. He speaks:

Good, my dear, friendly opponent! In the presentation of your objection, you have shown to me according to your
measure of the highest love of God, nothing but that you have a fairly good memory, by quoting so many texts
from the Holy Scriptures. But see, whoever wants to receive life from all the texts, not only has to know them, but
should also be able to vividly perceive their meaning.
What would you say, if I spoke to you from the mouth of the Lord Himself, not just one, but several objections to
it, according to which the Lord Himself presents the love from the fulfillment of the law as insufficient? Although
you make a face now, as if you want to say: Such texts should probably be sparsely scattered in Scripture. But I
say to you: Dear friend, not at all. Just listen to me, I want to bring you half a dozen, if you want it.

Are you aware of the Lord's talk with the rich youth? Does not he ask: "Master, what shall I do to win eternal
life?" What does the Lord answer?

You speak triumphantly: The Lord says, "Keep the commandments and love God, and you will live!" Good, I say,
but what does the youth say? He says, "Master, I have kept that since my childhood."

That’s all right. But why, I ask, did the boy give this answer to the Lord? He wanted to tell him this: Although you
have kept all this from your childhood, you still feel nothing of the wonderful eternal life in Me.

Why does the Lord then not explain to the youth the attitude of the commandments for the attainment of eternal
life as sufficient, but at once makes a very tremendous addition, saying, "So sell all your goods, distribute them
among the poor, and follow Me!

Question, if the Lord thus makes such an addition, are the observation of the laws then the highest love for God?
See, there's a catch, but let's move on!

What does the Lord say to His apostles and disciples when He introduces and preaches to them the duties to be
fulfilled? He speaks nothing but the simple, very meaningful words: "But if you have done all things, confess that
you are lazy and useless servants.

I ask you now: does the Lord here explain the obedience to the commandments as sufficient, while He evidently
declares that every man who completely fulfills the law should consider himself completely useless?

See, there is already a second, even greater problem. But let us continue!

Do you know the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector in the temple? The Pharisee joyfully gives himself the
faithful testimony before the sanctuary, that he, unlike many others, has fully fulfilled the law of Moses in all its
aspects. The poor publican in a remote corner of the temple, by his immensely humble position, faithfully shows
to every observer that he did not manage to fulfill the conditions of the Mosaic Law, for he dare not even to look
up to the sanctuary of God due to his many sins, but confesses even its worthlessness before God and pleads
for mercy and grace.

Surely I would like to know about you, my dear literal friend, why, if the law is sufficient, the Lord here lets the
Pharisee, who strictly observe the whole law, stay unjustified and lets the poor, sinful publican go from the
temple justified?

See, if you look at this in the right light, it seems as if the Lord Himself has created a third great problem with the
strict observance of the law. You now shrug and do not know what you should make of it. Do not worry about it, it
does become even better! So just continue.

What would you say, if I would quote to you from the Scriptures, and indeed from the mouth of the Lord Himself,
a text according to which He indirectly invalidates the whole law and sets for it a completely different aid, through
which He alone guarantees the acquisition of eternal life?

You speak now: Good friend, I also want to hear this text. Shall have him soon, my dear friend! What does the
Lord say when He found a child by the wayside, picked him up, pressed him to His heart and cuddled him? He
says: "If you do not become like this child, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven!"

Question: Did this child, who had barely spoken a few words, ever study the laws of Moses and then strictly
arranged his life accordingly?

There is no person in the world so stupid who could say that. Question: How could the Lord here, as the
supreme motive for the gaining of eternal life, designate a child who had never dealt with the law of Moses ever
before?

Friend, I'll say nothing more than this: try to raise an objection against this. You are silent. So I see that with your
lineup you have already retreated quite low into the background with this fourth problem.

Chapter 101.

What is the love unto God?

You have seen in these four points that the Lord, on the one hand, does not present the sole obedience to the
law for the attainment of actual eternal life as sufficient and, in the fourth point, even indirectly abolishes it.

But what would you say, if I would like to give you a few instances where the Lord even spoke rebukingly of the
observance of the law? You say here: That will probably not be possible! For that, I can offer you not just one,
but, as you wish, several examples. Hear!

Anyone who has studied the Mosaic Law only to some degree must know how much Moses commanded
hospitality to the Jewish people. Those who turned against hospitality were declared worthy of punishment
before God and before men. The law of hospitality was all the more intensified for the Jewish people, who were
very prone to greed, in order to protect this people from self-love and greed, and to lead them to charity.

The law, therefore, was to receive and serve a foreign guest with all attentiveness, especially if he belonged to
the Jewish nation; and this law was from God; for God, not Moses, was the Lawgiver.

But when the very same Lord, who had once given the laws through Moses, comes to Bethania in the house of
Lazarus, Martha is law-abiding and offers all her strength to serve this most worthy guest with due respect. Mary,
her sister, forgets about the law out of sheer joy in the exalted guest, sits down idly at His feet and listens with
the utmost attention to the stories and parables of the Lord. Martha, somewhat aroused by her sister's inaction
and oblivion of the law on this occasion, turns herself eagerly to the Lord and says, "Lord! I have so much to do,
would you bid my sister to help me a little! "Or, more clearly, Master, You, the Founder of the Mosaic Law, do
remind my sister to be obedient.

What is the Lord talking about here? "Martha, Martha!" He says, "you're worried about worldliness! Mary has
chosen the better part, which will never be taken from her.

Tell me now, my dear friend, whether this is not an obvious censure of the Lord against the zealous and exact
observance of the law, but, on the contrary, an extraordinary commendation of the person who, to a certain
extent, does not care about the whole law, but rather says through her actions (Maria):

Lord, if I only have You, the whole world is not worth a stater to me!

Does the Lord not here again show that the observance of the law alone does not give anyone the better, even
the best part, which would never be taken from him? See, that is a fifth problem. But go on!

What does the Lord Himself say to Moses, in the third commandment, "Thou shalt sanctify the Sabbath"?
Question, what does the Lord Himself do in the face of His literal fulfillers of the law? See, He goes forth and
desecrates the Sabbath Himself, apparently according to the literal sense of the law, and even allows His
disciples to reap ears of corn on a sabbath day, and to fill themselves with the grains. How do you like this
observance of the law of Moses, where the Lord Himself, as it were, does not only desecrate the whole Sabbath
only for Himself, but to the greatest annoyance of the literal law-enforcers? You will say that the Lord could do
that, because He is also a Lord of the Sabbath.

Good, but I ask: Did the angry Pharisees know that the carpenter's son was Lord of the Sabbath? You think they
should have recognized His miracles. But then I say: marvels were not enough for these people to discern the
perfect divinity in Christ, for all the prophets worked miracles at all times, the true as well as sometimes the false
ones. One cannot therefore assume that the miracles of Christ should have convinced the Pharisees of His
Divinity and glory.

But all the prophets, except for Him, sanctified the Sabbath. He alone overthrew it. Would that not have been a
nuisance to the literal law-abiders? Certainly, and yet the Lord did not stop with His activity.

But what does it mean? Nothing other than that the Lord sets the observance of the law only at the very bottom.
Why? A little parable out of your own sphere, as of the sphere of every man who has ever lived in the world, is to
bring you the answer:

A father has two children. He has announced his will as law to these children. He showed them a field and
vineyard and said, "You have become strong, and so I demand of you that you diligently work for me in the
vineyard and the field. From your work I will know which of you loves me the most." Well, that is the law,
according to which, of course, to the son who loves the Father most, would be given more glory by the Father.

But what are the two sons doing? The one takes the spade and persistently tills the earth all day long and orders
the field and the vineyard. The other one is working at his leisure, as one would say. Why?

He says: When I am in the field or in the vineyard, I must always miss my dear father, besides, I am not as glory-
hungry as my brother. If only I have my dear father, if I can only be around him, who is everything in my heart, I
do not ask for much or for one or the other allotment of glory.

The father also says from time to time to his second son: but see how your brother works diligently and seeks to
earn my love. But the son says,

O dear father! When I am in the field, I am far from you, and my heart does not give me rest, but always speaks
aloud to me: Love does not live in the hand, but in the heart, therefore it does not want to do it with the hand, but
want to be earned by the heart. Give, father, my brother, who works so diligently the field and the vineyard. But I
am sufficiently provided for by you, if you will only allow me to love you to my heart's content at all times, as I
want and must love you, because you are my father, my all.

What will the Father then say, and that from the innermost depth of his heart? Certainly nothing other than:

Yes, my dearest son, you have revealed your heart to me; the law is just a test. But my son, love, is not in the
law, for everyone who keeps the law alone keeps it out of self-love in order to earn his love and glory with his
energy. But the one who keeps the law is still far from My love, because his love attached to Me, but to the
reward.

But because you have turned back, you did not disdain the law, because your father gave it, but you have risen
above the law, and your love has led you back to your father. So then your brother should come over the field
and the vineyard and enter into my glory; but you, my dearest son, shall have what you have sought, the Father
Himself and all His love!

I think, my dear friend, it will be obvious from this parable, what is more, that dry law only, or the overriding and
the embracing of love only.

If all is not completely clear to you yet, I ask you: if you had the opportunity to choose a bride out of two virgins of
whom you would be convinced that you both love each other, but you are not yet completely sure which one
loves you the most. Would not you very much wish to find out who does love you the most, to choose the one
who loves you most? You say: That's very clear, but how do find out? That we'll have at once.

See, you come to the first one. She is busy and active. Out of love for you, she does not mind all the hard work
she does for you, because she makes shirts, socks, nightgowns, and more such clothing for you. She has so
much to do, that not seldom, out of sheer business, is she hardly aware of you when you come to her. See,
that's the first one. - The second one works very casually. She also does things for you, but her heart is too busy
with you to give her attention to the work. If you visit her, and she sees you coming from far away, there is no talk
of working, because then she knows nothing higher, nothing more commendable than you alone! You alone are
her all in all, for you she would give all the world! Tell me which of the two will you choose?

You say: Dear friend! The second one is dearer to me, because what do I care about a few shirts and stockings?
Obviously it can be seen here that the first one seeks to earn me only by forcing me to acknowledge her merit.

The other, however, seeks to love me. She is beyond merit and knows nothing higher than me and my love. I
would take the second one for my wife.

Well, I tell you, my dear friend, do not you see clearly the nature of Martha and Mary here? Do you see what the
Lord is saying to the law-abiding Martha and what to the idle Mary?

But from this you can also see what the Lord demands of every human being beyond the law, and at the same
time tangibly reveals what man's love for God consists of. For just the very reason the Lord even cursed, excited
in His heart the literal observer of the law (the Pharisees and the scribes), praises the sinful publican, and makes
the kingdom of heaven more accessible to the thieves, whores, and adulterers than the dry slaves of the letter.

Therefore I ask the objector now with the fullest right once again, according to which measure one should love
God above everything? If I have the measure, then I have everything, but if I do not have the measure, then I
love as one who does not know what love is. So again the question:

How should one love God above all else? And I, John, say: To love God above all means:

To love God beyond all law! How to, shall be made clear next.

Chapter 102.

How to love God above all else.

But in order to know and understand thoroughly how to love God beyond the law, one must know that the law in
and of itself is nothing but the dry way to the true love of God.

He who begins to love God in his heart, has already traveled the way;?but whoever loves God only by the
attitude of the law, is still with his love a traveler on the way, where no fruit grows and not infrequently robbers
and thieves of the wanderer wait.

But whoever loves God purely, loves Him above all else! For to love God above all means to love God beyond all
law. Whoever is out of the way, must go on step by step, in order to reach in the most painstaking manner the
goal set for him. But he who loves God fully, skips the whole way, that is, the whole law, and he loves God above
all else.

But whoever loves God purely, loves Him above all else! For to love God above all means to love God beyond all
law. Whoever is out of the way, must go on step by step, in order to reach in the most painstaking manner the
goal set for him. But he who loves God fully, skips the whole way, that is, the whole law, and he loves God above
all else.

But I say: Is not everything explained by the given law, how man has to behave in his desire for worldly things?
All things are therefore represented in the law, and besides, for the love of man, there is given the just limitation
according to which every man has to behave towards worldly things.

But if somebody loves God beyond the law, he certainly loves him beyond all worldly things, because, as I have
just said, the use of worldly things and the attitude to them according to the Divine order are represented by the
law. A short supplement in a comparative position will make the whole thing as clear as daylight.
The Lord speaks to the rich youth: "Sell everything, divide it among the poor, and follow Me!" - What does that
mean? In other words, if you, young man, have observed the law, then rise above it, return all laws and all things
to the world, and you stay with Me, then you have the life!

Who will not know here what God means to love beyond the law?

The Lord continues to speak to the disciples: "If you do not become like little children, you will not enter the
kingdom of God." What does that mean? Nothing other than:

If you are not like this little child, not respecting everything in the world, neither the law nor the things of the
world, coming to Me and taking Me like this child with all love, you will not enter into the kingdom of God! Why
not? Because the Lord Himself speaks again: "I am the way, the truth, and the life!" So whoever comes to Me,
who is completely one with the Father, must enter through Me into the fold or the kingdom of God.

As long as one does not embrace the Lord Himself, he cannot come to Him, even if he had, like a rock, observed
a thousand laws without fail.

For whoever is still on the way is not yet with the Lord, but who is with the Lord, what does he have to do with
the way any more?

But here among you there are fools, and many hundreds of thousands, who hold the way much higher than the
Lord. And when they are already with the Lord. They turn back and move away from Him, to be on the wretched
way!

Such people enjoy subjection, slavery, and the hard yoke more than the Lord, who makes every man free. His
yoke is exceedingly light and His burden is gentle. Light is the yoke, so that in the course of your life, your love
for the Lord will not press your neck, and even gently the burden, which is the sole law of love! Next we will look
at an example.

The just Pharisee praises himself by the wayside; but the tax collector finds the whole way very difficult.
Because; he is never able to oversee his goal. He therefore bows down deeply before the Lord in his heart,
realizes his weakness and inability to walk the path conscientiously. But he embraces God the Lord with his
heart and thereby makes a great leap over the whole arduous way and thereby reaches his goal!

Who will not reach out with his hands, which means "to love the Lord above all things"? So let's move on. The
Martha is on the way, the Maria at the goal! Here you hardly need to say more about it, for it is obvious and clear
here what "loving the Lord above all things" means.

But if we want to make the matter clearer, let us look at the scene where the Lord asks Peter three times
whether he loves Him? Why does He ask him three times? For the Lord knew anyway that Peter loved Him, and
He also knew that Peter would answer all three of the same questions to Him with the same heart and the same
mouth. The Lord knew that. It is not for this reason that He asked this question to Peter, but that Peter should
confess that he is free and loves the Lord beyond all law. And so the first question means: "Peter, do you love
Me" -

Peter, did you find Me on the way? Peter affirms this, and the Lord speaks: "Feed my sheep"! that means: Teach
also the brothers to find Me!

The second question: Peter, do you love Me? means: Peter, are you with Me, are you at the door? Peter affirms
this, and the Lord says, "So feed My sheep!" Or: So bring the brethren to be with Me at the door to life! And for
the third time the Lord asks Peter: "Do you love Me?" That means as much as: Peter, are you beyond all law?
Are you in Me like I am in you?

Peter apprehensively affirms this, and the Lord speaks again: "So feed My sheep and follow Me!" That means as
much as: So you also bring the brothers, that they are in Me and live in My order and love the same as you.

Because following the Lord means living in the love of the Lord. I think to say again, "to love God above all
things", would be superfluous.
And since we now know this and have recognized the Light of lights, we will immediately go to the twelfth and
last hall.

Chapter 103.

The Twelfth commandment in the twelfth hall - Love unto the neighbor.

Here we are in the midst of this great and splendid hall, again with a sun tablet, and written in the midst of it with
red-lettered writing: "This is equal to the first, that you love your neighbor as yourself; therein is the law and the
prophets." Now, someone can immediately rise and say: How should this be understood: love one's neighbor as
oneself? The oneself or self-love is a vice, so the basis love of the neighbor can also be nothing more than a
vice; in this way, the charity so evidently has self-love or love-for-your-own as foundation. If I want to live as a
virtuous man, I must not love myself. But if I am not allowed to love myself, then I am not allowed to love my
neighbor because the love relationship with my neighbor should correspond to the self-love as perfectly identical.
According to this, one would not love one's neighbor as one loves oneself because one should not love oneself
either.

See, that would be such an usual objection, which certainly would not be too difficult to meet. Since the self-love
of man is as much as one's own life itself, natural self-love is self-evident in this degree, for having no self-love
means having as much as no life!

It is therefore a matter of recognizing the difference between just and unjust self-love.

Self-love is "just" if it has no greater desire for the things of the world than what the right measure of the Divine
order has assigned to it, which measure was adequately shown in the seventh, ninth, and tenth commandments.
If self-love demands beyond this measure, then it transcends the definite limits of the Divine order and can
already be regarded as sin at the first crossover. According to this standard, therefore, charity must be divided;
for if someone loves a brother or a sister beyond this measure, he commits idolatry with his brother or sister and
does not make him better, but worse.

The fruits of such excessive charity are for the most part all the present and all-time rulers of the peoples. How
come? Some people have loved one out of their midst because of his more brilliant talents over the just
measure, made him the ruler over themselves and afterwards had to let them be punished by him or by his
descendants for this vice.

It will be said here: But there do have to be kings and princes to guide the nations after all, and they are
instituted by God Himself. I will not directly oppose that, but I want to shed light on how it is and what it should be
like, I will describe with this opportunity.

What does the Lord say to the Israelite people when they required a king? Nothing other than: "To all the sins
that this people has committed before Me, it has added even the greatest, that, dissatisfied with My guidance, it
demands a king." - From this sentence, I think, can be sufficiently proved that the kings are given by God out of
the people not as a blessing, but as a judgment.

Question: Are kings necessary at the side of God to guide humanity?

This question can be answered with the same answer as another question, which is: Did the Lord have need of
any helper in the creation of the world and in the creation of man?

Question: Which kings and princes, at any time and how present, help the Lord to preserve the worlds in their
order and guide them on their paths? What duke does He need for the winds, which prince for the emanation of
the light, and which king for the surveillance of the infinite space of the world and of the sun? But if the Lord can
gird Orion without humanly princely and royal support, to feed the Big Dog, and to keep the great world and solar
people in the most unerring order, should He need kings and princes among the people of this earth to help Him
in His business?

If we go back to the prehistory of every people, we shall find that every people was originally of a purely
theocratic constitution, that is, they had no other master over them than God alone. It was not until the time when
peoples became dissatisfied with the most free and liberal government of God, because they were too well off
among them, that they began to love each other excessively. And usually a man became special for the sake of
the general love of reward. He was required to be a leader. But the leader did not remain only a leader, for the
leader had to make laws, the laws had to be sanctioned, and so the leader became a lord, a lord, a patriarch,
then a prince, a king, and an emperor.

Thus, emperors, kings, and princes have never been chosen by God, but only confirmed to the judgment of
those who, by their free will, have chosen such emperors, kings, and princes from among them, and have given
them all power over them.

I think that this illumination will suffice to realize that any excess of both self-love and charity before God is an
abomination.

To love one's neighbor as oneself, means to love one's neighbor in the given Divine order, that is to say, in that
just measure, which is assigned by God to each person from the beginning. If you do not yet understand this
thoroughly, I will add a few examples by which you can clearly see the consequences of this, as well as other
excesses.

Suppose a millionaire lives in some village. Will this make the village happy or will it bring disaster? We want to
see. The millionaire sees that the public money banks are staggering; what does he do? He sells his bonds and
buys realities, goods. The sovereign to which he used to be only a subject is, as usual, in great need of money.
Our millionaire is approached to lend capital to the ruler. He does it for good percentages and on the safe
mortgage of domination itself. His neighbors, the other villagers, also need money. He lends it to them without
decency on land register entry. This situation lasts for several years. The ruler becomes ever poorer and the
village neighbors no wealthier. What happens? Our millionaire first seizes the rule, and the ruler, not in the
possession of even a penny anymore, must be at mercy and disgrace, gets at the most out of sheer
magnanimity a travel allowance, and our millionaire becomes ruler and at the same time lord over his neighbor
indebted to him. These, because they are unable to pay him either capital or interests, are soon appraised and
seized.

Here we have the natural consequence of the happiness which a millionaire or an owner of the excess of self-
love has prepared for the villager. There is nothing more to say about it. - Let's go over to the second case.

There lives somewhere a very poor family. They barely have enough to manage her daily miserable life. A very
rich and rarely charitable man gets to know this poor, but otherwise good and respectable family. He, in the
possession of several millions, takes pity on this family and thinks to himself: I want to make this family truly
happy all in one blow. I want to give them an estate and a fortune of half a million. At the same time, I want to
have the pleasure of seeing how the faces of this poor family will cheer up. He does as he have decided. For a
whole week, the family did nothing but shed tears of joy, even to the dear Lord God is spoken out many a "Thank
You, God".

But only about a year later, when we consider this happy family again, we will discover all the luxuries as it is
always at home in the homes of the rich. At the same time, this family became more and more hard-

hearted and will now seek to avenge secretly on all those whom who did not want to see them in their distress.
The "Thank God" will disappear, but for it equipage, liveried servants and the like is introduced.

Question: Has this great excess of charity benefited or harmed this poor family? I mean, here you do not need a
lot of words, you just have to reach for all the luxuries with your hands, and you'll find out what benefits this
family has received for eternal life through an excess of charity. But from this it becomes evident that charity and
self-love must always remain within the bounds of the just Divine measure of law.

If the man loves his wife excessively, then he will spoil her. She becomes vain, will appreciate herself and
becomes a so-called coquette. The man will scarcely have enough hands to reach out everywhere to satisfy the
demands of his wife.

Even a bridegroom, if he loves his bride too much, will make her audacious and in the end, unfaithful.

So the just measure of love is needed everywhere. Nevertheless, charity is something quite different from what
we have come to know. But in what is internal and spiritual charity, we want to learn clearly in the course of this
communication.

Chapter 104.

What is true love unto the neighbor?

In order to know the foundation of the real true "love unto your neighbor" consists of, one must first know and
thoroughly understand who really is a neighbor. Therein lies the main knot buried. One will say: how should one
understand that? For the Lord Himself, as the sole representative of charity, has nowhere more detailed
provisions. When the scribes asked Him who the neighbor was, He merely showed them in a parable who was a
neighbor to the well-known, unfortunate Samaritan, namely a Samaritan himself, who took him to the inn and
poured oil and wine into his wounds.

From this, however, it emerges that unfortunate people only have in certain circumstances "neighbors" to be
their benefactors, and are therefore, conversely, the "neighbors" to their benefactors. So, if there are neighbors
only in these circumstances, what neighbors would ordinary people have, who neither have to endure even a
misfortune, nor at any time be able to help a victim? Is not there a more general text that describes the neighbor
closer? For in this case only the highest distress and on the other side a great wealth, paired with a good heart,
are contrasted as being neighbors to each other.

We therefore want to see if such broader texts do not exist. There would be one, and that is, "Bless those who
curse you, and do good to your enemies!"

That would be a text from which it can be clearly seen that the Lord has greatly extended charity by not even
excluding the enemies and those who curse you.

Another text reads, "Make friends with unjust Mammon." - What does the Lord mean by that? Nothing else than
that man should not miss any opportunity to do good to his neighbor. He only allows in the external sense, a
public seizing of the goods of a rich man, if it would help many, or at least several needy, but only in the highest
emergency.

Further, we find a text where the Lord says: "Whatsoever ye do good to one of these poor in My name, ye have
done to Me." This sentence is confirmed by the Lord in the presentation of the "most recent" or spiritual
judgement, when He says to the elect: "I came naked, hungry, thirsty, sick, imprisoned, and without a roof or a
shed, and you received Me, cared for Me, clothed Me, saturated Me and quenched My thirst"; and for the
rejected ones, that they did not do so. The good ones apologized as if they never did it, and the wicked, as if
they would have done so I He would have come to them. The Lord then clearly says:

"Whatever you did or did not do to the poor in My name, you did to Me."

From this text, the true charity is already quite clearly highlighted, and it will be shown who are therefore the real
neighbor.

But we want to look at a text. So this one reads: "If you prepare a banquet there will be no invitations for those
who can repay you with a reciprocal party. You will not have a reward in heaven for that, for you have received
such in the world. But if you invite the needy, lame, brash, in every way poor people, who cannot repay you, you
will have your reward in heaven. So also lend your money to those who cannot repay you, so you will store up
reward for the heavens. But if you lend your money to those who can repay you and with interest, then you have
your reward here. If you give alms, then do so silently, and your right hand should not know what the left does.
And your Father in Heaven, who sees in secret, will bless and reward you in heaven!"

I mean, from these texts one can almost grab with the hands, who the Lord regard to be the actual neighbor.
That's why we want to see what meaning it contains.

Everywhere we see that the Lord only putting poor people over against the wealthy. Why? Nothing other than
that the poor are designated and placed before the wealthy as the true neighbor of the Lord, and not rich over
against rich and poor over against poor. The rich over against the rich can only consider themselves as
neighbors if they unite for equally good, God-pleasing purposes. However, the poor are also one another's
neighbors, if they also join together as much as possible in patience and in love for the Lord as well as brotherly
among themselves.

The first degree of charity thus always remains between the wealthy and the poor, and between the strong and
the weak, and is in the same proportion as that between parents and children.

But why should the poor to the wealthy, the weak to the strong, and the children to the parents be considered the
closest of neighbors? For no other than the following simple reason than that the Lord, as the closest to every
man, according to His own expression, preferably represents Himself in the poor and weak as in the children of
this world. For He Himself speaks: "Whatsoever ye do to the poor, ye have done to Me!" - If you do not always
have Me personally in your midst, then you will always have the poor (as the Lord wanted to say)as My perfect
representatives among you.

So the Lord also says of a child: "He who receives such a child in My Name will receive Me."

From all this, however, it is clear that men have more or less to consider each other according to their degree of
"neighbor," the more or less they are filled with the Spirit of the Lord. But the Lord does not give his Spirit to the
rich of the world, but only to the poor, the weak and the secular. The poor man is thereby more and more filled
with the Spirit of the Lord, because he is poor, for poverty is a major part of the Spirit of the Lord.

Those who are poor, resemble the Lord in their poverty, while the rich cannot. They do not know the Lord. But He
knows the poor. Therefore the poor should be the neighbor to the rich, to which they, the rich, must come if they
want to approach the Lord; for the rich cannot possibly regard themselves as the neighbor of the Lord. The Lord
Himself has shown the infinite gap between Him and them in the story of the rich glutton. Only the poor Lazarus
He places in the bosom of Abraham, so as to be close to Him, the Lord.

Thus, even at the event of the rich youth, the Lord showed who should be his neighbor before he could come
again to the Lord and follow him. And everywhere the Lord represents the poor as well as the children as one's
neighbor, or even as His formal representatives. These are to be loved by the wealthy as well as they do
themselves, but those of their kind, they should not. For that is why the Lord said that this commandment of
charity is equal to the first, with which He would say nothing other than: What you do to the poor, you do to Me!

But that the rich should not consider each other as neighbour, is evident from what the Lord says, that the rich
should not invite the rich as their guests and lend their money to the rich, as well as from the fact that He did not
command the rich youth to distribute his goods among the rich, but among the poor.

But if some rich man wants to say: My closest neighbors are my children, I say: By no means! For the Lord took
only one poor child, who begged on the way, and said, "He who receives such a child in My name, he will
receive Me." The Lord never had anything to do with children of the rich.

For that reason, when the king cares anxiously for his children, he commits a very strong sin against charity. The
rich man cares best for his children by caring for a well-pleasing education, and not saving his fortune for his
children, but giving the greater part of it to the poor. If he does that, the Lord will take his children and will lead
them on the best way. If he does not do that, the Lord turns His face away from them, withdraws His hands, and
leaves already their tenderest youths to the hands of the world, that is, the hands of the devil, and they become
worldly children, worldly men, saying as much as, being devils themselves.

If you knew how down to the lowest, third degree of hell all family capital and especially the inalienable
inheritance are cursed by the Lord in the most terrible way, you would be frozen in terror and fear and your
hearts would become petrified like a diamond!

Hence all the rich, wherever they may be, should heed this as much as possible, avert their hearts as much as
possible from their riches, and thus, with the riches, do as much good as possible, if they want to escape eternal
inferno. For on the other side there is a twofold melancholy, a vast, gloomy place, from which only inconceivably
narrow paths lead, on which the wanderers fare not much better than the camel facing the eye of the needle. But
there is also an eternal hellish condition from which, as far as I know, there are no paths yet. So let the rich, as
well as anyone who possesses so much that he can still do something for the poor, take heed. But from this it is
now shown what the true charity consists of. Such it is also taught and practiced here in the sun. But how this
happens we will examine in more detail later.

Chapter 105.

Practical instruction about charity of the students in the hereafter.

You know that nowhere is anything to be done with merely theoretical knowledge and belief. What good is it for
someone to plague his head with a thousand theories? What good is it for somebody if he considers everything
to be true, what is written in the book of life? All this benefits one just as if someone had literally appropriated all
musical theories and had also come to the conclusion that, if he were to make use of theories in practice, he
would seriously produce the most eminent compositions, or at least become a virtuoso on one or the other
instrument. Question: Will he be able to compose any piece of some value by any of these fundamental theoretic
skills without the least practical skill? Or will he be able to either sing only the least part of a composition par
excellence or perform it on a musical instrument? Certainly not, because without practical exercises, no theory is
of any use.

It is the same as if there were some foolish father who, while caring for his child and training his mind, yet always
keep his feet bound together. Question: Will the child be able to walk, even though he saw others do it and would
have learned all feet and foot movements theoretically from a Spanish dance master? The first step he would
dare will turn out to be so uncertain, that this only theoretically educated child will immediately lie on the ground.

It is thus more than clear that knowledge only, without practice, is useless! For it is a burning chandelier in an
empty hall, the light which burns on its own and benefits no one. Accordingly, the actual exercise of what one
has recognized and knows is infallibly the main focus. Since action in the realm of the purest spirits is always a
matter of action, and the activity of charity is the chief principle of all spiritual activity, this commandment of
charity here is taught more practically than theoretically.

But how? These, as you see, grown-up students are taken with on all sorts of missions by the more
accomplished spirits, and especially the newcomers from the earth must learn to distinguish the true neighbor,
the less neighbor, and then the far-off. They must recognize how they have to behave towards their neighbors,
their neighbors and the distant ones.

As you know, the sense of pity of the youth is greater than that of the fixed manhood. Therefore it also happens
that these disciples receive everything they encounter with great sympathy and compassion.

They immediately want to push everybody into heaven, because they do not yet know from experience that
heaven grants only blessedness to the closest neighbors, but that the lesser neighbors and far-off ones are a
greater, even the greatest trouble. On these occasions, they first fully realize how true charity consists in giving
each being his freedom and grant him his own love.

For if you want to do something to someone other than what his love requires, you have not shown him any love
service. If one asks his neighbor for a robe, and the neighbor gives him a loaf of bread instead, will the petitioner
be satisfied with that? Certainly not, because he only asked for the robe, but not for the bread.
If someone goes into a house and asks for a bride and they give him a basket of salt instead of the bride, will he
be satisfied with that? And if somebody wants to make his way to a place to the north where he has a business,
but a friend has his wagon harnessed, take the businessman who wants to go north, and drive south with him,
he will be helped?

Therefore, before they can bring their charity into practical use, the spirits must first learn to exactly discern the
love of the spirits being brought on their way. When they have discerned this love, so also must be acted
according to this love.

He who wants to go to hell must have his escort there, for so is his love, without which there is no life for him.
And whoever wants to go to heaven must be given the guidance that, purified in the righteous ways, he can then
reach heaven fully qualified and there he can exist as a truly sanctified citizen.

But it is not enough to bring all spirits into one and the same heaven, but heaven must correspond to the love of
the spirit to the atom, for every other heaven will not be tolerated by a heavenly citizen, and he will suffer in it,
like a fish in the air.

For every man's love is the life element peculiar to him. If he does not find this, his life will soon be over.
Therefore, charity in the realm of pure spirits must be thoroughly and properly purified and formed before these
spirits are truly able to receive the newcomers, as well as to bring those who have long been in the spiritual
realm, into the truly blissful and living order of God.

The education and purification of this charity is therefore to explore and to recognize the mode of love in the
spirits, and then to recognize and understand the ways and how these spirits are to be led into the Divine order.

No spirit may ever be violated. His free will, together with his knowledge, determines the way, and the love of the
spirit determines the style and manner in which he is to be guided.

When the spirits first arrive at the place of their congenial love and behave malevolently there, then it is time to
interfere - but again only according to the nature of their wickedness.

And see, in everything concerning charity, our students are taught in the most practical way. Once they have
acquired a skill, they receive the ordination of perfection. They are then, for a fixed period of time, given to the
people living on the earth as guardian spirits, mostly for the purpose of practicing the true patience of the Lord on
this foundation. You would scarcely believe how difficult it is for such a heavenly spirit to be so condescending
with the stubborn people of this earth, that they never realize that they are accompanied by such a guardianship
in every way and are guided according to their love.

Indeed, it is no trivial matter, if one is equipped with all might and power and may not call fire from heaven as a
beginner, but must constantly watch, being conscious of his power and might, how the person entrusted to him,
is engaged in all sorts of filth of the world, forgetting the Lord more and more.

A most mischievous, utterly naughty little girl is like the highest heaven compared to the task of a guardian spirit
at the beginning of his mission. How many tears must they shed, for the extent of their influence may exist only
in the softest whisper into the conscience, or at most on extraordinary occasions, the prevention of certain
calamities inflicted by hell upon the earthly mortals. In everything else, they may not interfere.

But just imagine for a bit the often bitter lot of a so-called tutor or teacher, if he gets quite rough and playful
children to educate. Is not job of a woodcutter better? Sure, because the wood can be felled and split according
to the will of the woodcutter, but the rude child mocks the will of his master. But this condition is barely a shadow
against that of a guardian spirit whose person is either a miser, a thief, a robber, a murderer, a gambler, a whore,
and an adulterer. The guardian spirit must always passively observe such atrocities and must not counteract with
all his might in the least anticipatory manner. And if anticipation is permitted on some occasions, it must
nevertheless be so cleverly applied that the protégé is not in the slightest hindered in the sphere of freedom of
his will, but at most only in the actual execution of it.

See, this is the second practical business in which our holy students must practice in charity, and especially in
the patience of the Lord. But what happens to them after this exercise in patience, will be shown next.
Chapter 106.

Essence and consequences of vice.

John: “After our disciples are well trained in patience and return from their duty in this outer world, usually after
the decease of one of their entrusted persons they protected, they must stay near them as long as the natural
spiritual condition of a person’s deceased soul lasts here. At the moment of the unmasking or emptying by which
each spirit is simply left on his own, they return to the spiritual sun. Only from there they go to a new destiny. But
where? This is very easy to guess when one considers that our disciples had sufficient opportunity up till now to
practically observe and recognize the breaking of the law, first as disciples spiritually, scientifically and then as
spirit protectors.

The fact that after this understanding there is still a third, and after the third a fourth understanding, should be
clear to everyone who knows that the goal, that is reached with each evil, brings along certain consequences,
and it is only with this goal that the basis or main cause of the evil is recognized. For if one is still not aware of
the consequences of sin and completely realizes the cause of sin, then he is still not so free and firm to
sufficiently abhor sin. But once he realized that the consequence is the result of an unchangeable law and if he
recognized the cause that is behind it, only after that, by his free insight and his fee will, he will entirely become a
firm adversary of all the evil.

But where must our disciple go to realize this? They must travel through the Hells escorted by mighty and very
experienced spirits, and this from the first up to the last or lowest one. In the first and second one we can see the
consequences of evil and it is especially in the second one that the cause of evil becomes more and more
obvious within the still very visible consequences. Only in the third, lowest Hell they come to know the basis or
main cause of all evil.

Many can say: ‘The consequences and the cause are two points of a circle that come together in one and the
same spot, for no one will perform an action without wanting to realize the intended goal.

For if someone wants for instance to steal somebody’s money, then the love for the money and his selfishness
urged him to this action. This was certainly the reason of his actions. Once he stole the money, then this is
certainly the result of his action. But this was and is only the initial reason for the action itself that was carried
out.’

I say however: if you consider the matter from this point of view, then one will only commit treason regarding his
own understanding and by that he shows that he never understood the inner wisdom. That is why we will
immediately give a counterexample from which it will become clear that the consequence and the actual cause
of the action can be very different.

Before we give the example, we should make known a few principles that come from the divine order and in
which the consequence of every action has been determined from eternity, and in this the cause becomes visible
in accordance with the action.

The principles are as follows: every action has a correspondent consequence which is determined and
sanctioned by God Himself. This consequence is the unchangeable judgment that is connected to every action.

So it is determined by the Lord that every action will finally judge itself.

However, as only the Lord can be considered as the cause for every good action, so it goes for every bad action.
Every bad action has thus also always one and the same cause. These are the doctrines.

Now we will explain these with examples. Let us take a fornicator. As long as he lived he committed unrestrained
and ruthless lewdness.

Externally no one could see the consequences on him of the evil, for this cannot always be seen on the body.
Nevertheless, by his sinful actions this man degraded his spirit entirely as a coarse fleshly material love and by
that he materially and spiritually wasted his life’s forces. What is there still left of him? Nothing but the life of a
polyp for his soul. He will come into the beyond with nothing else than his sensual, fleshly lust for pleasure. His
striving is the same as that of a polyp, meaning continuously lusting in his own way. There is no question of a
spiritual guided reaction, because during his life in the flesh the spirit was united with the sensual soul and this
up to the last drop.

Question: Will such soul in the beyond be still accessible or capable for a higher form of life? He who really
wants to know should take out a polyp from the sea and see if he can make it jump in the air. Such task will
certainly not succeed, for as soon as he picks up the polyp out of its mud-element and brings it in a dry place in
the pure air, the polyp will soon die off, shrivel up, decay and finally dry up and become a loamy clump.

See, this is exactly how it is with such lascivious, lustful soul. He is a mud polyp who has only one life awakening
desire, namely lusting for pleasure. His whole intelligence is directed towards acquiring this pleasure. What is the
consequence of this? Nothing but the miserable and very pitiful condition of the soul himself, namely to ever fall
back into a most ordinary and lowest animal condition. And it is now exactly this condition which is called the first
Hell. So this is the very natural consequence that has been obtained according to the just order, so that by this
forbidden way of acting the soul will finally return to the lower, animal condition from which he was led by the
Lord in earlier times along so many stages upward to a free human being.

This resulting condition is however kept very miserable by the Lord in view of the lust for pleasure, so that the
spirit that is still present in the soul would be able to detach itself more and more from the lewdness.

This is the only procedure by which such soul with his spirit can possibly still be saved, for if the soul would be
more and more fed, his desire would become ever stronger and then eternally there can be no more question for
the spirit to be saved.

In the worst case, what is the second consequence of this necessary way of treatment?

Listen, since the spirit of such soul was completely one with him, also his entire love has turned to the lust of his
soul. Now if he becomes free through the fasting of the soul, he will be offended and hurt because he had to
languish by the deprivation of food to restrain his very own soul.

Since hr is offended and hurt, the spirit becomes furious and demands compensation. But where can it find this?
In the second Hell.

Now what is this second Hell? Only the consequence of the first one.

And by this consequence the real cause of the first action becomes already visible.

Because the anger is nothing else but a fruit of the excessive self-love and this has its roots in the lust for power
which is the motivation of all evil, and its home is the third or lowest Hell. How finally a third Hell will develop from
the second one and how our students will see and experience all this in practice, we will see next.

Chapter 107.

In the second hell.

Do you know why people on Earth are obedient? The answer is very easy to give. Perhaps out of great respect
for the person who rules? O no, because the one who is honored is usually not secretly shout at, and even less
cursed and damned. Nevertheless, this is what citizens do to their kings. But the one who is not obeyed out of
respect, is even less obeyed out of love. Therefore, we can find no other reason for obedience than fear.

Fear is based on what? It is firstly based on personal powerlessness, secondly on the superior power of the ruler
and thirdly on the fact that in certain circumstances the king will not be too cautious with the lives of his citizens.
A ruler who is often equipped with a million of instruments to kill and who does not have to give an account to
anyone for killing one or many people is certainly not very trustworthy, for the wrath of a dictator can mean the
death of many thousands.

When we realistically look at the matter then it appears that the main reason for obedience if the fear of death.

Imagine a country in which there are only fully reborn, spiritually awakened people. Then it would be quite
different regarding the fear of the death penalty. The ruler will then have to take quite different measures if he
would like to remain the leader of his people.

But then, the fear of death is based on what? I tell you: solely and only on the uncertainty whether there is or not
another life after the loss of this life (disbelief). Who of you is afraid before going to sleep, even though the sleep
is only a periodical death of the body? Why is there no fear to go to sleep? Because it is known from experience
that there will be a waking up in the same life, even if it seems to be a new life. Take away this experience and
everyone would, before going to sleep, be afraid in the same measure as he is afraid of physical death. There
are actually people on Earth who believe that their life lasts for only one day and perishes every day, and that the
next day another person will live in their skin.

This belief comes from a people in a certain part of Asia that believe in the migration of the soul, believing that
every day their soul passes from one animal into another and that they mostly live for only one day in a human
being. When on the next day another soul remembers the past, then they think that this is because of the body’s
system. Every following soul must by necessity be placed into the consciousness, awakened by the body’s
system. So this is their philosophy and the result is that they are terrified to fall asleep, because to them this is
only the means with which the old soul is pushed out of the body to make place for another. For this reason,
these people try to drive away the sleep as much as possible and with all kinds of means. All this resembles the
fear of the common earthly people for the physical death.

If the spirit of men were awakened, then he would not be concerned or afraid for the falling away of his body, as
little as a common person is concerned or afraid to go to sleep, for experience tells the spirit that there is an
eternal life which is indestructible, and experience tells the soul that the sleeping body will awake the next
morning, for which reason he is then also not afraid to go to sleep.

So the fear of death as a possible destruction of existence is thus within the soul as long as the spirit is not
awakened in him, because it then would awaken a totally different awareness.

With this foreknowledge let us go back to our first Hell. There the soul is only a pleasure-seeking and food
swallowing polyp, and this out of dumb selfishness and self-love, because when he cannot accomplish his lust
for pleasure he constantly visualizes a possible destruction.

In the second Hell, as we know, the serious fasting of the lusting soul shrivels more and more and the spirit that
merged with him became freer by this means of isolation. In the best case, which is rare, a spirit changes,
strengthens himself and elevates his soul more and more. In the most frequent, worst case the spirit is
awakened, but since he is awakened he feels very hurt and offended because of the neglect of his soul and also
he feels neglected. By that he becomes angry, and in his anger he more and more lets the idea take root in him
that the deity needs to give him an immeasurable compensation for this injustice.

The more the spirit is fixed on that idea the higher his demands are and he also becomes more and more
dissatisfied about every proposition that is made to him for eternal satisfaction.

As his demands are ever higher, caused by his ever greater dissatisfaction, the more and more awakened spirit
thinks about revenge out of self-satisfaction. Because of this feeling he becomes more and more a despiser of
God (devil). He also realizes more and more that he cannot be destroyed and strengthens himself with the idea
that the spirit can infinitely grow stronger by intensifying his ideas and by making higher demands. From this
feeling comes then the satanic idea that the deity would be afraid for the ever-growing power of such spirits and
would therefore hide Himself and would secretly spy on the actions of His mighty enemies by certain fearful and
weak spiritual spies. When the situation becomes alarming the deity retreats further and tries to protect Himself
in all kinds of ways against the superior attack of such powerful spirits.

By this idea, the all-dominant feeling of superiority of the spirit becomes ever stronger and the feeling of revenge
regarding a supposed cunningness of the deity grows. Then he thinks that the deity must of course become less
powerful. Yes, the spirit abhors now the deity, despises and bitterly hates Him and considers himself a superior
being.

Once this has happened, the third Hell is already a fact. How it will further develop along this line, our disciples
must secretly observe with us on the way of divine, protecting providence, and will then have to learn in the
lowest Hell to perceive everything by experience up to the actual basis of evil. But how finally the actual cause of
evil will reveal itself in this lowest and most malicious of all Hells, will be shown in what follows.

Chapter 108.

Nothing is destructible in the whole of creation.

Many will ask now: ‘How can one think and believe that it is possible for some very inferior life’s power to rebel
from the sphere of its awareness against an infinite, absolute perfect life’s power? Because the low life’s power
must certainly know and be aware that a minimum of life’s power can never stand against the infinite and that a
victory can eternally not be possible.’ Good, I say, this objection does not sound bad but is mostly based on
ignorance. In an exceptional case this objection can approximatively be mentioned, but since in the pure spiritual
kingdom there are no hypotheses and thus also no approximates, but only truths, it can thus also not be worth of
an answer.

A spiritual answer is a full truth, but if it (the truth) is not contained in the question, it cannot be answered. The
one who asks the question will receive an answer but never a proper direct answer to his question, but only as
an indirect truth. This is also the case here. When the answer is there, the mentioned objection will be solved by
itself.

So whether a lower or as here a very inferior life’s power can rebel or not and if it can be destroyed by the infinite
life’s power, will soon be shown from a few small examples.

How heavy a mountain is should not be further explained to someone who has carried a few smaller stones. A
small mountain consists of what? Of only atomically small parts that stick together through the mutual power of
attraction. If we dig from down the mountain upwards, up to the place on which the highest, thus heaviest top
rests, then by that we discover well preserved and very strong stony walls. If we only take a small part from
these strong stony walls, put it on a steel plate or on a stone and hit it a little with the hammer, this part will
become dust.

Question: why could this part not stand against the pressure of the hammer while for a period of thousands of
years it could stand the immeasurably great pressure of the heavy weight of a whole mountain? One will say:
‘Under the mountain it was a real part of the whole mass and therefore, with the help of the other parts, it could
stand the total pressure. But alone, without help, it already had to collapse under the minor pressure.’ Good, but
did this minor pressure completely destroy this part? Certainly not, but it divided it in much smaller parts.

Could one then not use such pressure to destroy these parts completely?

Also this is impossible, neither under pressure neither by no matter what means of power, for in the one way it
can only be divided into smaller parts, but in the other way it can be changed into a simple and then even less
destroyable element.
So also, the whole weight of the Earth is resting on its small, insignificant center. How can it resist this force of
attraction that acts upon it from all sides? For the simple reason that according to the eternal divine order in the
whole infinite creation there is nothing that can be destroyed and the very smallest can continuously maintain
itself against the very biggest, if not in this, then certainly again in another form.

If we now attribute a complete awareness to these small parts by which they can realize that they can eternally
not be destroyed, the question is:?which power can restrain them and which can overcome them? Or can a
whole mountain lose something if its smallest basic parts are indestructible?

Certainly not, for if one atom could be destroyed, then it would also be the same for the others and in the same
way it would also have happened to the mountain.

This would also be the case for the Earth, and even God Himself would finally not fare better if in His whole
infinity there would be something that could be destroyed.

So, according to the unchangeable, eternal divine order, the very smallest can exist next to the very biggest. As
a result, when the smallest life’s power in his spiritual sphere is aware that he cannot be killed or destroyed, he
also has no more fear for the supreme life’s power. And then this awareness gives to the lowest life’s power a
feeling of lust for power by which he says: ‘I am so necessary and indispensable to the highest life’s power who
sees Himself as deity, that He cannot exist without me. If we, as different, yes numberless many low life’s powers
unite to one unity, then we can work from the center and make the supposed highest power the lowest. Then He
can also worship us just like He is asking now from us. If we possibly can turn the inside of a world to the
outside, then this must also be possible with us, life’s powers. If we, little powers, unite and cause great
disturbance towards the outside, then the deity, as the little life’s power, will be at our feet.’

Look, this is pure hellish philosophy and also the actual cause of all evil, and its name is lust for power.

With this understanding we also have come to know the whole nature of the lowest Hell, and this nature
corresponds to the outer appearances of a celestial body. On the surface the first degree of Hell in the polyp-like
seeking for pleasure can clearly be recognized, for everything that you can see there is based on gluttony. In the
more inner crust of the Earth the fasting and meagerness reveals itself. There is nowhere any vegetation.

Everything lies there as in a rigid death that plans for revenge. At most you will see here and there some places
of fire and hot water springs as corresponding images of the already visible anger of the spirits of this Hell.

If we go to the inside of the Earth, we can only discover a continuous, terrible chaotic confusion. The one fire
ignites the other and suffocates it again. Every drop of water that ends up in here changes immediately into a
glowing hot vapor.

The greater action here the greater will its reaction be on the surface and this will always weaken all these
internal reactions with great ease. And in this manner, everything is wisely guided so that also all these Hells,
despite their great abhorrence, must serve Him for the eternal preservation of things. And this forced servitude,
which is well known to the hellish spirits, is their greatest torment, for they clearly can see that despite their
unwillingness, all their activities must generally be in accordance with the divine order.

But this is also the eternal love and wisdom of the Lord, for it is only in this manner that it is possible to restrict
the imperious actions of these evil beings. For if they see that the Lord can always turn their most evil plans to
good, they become angry and do nothing anymore till they make a new plan to act against the Lord. The Lord
knows how to use these also of course, just like the previous ones. This is rhetorically speaking the activity and
the nature of the lowest Hell.

How this will reveal itself in an image, we will see more closely, and this in all of the three Hells.

Chapter 109.
Images from the first and the second Hell.

When you received information about the sun you saw what the image of the first Hell looks like, as well as the
different ways by which one comes into the first Hell. I only have to add that the zeal of the hellish spirits that you
saw in the first Hell is firstly set on pleasure and gluttony. This condition seems to be the same as the one on
Earth in which men do also everything possible to - as you use to say - bring bread on the table.

Some set up different businesses, others look for a job as public officer, some look for a good marriage. They do
not do all this for the sake of what is good, but exclusively for their own sake and the daily bread. In this
condition they do not care much for one or the other glory but they are mostly interested in a certain livelihood.

In the heavenly manner one is solely concerned about love and to know God. The Lord will take care of all the
rest. But in the hellish manner, one is particularly concerned about the opposite. They want to have a certain
well-being, and at best they think: as long as I am first of all assured of all the external necessities, then I will see
if the spirit is satisfied with this well-being. When he then possesses such external wellbeing, which usually goes
together with some modest possession, he will soon become haughty, which is related to his possessions and
which he continuously strengthens with a certain splendor. For this reason, also the young employees and new
managers, each one of course in their own way, boast more and more. Soon they do not know anymore how to
sit, stand, walk, look, listen or speak to immediately show and let recognize from their face how rich they are and
what kind of important job they occupy.

Once such people are in this way provided with everything, they do not have to take care for anything anymore,
for they have their fixed income and their daily bread. Now they can begin to take care of what is spiritual. But
the opposite happens. Now, together with this wellbeing, the boasting and the lust for power come forward. That
is why they strife more and more to move to the top and become even richer than the managers. In this situation
they become filled with jealousy and inner hate towards those who stand somehow in their way.

Their neighborly love goes so far that many subordinate employee longs fervently for the death of the employee
that is above him, so that is such situation he can take the place of the one who stands above him. The
manufacturer’s most fervent desire is the bankruptcy of those who are in the same business, so that in this way
he can draw the whole business to himself. Yes, his neighborly love goes so far that, if possible, he would like to
drown all his competitors in a drop of water. He also undertakes everything, no matter where and how it can be
done, to bring his next competitors to ruin.

If you look at this worldly behavior a little closer, you can see the first Hell with all its gluttony already completely
before you, and you can also see very clearly represented how this changes into hate, anger, envy and lust for
power in the second Hell. You only have to take away the outer moral and civilian laws of the state and you have
the first and second Hell literally and figuratively before your eyes.

That which on the Earth stills testifies of a certain civilized society under the protection of moral and civilian laws
will degenerate here when those laws will fall away, and turn immediately into war, lust for robbery and murder.
Here you have the perfect image of the first Hell.

If you want the image of the second Hell, do the same. You will discover hidden cunningness everywhere and
you nowhere will see people or spirits together who are not each other’s mutual deadly enemies. Even if they
outwardly treat each other with kindness, great politeness and also hypocritical mutual love, this love is only pure
hate, for this is only politics to bring the opponent in a peaceful mood and to nicely unarm him in order to then,
without resistance, overtake him and bring him to ruin.

Look at your Earth at the so-called crawlers and bootlickers. These are usually the worst enemies of those for
whom they crawl. They lift them up for the same reason as the vulture picks up the turtle in order to, once he has
reached the right height with him, drop him down in a shameful manner and win in this way even more by their
fall.

Look, this again is literally and figuratively the pure hellish love of the second degree. That is why in this Hell all
kinds of deceitful arts are worked out in order to catch each other and bring them to ruin in the foolish
supposition that they can win more and more with the fall of others, no matter in what way.
In this manner our disciples are thoroughly learning about the Hells, first theoretically and then practically. And
so, in a very short time we took a closer look to the images of the first two Hells. He who will somehow think
about this description, will have everything clearly before him. For what concerns the image of the third Hell, we
will describe this separately, for this must be very well understood because it is the cause of every evil.

Chapter 110.

Every person carries Heaven and Hell in himself according to his personality.

You will certainly think, and many others even more if they were present on this information: ‘It is praiseworthy
and from a moral point of view also useful to hear such information by which the fundamental evil is as if visually
represented. But there are now on Earth so many descriptions of Hell. They all seem to have the same origin,
but how different they are from each other. For the one person, Hell is a pool of fire and sulfur, for the other a
gnawing glowworm, again for another a raging fire, an eternal darkness, an eternal death. According to some the
damned are tortured, cooked and fried, to others they are simply barons. Some see Hell as a terrible cold, again
others as the fire of boiling anger. Some see in it miserable, malformed and starving human forms, again others
a collection of the most strange, hideous forms that could have originated from a human form. And so, the notion
of Hell became a real Proteus which cannot be compared to any form.

For the pure human reason this is a very acceptable and for this time very understandable image of Hell, but
who can tell whether in the course of time this image will not be pushed aside by again a different one? For
nothing was represented in so many multiple forms than actually this place of horror under the name of ‘Hell’.

Good, I say to you, my dear friends. Your worrisome objection has its good reasons, for it is completely based
upon the reality of the common notions about Hell. Therefore, I want and must show you Hell in a general light in
which every up to now common imagination of Hell, no matter where on Earth, becomes completely justified.

If we only look at Hell from the outer and superficially, it is understandable that it appears as a true Proteus with
an ever-changing image. But it is quite different when one wants to thoroughly understand it.

In order to make this more understandable to you, we will, with the means of little examples, bring this difficult
question into the light so that it will become very clear for everyone.

Let us take a country where thousands of people are living. All these people, with the exception of those who are
insane, idiots and infants, have all kinds of multi-colored ideas about the secret politics of the country. He who
wants to know them more closely can speak with different people about this. The one sees only war, the other
only secret treason, again another secret national deception, again others sheer wisdom. Some cry aloud about
injustice, others lack words to praise the constitution and the secret politics of the country.

But only these are sheer opinions of the more developed part of the people about the secret political
government. But whoever wants to hear foolishness should go to the dark chambers of the farmers in the
countryside. Then he can be assured that he will hear anything that can come up in an undeveloped, rough
human fantasy. For instance that the emperor is planning to poison his city or that he wants to contaminate a
certain part of the country with the pest, or that he made a covenant with another king to kill in one night the
people of another region with the sword to take possession of the goods of the citizens that he would kill, not to
mention other stupidities, like for instance that the king personally sold his soul or the souls of his citizens to the
devil in return for a great earthly advantage. It should not be proven any further that all this is true, for everyone
is free to daily convince himself of this.

That this is so cannot not be doubted, but the question is: who among these thousands of people who expressed
their political ideas has the right understanding of this and has thereby expressed the true meaning of the basic
principles of the secret government of the country. How can one have a basic idea of something which he does
not understand himself?

Look, the reason lies partly in the outer image, as well as in the personality of the one who looks upon the
image. The less the observer himself is innerly awakened, the more senseless will be the ideas that he forms
about the images. And look, this is precisely also the case with the ideas about Hell.

It was only granted to very few seers to receive a deeper notion in the nature of this place, but it was permitted to
a lot to see one or the other image of this place. And so the idea of so many images always exceeded reality. For
this reason the so many different forms about Hell have multiplied and nobody knew and knows precisely up to
now what to think about that place.

Next question: who in the country could set up the best basic principles for the secret government? Certainly no
other except the wise monarch himself.

When the matter is irrefutably so, then this question will also apply to the dark relations in the beyond. So the
answer can only be: that only the Lord over all Heavens as well as over all Hells can set up the right and
generally valid basic principles over this place.

But as someone who is initiated in the secret basic principles of the government will very easily perceive the
cause of all the ideas that are spread around in the nation, so also will the one who knows from the Lord the true
nature of that place that is called Hell, understand the cause of all the other foolish ideas about this.

Every person carries Heaven and Hell in himself according to his personality.

If he becomes aware of his own personality by a certain situation, then he only becomes aware of his own
developed Hell or his highly imperfect Heaven. Numberless different ideas can develop along that way.

However, can this be already considered as the cause? Certainly not more than if someone would come and
claim that the sea is only a half shoe deep because he measured it along the coast with a walking stick. The
same is here also the case for all the seers who claim: I saw Hell in this or that situation. And also not more than
if someone would take the shallow shore, although it also belongs to the sea, for the actual bottom of the sea,
and neither can this visualized image be considered as the actual Hell.

But how the actual Hell can be found and thoroughly seen, we will see next.

Chapter 111.

Body, spirit, principle of life.

If one wants to actually see the real true Hell, one should start to look at the impressions that catch the eye, and
from that viewpoint make the corresponding conclusions for the spiritual by means of a spiritual turn. But if this is
what one wants, one should accept beforehand the fixed unchangeable fact and understand that the life’s
conditions and its effect are always the same under one and the same eternal, unchangeable Lord. In other
words:

Man lives on in spirit exactly the same as during his physical life here on Earth which is only a life that lives along
with it and in between.

Now one will say: ‘This sounds strange, for it seems that this is not completely correct, because the spiritual life
must certainly be different and must be seen in a quite different perspective than the natural life.’

But I say: the one who speaks like this has certainly no idea how he lives physically. Question:
What is it that lives during the physical life, the body or the spirit?

What is most important in life, is it the body or the spirit? I believe that if someone is capable of thinking more
clearly, will not look for the most important in life in the body but only in the spirit, for if the most important in life
would be in the body then the body would be immortal. But the body is mortal, thus it cannot carry the basis of
life in itself, but only the spirit can do that, for this is immortal. So the life of the body is therefore dependent on
the life of the spirit. The whole body behaves passively and completely negative in regard to the spirit. Therefore,
the life of the body is only an awakened life that lives with it, just like some tool in the hand of a craftsman lives
passively with it as long as the man directs it with his living hand, but if he drops the tool or if he puts it aside, it
has no more life with it and its effective activity stops.

Which foolish and dumb person will claim that he has to adapt to his tool, while one can clearly see that the
craftsman provides himself with the necessary and proper tool. So when the craftsman has determined which
tool he needs for his work, then it will also be clear that the actions of the body that lives with it depends on the
living spirit, but not the way around.

And so, the spirit lives always out of his own life’s principles and in his own life’s conditions to which the body
cannot change anything, as little as the dead tool to the work of the craftsman.

But when someone watches how a craftsman uses his tool and understands the design that the craftsman wants
to make, can he then still seriously assert that finally by using the tool something very different will appear and a
quite different work will develop than the foreman had visualized according to the original plan? Would that not
be a senseless statement?

Certainly, because what is accomplished is surely the result of the work of the living foreman but not of the tool.

So, also the life’s conditions of the spirit are constant, whether he makes use of his body or not as a tool. And
thus, if someone wants to actually see Hell here, he can observe it here in the physical life under the same
conditions as one time in the pure spiritual, because Hell is on Earth always the same as can be seen in the
purely spiritual condition.

Nothing more or less can be seen here than there, and in this image we can view it very clearly and very
effectively.

But in order to make the true image of Hell even more clear and visual for everyone on this Earth, we will first
explain the very little difference between the natural and the purely spiritual life’s conditions of men, and this, as
much as possible, in a very obvious manner.

Take for instance a carpenter who has to make a box. For this he needs the tools that you know. He works
diligently and will finish his box within a few days. The urgency was mainly the reason for his zeal. Then why was
he so zealous, responding to his inner urgency? Because he wanted to finish the box as soon as possible for his
use. Further question: where does this urgency come from? This urgency comes from the creative power of the
spirit. How? The spirit carries the quality in him to immediately realize it as an object that he created in his mind.

He can do that in a pure spiritual condition because whatever he thinks is also there. But connected to his
hindering body he cannot do that with outer matter. For this reason he must urge his body as an instrument for
this activity in question in order to gradually realize his idea. This is how it was determined by the Lord, so that in
this life, in all kinds of opportunities, the spirit can practice a most necessary quality of life.

This quality as mother of humility is called divine patience. Each one who possesses a more mature way of
thinking will understand that patience is very necessary for eternal life, because this life does not end. It is
already the basis for all good and great achievements for the natural life while this life is only a transitory life.

If our carpenter could create his box immediately as he imagined in his thoughts, that would have been more
preferable to him. But where would be the very important exercise in patience and where the mutual outer
natural reliability if in this material world, where the spirit is still connected to his body, he could make unlimitedly
use of his original, creative ability?

Although, every spirit receives this ability back after the laying off of the body, but only the good spirit will works
in reality, the evil one in fantasy and illusion, because as his nature is, so will also be the result.

See, in this given example, the difference between the natural and the purely spiritual life is clearly explained,
and from this you can see that in physical life the spirit can only realize his ideas slowly and never completely
because the coarse matter with which he is covered hinders him in this while in the purely spiritual condition he
wants to realize his idea immediately. The will is always the same, as well as the idea, only its execution is
limited in the physical life. This limitation is the only difference between both lives. There is no further difference.
The fact that this difference is due to the matter must hardly be mentioned. Since this is now completely clear
and evident to us, we will at once show very actual images which are the foundation of Hell.

Chapter 112.

Earthly images of the lowest Hell.

Firstly, let us take a rich speculator as example. Look closer at this eternally insatiable one. What was the goal of
his love and will? Only to acquire - although somehow lawful and permissible - the possessions of a whole
country and finally of a whole kingdom, in no matter what way. And once he is successful in this, take also
several kingdoms or the whole surface of the Earth. Although he will not completely succeed in such plan and he
probably will not realize his idea completely, but he nevertheless does not let it go and he secretly thinks: ‘If I
only had an army of at least a couple of million invincible soldiers, then I would gather all the gold, silver, and all
the noble stones and pearls of the whole world and pile them up.’

Also, many have the following wish: ‘If only the pest could break out in the country that would kill everyone
except me, then I would be the natural, universal heir of the whole country. And if then people would come from
another country who would dispute my inheritance, the pest would immediately grab and strangle them at the
border.’

Look, this is an image of the lowest Hell which you can daily notice among the people of all classes, starting with
the simple stallholder to the greatest speculator. What prevents them from realizing such so- called praiseworthy
ideas? Only the fatal matter. If we take that away and if we consider then the absolute spirit with the same
qualities, then we have the lowest Hell in top condition before us.

Secondly: There is an officer with a lower rank before us. What is the most important thought which abides in his
heart? Perhaps the thought to prove helpful services to the country? O no, that is the last one.

‘To promote’, that is the most important thought. If it were possible, climbing every hour one step higher. Be at
least a general in one year and as such be promoted as soon as possible. Suppose he reaches the highest
degree, then his plan will be, or at least his most important thought: ‘And now let us go out with great armies to
conquer all nations. Once they are conquered and I have the power, then all emperors, kings and monarchs
must tremble for my sword.’

The one who will not have recognized the lust for power in our officer must surely be struck with a sevenfold
blindness. And also here, for what reason can our officer not make it happen? The same as above, the material,
natural, limiting conditions. Matter restricts our hero and he must accept his subordinate degree as an officer,
whether he likes it or not. That is why he scolds once and awhile and tries to let his subordinates feel his lust for
power as much as possible. The least of offenses of a subordinate is punished with tyrannical mercilessness.
Take away the material obstacles from this officer and you will have the second, perfect image of the
fundamental Hell in an unsurpassed form before you.

You also will find this image very often, especially in those categories of people who are entitled to carry a sword
and also with those who have the privilege to lead a caricature of a so-called noble weapon for their insignificant
name. There you will see the lust for power everywhere in a form that really stands out. And this is now precisely
the nature of the lowest of all Hells which is insatiable and which wants to extend its imperiousness and lust into
infinity. More examples will follow.

Chapter 113.

Another image of the lowest Hell.

Let us take a look now at a real illicit lover, just like a female illicit lover. What is such flesh-lusty person
continuously thinking about?

If it were possible, and nature would permit it, he would like to continuously have sex with the most beautiful and
lavish girls in all possible ways. When such person sees a somehow attractive female being, anyone can read
from his eyes that he would like to use her on the spot for his pleasure without taking into account for what
reason the sexual act was established and created by God. If civil laws would not hinder him a female being
would not even be safe in public places against his lust.

But this does not change anything because he still sinned out of his lust. Let us assume that such sensual
person would have a fortune that would be sufficient to provide him with almost every pleasure he wants.

What does he do? He travels to all countries in order to provide himself with several, special pleasures, because
despite his great fortune his own place could not offer him anymore enough pleasure for which he stills feels a
so-called passion, since he tasted of everything that was in his reach.

When our sensualist enjoyed everything, and his nature begins to refuse him its vile service, he uses artificial
means to breathe some new life into his dull nature. When these do also not work anymore, he provides himself
with shameful sex of healthy boys and young men to such a flesh hero, who has lived to the last drop. By this his
nature is again a little activated because the highly-skilled doctors know that the evaporation of the male youth
has the greatest effect on a decrepit and fully lived out fornicator. In this way, our meat hero becomes a boy's
desecrator. Because of this, his nature changes completely, he has a disgust of women and tries to only satisfy
himself with the firm flesh of the manly youth, till this also will disgust him. Then his powerlessness makes him
angry about the supposed inadequate arrangement of nature.

His faith in God was already sacrificed a long time ago, because the sin of the flesh will first kill all the spiritual.
By this sin, man becomes a blunt material egoist, loves no one except himself and is of the opinion that
everything that he wants in his lust must serve him only. He is excessively in love with himself and therefore he
hates everything that does not honor his lust. For this reason he becomes, as said, a purely selfish, hard
materialist and already for a long time no trace can be found in him that can be recognized as divine or spiritual.

Therefore he is also a pure atheist, and the nature - the outer, visible, coarse nature - is his god. He gives
offerings to this god of nature, this as long as he can experience with the given power of his own nature that this
god can give him these delightful and enjoyable pleasures, thanks to the arrangement of nature. But woe to that
god once he will refuse his service to our hero. Anger, revenge, wrath and furiousness are then his extra gifts or
coat of arms. You can believe it, the secret anger of such real arch sensualist, when he cannot commit his illicit
love anymore goes beyond all human understanding. A pyromaniac, a murderer and a street robber can have
more human feeling in them compared to a greedy sensualist whose body refuses its service.

Are there only few of these men of pleasure on Earth? O no, I can assure you that for every money miser there
are a lot of such persons who are addicted to flesh. The father who has a daughter with a charming appearance
can be sure that she will often be looked at with lusty eyes, especially in the city.

One will say now: this does not matter, thoughts and lusts that cannot be executed are tax-free. But I add here:
indeed, for the blind of spirit who is not capable to look even one hair further than matter. However, what would a
father say when his spiritual eye would be opened and would see all those with lustful eyes before him who
dishonor his daughter in all possible ways?
Her body can be protected, but who will protect her spirit and its radiating sphere of life with which these lusty
people come in contact with and influence with their shameful lusts? Do you think that this will not have a
negative influence on that daughter? Then you are seriously mistaken.

If you will often take your daughter to places where she is looked at by lustful eyes, then in a short time she will
be sensually changed and secretly mock and ridicule the moral warnings of her parents. Her senses will be more
and more directed to places of which she suspects that sensual men will be there. Many will say now: ‘No, this is
too extreme, this to too exaggerated. What kind of harmful result can an innocent lust or secret lustful thought
have on a strange person without any touching?’ I only say on this: for men with such views and such spiritual
attitude this announcement is as less intended as the sun for the center of the Earth. Then I will ask those who
have experienced in the so-called clairvoyant mediums and seen for themselves the disturbing effect on such
persons at the arrival of lusty people, where this effect comes from and what its cause is? Even when such
uninvited guest does not touch the medium, he nevertheless feels a convulsive and often painful effect when
such guest comes in.

Look, the reason of this is that the spiritual sphere of the medium is immediately brought down. This has no bad
moral results for the medium because his sphere is more closed up and because every medium will immediately
do everything to get rid of such guest.

Question: does this also happen under the natural circumstances where the sphere of every person is more
extensive and wherein he does not perceive the harmful influence? Truly, the reaction under the natural
circumstances is much worse than under the mediumistic. And therefore, for such unchaste thoughts and lusts a
separate commandment has been given in which it is stated that everyone should abstain from them and reject
them.

So he who observes the behavior of such lusty person will see again a perfect image of Hell. He only has to take
away his matter and look at him purely spiritually, then he will see astonishing things. First a lecherous person in
every respect and besides that a furious person who wants to avenge himself in a shameful manner and with all
furiousness on his Creator, as well as on the whole creation because of the supposed imperfection of his nature.
I do not have to say more, for he who has eyes can see for himself. In the next female image we will see the
image of this Hell even more clearly.

Chapter 114.

Lust for power and vanity - the seeds of Hell.

There is generally only little psychological knowledge needed to discover that with the female gender the lust for
power is a dominant characteristic, but lust for power and vanity are twins and originate thus from one and the
same root. Where can you find a woman who does not possess a certain kind of vanity which shows from the
manner of dressing or from the manner she arranges her room or from still many other things.

Examine the background of this vanity and you will find only the living grain of seed of vanity and the resulting
lust for power.

Now one will say: ‘No, this is a very strict approach. One should rather praise a certain degree of vanity with the
female gender instead of mercilessly criticizing or greatly rejecting it. Because a certain degree of vanity is
certainly only a child of the female sense of shame and together with this the sense of cleanliness which is
obviously only a praiseworthy virtue, but never a vice of the female gender.’ Good, I say, it unfortunately went so
far in the world to think that the sense of shame is a virtue, crowning humanity with this honor, and this is the
best harvest for Hell, for in this manner people have to fall, while they hardly could fall in another manner.

One is asking: ‘Then why?’ But I ask: the honor of man is based upon what, on his humility or on his vanity? The
humble one strives for the lowest level, where no more honor or homage exists, as the Lord has shown with His
great example by which He put His honor in the deepest humility and in that which is actually the greatest shame
on Earth.

A similar honor was already given to His first followers. I ask however: what matters the sense of shame when
one is persecuted, scorned and finally slain naked on the cross? How much sense of honor will someone still
have in his body and how much sense of shame when he is hanged? I think that in such situation those two
esteemed human characteristics will be moved to the background.

However, if one wants to come forward with an honor, then in some point he should at least refer to Christ as the
center of all virtues. Then I ask: did He ever praise the sense of shame or honor as a human virtue? On the
contrary. He actually forbade His disciples and apostles to strife for another honor when He said to them that
they should not let themselves be greeted and honored like the Pharisees who like to see when they are greeted
on the street and called rabbi.

Consequently I really cannot understand why the sense of shame and the lust for power that is connected to it
can be considered as a virtue, which comes very strongly forward with the female gender.

Now one will say: ‘Take away the sense of shame from the female gender and soon we will have only whores
before us.’ Oho, I say, do you think that? Then I add very firmly: in this respect there is no better stimulation for
the female gender than the sense of shame. Only a little occasion is needed and every female being is as a
result of this feeling ripe for lewdness, for nothing is easier ignored than precisely this feeling which has no other
foundation than vanity. The little feeling of honor which stands opposite the feeling of shame is such weak
support for that virtue that it will immediately be blown away at the slightest breeze.

However, from this it is clear that in this kind of female virtue a very fatal contradiction lies behind it. To
immediately put this into a clear light, I will give you examples from your daily life.

Imagine you accidentally end up one morning into a dressing room wherein a few young girls are still present in
morning dress. They scream loudly and the young girls will flee to all corners and behind curtains, of course only
of sheer sense of shame. And on this occasion what did you actually see of all their female charm? At most a
head with tangled hair, an unwashed, sleepy face, an arm that was hardly naked up to the elbow, and at most a
half-naked breast. But now the girls dress themselves. The arm will often remain naked up to below the armpit,
and also the neck and bosom remain uncovered, as far as a certain decency will permit, or it will at most be
covered by transparent lace in order to increase the attractiveness of the naked parts. With this came an end to
the sense of shame of that morning.

Question: is the sense of shame only about the young girl or about her morning dress? Let us go further. It is
precisely this same very virtuous lady, who almost had a stroke of sheer shame during that morning visit and
who at that time did not allow to be touched by a man, who is taken almost half naked to an evening ball and she
lets herself unashamedly be grabbed by her dance partner and often let herself be caressed on every part.

Question: where is now that sense of shame of the morning? Probably also left at home in the unattractive
morning dress. Let us go further.

On some occasion at the ball, that same virtuous girl has a nice company or had eye contact during a nice,
innocent walk with a man she finds attractive. The sense of shame is at each opportunity as much as possible
set aside for him. Soon our virtuous one will follow the looks of her chosen one and pay attention to where his
looks are directed. Then our virtuous lady will soon take care to really let those parts of her body come out as
much as possible.

However, when the chosen one will meet our virtuous lady in a company where she wants to show herself from
her most honorable side, he will have to be satisfied when at a good opportunity she will give him a few hidden
looks, but in the company she will try even harder to show her qualities to him. Woe to him if he would forget and
come too close to her. But if they would come together, especially in a place where the sunlight is not shining
and where the sound waves from the worldly noise are hardly coming through or not at all, then the sense of
shame has been overcome completely. And our so virtuous lady of the morning let herself be admired from head
to toe. And on such opportunity the free touching is not considered as an offense at all to her virgin sense of
shame.
In this manner the highly praised feeling of virtuousness is lost completely, and my question is: where is now the
effect of this highly praised sense? It is gone and it has shown its true face when the mask was taken away. And
so every sound minded person can see that it is nothing else but a snake in the breast of the woman, or the first
grain of seed of the lowest Hell from which, once it has developed itself, all possible female vices can come up
as from a cornucopia. And how this happens, we will further make clearly visible to every eye, just like before.

Chapter 115.

Fruits ripe for Hell.

Let us return to our virtuous lady and follow her once more in the company where she, based on her female
charms, acts like a queen. Her beloved joins the company also. But what does his favorite lady do now?

Does she welcome him? O no, she welcomes a lot of other visitors and let herself be admired now from head to
toe. Why actually?

Since I know very well the world I say: she does not do this to be unfaithful to her chosen beloved, but only to
show him how extremely valuable she is. In a certain way she indirectly says to him: ‘Be well aware what kind of
invaluable treasure you have in me.’

But her lover, who does not understand this, takes the matter quite differently. He soon becomes dismayed and
turns his eyes away from where his beloved let her be admired. If moreover he takes a sneaky look to that fatal
spot, then his looks are already filled with burning jealousy.

Our young lady sees that, but does not improve her behavior in the least. But she moreover intensifies the game
to take revenge on her lover who just started to underestimate her great value just at the moment when she
wanted to display it to him mostly. At this opportunity the lover tries to withdraw himself as much as possible from
the company with the intent in his heart: ‘Just wait you mean lady, when we talk to each other again in private, I
will tell you what I think in a manner that you will remember, because now I only want to take seriously revenge
for your unfaithfulness.’

They meet each other and the fruit of this encounter are angry lectures. The result of this is mostly a separation
of the loved ones, only seldom a reconciliation which will however not last, just like the first love did not last.
Separation or reconciliation, it always comes down to the same, because if they come together again, it is
usually for the purpose to show each other their individual value even more. If they will not continue their
relationship, they both will use every means to make each other’s life bitter.

Out of sheer revenge the young lady will soon exceed all boundaries of the sense of shame and becomes
showy. If the old beloved one does not crawl back, then out of that same sense of revenge she becomes a
whore after which the lover will ban out every former feeling from his heart. And once our former virtuous lady
has tasted the sweet prickle of lewdness, then it is as if no god can bring her back to virtuousness. If she
becomes unhappy by that, then with a heart full of grudge she will mostly put all blame on that first lover who
shamelessly underestimated her motives and her former virtue.

And when we look back, what does all this mean? Only the already completely developed fruit of the first so
highly praised female sense of shame. The name of the fruit is called: lowest perfect Hell, or also:?perfect ripe
Hell, when the outward cover falls away. For what would such unhappy girl do to the one who is, although
unjustly, the cause of all her unhappiness?

If it were possible, at that moment that she gives free play to her anger, she would like to see him be torn by a
thousand fiery snakes, and this would hardly be a quenching dewdrop on her enraged heart.
He who cannot believe that, should visit such unhappy young lady and speak with her about that certain person
who made her unhappy. At best he will see from the mouth of the woman as if a volcano that is spitting fire.

In the worst case, she will say: ‘Please do not talk to me about that anymore.’ If you heard that, you can imagine
what will happen. Now we have shown the fruits that ripe for Hell. In what will follow, we will show this into more
detail.

Chapter 116.

In the spiritual condition all secrets come to light.

It happens that such offended young lady will, from sheer revenge regarding her former lover, marry another
person for who she does not feel any love. With this deed she wants to punish her former lover in a hurting
manner, for he underestimated her. Yes if possible, she even would kill him for this insult. But what happens?

The first lover does not feel offended at all but cheerfully seeks another lover, and often a better person than the
first one. What is the result of this to his first love who is married by now? She becomes moody and silent. Her
husband asks her for the cause, but in vain. What suppresses her is too big, too difficult and too suspicious in
front of her new husband so that she does not dare to tell him. Although she does not undertake further steps to
bother her old love or to trap him, she buries the cause of her wrath all the deeper in her heart. Several years
pass by, and since, as usual, time is the best plaster to heal so many wounds, also this one heals. Such people
can often still become good friends.

One will say: ‘Well, in that case, Hell will have received its last part, for when an old enmity is changed into
friendship, then Heaven will certainly replace Hell in a proper way.’ This is how it seems from the outside, but this
is like a soldier whose body was wounded in many places.

His wounds were healed through medicine and time. When the weather is nice our soldier walks around happily
and hardly realizes that his body is full of scars. But now the bad weather comes. His scars are breaking out and
when the weather gets worse his scars become more painful. He desperately turns around in his bed. He curses
the war, all generals, the emperor, yes even God, his parents and the day on which he was born.

Look, here we can see now a good image of such morally patched up friendships that are the result of the
earthly time which makes man to forget. But once the weather turns bad, that means: let the spirits of such
friends come together in the beyond at the moment on which they sinned against each other on Earth. Then at
the moment on which they can see, through the clear vision of their spirit, the harm that was caused which is the
result of their mutual sins, and besides that, also the advantages which they could have had if they had not
sinned, we will see that they will treat each other with the greatest contempt and terrible curses. This is then also
not a proper Heaven as it seems to be but pure Hell at its lowest potential.

That is why it is also stated in the Scripture that everyone should carefully examine himself, and if there is
something no matter how hidden and secret in man, once it will be loudly proclaimed from the rooftops.

That means: no matter how deep man will hide something, it will come out and will be visibly revealed in an
absolute spiritual form. Therefore, everyone is explicitly advised to carefully examine every friendly and hostile
relationship in which he ever was and to view what reaction it will have on the mind if he will be brought back into
that same situation. For every living person here on Earth should be prepared to be lively placed back in the
beyond in an absolute spiritual condition into all fatal situations which are here for him the greatest offenses. The
Lord Himself gave us an example in this.

He once was condemned by His enemies and crucified between criminals.

After that, His actual soul did not immediately ascend to Heaven but descended to Hell where His worst enemies
waited for Him, although there were also many old friends like the old fathers and a lot of prophets and teachers.

If someone in this world will not have paid back every last cent, he will not be capable to enter the Kingdom of
Heaven. That is why it is so important here to zealously go through every old book of debts. Especially those
which carry the word ‘love’. Debts of love are the hardest. A robbery of millions will be more easily erased from
the spiritual memory than a debt of love. Why? Because such robbery of millions is only an outer great debt
which does not affect the spirit, but the debt of love is mostly related to the whole spirit because all love is the
actual nature of the spirit. Therefore, nothing is as dangerous in this world as the so-called ‘falling in love’, for
this condition seizes the whole spirit. If there are then obstacles by which the premature sexual love between
both sexes is not accomplished, the offended spirits retreat and let the inflicted wounds be superficially cured
through all kinds of worldly pleasure, but they are not healed in the least.

When later the bad weather comes up again, these wound will open again.

This second condition will be much worse than the first, as the Scripture shows where it is written about the 7
spirits that were driven out. Also in this case the house is cleaned up with outer means after which the evil
enemy wanders around through dry deserts and steppes, but since he cannot find any accommodation there, he
takes another 7 spirits who are worse than him and moves again into his old, cleaned house.

The old, cleaned house is the spirit in this world that is cleaned by outer means. The evil spirit is the bad
condition in which man has ever lived on this Earth. This is cleaned completely by outer means. Now he
wanders around through dry deserts and steppes. That means: the spirit of man heals his wounds and they
become scars, so that his wounds dry up and do not bleed anymore. But the evil spirit returns with 7 others. That
means: in absolute spiritual condition all wounds become visible again and open again with much greater
intensity, and this is the condition which is worse than the first one.

And everywhere where you can see the one person acting against another in the fiercest, vicious anger, there is
also already the lowest Hell completely present.

Therefore, I, John, as very experienced, eternal servant and helper of the Lord, advice everyone, but especially
the parents to warn them most of all against the so-called falling in love. How much the spirit suffers from it, you
can already notice in a natural way from every young student who prematurely fell in love, because the life of
such young man is certainly degenerated and he is not capable anymore to develop himself spiritually.

No matter what kind of passion he otherwise may have, they all can be controlled with good guidance, and so
one can still make a decent person out of him. But a certain lively fantasy image, once it has fixed itself in the
spirit, is more difficult to remove from a young mind - male or female - than moving a mountain.

And the basis of such premature falling in love is precisely the greatest spiritual lewdness, for lewdness and
harlotry are those things that target the deceit of the spirit.

Since love is mainly a matter of the spirit, the deception of love or a clear offense against it is the true spiritual
lewdness of the worst and lowest degree, or the actual lowest Hell.

Everyone should well and very consciously take at heart what has been said up to now. After this will follow more
and similar observations.

Chapter 117.

Heaven and Hell - Polarities in man.

Now one will say: ‘It is indeed very probable that the matter will finally take such course and that each wound
inflicted to the spirit, will become visible in its absolute condition and will react. But after the thorough explanation
about the fundamental Hell we still cannot see how such memories of offended loves in this world will then
manifest themselves as fundamental Hell in the absolute spiritual condition, for it will be hard to find someone on
this Earth who did not personally experience such offenses or caused them. But suppose such lively memories
will manifest themselves in the absolute spiritual condition as fundamentally hellish, then we really would like to
know how many people will come in Heaven after they lived a century on Earth.

Why can such cursed judgment come over man when he actually has to sin in a highly passive condition against
a Divine order which he can impossibly maintain because he completely lacks the power which one can only
acquire after very long experiences.’

Good, I say, whoever makes such reproach to me, I kindly ask to consider the following a little closer. There he
will find proof that I really did not describe who will come into Hell and how many there will be.

I only indicated to everyone what appears as purely Hell in man, for not one person on the whole Earth is that
perfect that he does not carry the whole Hell in him, as he also carries the whole Heaven in himself.

As I sufficiently explained before what Heaven is in man, how it comes into effect in him and how it increases, so
I also have to show you how Hell comes into effect in man and how it increases.

It would be sad and very merciless if man, since he carries the perfect image of Hell in himself, would also
immediately become an inhabitant of that Hell. If that were the case then also all angels would be hellish spirits,
for also they carry the perfect image of Hell as image in themselves. Would that not be the case, then it would
not be possible for any angel to penetrate that place to calm down the revolting spirits. I myself could not show
and reveal Hell to you if it were not completely in me. Besides, it would also be very dangerous for the
inhabitants of Heaven if they had not the corresponding image of Hell in them, because then they would not be
able to see what Hell is planning against them.

So no spirit in the whole Hell can plan something against us which we cannot immediately see in ourselves.

Also, Hell and Heaven are in man as two opposite poles without which no existing object can be imagined.

Therefore, it is useful that everyone be informed that there was absolutely no question as to who comes into
Hell, because that would mean that humanity on Earth is already judged, but only as to what Hell really is.

But everyone can understand that such unfaithfulness in love is actually purely hellish from the fact that such
unfaithfulness comes basically from self-love and lust for power.

Because what is jealousy? Only the awakening of self-love, selfishness and lust for power. A jealous person is
not jealous because the chosen one has too little love, but only because the person’s desires become limited,
thinking that the chosen one, from whom actually the highest respect was expected, underestimates the
person’s value.

Question: is this not actually the complete opposite pole of the attitude wherein one - male or female - should
totally forget oneself out of neighborly love to be completely ready for the well-being of one’s neighbor?

But how can man suppress this fundamental Hell in himself and not make it active but purely passive?

This is very easy: the one who offended as well as the one who was offended should, in the name of the Lord,
forgive each other wholeheartedly, and the one who offended as well as the one who was offended should bless
each other, in the name of the Lord - it is obvious that this should be done in all seriousness. Then the whole Hell
in man is already under control.

Truly, I say to you: a remorseful glance to our good Father is sufficient to escape Hell for all eternity. Look at the
criminal at the cross. He was a robber and a murderer, but then he looked up to the Lord and spoke with a deep
and grievous remorse in his heart: ‘O Lord, when You will come into Your Kingdom and will judge great criminals,
think about me and punish me not too heavily for the great crimes that I committed.’

And see, the great, almighty Judge spoke to him: ‘Truly, even today you will be with Me in paradise.’
From this true happening every somehow believing Christian can conclude how little there is actually needed to
have the completely lowest, mighty Hell under control forever.

The example of the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob can be compared to the former one, for the Lord
spoke to the woman who had a relation with seven men: ‘Woman, give Me to drink.’ And further: ‘If you would
know Who it is who says to you: women, give Me to drink, you should say to Him: ‘give me to drink from the
living water, so that I will thirst no more forever.’ These are the true words that were exchanged at that place.

Who cannot see the small thing that the Lord asks in return from this sinner for receiving the Kingdom of
Heaven: only a drink of water. So will also every Christian, who is somehow familiar with the Scriptures, know
what happened to the adulteress and the life of Mary Magdalene. The Lord writes the guilt of the first one twice
in the sand and Magdalene was allowed to anoint His feet and was the first person to whom the Lord came after
His resurrection. Also the story of the lost son and the search for the hundredth lost sheep, how little He asks
from a sinner to receive mercy and compassion.

That is why we did not mention who will come into Hell, but only what Hell actually is.

Chapter 118.

Heavenly and hellish principles.

I already have another one, as you say, in the cross-hairs, who says: It is all right; the viewing of hell can be of
use to some of us, but no sooner than until one knows when the hell that appears in man or in a whole human
society becomes so positive that it becomes the main polarity, and those in which it is manifesting, really belong
to hell. In short, one first needs to know who goes to hell, and how, and when one comes into it, before any
particular knowledge of hell can have any worth. He who does not know where he can fall into the hands of the
enemy, how and when, is already lost; for where he will think himself most secure, just then he will be attacked
by his enemy, and he will certainly be lost without rescue.

Therefore, the question is: When does a sinner, irrespective of personality, come to hell and when not?

This question can rightfully be asked, because in the Holy Scriptures is so many examples where similar sinners
have come to hell and the others have been saved. But I, John, say: this question sounds like it has some wise
reason; but it is not the case here. If I would describe the appearance of hell, I indirectly do that to whom hell
really belongs.

Hopefully, in this depiction, under the concept of hell, one will not think of a positively perverse place in which
one can come, but only a state in which a free being can displace himself by his kind of love, through his action.
Every human being who is only able to reasonably mature, will easily grasp with his hands, that a man will
belong to hell as long as he acts according to his principles. Their principles, however, are:?domination, self-love
and selfishness. These three are exactly contrary to the heavenly principles, which are: humility, love for God
and love for neighbor.

How easy is it to distinguish one from another, even easier than distinguishing the night from the day. Anyone
who wants to know clearly whether he belongs to hell or heaven, ask his inner mind carefully. Say this one by
one to the foundational inclination and love: This is mine and that is mine too; that is what I want and what I want
to do; this fish is mine and the other I want to catch too; give me everything, because I want, yes, I want
everything. Wherever the mind lets itself be heard as such, there is hell still the positive pole.

But when the mind says, "Nothing is mine, neither this nor that, everything is the other's and I am not worth the
least, and if I have or will have something, it should not be mine, but my brother's - if that is the inner answer of
the mind, heaven is the positive pole.
Therefore, if one has chosen a maiden, and another chooses her too, and the first is soon full of the most
intense jealousy, and the second is also admitted, the pole of hell is already prevalent in him. But if the first one
says: My love, you alone are your heart's mistress. I truly love you, therefore I do not want a sacrifice from you,
but I am prepared to bring you every sacrifice for your own good; that's why you are completely free from me. Do
what you want and how you feel good; You will never lose my sincere love and friendship. Because if I force your
hand into my hand, I would only love me in you and would like to make you a slave. But I do not love myself in
you, but you alone in me.

Therefore, from my point of view, you have the complete freedom to choose whomever you deem most suitable
for your happiness.

See, from this language, the citizen of heaven already shines, for that is the speech of heaven. And whoever can
speak such from the bottom of his heart, has no positive drop of hell left in it.

Those who can deny themselves at this most delicate point, can deny themselves even more in other less
delicate issues. But whoever becomes jealous, and at once breaks love with his beloved, curses her in his heart
with contempt, resentment, and anger, and also meets his rival, already acts from hell, which then clearly forms
the positive pole in his heart.

The rule for the heavenly man is this: whoever sees in whatever the love of his neighbour is engaged in, is to
withdraw immediately and he is to set no limits to his neighbour against the realisation of his love; for it is better
to go empty-handed at every opportunity in the world than to gain anything by some, if insignificant, struggle.

For the more one sacrifices here, the more he will find beyond. He who sacrifices a woolen robe here, will find a
golden one there; he who sacrifices two will find ten there, and whoever sacrifices a chosen virgin here will meet
a hundred immortals there. Anyone who gives away even a meager piece of land here will be given a whole
world there. Anyone who has helped one here will stretch out their arms beyond that and help them into eternal
life! And so nobody will lose something that he sacrifices here. He who sows abundantly will also reap
abundantly, but he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.

I suppose that might be enough to make it quite palpable to anyone when hell or when heaven becomes a
positive pole. And so nobody will need to come up with the ridiculous question: who is going to hell or to heaven,
and how and when does one get into it? Because nobody comes neither to hell nor to heaven, but everyone
carries both in oneself.

If hell is positive, the whole man already makes hell, as he lives and exists; but if heaven is positive, then the
whole man is heaven itself, as he lives and exists. And so no one needs to ask: what does it look like in heaven
and hell, but everyone looks at their own polarity, and he'll see exactly what it looks like either in hell or in
heaven.

For there is nowhere a place called heaven or hell, but all that is in every human self; and no one will ever go to
another heaven or another hell, which he carries in himself.

You have sufficiently convinced yourself how we were in that central sun and have seen miracles there. Where
was this sun? In you! Where are we now? According to the appearance, on the spiritual sun; but in reality in
yourselves.

How this is possible is shown to you by every dream; and of that you have already received the most substantial
treatises, and it is just this (with the exception of the dream, where existence is undecided) with the greatest,
clearest decisiveness in the absolute spiritual state. To understand this more thoroughly, let's look at a few
examples.

Chapter 119.
The spirit as the creator of his own world.

A good landscape painter and at the same time a great friend of beautiful country outings, comes home from a
country party. He likes the area he saw on this trip so much that he wants to stay in it forever. His business,
however, does not allow such. What is left for him, therefore, to at least sometimes see the most beautiful part of
his country? He paints this area with great skill on two empty, large walls of his living- room so admirably, that
each visitor recognizes with astonishment, instantly, the glorious, well-known region.

Question: From where did our painter take the example for this area?

Did he have any copperplate engraving? Or did he himself made a sketch of the place earlier? No, neither one
nor the other, but he has captured the living contours of the area in his imagination and faithfully reproduced
them here on the wall.

That's right, and every human being sees the possibility of it; but certainly not every person can see how our
painter has brought the beautiful region to the wall in his imagination. So here's the question:?how and in what
way did this painter put the area on the wall of his imagination? See, this is an important life process and says a
lot; Therefore, we want to illuminate it a little bit closer. On some occasion, we have come to know and see our
central sun as clearly as possible, which is all present in the spirit of man. If it were not present in the human
spirit, how could he ever conceive of that idea and make any idea what no mortal eye has ever beheld?

But now man can achieve in himself incomprehensibly high and super-sensoric spiritual intuitions, and thus he
must have in himself everything that a fantasy can ever produce.

But a person's imagination can be pure and impure. It is pure when, albeit in a rarer case, the immortal spirit of
man already stands so absolutely in his body that his pure images are not tarnished and polluted by the images
of the outside world. Thus imagination, too, can be pure through the conception of mere external images, if it
holds the images seen through the power of the soul and then faithfully reproduces them on occasion.
Imagination is impure if the spirit is still too passive in its body, both regarding its inner images and to those of
the external world, where everything then mixes up, the spiritual and natural, and no one can become wise if the
fantasy presents the spiritual or the natural. To this class of impure imaginative images belong all those medieval
mystical obscenities (indecencies), according to which the heaven have received its strange form, the hell and
the so-called purgatory became a roasting oven, and more such follies.

From this, however, it appears that in the spirit, which constitutes the whole life of the soul as well as the body,
everything must be present from the smallest to the greatest, which embraces all infinity, heaven and hell, and
between these two extremes, the whole natural world. And this endlessly living faculty of the spirit is what you
call the "fantasy" in the general sense.

If someone wants to bring something out of this rich room, he only need to arouse his love. The stronger the love
becomes, the more violent is its flame and the more violent its warmth and its light.

Through this quality of love, the image captured by it becomes alive itself, becomes more and more distinct
through the light of love, until at last, like the region of our painter, it has attained full maturity. And this image,
perfected by the quality of love in man himself, is the real inner world of the spirit.

Now we know where the painter took the picture from. That is something already, but we do know a little more,
and that is that this is the way by which the spirit is the creator of its own world.

But we also know that everything in the world can be good or bad accordingly, and that is what love makes of it.
If love is in accordance with the order of God, everything becomes good through it; if this is against the order of
God, everything will become bad through it. In this way every human being develops either heaven or hell in
himself.

Every act and action must have a foundation and in and of itself a certain form or better ceremony under which it
happens.

But how does one imagine an area on earth where you can find monuments of many atrocities? Surely, when
you would see this, a secret shudder will strike you. See, that is already the form of the hellish; for in spirit in the
hereafter, such a world is also formed, which is full of monuments of atrocities. In this world, the spirit sees
infinite depths, and in them, its incorrigible evil behavior. But it is very different when you come to an area where
noble people have always lived, who did many good and noble things. It will seem very familiar to you, and it will
give you a feeling of transfiguration, as if you were in the bosom of Abraham. This is an anticipation of heaven. In
the absolutely spiritual state, feeling and its form are expressed in the most vivid form. This form is the spiritual
place of Heaven and, as you can easily see, is also a work of the spirit.

But it is clear from this that every man, through the nature of his love, becomes the creator of his own inner
world, and that he can never enter any heaven or hell, but only the work of his love. This is why it also says, 'And
your works follow you.' And in just this way, as we have now undergone the apparition of hell, our well-known
students of the Sun pass it by. What will happen to them after that, we will consider next.

Chapter 120.

Further development of the students in the beyond. The Middle Kingdom (Hades).

Do they come, as you say, from hell back to heaven? That would be very earthly spoken, because these
students never actually go to hell, but only into the state, in their own sphere, to look at it. It creates nothing more
than a just revulsion of the antipolar or infernal state, and our students are back again in their true positive
heavenly sphere. But since heaven cannot be attained only by insights and recognition, nor by a nun-kind of
inactive love of prayer and reverence, but only by the works of love, which gives a fruitful good for the neighbour,
our disciples must, in order to reach the true heaven, now also let themselves go into a seriously active state.

But what does this consist of? We could answer that in a few words.

Look at the natural-spiritual sphere of your earth or the so-called "middle realm", which also bears the name
"Hades", and is about what you Romans believe, admittedly very wrong, under the purgatory. This kingdom can
best be compared to a large entrance hall, where all enter without distinction of rank and office, and to a certain
extent prepare themselves for further entry into the actual guest quarters.

So even this Hades is that first natural-spiritual state of man into which he comes immediately after death.

For no one will either go to heaven or to hell at once, unless in the first case anyone on earth would either have
to be completely born again out of the pure love of the Lord, or in the second case he would have to be a most
malevolent offender against the Holy Spirit. In the first case, therefore, heaven would be attained without entry
into the middle realm, in the second case, but the lowest hell is to be expected. Heaven in the first case,
because such a man already carries him in the highest perfection, and in the second case, hell, because such a
man has become emptied of all heavenly things. But that is just a side note that does not matter; Therefore we
do not want to stay any longer, but immediately turn our eyes to where and what our students are dealing with.

This large Middle Kingdom is the main workshop for all heavenly spirits. Everyone has much to do there. For
think of this place, which receives every hour of your day about five to seven thousand newcomers.

These must be immediately tested and brought to the place that is perfectly suited to them, or they must be
immediately led into such a state, which coincides with their basic love in them. Therefore, they must be
explored and tested in all their inclinations. Wherever they tend to most, that is the way which must also be
spiritually opened to them.

Of course, that does not happen in the world; for that would be the strongest so-called St.Simonism, which in no
time would want to turn the whole earth into a robber's and murderer's nest. But in the realm of the spirits it is
precisely this St. Simonism that is observed, and everyone can consequently pursue his inclination unhindered.
It will of course be said here: If it happens like that, who will then go to heaven? There it is different; It is said that
every doctor must know his patient from the bottom of his heart before he can prescribe a medicine for him to
foundationally heal him. Because on the other hand, nobody is served anything with a palliative cure. So must, in
the beyond, every newcomer make a general confession of his life from A to Z.

Only after this has happened, a change of state, which means the perfect revelation, happens. In this state,
every spirit stands completely naked and then enters a third state, which is called the desolation, and probably
the killing off of all the sensorial that man has brought with from the world.

Only then does the spiritual man come to heaven, or, in the worst case, into the first hell.

My predecessor showed you sufficiently in the evening region what this resort of cleansing looks like, when you
found yourself in the pitch-dark area among the "moss-eaters". You have seen visually clear how these spirits
then gradually get into the first heaven, or even into the first hell.

We can now therefore immediately solve the question of what on all these occasions, our students actually get to
do. Their business is exploring and opening the ways to places of cleansing. In this they have for the time being
nothing more to do; because more advanced angelic spirits need to take care of the further work.

But how does such exploration and the opening of the way happen? We have previously touched on the so-
called St. Simonism and now want to present the case in a nutshell as clear as possible. And so listen:

Every human being who has lived here according to his duties of profession and who has been provided with all
so-called spiritual goods upon his departure from this world, immediately asks for heaven. He, too, is evidently at
once elevated to a state which, for him, is the heavenly resort.

But such heaven is always represented in its truth, which is truly different from what the newcomer has brought
over in his well-founded (fixed) idea. But that he does not like such a heaven any more than some of the present
bishops, prelates, and other spiritual dignitaries would like, when they would suddenly have to take the plow with
their own hands for the benefit of their brothers, is very easy to understand.

Therefore, even such a heavenly guest, who does not feel well in such a "true" heaven, demands the same
again. And as he returns to his usual state, he immediately seeks in himself what have pleased him most on
earth.

He finds, for example, that beautiful women and girls were his greatest joy on earth. He soon notices the spirits
who investigate and guide him, and they propose that this would not do for heaven, for his desire is impure.

But there he protests and says: Just put me to the test, let me go to the most beautiful women and girls, and I
will have a good conversation with them.

After such an utterance, the guest will be promptly invited. He is led exactly to those states in which he is
gradually quite bodily in all the scenes that has given him so much pleasure in the world. Here, however, the
(guiding) spirits disappears and let him act alone, but always under their observation, which he is not aware of.

That the guest here repeats all his scenes hardly needs mentioning.

But what happens to him and what is the business of our spirits - we shall see in the sequel.

Chapter 121.

Every life has certain ways determined by Jesus.

If the guest has undergone such a scene of one of his principal passions, then he usually becomes filled with
disgust for such a fleeting pleasure, by convincing himself that there is nothing real about it. You must know that
such spirits also have sexual intercourse in the hereafter;?but instead of pleasure, they feel a very significant
pleasure-pain, and this peculiarity makes them all the more feel disgust for their passion.

But if such a passion is defeated in this way, then the spirit seeks something else in itself, which otherwise
pleases him in the world, for example a game. If that is the case, he longs for a gaming company. This is granted
to him. He comes among well-known friends, and their first meeting requires nothing more than the quick
arrangement of a game. And immediately he is put into the state in which he finds everything that is needed for
playing as in his own home in the world: cards, money, and the like. The game begins, but usually ends with the
loss of all his money and home. It goes without saying that he thereby gets hatred for the game; but
unfortunately also for the players who took everything from him. But once again, our guide is immediately at
hand, showing him the nothingness of his passion and how he distances himself more and more from God
instead of approaching Him.

In this way, does everything that he has done since his childhood turns up again for our new guest. Even music,
when it constitutes a more sensual passion and is more than a profit-driven activity, operates there in the same
way as an evil passion and is worked out in the same way. Even painting and poetry; in short, everything that
has led mankind in the world, at any rate of excellence, to a look of pride, must be carried out in a similar way.

But in the end the spirit must do all this voluntarily, for no one is ever compelled to do something in whatever
way, but he must so to speak force himself and judge himself!

And this is the business of these angelic guiding spirits, who gradually introduce each newcomer into himself
completely and let him find all that he has only ever absorbed in his whole life on earth: first the grosser things,
and then the better things.

Many, especially the Roman faith (Catholic), will not find this very reasonable, because for the time being he
does not want to know anything about the confessed sins, and secondly, he believes in a special judgment,
which the Lord personally performs with every deceased right after death.

He will not easily accept that the Lord never judges anyone, least of all in the spirit world. It would be even more
likely to be accepted on the material world if one wants to accept the manifold chastisements of god-forgotten
people as a judgment, but in the spirit world all this ends.

The mind is completely free and can do whatever he wants. But his own deeds are his only judge, for as his love
is, so are his deeds, and so his life.

The only thing which is eternally fixed by the Lord, is that every life has its definite ways beyond which it can
never go. But these ways are so intimately intertwined with the nature of life that they constitute life with life itself.
If one were to cut off such a path for someone, he cuts off his freedom and thus also his life. Such a cutting off,
would really be a judgment that would bring death to every spirit.

At the same time, however, the Lord Himself would no longer be completely free, if He would take away the full
liberty of only one spirit;?just as a Judge is no longer free and has judged himself as soon as he condemns only
one person to prison. For if he is otherwise free in his activity, then he is already limited in this one; for, as much
as the languishes in prison, the judgment of the judge languishes, and may not be freed from the prison before
the prisoner himself is freed. In the material world, such imprisonment does not seem very plausible, but it
becomes more plausible and active in the spiritual world.

It is true that the Lord has set a perfect goal for every head and original life, according to His infinite love and
mercy; and this goal is again not a judgment but only a collecting point, where every spirit should fully recover its
scattered life and its activities. Such a place could be either hell or heaven and it is therefore the main business
of our well-known angelic spirits in the middle kingdom to guide the spirits in their full freedom to one or the other
goal.

We have already seen how this guidance happens, and what happens afterwards with the guided spirit, we also
know. - All that remains for us to know, is what our guiding spirits will have to do after this work.
Chapter 122.

Continued education of the students through the planets and the seven spheres of the sun, to their heavenly
destination.

This, too, will not cost us much effort, for we must only remember that there is still a very large number of other
earth bodies besides this earth on which, like on this earth, free beings dwell. This will make it easy to find out
what occupation is coming up next for our spirits. Every earth body belongs to some whole planetary system;
and each one whole planetary system stands among themselves spiritually and naturally in a reciprocal
connection and interaction.

However, the planetary system belonging to your sun, is the first into which our spirits enter. First up is the moon.
Of course, more than a punitive teaching than a freeing one is taught to these spirits. So these spirits are here
comparable what you are the elementary teachers who hold in addition to the textbook, a rod of correction in
their hands.

You know very well why this is necessary here. You also know what the moon looks like, what it means to its
inhabitants, and how they are taught.

And so we have nothing more to say about it.

From there, these teachers and their students do not immediately go to heaven, but into the spiritual sphere of
the planet Mercury, where there are already higher teachers. From Mercury they then go to Venus; from this for
the sake of greater humility, to Mars. For those who have not yet adopted the just degree of humiliation in Mars,
then a detour is made into what you call the four small planets. But in those who have already adopted a great
degree of humility in Mars, an elevation to Jupiter is immediately accomplished. From Jupiter they first enter into
the exceedingly beautiful Saturn, from there into Uranus and finally into the already known last planet under the
name Miron (Neptune), but it goes without saying, everywhere only into the spiritual sphere of these planets.

Somebody here could ask: is that the usual way, which all spirits have to be guided to finally reach heaven?

Oh, no, I say, only those people enter here who were very natural and vainly sensual under the direction of the
spirits known to us. These must be guided on the somewhat lengthy scientific way into the love and wisdom of
the Lord; and that is because the natural sensuality of man is a consequence of the taking up of that effect which
is called planetary in humans.

No human being is passively obliged to absorb this planetary effect;?but if he is enabled by the stimulation of the
flesh and other pleasurable sensualities, then he also absorbs such influences half- suffering and half-active. But
since these influences are mostly sensorial, they are bad;?and man can, in his spiritual corresponding
possession, not enter the kingdom of heaven until he is freed from all these obsessions.

For example, an exaggerated desire to travel and to trade and influence of Mercury, as he was already known as
such with the ancient wise men.

Venus depicts the beautiful spiritual 'being in love', as it was already known to the ancient wise; Mars, the battle
and desire to rule, as also the old wise men knew; Jupiter an exaggerated pedantic ambition, according to
profound erudition; Saturn, an easy excitability of the passions; from Uranus a great love of pomp and from
Miron an exaggerated desire to all sorts of arts such as music, poetry, painting, mechanics, industry of all kinds
and the like.

It is not as if the human of the earth would have received such from the planets; but man originally has all this in
a just degree in himself and can also awaken and use it in his own right. But when man throws himself too much
on one or the other branch, he exceeds the measure of the influence of such a planet, because he particularly
emphasizes the self-supporting planet and surrenders himself to its influence. It is precisely through the
awakening of his special passion, that he allows unhindered communication to the mutual interacting polarities,
which is not difficult to grasp for the one who has noticed something of my first explanation of the cause of
vision, that no one can see what he is not in himself. For this very reason, such spirits must then go through the
planetary journey and, to a certain extent, again deposit the strangeness there on the scientific path of
experience, from where they have taken it.

When they have finished, they come into the sun, in which they again have to experience all the same planetary
qualities to their principal foundations. Only after completion of such school, they become the lesser guards of
the little children.

But the leaders become chief teachers here. And if they have undergone the school to perfection, only then will
they be received as citizens of the holy city of Jerusalem, where they must first be by far the least, and must be
guided by the chief citizens in all the great heavenly affairs which in number, a world full of books would not hold!
For as the creations of the Lord are infinite, so infinitely branched are the affairs of the angels of the highest
heaven.

Now you know the whole progress and the finite determination of the child spirit angels and therefore also know
the spiritual arrangement of the sun. - And so my teaching is over for you too. Therefore return to where the Lord
Himself awaits you!

Chapter 123.

Review of the ten viewed spirit spheres.

The Lord: Now you are here again: Do you not want to announce to Me in your mind what all you have seen,
experienced and thus learned in My John?

You are now fully respectful of Me and say in yourselves: What shall we tell You, O Lord, to You, to whom our
thoughts were already known, before we thought them, even more so than a sun, which attracts the rays from
the vast infinity, to let it shine out again with multiple increased strength?

Yes, my dear children, you are right, the Father knows everything, but nevertheless he likes to talk to His
children as if He did not know everything. But I see in you a secret question and this is so:

O Father, You, eternal Love and Truth! Incredibly great and wonderful over all human concepts is what we have
seen, experienced and learned from the first to the last in the spheres of Your angelic spirits. But now do we
want to hear from You a sacred word that tells us whether all that really is the full truth?

See, My dear children, this is your secret question, and I answer you therefore: Right at the beginning, when we
have looked at the outer dial of our clock, or rather the outer sphere of the spiritual sun, I have told you, as the
heavens and the whole spiritual world does not represent itself locally to the point of appearance, but they are,
like all spiritual worlds, in the spirit themselves. Or: the sphere of life of a spirit is its world, which it inhabits.

I showed you to convince you, a parable where you saw a so-called diorama. By these parables have I then, in a
specific order, led the ten spirits still present here, and showed you how you will also meet a spiritual diorama
there and, in the sphere of each spirit, you have found a different picture of the spiritual world for contemplation.

Such was then also the case; as you have now been ten times convinced, as you have seen the spiritual sphere
of each of these ten angelic spirits, every time in a very different form. This is more than clear as daylight before
you; and I have added to you that you can repeatedly go through this spiritual diorama in the same spirits, and
you will see the spiritual world again in a completely different form.
So you can also enter the spheres of other spirits, and in each such sphere you would again see a very different
form of the spiritual world, both in their individual circumstances and in their total existence.

However, looking at it, I cannot give you a general answer to your question, except that I say to you, it is here in
all things! Like the seed, so the fruit, as the works, so the reward, and as the love as the foundation of works, so
is the form of the world, which they create in themselves spiritually.

Although you have looked at different forms, you still have one and the same truth everywhere. For the form
does not lie, but everything is only in truth.

And so I did not want to show you what the heaven, the spiritual world or hell look like, but only how it all evolves
into the nature of the love in every human spirit.

For that reason, you have looked at thousands of forms to an overwhelming degree, and in every form, the inner
truth has been made known to you. And thus I can tell you that in the sphere of truth, you have seen the whole
extent of spiritual life.

But as far as it concerns the forms, they go so far into the infinite, that in the eternities of eternities you will not be
able to see the least part of them! And so you can be content with a perfectly calm mind in the fullness of the
truth; especially if I tell you that, as long as this earth has been inhabited by human beings, the spiritual
conditions of life have never before been revealed as comprehensively and completely as this time.

Whatever one seeks, in whatever circumstances he is, in this revelation he can exactly find to an atom, how
things are with himself.

Whoever reads this with deep attention and great devotion will find the great, convincing truth not only in this
solar revelation, but alive in himself.

But in order that everyone may find everything in themselves to be completely true, I will add in the short sequel
some parables and pictures, which shall illuminate the secret corners of this revelation. - For today therefore, My
blessing, and therefore good!

Chapter 124.

Every human being carries a different grain-seed for the development of the spiritual world.

If you read the gospel, you will easily find under which general pictures I Myself represented the kingdom of
heaven. Among the parables is the one of the mustard seed. This parable is also the one that is most suitable
here. Small is this grain; Who sees the tree-like plant in it? But this mustard seed carries a whole infinity of its
kind in itself. Countless identical mustard granules can emerge from one. But sow countless such mustard seeds
into the soil, and you will probably get all the same plants from it. But as far as the certain symmetry of the form
is concerned, one trunk will not resemble the other, just as little as you are capable of finding two perfectly
symmetrical leaves on the same tree.

Whoever grasps this example from this point of view will certainly draw the conclusion from it and say: There is
nothing in the symmetrical form, which could be called a permanent or constant one; for whether a leaf comes
out on this or that point of the trunk, or of a branch and twig, whether it is a little bit larger or smaller, or if the
trunk itself grows higher or lower in the ground, more or less branches and twigs shoot, and these always in a
different order. It does not matter if only the substance of the plant and its usefulness remain one and the same.

See, this is basically nothing other than what I say to you: there is nothing inherent in the form or the appearance
of the spirit world, if only all these infinitely different forms and phenomena have one and the same truth and one
and the same purpose as foundation.
And so each man carries in himself a different grain for the development of the spiritual world, which rises in him
and finally becomes a tree, which is the form of the inner world.

If you sow different seeds into the earth and into one and the same earth, do you suppose that similar plants
would grow, or that even one and the same kind of seed would produce completely identical plants? Oh no,
everywhere the same and at least with similar seeds, only a slightly different outer form.

But despite all this, does the basic material remains the same; and you can chemically analyze all matter as
much as you want and can, and yet at the final result, you will not come to anything but two primordial materials,
the well-known very volatile carbon and the binding oxygen.

See, that is again equal to the fundamental truth and the primary purpose of all probability of form in the realm of
spirits.

Everywhere there is only one God, one Father, one Love, one Wisdom, and out of it comes the infinite as the
eternal!

Behold the clouds that are drifting in the air over your earth every day. Have you ever discovered a consistent
form in them? Will you see it the same in the evenings as it is in the morning or the next day or in the next year?

Endlessly different are the changing forms of the clouds; You never see the very same ones you have already
seen. But is this confusing to you in your existence? Certainly not, for whatever the cloud may float in the air,
whatever it may be, there remains only one cloud, as one truth, and its purpose is to give the rain, and that too in
one and the same way if all the conditions are right to produce the rain.

And so here again is nothing in the form, but only on the rationale and the purpose.

In general, as far as the apparent being is concerned, its ever-changing form is there only for the awakening of
the spirit, which finds in it its feeling of bliss. For under an eternally perfect monotony everything would sink into
eternal sleep.

But man must seek his salvation and bliss not in form, but in reality, in truth. As far as form is concerned, I have
provided from eternity for its everlasting, ever renewing change of form; and it also applies to the basic text from
the gospel:

"Above all, seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness; Everything else will be added unto you."

So do not ask this or that: What does heaven look like and how the spirit world? Because all that is vain! But
seek to make every word of Me alive in you through the works of love; and then you already have heaven alive
in you and everything that is in the spirit world.

Because no one will ever 'go to' heaven, who will look like he has, in one way or another, taken it into his
memory and imagination. Each one carries within himself his own heaven and his own world of spirits, the form
of which will always be governed by the kind of love that is in him and by the works that have come out of it.

Somebody wants to make the figure of an apple tree perfectly recognisable to a stranger by speaking to him:
Behold, there is an apple tree before us; Remember exactly the height and thickness of the trunk, the exact
location of its branches and twigs, as well as the leaves and the bark, and you will recognise every apple tree
that perfectly corresponds to this shape. The so trained teaches the shape of the tree exactly and thus goes into
a large tree garden, which consists of nothing but apple trees.

He adapts his recorded form everywhere; but since he does not find them completely the same, there is no
apple tree in this tree garden for him.

So nobody should justify themselves in any way; because he will always leave empty. But if he takes the matter
in the spirit of truth, he will find the truth under every form, and the way and the life!

This thing is of great importance; therefore should all this given here be well thought through by everyone, and it
should be tested, so that he may find the true foundations of his wisdom. So it is and will be forever true and
good. For closer illumination, some more examples will follow!

Chapter 125.

The kingdom of heaven is like the present time.

As for "the kingdom of heaven," it corresponds to your present time, which is again equal to the sower in the
gospel, who scattered good seed, part of it on the way, part in the bushes, part on the rocky ground and only a
part fell on good soil.

Look at your time, is it not like the sower and the kingdom of heaven?

The word is being sowed everywhere; everywhere awakened people still live, who explain the word from the
internal perspective. But the needs of mankind in the present time have become equal to the way in which the
seed falls, or: they have become purely secular. That's why the word makes such an impression on them as like
throwing peas at a wall, as none will get caught and even less take root in the hard, steep and smooth soil.

Therefore, I may send down all the angels of heaven and proclaim through them the Word of life everywhere in
the most wonderful way - today, tomorrow, and the day after, people will be shocked, they will hear and accept,
but afterwards they will begin to look at the miracle indifferently, and will continue to run their world business as
before.

These are the industrial people and their never-to-be-satisfied needs.

They are like bushes and thorns. Even if the word germinates at the beginning, it is soon stifled, and afterwards,
these people become more indifferent to the same word than before. Only then will they say: If only we received
it in a really wonderful way, then we would believe and do accordingly. But I grant even this wish. I sow it almost
everywhere in a wonderful way, like here. But what does it do? It moves at most here and there some to political
objections; that is about it. But that someone wants to turn to it - this good soil - where are they?

I say: where hundreds of millions of people live, it would be far too much said if a thousand would truly want to
come to life. What use then that among ten or hundred thousands, who may well listen believingly, but when it
comes to action, they procrastinate from one day to the other;?because they say: why should one make an effort
to achieve eternal life? If there is an eternal life, as they believe it, then it will probably not be difficult to achieve
it; Therefore, let us live happily and in the end, die happily! What else do we need?

There we have the stony and sandy soil together. It probably receives the seed, and half of it germinates; but the
soil has no moisture, and so, in the end, even what has germinated, perishes!

Faith alone therefore never remains unless it is animated by the deed;?just as pure theory without actual
practice and application of the same, nobody becomes a practical person.

So now you can find a legion other talkers upholding opinions about moral and religious issues. But all these
talkers do not want to become practical and do not touch a pebble with a finger. Everyone believes that he has
done something extraordinarily meritorious, if he has only preached well and, through his moral and religious
chatter, at best managed some stupid devotees and enthusiasts.

But no one seriously wants to try the paths through which he could directly get to connect with Me Myself and
then get from My mouth a living teaching that could firstly transform his earth into good soil.

There are a great many theologians and theosophists, but there is barely one, who was really taught by God
according to the Gospel of John, which states that all should be taught by God!
Truly, if I do not want to shake someone out of my great mercy here and there, just as a diligent master of the
house vexes his lazy and sluggish servant, then from the times of the apostles, almost no one knows what "the
living word" is and what it means to be "taught by God"

The present theologians put Me rather mysteriously above all the stars and let Me sit there in a completely
inaccessible light. Why do they do that? They do that for different reasons. The first would for example be: Far
away is out of our way. The second would be that no one is thus able to approach God in such a way that he
could be taught by Him. Another reason, based on the previous one, is that God has given reason and
understanding to man; that is the living Word of God in man. He who turns to it, lives according to the will of God,
and whoever develops his understanding and reason, is already taught by God; for no one can be taught directly
by God, but only indirectly, because God dwells above all stars in inaccessible light.

If, then, I now and then awaken someone in opposition to these mysterious theosophical theses, who then
receives a direct, living word from Me, then he is declared by the greater part of present-day humanity to be a
fool and a swindler, sometimes even a deceiver and a charlatan, who understands how to profit from the
capabilities of his mind. Say if this is not so?

It is not unknown to you that different men received the living Word, and even those of this time, from the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as some from earlier centuries. But what is its lot? The silent
oblivion. It is enough for the learned world to know their names. But what these men have taught out of Me, they
do not care for. And though there are some who read a book here and there, they soon come up with sentences
that do not agree with their reason. Therefore, they soon reject the whole and let our man, who has been taught
by Me, rest.

If all goes well, then met will at most grant Me alone some justice;?but My messengers are nothing but fools and
deceivers.

Is not your time like this? I mean, anyone can grab that by hand.

But since the kingdom of heaven is not a locality anywhere, but only a complete state of life, the kingdom of
heaven is also perfectly equal to your time, namely, this time, namely barren, poor, small, rare.

And wherever it still is, it is not pure. But will that be a kingdom of heaven, if it is not completely pure? I tell you,
the Kingdom of Heaven is very relative in this respect, and that is because every fool likes his cap best.

Everyone finds his kingdom of heaven in his stupidity. Whether it is the truth out of Me, that is another question.
It has truly become rare, barren and sparse. Why? Because people have run out of good soil! Therefore I may
also now sow the very best and purest seed, as I will, but it nevertheless falls on nothing but ways, between
thorns and on stony soils, here and there in a crack on the way. Thus, from among one million grains which fell
into a stone chasm, about a thousand germinates and a hundred reach maturity. And that is then the whole
harvest and the kingdom of heaven! Surely that is barren, rare and sparse!

From this you can again see that all that has been said so far has its good reason, that the superficial
appearance of the spiritual has as little to it than the phenomena of the time. They are deaf and hollow, but to the
wise they are a Scripture, from the basics of which he easily finds the inner truth; for every apparition is
preceded by an effective reason. If the appearance is noble and good, the foundation will be the same; but if the
appearance is ignoble, that is, worldly, material, and evil, then its reason will be of the same measure.

Whoever wants to see everything spiritual in its true form, does not bind himself to the appearance, but uses it
only for the study of the spiritual foundation. If he finds it, then he has the whole essence of all spirit worlds. But
how this is to be explored out of the visible, is to be shown below.

Chapter 126.
A tree as an example of the nature of the spirit kingdom.

In the course of the whole communication about the realm of the spiritual sun-kingdom, every single smallest
relation has been shown in this respect; how the spirit-world is connected with the natural; and therefore one
could easily say: in order to be able to get by means of these phenomena to the foundation, it would be almost
unnecessary to say anything more, as this subject has been adequately illuminated in the course of the whole
communication in all its branches.

But I say: Man never has too much of the good; but rather of the bad.

For much good often does not improve the bad; but a little bad can often spoil much good!

And so we also want to illuminate our present subject as clearly as possible through many illustrative examples.

Look at a tree. Its essence, as it is there, represents to you as a corresponding appearance, the whole essence
of the spirit world in its relation to the natural world.

The inmost of this tree, the core, is the heavenly; the trunk, the branches, and the twigs are the real spiritual
kingdom, which has its life from the inner nuclei. Over above the wood of the trunk you will see the bark, which is
the outer appearance of the tree. The bark in and of itself is dead; but below the outer dead bark is another bark,
which you call "the living." This is equal to the state of connection, where the spiritual merges with the material.

Consider the effect of this bark. Out of it, the outer dead bark first emerges, and again out of this living bark
emerge all the transient foliage, as well as the outer form of the blossom, and finally even the outer shell of the
fruit.

None of these products are lasting; they fall off after they have rendered their services.

See, that's how it is with the world and everything you belong to. All this is like the outer bark, the leaves and
flowers, but also the fruits of a tree. These fall off. But the tree, in its inner life, consists and bears the infinite,
external appearance of the visible and transient. But how can one infer from the apparent to the inner true
foundation? I say: the easiest thing in the world. If you would only let yourself imagine what is manifested in you,
and at the same time present it in an effective manner, you have the foundation of the spiritual already before
you.

The main reason, however, is to be found by looking at the whole number of years of the vegetative action of a
tree. It consists in nothing other than in the constant expansion and ever-increasing strengthening of life.

Quite simply, this is placed in a single small seed in the ground.

Which vital force is originally in this seed, like with an acorn nut, every human being can test if he takes such a
nut in his hands and can play with it like a feather-down.

But when this insignificant acorn nut is laid into the earth, the vegetative life begins to strengthen in it. A young
oak tree with at most two leaves is visible first. In this first stage, the vegetative life of the developing oak tree is
still weak. It hardly exceeds the weight of the previous smooth oak nut tenfold. But let's just look at it thirty years
later. Then it has already acquired such a powerful vegetative life force, that you can tie several horses to its
trunk, and they will not be able to wrest it from the ground with their enormous power. But consider it at the age
of one hundred years. What a huge, majestic tree, and what a stormy, proud power in him! How many
thousandfold has this hundred-year-old oak reproduced its original little vegetative life in the same acorns, and
how powerfully has it, through its waste and thus with its excess of its vegetative vitality, fertilized the soil, and
animated it for the constant increase of its own vitality!

In short, such a tree has become a world full of life. And all this came from a single insignificant acorn nut.

See, so originally only a small spark of life force goes out from Me, equipped with the ability to infinitely
strengthen and empower itself as a life force. And this is precisely what makes this appearance of the tree
serviceable to everyone's clearest insight.

We said before: From the living bark, does the apparent foliage, the outer flower and even the shell of the fruit,
emerge. In the fruit itself, the germ of the seed receives only a very small spark from the general life of the tree
core. The kernel, together with the fruit, ripens and represents the human being in his worldly likelihood. Very
simple and plain is the external appearance, and small is his strength. But he is equal to an acorn nut. When he
is placed in the good soil of My will, his inner germ will awaken, and the latter will itself become a mighty tree,
whose power surpasses the power of countless former acorns.

And, behold, every man already has in himself the germ of his spiritual state, which is the true spirit- world. He is
in this world a little life, which should strengthen itself to a sun of life. From its atom-sized life germs should
develop a huge, powerful tree of life. And so it is.

Just as the acorn-nut bears innumerable forests of gigantic trees, all of which can develop from the single seed,
so too, man in his seemingly small life in this world carries with him, infinite strength and potential.

It says in the Gospel, where it is told about the one who buried his talent, is said: "I know that you are a strict
man and you want to reap, where you have not sown. Where you placed one, you want to win a thousand;?so I
buried the talent so that I may give it to you, as you have given me.

But then the master of talents says: "Oh, you miserable servant! Since you know that I am an unrighteous man
and I want to reap, where I did not sow, why did not you give the talent for a moneychanger, which would have
given me good usury percentages?

See, from this passage it seems quite clear that I am spreading out the life in the smallest possible parts out of
Me into the endless realms of My kingdom being, in order to get back an excessively increased potentiated
weight of life from each of these smallest life-parts.

This is the true innermost cause of all spiritual life: But am I really a hard, self-serving, unjust looter? Oh no! For
there is nowhere else to live except in Me, and this for the simple reason that there has never been an existence
"outside" of Me! I am the eternal Source of all life!

What would happen to life in the times upon times, if this original Source would want to dry up all life? See, all
life would vanish into the infinite, and nothing would remain in the end but an eternally empty, dark, dead infinity!

But if I, as the Primordial Source of all life Myself, would return into Myself every single moment, becoming
infinitely more powerful and strong, then all partial life, which is expressed in every created human, yes even in
infinity, is nourished and strengthened.

The stronger the father, the stronger the children. The ant is likely to produce ephemerides, but not eagles and
lions. Everywhere the weak produces the weak and the strong, the strong. But as the weak never produce
strong things, so strong does never produce anything weak. An eagle is never the creator of a fearful dove and a
hare cannot boast, as if the lion were its creator.

But if you are the children of an almighty Father and have the germ of life of the Father in you, strengthen this
germ in the good soil of My will, and make strong the Father in you, then you will also be strong in the Father.
For the Father does not demand your strength for Himself, but for Himself He demands it, so that you, too,
should become perfect, as He Himself is perfect in Himself, or in heaven.

See, this is a picture of how you can infer from outer appearance to the inner ground of life. Next, another picture
for the same purpose!

Chapter 127.
A son of man as a picture of the kingdom of heaven and the universe.

In the preceding disclosure we have put a strong image before everyone's eyes, according to which anyone can
easily relate the external phenomena to the inner foundation. But since this field is very large, and the
phenomena on it innumerable, man never has too much of a right image to seek the right advice in every
situation of his apparent existence. And so we will move on to another, though simple, but more meaningful, and
more general picture to illuminate our cause.

What could be simpler than a harmless, poor human child? This has two moving feet, then a body full of guts; it
has two movable arms and above it a movable head on a neck. There are two ears on the head that are always
the same, and one hears the same thing as the other. So it also has two eyes that have their fixed point of view
in mind and can not be brought closer to each other, though they are capable of movement. With these two eyes
every single thing can be looked at for itself. In the middle of the eyes sits the nose with two nostrils. It breathes
in the air of life and lets the impurity of the head flow away. So it also has a mouth, the lower part of which is
independently mobile. In the same case, it has immobile teeth, but a more mobile tongue. The rest of the body
consists of skin, flesh, blood, nerves, fibers, veins and bones, in which marrow is found. - See, that's the picture
of our child.

Who knows what is behind this very simple appearance? Who sees a whole heaven in it? Who the whole infinite
universe?

Who seeks in this simple picture the conflict of all creation, both in the spiritual and the natural spheres?

Would somebody not want to say, in the child this is hardly obvious;?but if we let it become a man, perhaps there
will much be found in his thoughts and actions, from which one can consequently see that man is at least an
integral part of creation.

But I say: This is not necessary; the child alone is enough. His two simple feet testify to my Paternal loving care
expressed in the ten simple commandments known to you. The feet are provided with then toes, for this purpose
and also for the sake of support and retention.

In the natural sphere, however, they present the planetary system, which is also the lowest support of a solar
system. Yes, the planetary system, like its feet, through their movement, pushes the great main body of the sun
into its great main movement.

From this very brief account, you can see that even in the feet of the child the whole caring nature of a spiritual
kind, like the whole planetary nature of a natural kind, is present.

The body rests on its feet as the main workshop of life. Who does not immediately see in this spiritual sphere the
essence of the invigorating love from Me? And who does not soon see in the body, the sun, which is the
invigorating body of the whole planetary system?

In the body, the heart is the fundamental seat of life and the clearest picture of love. This love is constantly active
and nourishes all parts of the body.

Right next to this love, is the stomach. This is the hospitable kitchen, in which the heat of the love cooks the food
by its fire and then, truly wonderfully prepared, leads it into all parts.

The lungs are like a second stomach, a second kitchen, through which essential food is added to the food
prepared in the first kitchen, so that the food of the first kitchen comes alive and is suitable for the support of life.

How glorious is the image of these two kitchens, in the midst of which the active heart rules, how the spiritual
intervenes in the natural, in order to spiritualize it, and thus to bring it to a higher purpose. And all of this happens
through the ever-active mediation of the heart, this most faithful image of love!

Who can misunderstand My own love-power here, as I also always take the lost, cook it in the great kitchen of
natural creation, and then revive it by the breath of My grace and mercy, from the second great kitchen, which is
heaven , and is equal to the lungs in man.
Every breath can tell every human how I constantly influences life from the heavens, so that life consists therein
that through this influx, I always strive to transform death into life.

Anyone who is able to think only somewhat clearly for himself, will certainly not find this wonderful analogy
without light. - Let's go further.

On both sides of the body are two hands. These represent spiritually the working love, which can move freely in
wide spaces everywhere and constantly works and creates.

The hands are therefore represent My hands of free-acting, unbound power, which, however, does not wave
beyond the definite eternal basic order, for every hand also carries the fingers as outermost extensions, whose
number equals the extensions of the feet. Only the legs of the feet are bound to the same directed order, while
the extensions on the hands signify free activity in this order.

So, for example, a human being not born again in the spirit, is equal to the bound order of the feet and a born-
again man, equal to the free order of the hands.

Whoever is able to think, will here again find the corresponding truth; especially when he is still looking at the
natural sun, just as in the outward flow of its rays she visibly reveals her open, freely active hands.

Now we still have the head, a fixed part above the body, which in itself in a rounded form, represents a complete
man in his spiritual sphere. The ears are the feet on which he goes. The eyes are his arms, with which he can
reach far. The nose is the lungs; the mouth is the stomach. In him is like the heart, the tongue, which helps to
process both the material and the spiritual food; the material by pushing under the crushing teeth and then by
swallowing down. That is their material employment. But the tongue also gives the voice an intelligible,
articulated sound, and it is it, that transforms the inner thoughts into intelligible words.

The inner marrow of the head represents the whole entrails of man or his refined and spiritualized life.

And so man in his totality, in his very simple, contemplative form, leads man through all his three stages: in his
feet the bound naturalness, in his body the spiritual sphere which still has to work and fight with various things
and in the head, its heavenly sphere, where man stands in and of himself in a fixed, unchangeable condition, but
is thus far wider in his sphere of influence, just as the constituents of the head of the natural man extends
infinitely beyond the components of the human body.

Well, that's a very simple but clear picture. This image of the external appearance contains the whole of heaven,
the whole of the spiritual world subordinated to heaven, and thus also the whole of the natural world, which is
subordinate to heaven and the spirit world, in all its details.

I think that if you look at this picture, especially in the simplicity of a harmless child, you will be able to find each
other with ease in this appearance, and be able to just as easily find its foundation. And so we have enough
pictures; and there is nothing left for us to do but to add a few "Explanation of Scriptures"* to this whole work, as
it is to be usefully read and handled accordingly.

* The book “Explanation of Scriptures” has been published as a separate work (translator).