Chapter VI

Of resurrection. In the words of God.

1. Whether on earth or in heaven, the same rules apply to both:

2. He that serves himself one-half and serves others one-half shall stand grade fifty.

3. He that serves himself three-quarters and others one quarter shall stand grade twenty-five.

4. He that serves himself one-quarter and others three-quarters shall stand grade seventy-five.

5. He that serves himself only shall stand grade one.

6. He that serves others wholly shall stand grade ninety-nine.

7. And he who serves accordingly, himself or others, shall stand in grade even as his works manifest.

8. To serve one's self is to work for one's self; to strive for one's self, to think of one's own self, as to what will profit one's own self only.

9. To serve others is to do good unto others; to help them; to teach them; to give them joy and comfort. This is the service of Jehovih.

10. But there are some who are below the grades; who seek to do evil; who seek to make others unhappy; who delight in crime and pollution. These, if mortal, shall be called druks, and if spirits, shall be called drujas.

11. After such manner, in general, are the grades of my heavens of the earth, atmospherea.

12. Grade one is on the earth; grade fifty, midway between the earth and the emancipated heavens, etherea.

13. Grade twenty-five is one-quarter way up from the earth, toward etherea; but grade seventy-five is three-quarters way upward, toward etherea. And so on, relatively, grade and place of ascent intermediately.

14. But grade ninety-nine is the highest atmospherean grade, preparatory to entrance into the company of the all pure in spirit.

15. But good works alone are not sufficient to attain the highest grades, for they require knowledge and capacity to unfold others.

16. To accomplish this, those of the higher grades shall often return to the lower grades and learn to lift them up. For it is this which calls the ethereans in the times of resurrections;

17. During which the righteous, who are yet mortal, begin at once lifting up their fellows.

18. This labor is to the spirit as exercise is to the mortal body, that which gives strength.

19. Judge, then, yourself, O man of the earth, as to the place your spirit will rise in the time of your death.

Chapter VII

1. A man may be wise as to books and philosophy and mathematics and poetry and great learning, and yet be low in grade as to spirit.

2. A man may know little of all such knowledge, and may be poor as well, but by hardship and experience developed in sympathy and good works done unto others, be high in grade as to spirit.

3. So also may it be with spirits that manifest through you as great orators, who stand even in the lowest grade in heaven.

4. Let not yourself deceive yourself, O man, as to your knowledge, or your speech or professions.

5. You have the scales in your own hands, and shall, sooner or later, weigh yourself justly and take your place even as you have prepared yourself.

6. Nor flatter yourself that you can cheat heaven, or change the ways of it.

7. Nor hide yourself behind doctrines, or behind the promises of Gods or Saviors.

8. Old things are done away, and none of these things shall avail you on earth or in heaven.

9. Whether you be king or queen or judge or servant, the same judgment shall stand upon all.

10. When the garment is gone, and the diadem and riches and the flesh as well, consider the grade of your spirit and the bondage upon you.

11. You shall take that for which you have fitted yourself, according to what you have done.

Chapter VIII

1. Hear my words, O man, and be considerate of the justice of your Creator.

2. These are my exhibits which I place before you, so that you shall not err:

3. And if you be a rich man and adorn a city by donating unto it a park, with statuary and pleasure-walks, hoping to glorify yourself by it and be praised by men; in doing this you bury yourself in the first resurrection. And the act lowers your grade instead of raising it.

4. For in whatever you give, you shall consider first the lowest of the low, whether they have bread to eat and a place to sleep: And the sick, whether they have attendance and good provision.

5. And if you be a rich man and contribute a house for the orphans or for the helpless and aged who cannot help themselves, it raises you in grade.

6. But so far as you do this for the applause of men, you detract from the rate of your beneficence.

7. Neither does such a good work help you more than the poor man helps his own grade by assisting one poor orphan.

8. For your resurrection depends not on the quantity you give, but as to whether you give according to what you have. Of which matter you shall judge yourself.

9. For he who gives a penny may be raised up more by so doing than he that gives ten times ten thousand.

10. A certain rich man, being converted from the desires of earth, went about casting his money freely in the streets and in giving to whoever asked him for it.

11. And some gathered it up and fed and clothed themselves; others took of it and went and got drunk and became worse than before.

12. The measure of righteousness of that man's behavior was not in giving what he had to the poor, but in the good and evil that came of it, being weighed, as to which outbalanced the other.

13. And where he lowered the grade of them that received this money, or where he lowered a greater number than he raised, there his act of casting the money away was a judgment against him.

14. He who gives, saying: Here, you beggar! does a good material act, but an evil spiritual act. He lifts up with one hand, but knocks down with the other. Such an act detracts from the grade of that man.

15. A certain rich man, being converted to do good works, went and built a score of soup-houses to feed the poor gratuitously.

16. And all the poor people of that town went there and were fed. But the next year, behold, there were twice as many poor. And the rich man built another score of soup-houses, and they were all fed.

17. But the next year there were still twice as many poor people to feed; but the rich man had exhausted his means and could feed none at all.

18. Judgment is therefore rendered against that man for his supposed beneficence.

19. For while he did a little material good, he did a great spiritual wrong, because he lowered the grade of manhood and womanhood in those that he fed. His benevolence promoted dependence.

20. A rich man founded a place of labor for the poor, who had nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep. And he said unto them:

21. The Creator has given you hands to work with; come, be men and women.

22. And they went and worked and earned their living.

23. Judgment is rendered in favor of that man, for he raised the spiritual grade of the poor. This is a beneficence that extends into heaven.

24. Let your charity be to the sick and helpless, but be wise in directing the able-bodied to help themselves.

25. For all charity tends to lower the self-respect of the receiver and casts him lower in the grades in heaven.

26. Certain ones depend on alms, not having either sickness nor yet strong bodies. Nevertheless, were they aroused, they could support themselves.

27. When you give to them regularly, they depend on you. These become beggars in the lowest grades in heaven.

28. That which you give them accounts against your own grade. Better is it for you and for them, that you arouse them from their degradation.

29. To do this tenderly and mercifully is a great virtue; to do it cruelly is a great crime.

30. Consider not so much what you shall do to raise your own grade, but what you can do to raise the grade of those within your reach.

31. Remember, all men and women are your brothers and sisters, and you shall labor to make them make themselves a glory unto the Creator.

Chapter IX

1. Remember your Creator and the magnitude of his creations. Before Him you are but an atom and as only one small creature.

2. Nevertheless, a multitude of people make a nation, with cities and hamlets.

3. These are also graded by your God, according to the ascendancy or the declension of the whole.

4. If a city, then the grades of all the people shall be summed together in a scale of one hundred.

5. And if a nation, then the grades of the cities and hamlets, and of people of isolation, shall be summed together in a scale of a hundred.

6. And if half the people are above grade fifty, and half below fifty, the grade of that people shall be fifty.

7. If one quarter only, then the grade of that people shall be twenty-five.

8. On the basis of individual grades shall be the grades of a city and of a nation.

9. And the behavior of a city or a nation shall be graded in the same way as that of an individual.

10. A certain nation built alms-houses and asylums sufficient for the needy, and, by its tyranny, made an equal number of needy ones. That nation did not raise its grade for the good it had done.

11. Another nation built no alms-houses, but because of its wholesome laws, there were none needed. That nation raised its grade many-fold.

12. And yet another nation maintained a standing army in order to maintain itself. That nation stood in grade one only.

13. The place of this last nation in entrance into the es world shall be grade one, which is the animal region, which is on the earth.

14. Whoever dwells in such a land, though he have a good individual grade, shall suffer deduction in the ratio of the grades of different nations of the earth.

15. But whoever dwells in a nation high in grade shall be ascended in his own individual grade.

16. As these grades are on earth, so have I made them in the heavens of the earth; in all cases depending on what one does for the resurrection of others.

17. If a city, or nation, or a kingdom in heaven do unto others in resurrection, then that nation shall be graded accordingly.

18. But if there be no gain in the good that any of these do, they shall receive no grade.

19. But if they increase in raising individual grade, then such cities and nations are rising in grade.

20. Consider your nation, O man, one generation with another; and as the relative proportion of individual grades rise or fall, so shall you determine whether your nation is ascending or falling in grade. Number its paupers and criminals as to increase or decrease.

21. Do not consider its wealth, nor its ships, nor its armies, nor its great buildings. These all together are only one grade and are of no value as to the spiritual grade of its people.

22. For the strength and life of your nation depend on its spiritual grade. Pursue this, and you shall prophesy truly as to the growth or the downfall of a nation.

23. Pursue this also with regard to the nations of the earth, and you shall determine the relative place of your own nation in the es world.

Chapter X

1. You are remembered, O man, by your God, and admonished and instructed for your soul's sake so that you may become a glory to your Creator and to yourself.

2. Hear then your responsibility and the extent of it, and consider the magnitude of your own grade on earth and in heaven.

3. Which is in proportion to the power and the distance of your reach. Which I have also graded unto all men on earth and in heaven.

4. If your Creator gives you strength to carry four men on your back and you carry just one, you shall be one-quarter grade. But if you carry the whole four, you shall be full grade.

5. One man has the resources to feed one man; another has sufficient for a thousand; and another for a hundred thousand. These are the distances of the reach and power of these men, which is the extent beyond which nothing more can be exacted of them on earth or in heaven.

6. Yet, when they have all fulfilled these to the utmost, they shall in doing so be only equal in grade.

7. But if they fail in their parts, the responsibility of one shall be a hundred thousand; and another shall be ten thousand, and the least shall be only one. These are the debts men owe the people of the nation, the city and the hamlet.

8. Consider, therefore, the darkness of the people of your nation; the poverty and the crime; and judge yourself as to your own responsibility.

9. And this rule shall apply both on earth and in heaven. And your grade of responsibility in heaven shall begin even in the same place you established it on the earth. In whatever things you were deficient, you shall labor; In whatever you fulfilled, you shall rejoice and have no anxiety.

10. This rule shall also be with the king and queen and emperor, and all rulers who have means and power; and the responsibility shall extend to all the people of the kingdom or empire.

11. Nor shall this responsibility be escaped by death; but the bondage in heaven shall be according to the avoidance of the trust imposed.

12. Consider, then, what you shall be encumbered with in the spirit world.

13. Pursue this philosophy, and you shall determine what shall be the labor of the king and the queen and the great ruler, after they have died and entered the spirit world.

14. Find the grade of their respective dominions, and you shall determine, by their ascension, the duration of their bondage in the first resurrection, whether it be fifty years or five hundred years.

15. But if such emperor's dominions be in declension instead of ascension, then on his entrance into heaven, he shall be at the mercy of the spirits of his kingdom, who shall be waiting for him, and he shall not escape them.

16. Some other heavenly kingdom shall deliver them; otherwise, they fall into anarcy and madness (hell).

Chapter XI

1. Remember your Creator and the inclusiveness of His kingdoms; and be considerate of the words of your God:

2. All men claim to desire resurrection; they hope to ascend to exalted heavenly spheres.

3. Yet many will not even try to raise themselves.

4. He says in one breath: To not eat the flesh of anything created alive is the highest.

5. But straightaway he fills his belly with flesh.

6. He says: To return good for evil is the highest.

7. But he does evil even before the sound of his voice is hushed.

8. And yet, he will find fault with his Creator if holy angels do not promise him a high seat in heaven.

9. And there are others who constantly claim to have the higher light; but they go about tattling and making evil remarks of their neighbors.

10. Yet many of these do good unto others, giving to the helpless; truly they are both rising and falling in regard to the resurrection.

11. The measure of the grade of such ones shall be by weighing the whole behavior as to its result in the community where they abide. And this rule shall apply, both on earth and in heaven, to all such people.

12. There are men who do great good unto others and are talented as well, but who are great liars and much prone to exaggeration, so that their good works are outbalanced by the shame of their tongues.

13. The grade of resurrection of such ones shall not be modified or benefited very much by their good works. But they shall be weighed as to such evil habit, whether it be increasing or decreasing; and the grade of such a person shall be accordingly, and shall come under the rank of spiritual disease. Because it will be entailed upon them into the spirit world and shut them out from the grade which they manifested.

14. When you search for the grade of a city, therefore, all such persons shall stand as grade one.

15. There be some who say: I do not care for the spiritual man nor the spiritual worlds. One world at a time is sufficient for me.

16. And they may be good as to the way of the city, contributing alms to the helpless and visiting the sick. Nevertheless they utter truthfully their own resurrection, which shall stand grade one.

17. There is no crime in them, but a misfortunate imbecility of spirit. When such persons die, their knowledge, for the most part, dies with them. And they enter the es world (spirit world) even as if they had died in infancy.

18. They shall stand grade one, because owing to their weakness of spirit, they need to be inhabited on the earth for many years.

19. There be others who are forever talking of heaven and consulting the spirits of the dead, who are, nevertheless, low as to good works and low in holiness of heart. These shall be graded the same as liars and hypocrites.

20. For in prophecy, you shall estimate the sum of all the virtues and vices of yourself, and of your neighbor, and of the whole city, or state, or even the world; and accredit the grade in ascension or declension, and you shall compare one generation with another, as to the increase or decrease of its spirituality.

21. And you shall know of a truth the standing of the whole world.

22. And from this you shall also determine the time when man came on the earth; how long the race will survive and bring forth; and the time he shall become extinct as to the earth.

Chapter XII

1. O man, remember your Creator and praise Him. In this you are graded by your God.

2. Those who do not see Him are weak in spirit; those who see Him in all things and hear His voice in the leaves, and in every herb, are strong in spirit.

3. These are the grades of the resurrection of the souls of men.

4. For what is the earth but a foaling nest, and the possessions of the earth but chains of bondage.

5. My heavens rest upon the earth; the place of the newly arrived spirit is in my keeping. And I have adjusted the places of the grades of my heavens according to the inhabitants of them.

6. I people the heavens of the earth with the spirits of the dead; according to their grade in their corporeal lives, so do I arrange them.

7. To provide ever-continuing ascension for them, and make them to rejoice in their being. These are the labors of your God.

8. For the beasts of the field and the birds and fowls of the air, and for many animals that are companions to man, I made a place in heaven where their spirits should survive for a season.

9. And this animal heaven I graded, one, in the order of my heavens.

10. For I saw that man on the earth had delight in them; and I provided for him for his es'yan period, so that he might rejoice in remembrance of finding his loves.

11. And I made the animal heaven to rest on the face of the lands of the earth in the same place as is the es'yan in grade one.

12. Remember, O man, your Creator gave to every animal a season on the earth; but He limited them to a time to become extinct. Even so, and of like duration I made a heavenly period for the spirits of animals companionable to man.

13. But for man I provided heavens above, where he should rise as to place even as he rises as to goodness and knowledge.

14. Magnify your perception, O man, so that you may comprehend the kingdoms of your God. See the example your Creator set before you in the fashioning of the earth.

15. In large bodies, He placed the lands; in large bodies, He placed the oceans. Not in little hillocks of land and little puddles of water.

16. Even larger than these are the divisions (plateaus) of the heavens of your God; the heavens of the earth are separated by atmospherean oceans.

17. I do not fill the air of the firmament with angels scattered about; but I give unto them regions that are habitable and home-like. And I grade them suitable to the resurrection of the spirits of the dead.

18. Consider the work of your Creator and the knowledge and symbols He places before you. You hold up a lump of salt, and it is solid and of dimensions; but cast it into water and it is not seen, but dissolved and lost as to your perception.

19. And you see the earth, which has dimensions also; but the ethe, you do not see. As water is to salt the solvent, so is ethe to corporeal things the solvent. By slow velocity the solid earth holds its form; yet, in ethe, external to the body of the earth, the swift velocity of corpor is magnified into dissolution. By vortices in ethe are these things accomplished.

20. In the atmosphere of the earth, there is sufficient corpor to make many worlds like this habitable earth. And this corpor, which is in solution (as to a mortal's eyes), floats in the firmament of the earth, in continents wide as the earth and deep as the earth; and there are thousands of them.

21. And yet, O man, these are but the atmospherean heavens. These are the dominions given into the keeping of your God. These are my kingdoms and my heavens for a season.

22. As you, O man of the earth, sail your ships abroad over the ocean, and coming to a new land, going ashore, do settle your people on it and it becomes a new kingdom, even so does your God in the heavens of the earth, in the plateaus of this vortex.

23. Remember the magnitude of your Creator's works and the symbols He set before you: Where the clouds float high, it does not rain; where they drag on the face of the earth, it rains daily.

24. Consider the habitations of the resurrections of the dead which are in the keeping of your God.

25. Even as to the square of the distance away from the earth, so are the grades of my resurrections.

26. According to the exaltation of man's soul, so shall he inhabit the places I have made.

27. According to his own soul's growth and development, so shall he ascend in my kingdoms, outward away from the earth; grade unto grade I adapted them.

Chapter XIII

1. O man, to know the creations of your Creator, and the things He has placed in your reach!

2. To apply your knowledge and understand with reverence the work of His hand!

3. How considerate of your little wisdom and your love of liberty, which He gave unto you.

4. Even before He had perfected you, He called out unto you to behold His creations. And you did not wait to learn, but ran away, half completed, to vent the exhuberance of your soul, which He gave unto you.

5. Behold me, your God; I am your elder brother which He sent after you. Come, and learn wisdom of your God.

6. You tarry in the grade; you are not aroused to know your Creator. You turn your back to me and say: Behold, there is no God!

7. I beseech you, turn about, and hear the wisdom of my words: I will teach you to know your Creator; to hear His voice, and to see His hand.

8. And you shall rejoice in your life, and teach your brethren to rejoice also.

9. You have a corporeal body and a spiritual body: Hear me, and I will open your understanding.

10. Your spirit has eyes and ears and judgment. Nevertheless, the beginning of your two parts was, at the same time, quickened into a one person, because of the presence of your Creator.

11. O man of the earth, would that your spirit and your corpor stood evenly in wisdom and power all the days of your life!

12. But you are so delighted in the earth you have left your spirit unfed. And it stands within you like a spear of grass covered with a stone.

13. And you do not see spiritual things, nor hear the Unseen. For a stone lies upon your soul.

14. Yet you have great learning as to corporeal knowledge and great vigor as to corporeal judgment.

15. And you rate your neighbor a fool because, indeed, in contrast to you, he hears and sees spiritually.

16. And your God weeps for you; because in the time of your death, you shall stand in heaven in grade one, even as do the spirits of the beasts of the field.

17. Your present knowledge shall be void, and your vigor only as a newborn child. And my angels who are wise and strong shall take you about in hada, the heavenly plateaus that rest on the earth, and divert you with things proximating between the two worlds, so that you may be made to comprehend yourself and your Creator's work.

18. As your corpor was fed on corporeal substances, so then shall your young spirit be fed on atmospherean substances, which your guardians shall provide for you.

19. Consider the wisdom of your Creator, Who sent me to fetch you into places of delight.

20. O that I could take you to the highest heavenly places! That you could stand before me, and talk face to face!

21. But even as a newborn child is unsuited to feed on corn and nuts, your spirit is as a starveling in high heaven. And I take you to the nurseries where I have provided for you according to your weakness.

22. Your mother was provided for you before you were born; and my heavens were arranged before your spirit entered into it. You did not shape yourself in your mother's womb; and, behold, the perfection of your every part.

23. Trust in your Creator, but seek also to go with Him, and you shall attain easily to the highest mountains He created for your glory.

24. O that you had not contaminated your corporeal part by the flesh of the beast and the meat of His living creatures! This is as one of the stones that covers up your soul and blockades your way to the upper grades.

25. Your young spirit must remain within the atmosphere of the animal creation for a long season; like unto like have you fashioned your spirit to the flesh of your body.

26. According to the atmosphere of things, as to the purity and sweetness, behold, your Creator has fashioned them in relative ascent above the earth. That which stinks rests on the earth; that which is pure is upward and high.

27. Consider the place of the hells of the spirits of the dead and the weapons of warfare in their hands. As the corporean is to corpor, so is the spirit as to the atmosphere of the earth.

28. O man of the earth, consider what you put into your mouth, for the atmosphere of it is the food of your spirit. And the habit of it will be entailed on your spirit for a long time after your mortal death.

29. If you have been a gross feeder on flesh, your spirit will seek to linger in the atmosphere of gross feeders still dwelling on the earth. The slaughter-house and the cook-house and the eating-house shall be the places of your spirit's resort.

30. And your spirit shall feed in it and on it; and your companions shall be millions and millions of drujas; like vultures that flock to a dead carcass, and you can not go away; like a magnet are these haunts to the spirits of darkness.

31. O man, I have heard you, in your fullness, say: I must have my flesh-food; I must have my wine and beer and tobacco and opium.

32. I say unto you, if you do not have strength in this day, neither shall you have strength tomorrow. What strength shall you gain by the loss of your corporeal body?

33. Consider your corporeal body as a ship, in which your spirit is sailing across a wide sea of water. Better that your spirit learn to acquire strength while it has a corporeal body to ride in. After death, it floats in the direction you have shaped it, and you do not have power to go against the current.

34. Remember, O man, these are the lessons of your Creator, which he gave unto you, to learn to master the elements of your surroundings.

35. Stretch forth your hand unto your Creator, and swear unto Him that you will conquer every passion that is unclean and every habit not conducive to the purity of the growth of your spirit.

36. This is the beginning of your resurrection; and you shall be your own judge and master.

37. Neither shall you call out: God, God, exalt my soul! or, O Lord, save me and raise me up!--until you have first begun to do something for yourself.

38. O, that you knew where the virtue of prayer begins! And that he that practices the All Highest he knows, has the ear and the hand of his God! Wherein the prayers of the righteous accomplish, while the prayer of the ungodlike is void as the wind.

39. Certain men were down in a deep well, and they laid flat down on their bellies and prayed to be taken up, yet they would not even raise their eyes to look upward. And others at the top of the well let down ropes, and they called down to them beneath to look up and catch the ropes, but they would not. And in course of time, they at the bottom said: Alas! our prayers are not answered!

40. O man, if only you would put yourself in the way of your God! To put away the uncleanness of the body first, and the uncleanness of your spirit afterward.

41. To seek for things that are pure and good, instead of criticisms and philosophies that rise up out of your contaminated flesh-house.

42. Whoever desires resurrection, let him begin to resurrect himself.

43. Do not make your confessions, which are between you and your Creator, before men; but covenant with Him, within your own soul, saying nothing of this for the laudation of men.

44. Your spirit is as a seed of a beautiful tree, which your Creator planted; give it good light and a clean soil, so that the blossoms and the fruit on it may glorify your Creator and you.

45. Such is the resurrection of the spirit of men. Do not wait for a Savior to save you; nor depend on words or prayers; nor on listening to good sermons, flattering yourself you have done well; but begin to save yourself.

46. By purifying your flesh, by purifying your thoughts, and by the practice of good works done unto others with all your wisdom, love and strength.

47. For only through these is there any resurrection for you, either in this world or the next.

Chapter XIV

1. Of the foundations of the resurrections of your God, there are two kinds; one which deals with those already born, and the other with those that are not yet born.

2. For, after you have purified yourself as to flesh and spirit, two conditions are open to you, celibacy and marriage.

3. To such as are by nature inclined to celibacy, let them rejoice; for, in not having offspring, they shall have less bondage after death to remain in the lower heavens and to return to the earth, to their kindred.

4. It is a great glory for them to make themselves Brides and Bridegrooms to the Great Spirit, to be His for righteousness sake.

5. But as to you who desire marriage, pursue the same course as to purity and holiness of person as to your own resurrection.

6. For in this you shall be graded also, according to what you do.

7. The delight of your God, who has dominion over both the earth and her heavens, is to witness the birth of such as come from the pure in flesh and pure in spirit.

8. In likeness of the father and mother are all children born into the world; and every child is a new creation, quickened into life by the presence of the Creator, Who is the All Life.

9. If you are pure in flesh, your child shall be pure; and, if you are pure in spirit, your child shall be pure in spirit.

10. If you are a flesh-eater, a drinker of strong drink, and a user of narcotics, your child shall come forth with your contaminations upon it.

11. Consider, then, what your grade shall be, which shall be according to your heirs, as to their grade in the place where they are born; as to whether you encumber the world with progeny lower in grade, or lift up the world by progeny of an exalted grade.

12. Be wise as to the selection of your partner, as to purity and righteousness. But do not be deceived by such as merely do not eat flesh, for the purification of the corporeal body is but half the matter. Look for one who is pure in spirit.

13. Whoever is pure in flesh and in spirit shall bring forth heirs unto resurrection who will be little or no bondage to the spirit after death.

14. But whoever marries for the earth only shall bring forth heirs of bondage. And profligacy and debauchery and sin shall come upon the heirs of that marriage.

15. The spirits of such fathers and mothers shall fall in the grades in heaven; and long will be their bondage in hada.

16. Flesh-eaters seek their partners according to the impulse of the flesh, as to the temptation of it, or according to riches, or caste, all of which are earthly considerations and for themselves only, and in no regard as to what their heirs will be.

17. And their offspring come forth in darkness; they are void of su'is, void of heavenly aspiration, and dumb as to the voice of the Creator.

18. They go about saying: I see no All Person! I do not hear the Unseen! No, I do not believe that any man has seen or heard Him!

19. Herein was it revealed to you of old: Some are born of the beast, and some are born of the spirit. Which I declare unto you, O man, is the interpretation of all the poverty and crime and war and licentiousness there is in the world.

20. This is the fountain-head which your God would bring to the understanding of all people. But there are many, even hundreds of millions, that can not be made to appreciate this.

21. Nevertheless, the kingdom of peace and righteousness shall not cover the earth over until this is understood by all men and women.

22. He who understands this, let him wed accordingly; and let such people be as societies to themselves. In this day, no mark of circumcision is required; but men and women shall converse on the ways of the Creator understandingly.

23. And when you have children born unto you, you shall consider more the place of your habitation, as to temptation, than your dominion over them.

24. To dwell in a city, which is full of iniquity, you shall be a tyrant over your heirs, restraining them from liberty, in order to keep them from vice.

25. And in this, you will be a sinner also.

26. But dwell instead in a place of purity, and give to them liberty and nobleness. They shall not be your slaves.

27. In this matter, you take upon yourself a new grade, according to your heirs and your God-ship over them.

28. Be cautious in your proceedings. He who created you alive gave you no sinful desires.

29. Because you are not yet a completed man, these things are.

30. You shall find joy in your talents, and profit in the wisdom of your God.

31. To perfect yourself is a great glory; to raise up sons and daughters who are also perfect is a ten-fold greater glory.

32. For it is the fullness of the life your Creator gave into your keeping which is the glory of heaven and earth.

Chapter XV

1. Of the abundance of your Creator's creations be apalled, O man!

2. Consider the inhabitants of the whole earth, and the numbers of a thousand million brought into life every thirty-three years.

3. Compute the number for a thousand years, and for ten thousand years.

4. And, yet, the earth is not full.

5. And the heavens of the earth are yet even as if scarcely habited. There are thousands of plateaus with no angels to dwell on them.

6. But to induce the spirits of the dead to rise up from the earth, this is the work and the glory of your God.

7. To make them put away earthly desires, to become pure and wise and strong and adapted to the sublimated spheres, what an endless labor for your God and his exalted angels.

8. As you, O man of the earth, hold to the desire for earthly things, you entail yourself in heaven and cannot rise upward. Even so is it with the great harvest, the thousands of millions of angels born of the earth.

9. If you stand a pyramid before you, wide at the base, equal to the height, such is the manner of the proportions of the spirits of the dead on their entrance into the es world.

10. Consider, then, O man, how sparse are the settlements in the upper kingdoms of the earth's heavens, compared to the numbers in the lowest grade. And remember, the percentage of inspiration that comes to you, from this grade, which is doubly degraded in the cities and great capitals.

11. Know, O man, that all cities built by men sooner or later fall into destruction. Search into the generations, as to the grade of mortals, and you have a type of the spirits of that city, chiefly as to the lowest grades. But remember, the highest grades of angels go away while the lowest remain. As the spirits of one generation are to the form of a pyramid, so, not so will be the spirits of that city in the next generation.

12. But, in proportion to the increase of the mortal city, and in proportion to the raising up of the second, third, fourth and fifth grades, so will be the relative increase in the proportion of drujas that dwell in that city.

13. And, in time, all holiness passes away from there; and, when your God abandons that city for a day, taking away his holy angels, the people fall into anarchy, or run with brands of fire and burn down the city.

14. And the hundreds of millions of drujas lose their anchorage on the earth, and your God and his exalted ones march them away.

15. Find the grade and the rate of declension of the mortals of a city, and when the whole number, along with the spirits in it, has fallen to one per cent, you shall prophecy the time of the fall of that city.

16. Be fearful of the abundance of drujas about you; and search out your own imperfections and uncleaness and your passions, lest drujas fasten upon you in a way you do not know of.

17. Do not call upon the spirits of the dead to come to you; but call on your Creator for wisdom and light and truth and purity; and if it will be well for you, He will send unto you such spirits as are best adapted to you for your resurrection.

18. He who consults the spirits as to earthly things, or profit, or great undertakings, or marriage, or war, or riches, is already in the hands of drujas. Woe be unto him in the hour of death.

19. When you sit in communion with angels, do so reverently to your Creator; and the members of your circle shall pray unto Him, or sing songs of praise and glory unto Him and His works. Nor shall you accustom yourself to sit with such ones who do not do this reverence to Jehovih. And when the angels appear and converse with you, remember that even the least of them has passed the bars of death.

20. Do not be long-faced or melancholy with doleful songs; but rather cheerful, like the birds that sing unto the Creator. And let your speech be respectful, and relating to spiritual things. Learn from them of the places they inhabit in heaven and the manner of their occupations.

21. And if you inquire of them as to earthly things, let it be as to how you may help the poor and distressed.

22. For if the angel that talks with you be a druj only, your discourse shall, in this way, awake him to see his own shortness.

23. And if they be high-raised angels, they shall understand the working of your soul, and they will provide unto you for your everlasting exaltation.

24. Be upright before your Creator and your God, who know your weakness. Emulate them in all your doings, for this is the way of resurrection, worlds without end.