THE SPIRITUAL SUN

Volume 1

Jakob Lorber

Editor's Notes

In spiritual works the terms of morning, midday, evening and night, is often used to refer to directions – East, South, West, and North.

Old terms of measurement:  1 klafter = 1,90 meter; 1 mile = 7,42 km (German mile)

Translators Note

This work has no copyright attached but we ask that no changes be made to preserve the integrity of the original work.

The Kingdom of God

-1-

The clamour of the world-bustle is silent.

We look up to quiet spiritual heights,

And glances, transfigured by the mind,

how the Realm of Truth leans towards earth.

His heavenly light plays about our souls

and His holy fire streams through our beings.

From the deepest sources of the heart breaks through,

eternal life for the covenant celebration

-2-

How wondrously great is God's Kingdom realm!

It stretches into all distant times,

it encompasses the earth and innumerable stars

and only resides where a heart glows for the good!

Who espied the number of inhabitants therein!

Who knows the fullness of His power and might?

The seeds, sowed here in countless numbers,

the thriving and ripening of golden blessing?

-3-

Here the Spirit of the Father blows, silently and pure!

Here freedom reigns in fullness of force!

Here hope blossoms, and faith in its light-being

frolics in the lovely early season glow.

Godly trust reaches unto Its completion,

humility is embarrassed in its own light.

Passion rests, fully atoned in peace.

Devotion kneels, praying with immense passion.

-4-

The Sun of this Kingdom is the Spirit of the Father!

See how the eternal spirits surrounds Him,

coming closer to Him in ever diminishing circles,

till whole their very lives merges with His!

Who is here not brought into recognition of his childhood!

Who do not painfully feel what his dusty life still lacks!

A deep homesickness burns in our breast,

The thirsty souls long after their Primordial Source.

Jakob Lorber (translated)

I am the light of the world.

Who follows Me

will not walk in darkness,

but will possess the light of life.

John 8:12

CHAPTER 1

The Spiritual sun, a Spark of Grace of God

1. Before we can go into the actual spiritual sun, we need to know beforehand where it is, how it is related to the natural sun and its composition.

2. In order to be able to make a perfect notion of the whole thing,.it must first be noticed that the spiritual is all that which is the innermost and simultaneously the most penetrating of all, thus the sole working and causing.

3. Take for instance a fruit; what do you think is inside it?  Nothing but the spiritual power in the germ.  What is the fruit itself, with all its ingredients for covering and preserving the innermost germ? It is basically nothing else than the external organ permeated by the power of the germ, which in all its parts behaves in a necessary beneficial way to the existing germs.

4. 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.

5. What is then the spiritual? The spiritual is first and foremost the innermost 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.

6. The spiritual is, therefore the innermost, most penetrating and most all-embracing. For what is here the most permeating that is also the comprehensive.

7. That this is true, you can grasp from a multitude of natural phenomena. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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?

11. 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.

12. 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 conveys itself in, through and by the sun.

13. The spiritual sun is, therefore, the innermost of the sun and is a spark of mercy out of 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. For you to understand these things even better, I will give you clear information by means of a few examples. First, take a small rod 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 rod. What then, is the actual reason to beautify this rod? I tell you, it is very simple. By sharpening and polishing it, the parts at the surface of the rod 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 rod.

17. 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!

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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” (Matt 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.

21. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. You have witnessed the various institutes of the whole sun, with everything on and in her. She contains endless and almost indescribable variety. How does this surely memorable institution of the sun express himself?

11. Every time you look at the sun gives you the answer: Through a generally exceptionally intensive light and aureole.

12. Look how the almost infinite multiplicity has gathered himself there and emanate the united [multiplicity] 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.

13. For you to have even more convinced insight into how everything brings us closer to our goal if we would only look at it from the right standpoint, you will choose yourselves for the next example, the first and best and thus also the very best substance, and we will see how and if it is usable for our cause. I think though that it would be rather impossible for you in this respect, to choose a useless substance, for what is proper to the form of a discovered piece of ore? Put it in the furnace and the proper degree of heat will take it to its correct destination! Do not then tediously search for one or the other substance, for as I already told you: I can use everything, like someone who has difficulty walking! And so, we will leave it then for today.

CHAPTER 3

The clock, an agreeable image of the sun

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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 [the goal], but it cannot yet be recognized in the mechanics itself.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. If we want to get to the dial plate, we need to know to what these three wheels correspond. What does the spring capsule wheel correspond to? It is very clear that it corresponds to the love – the spring presents the love in that she is locked up in a sense from inside of life and brings the whole mechanism into existence. As such lies locked up in love itself, already and completely the destination of the mechanism.

11. To what does the second wheel corresponds, which moves the same way and is attached to the spring wheel by means of a chain? This wheel corresponds to the wisdom, who receives her life from love and is thus closely connected to it. With what does the central, main axle wheel correspond? With the eternal order, which clearly arises from the first two wheels and by which all the parts of the mechanism are arranged in such a way that everything ultimately must submit to the achievement of the main goal, which exactly finds its expression out of the love and the wisdom. Look, we now have the whole picture. The axis wheel has been found and it is called Order. Along this axis, we will ascend and witness the destination of all things, as it is expressed exactly in correspondence with the eternal love, wisdom and the order coming forth from both.

12. Now we have reached our goal completely through our example. We already find ourselves upon the spiritual sun, without you being able to suspect or understand how and in what way. But I tell you: First consider the given examples and you will start with the processing of the trees up to the clockwork, easily discover that we have exactly by means of these examples as you would say, merrily walked around on the spiritual sun incognito, while you were still waiting to get there. We already are on the dial plate and do not have to still climb up along the axis to the top.

13. You ask: How then? It all sounds like a riddle. But I say: Where the meaning of these things is shown, even if it is more general than specific, where everything is bound to unification, where even this unification is pictured through various picturesque examples, there is no more the natural, but the spiritual sun. What will now follow, will put everything under a bright light and we will clearly find that we find ourselves already upon the spiritual sun.

14. If someone is holding a torch in his hand, he would know what the torch is made for. If he should walk in darkness, what is easier than to provide him with a torch? You only must ignite the torch and darkness will instantaneously vanish. We indeed have the torch in the hand. The given examples are the torch. What else is needed, but to ignite the torch with the small spark of love, for it to presently brightly illuminate the great, meaningful dial plate of the spiritual sun. Therefore, we will do nothing else next time, but to ignite our good torch with the scintilla amoris [spark of love] 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

1. 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.

2. 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!

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

4. 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!

5. 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?

6. 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.

7. 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!

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. You do have the clockwork as an example. If you would wander around in the interconnected gearing, what would you think of the effects brought along by the astonishing mechanism, if you would never have seen the dial plate of a clockwork before? Would you, looking at the gearing, not say: If the means look so wonderful, of what indescribable wondrous nature shall the destiny be! You would say to the manufacturer of the clockwork: sir, unmentionably artful and precisely measured is this gearing. How great and exceptionally artful would be the destiny of this wondrous mechanism! Let us have a look at it, where the surely great purpose of this mechanism comes to expression. Then the clockmaker leaves the inner works and shows you the dial plate on the outside!

11. Your eyes grow big of astonishment and you say: what!! Is this what this internal work of art is made for? Nothing but a white painted round plate with twelve numbers and two pointed arms, invariantly trailing forward with invisible movement along the twelve numbers. No, we imagined ourselves something completely different! I say: Maybe an artful marionette theatre, or maybe some or the other fantastic children's' game?

12. Oh, dear people, then you still have a very poor image of the spiritual world. Did you not grasp the given examples, that the whole of the outer in all its division finally must express itself in unification? You saw it in the example of the tree, the polishing of the metal stave, the production of glass, the building of a house and finally convincingly by looking at a clockwork.

13. If it would be the goal in the spiritual to divide even more than what it is in the outer natural, how would man then see himself in eternal existence and an eternal life!! So, according to the true, inner living order, everything must unite in the spiritual to become by that eternally strong, mighty and enduring. Now you say: This is clearly completely right and true, yet we have heard many times You speaking about the great glories of the heavenly spiritual world. Therefore, we do not know now how to take things. We truly cannot say anything against the simple glory of the spiritual sun but according to our previous impressions regarding the heavenly world, this looks like a nice summer's day, where we would see a swarm of ephemera floating haphazardly in the sun's rays, while none of them could explain where they come from, where they are going and why they are crisscrossing the sun-saturated light in every possible direction.

14. Your musings are in this instance truly correct, but to explain to you how this simplicity of the spiritual sun corresponds with the glorious beauty of heaven, the time is not ripe yet, for we first must get to know the basics. If you only have seen ephemera up till now, then it would do no harm to the main cause, for the result will show how it is with the simplicity of this spiritual sun we just saw. Keep your eye on it and think about it yourselves. In the next chapter, we will look at this simplicity with completely different eyes, therefore, enough for today.

CHAPTER 5

About the Kingdom of God and man

1. 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!

2. 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.

3. 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. (Matt 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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?

10. Dear friends, on this I do not say anything yet, for we first want to gain advantage from different frames of our spiritual diorama and firstly busy ourselves with the inner viewing thereof. It is yet a weak beginning of what will still be displayed before our eyes.

CHAPTER 7

The sphere of the second spirit.   The foundation of life is the love of the Father.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Let us retreat again from the sphere of our hospitable host and we will find ourselves again on our most simple spiritual sun. Now that you are outside of his sphere and is still in this good spirit's company, you can even exchange thoughts with him. He knows you very well since he is also from your earth and even have blood relation with you. For the present, I do not yet want to introduce him to you since there will come even better opportunities by which we will get to know all the spirits better, who are now serving us at this occasion.

11. Listen to what the spirit says to you: (the spirit) Oh friends, you who are still walking upon the earth in your bodies - grasp, yes do grasp life in the deepest of its being! It is infinite and its riches is immeasurable! The foundation of life is the love of the Father in Christ in us! Deeply take hold of it in your hearts, then you would find in yourselves the same which you found inside of my sphere. What you saw was but simple. But at the core of life lies infinitely more.

12. It was scarcely fifty earthly years ago, when I, just like you, wandered as a citizen of the hard life upon earth. At first, the thought of the pending death of my body has deeply captivated me. But believe me, my angst was vain and unfounded, for when death came over my body and I thought I was going to ruin and would be destroyed, only then did I wake up as if from a deep dream and immediately passed over into a perfect life.

13. Even if I have not yet by a far stretch attained to the actual fulfillment of life, I keep getting closer to the perfection of life, which is coming into focus more and more. How great and glorious it can be, I cannot yet let you see. I can only, from the wealth of my inner perspective understand that the perfection of life in the Father through pure love for Him should be something of which no spirit in any sphere can grasp even the tiniest bit.

14. Fortunate, yes infinitely fortunate are those who on earth have made the love for the Master his only need, for he has, unto the perfection of his life, chose the shortest route! For, believe me, my dear earthly brothers and sisters, whoever carries on earth the love of the Master in him, he also carries the perfection of life in him; in that he has that utter holiest and absolute greatest perfect goal, to which I still have a long, far road to travel to, in him and with him.

15. The circumstances of my life are indeed filled with the unutterable feeling of happiness, but everything you saw in my sphere and yet endlessly more which you not yet have seen, but which I continuously can see in ever renewed wondrous riches, is nothing in comparison to have to only once see the Father. Therefore, before everything else in your life, look uninterruptedly to Him, then you will in due time and surely very easily and shortly be brought to where the Father lives in the midst of those that love Him!

16. How do you like the language of this spirit? Truly, I tell you, if it would be given to this spirit to see Me nowhere as your guide, he would be destroyed by a too intense feeling of happiness. Therefore, consider and realize in which bliss you are unawares finding yourselves in, that I do find Myself with your day in, day out, educating you and teaching you with My finger and showing you the most correct and quickest way to Me.

17. Do not allow yourselves to be enchanted by this world, for it is full of death, filthy lucre, and hellish fire! How things develop after the laying down of the body, we will still shortly see in many spirits of our spiritual sun, as good instruction. I tell you, woe to the world for her wickedness, for her reward shall be called: Terrible and unmeasurably miserable it is to find yourself in the wrath of God! But now, nothing more of this. Already another hospitable spiritual friend is approaching us for another encounter and we want to gain again something new from his life sphere.

18. The two previous spirits we will for the time being keep in our company, for H.W. Anselm will indeed be able to bear the closeness of his grandfather! With that, we will leave it then for today.

CHAPTER 8

The sphere of the third spirit.   An image of infinity

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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!

6. 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?

7. 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.

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

9. 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.

10. Yet again you ask: Are the spirits which we saw and still are seeing through the sphere of our hospitable, serving spirit, also real independent spirits, or are they only appearances finding their origin in the reciprocal reflection of the true spirits? I tell you: they are all equal. You are surprised because of the answer, but in the Kingdom of spirits, it is no different, for everything is truly determined.

11. If you would enter My infinite sphere above, you would only see the infinite Kingdom of the heavens like a spiritual human. But if you would enter his sphere, this human will soon dissolve into countless spiritual worlds, which will look like countless different stars, strewn through the whole of eternity.

12. Should you get closer to such a star, she would soon appear to you like an individual, perfect human. When you would enter the sphere of this person, you would immediately find in him again wide expanses to all side, a new heaven strewn with countless stars. If you would approach such a star, she would at a certain distance again have the appearance of a human. If you would again come close to such a person, you would almost exclaim of surprise, just like when once the sea captain Christoff Columbus approached the mainland of America! For you would once again see the magnificent heavenly splendor and a wondrous world. If you would find yourselves properly in this world, you would be stupefied, to find this world inhabited by spirits. Would you then again find yourselves in the sphere of one or the other inhabiting spirit, you would again find new glories. At the same time, you would, yet now with a more experienced eye, see the original world as the habitation of these spirits.

13. Likewise, it proceeds and every single spirit is consequently again a perfect little heaven in himself.

14. You need in fact to realize that the heaven is a heaven filled with heavens. Like this heaven is in himself infinite, likewise is every angelic heaven infinite. From this can be derived as it is written in Scriptures: The Kingdom of God comes not with observation but is within you.

15. On this foundation, shall every spirit live in this Kingdom, will see and appropriate what he has gained in himself through his love for Me.

16. Such it is written: The Kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed. It is among the smallest of the seeds. If it is sowed in the earth, that is, in a heart full of love, it grows into a tree in which the birds of heaven will build their nests.

17. Do you now see that little mustard seed? Every single blissful spirit is a mustard seed, meaning as much as: he is a creation of My love and out of this love, therefore a living word. If this word in the earth of love which is freely brought out by Me blossoms, then it becomes through and through a living tree full of love and life out of Me.

18. If you would enter the sphere of such a tree, it will surely surprise you that you will see in it an endlessly wonderful wealth of the heavens, which is infinitely present, just like My love, mercy, and compassion, in every single spirit.

19. This you need to make your own, according to My order – only then will you truly gain inner benefit of it and you will finally experience in the bright light in yourselves, that My written word is Me and at the same time the living, infinite Kingdom of the heavens with you, among you and, if you would take it actively into your hearts, also living in you.

20. What else will still be revealed wondrously and anew, we will still sufficiently observe in the spheres of other hospitable spirits.   Do then retreat from the sphere of this third spirit, who is also a relative of yours.   We will find ourselves next time immediately in the sphere of a fourth spirit.   We will leave it at that for today.

CHAPTER 9

The sphere of the fourth spirit.   The mystery of the Son of man.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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:

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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!

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. You are highly surprised, but look, dear friends and brothers, there on the mountain with softly glowing hills in the direction of the morning stand a simple, modest temple, but its shine is even more intense. Follow me there and you will get to see something that will enrapture you more than what you have seen up till now. There we go then! You see how far off this temple is; by earthly measure, you would rather reach the moon than this temple. But for us, spirit people have it much easier this way, for we only have to want, and we will already be where we want to be. Want to be there with me and look, here we are.

11. You are dumbfounded because of the enormous size of this temple and you barely dare to come closer. Enter bravely with me also this temple and you certainly will be received well by its exceptionally friendly inhabitants. Therefore, do follow me! This temple looks inside again like a temple and you will there be received into an unusually hospitable home. We have now entered the vestibule, and then we enter the shining gate to the inside of the temple. Look, beloved brothers and friends, we are at the place of our destination!

12. Do you know that friendly man, rather on the foreground, surrounded by a multitude of great and small human spirits? Watch how he is teaching them very amiably and lovingly the great mystery of the Son of man and how every word of his mouth comes forth from his mouth as if a bright star! But see, our good host and friend have noticed us. He is rising from his shining seat and rushes to meet us with open arms. Do you not yet recognize him? Look, he is already very close. Observe him closely; you should know him. If you have not yet recognized him by his telling appearance, you would surely know him by his old, always the same and faithful greeting!

13. Listen, he speaks: O beloved brothers, the mercy of our Master Jesus Christ be with you and the love of the Father in the Son and the communion of the Holy Spirit! What has motivated you to come here? Who was your guide? You do not need to speak, but I do suspect it in my heart, whose love is so great that she leads those who are redeemed by her, to the holy Source of eternal love! O beloved brothers, I tell you in the name of my above all beloved Master Jesus Christ, do hold on to Him, hold on to His love and you will not, yes eternally not go to ruin. Truly blessed are those who believe that He is Christ, being the Son of the living God; yet, only those who love Him above all will see in Him the Holy Father. For only through love do we become the true children of God! Therefore I, the old Paul, tell you: hold on to the love, then you have the eternal life in you! Greetings, the mercy of our Master Jesus Christ in the Father and in the Spirit, be with you!

14. Well, beloved friends and brothers, did you see how hospitable and loving the old friend and apostle of the Master have received us? See how he already is back among his disciples and is teaching them the love for the Master. You would want to know whom these children and spirit people are. Look, they are a pure heathen and heathen children. But it is by far not yet all whom you see here. Come again outside with me, in the vast space of the great temple. Since we now find ourselves outside again, you see everywhere a wide environment with almost innumerable temples being enlightened. These are pure schools for all kinds of heathen and many apostles and disciples of the Apostle Paul are their teachers.

15. There are truly in this great temple where we are in, still countless much to show you. But because you are still bound to earth, many millions of years might be needed still to show unto you even the smallest part only superficially! Once in the spirit, you will, just like I now, see all perfectly clear through the infinite mercy of the Master. Therefore, we will now leave this temple. Look, we are already at the gate of the temple entrance and we again have a free view on the great pillars and the shining roof with the great cross.

16. Now, yet another thing. You can tell me this, for even here there are much which we spirits still have difficulty understanding, or find even impossible to understand. How does this visit of yours happen, or more specific, the fact that I now can see you and talk to you I can understand, for you were in spirit already closer to me and have spoken to me like now, but you might not remember such a rendezvous. Therefore, I can easily understand your visit this moment very well. What I cannot understand though, what I find impossible to explain, is why I feel so indescribably happy in your vicinity. You can, believe me, being a faithful brother, that I have never experienced such a blissfulness for as long as I have been an inhabitant of this blessed resort. Tell me, tell me, if it would be possible for you!

17. But now I tell you, do not tell him, for he needs to be prepared for the moment on which he will see me unless he will not be able to handle the joy. Here are spirits that love Me so exceedingly that I can only approach them visually only gradually because of their love. Thus, tell him to persevere in his wish; his feeling of bliss will in due time be revealed. Tell him thus in your spirits. Look, he has received that from you, accepts it and is awaiting it anxiously. Such a condition is called: the patience of love!

18. We again are at the place of our company; now step out of the sphere of your brother's spirit and look on. I will reveal Myself to him for a short while. Look, he sees Me. He falls on his face and adores, prays and weep; this is good thus! For the time being, only for a moment. But next time we will serve again the sphere of a fifth spirit. That brother's spirit will guide you the same way as this one, who is still weeping, praying, who will be allowed to stay in our company. Let us leave it at that for today.

CHAPTER 10

The sphere of the fifth.   The greatest wonder, the heart of man.

1. 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.

2. 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:

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. 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!

9. 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.

10. Come now with me to the hill there up front, where you see a beautiful palace. Look, we have barely spoken the word, and we already are where we want to be. You now say: This palace is beautiful and grandiose, but the temple we saw in the sphere of our previous brother was greater. But I tell you: do not judge too quickly, first go inside and then compare. Look, also here is but a strait gate by which to enter. Bow down as deep as possible and follow me. Well, we went through the gate and are in the palace.

11. What is it with you that you are looking around as if turned to stone? Look, dear brother, I indeed did tell you that you should not judge too quickly. Here, the worth of things only ever is on the inside and never to the outside. Therefore, the inwards are also always more exalted and wondrously greater than the outer, for here, everything stands in a relationship, like the Word of God on earth. Simply and modestly it is written with letters in a book. When one would enter through the strait gate of humble love into the simple word, to what wondrous wealth would he come through a single word of God which, simply and modestly compiled through letters, is written in a book. And as was said, this is the relationship in which things stand.

12. You did not expect that you would find an infinity filled with God's wonders in such a simple palace. Since you now see the countless worlds in their spiritually exalted existence and the myriads of glories on them, their countless blissful inhabitants, you now are surprised how it could be possible inside such an outwardly simple palace.

13. Yet I tell you: It is by far not as great a wonder as the fact that the heart of a human can become the dwelling of the Holy Spirit through the love of the eternal Father, the infinite, holiest, almighty God!

14. Would you want to walk with me to there where on the illustrious plain stands a magnificent round temple, surrounded by three rows of very beautiful glistening pillars, having no roof, but in place of one, a radiating rainbow construction, looking as if in constant motion? You want it and look, we are already here. Are you of the mind to enter this temple! You confirm it with joyful hearts. Then follow me immediately into this temple.

15. Well, we are already inside. Once again you clap your hands together in surprise. Yes, you see, this is how it is with us. We are at home in the inward parts. Let you not be brought off tune by the even greater glorious magnificence you see here, for the deeper you penetrate, the greater and more beautiful it becomes. The greatest love, compassion and wonderful wealth is only in the most inward, namely the Master. It will be eternally not possible for any spirit to ever get there, even though he can continuously get closer.

16. You ask me after the meaning of the sea there far off, shimmering so beautifully, as well as the pristine island with multiple beautiful temples not far from the shore, especially the most beautiful one up there on the steep hill. If you want to go with me there, you only need to convince yourself about what it all is. You want it and look, we are at our destination, for here on the sea we need no ships. By our will, we can go wherever we will. If you want to enter the temple, then follow me. Yet, this temple might not get revealed unto you regarding its interior, but you will find yourselves in it as in any other building.

17. Well, we are already inside. The beautiful building style pleases you very much. But look, there at that great frame through which shines a red light, who do you see there? You say: A very dear, friendly man and a just as amiable, friendly lady. Come with me and do not be afraid at all, for these inhabitants are extraordinarily friendly and radiating. Look, they are both getting up and rushing towards us with open arms. Do you not yet recognize them? You will surely recognize them when they will be close to us. There they are! Let you be blessed by them, for he is the beloved of the Master, the apostle John and she, o brothers and friends, she is the mother of the incarnated eternal Word out of God! She did bless you now, but the time to speak to them have not yet arrived. During your stay here the opportunity will arise to come still closer to both John and Mary as is now the case. My inward [voice] 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.

18. Only one thing I would want to know from you. You have indeed not noticed it, but it did not escape my view, that these, both beloved of the Lord, were seized as if with blissful reverence, by which they were in no way capable to speak. I have never seen such as this before, even though I have often been here. Yes, this is even the place where I prefer to tarry. You are silent and want to say no more. O brothers, exactly your silence is doing something great to me, yes giving me the greatest suspicion. Therefore, I do not want to insist anymore and thus will happen, as always, the holiest will of the Master.

19. You ask me and say: but dear brother, how then will we find our way back? Firstly, look where you are and only then ask. Now you say: how is such a thing possible? We are then already at the place where we started out from! Yes, you see, it fares better than with your railways on earth. We namely never left our place but was only granted unto you to gain deeper and ever deeper sight into my inner love. You have therefore nothing other to do but to return your vision, to discover that you still yourselves completely intact at the original stance. I have therefore nothing more to say than that I am the one whom you had as a brother on earth who carried the name of Frans. By this, I have fulfilled my inner assignment to you and you can now retreat from my sphere.

20. [Jesus]: Well, how did that suit you? You became completely and blissfully enraptured. Yes, this is all well, but this is not all. Look, already a sixth spirit to our company. He does not belong on this spiritual sun anymore, but he is an inhabitant of My holy city. In his sphere, you will certainly still see somewhat of the spiritual sun, but you will see it in a completely different light as was the case up till now. Prepare yourselves therefore well, for I tell you: everything will have a whole different look there.

21. Your second brother also wants to know the reason for your visit. But I tell you: he is not ripe for this yet. Only one moment would be too much for him, but we will indeed let him feel My presence. Look how he begins to radiate of joy and how he exclaims from the depths of his heart in bliss: Oh, Holy Father, You cannot be far away anymore, for the unexpected bliss of my love tells me that you are close to us! When will we enjoy the highest of bliss, to see You, O Holy Father, in the greatest love of our hearts? I tell you: these spirits will soon be granted this mercy, yes, very soon. But we will prepare ourselves to see even more on the next occasion and therefore, enough for today.

CHAPTER 11

The sphere of the sixth spirit.   Peter the rock.

1. Since our loving spiritual hospitable friend is here already, you can effortlessly and immediately find yourselves in his sphere.

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. 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. [Jesus]: Oh, you small of faith and faint of heart, why are you, while I am still with you, afraid of things that have no meaning? I tell you, use your keen sight, for what you now see, is extremely important. Strain your eyes even more towards the direction of midnight and tell me what do you see there.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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!

9. 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?

10. You say: Oh, Master and Father, he appears to be familiar, but we still do not really know who he is. Would you, therefore, tell us who our hospitable friend actual is, who has prepared for us in his sphere such a horrible and joyous meal? Then I tell you: This hospitable friend you should recognize easily if you would pay a bit attention to the place where you find yourselves. To whom did I say that he would be a rock upon whom I want to build My church, against which the gates of hell would not prevail? You say: to Simon, who therefore was called Peter. Well, he is also our spiritually hospitable friend. He sees Me and you. But while I am speaking with you, he stays completely silent, because he is filled with love for me.

11. You can now retreat from his sphere, for already another, the seventh one is approaching, in whose sphere we will again see a lot of things. This sixth spirit, we will also keep in our company. Consider well what you have seen today, then you will next time, at the next occasion, receive a pure solution. With this, enough for today.

CHAPTER 12

The sphere of the seventh spirit.   Enigmatic images of spiritual conditions.

1. 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.

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Furthermore, can you also find an explanation in this first image for what you have seen in the sphere of the sixth spirit? When you would follow the history of the exertions of the dragon according to Revelation of John, it would become clear to you how much effort the dragon has put into again arise from his abyss, or like the first image of today, to climb to the top of some or the other mountain. What did all his efforts achieve every time?

11. The higher he climbed, the less ground he has to stand on and if he would have reached the top already, what should be the consequence? That he would again quickly go down into the depths from where he surfaced, for he could not maintain himself at the top. If anyone would focus on himself, then this is certainly the story of his working history, for it can impossibly be greater than the pinnacle position on which the willing worker finds himself. It will become clear to anyone striving to be at the top; therefore can no one stay on top. Everyone will certainly be overcome by dizziness! The result is that he will leave the top again and quickly slide down the other side. This is a very wise lesson from the school of the eternal order! Her name is vastation, which contains as much as the destruction of all selfish desires.

12. It has no use if someone would announce before climbing the mountain: listen, brothers, climb with me, I know the right way. Come with me, for only along this way will we gain a sure foothold at the top. We have heard the spirits call out at the beginning in the valley: A fool makes ten, and look, not only ten but a whole multitude scramble behind such a one. Since a conical mountain only has one top, it can be reached from any direction, but then it follows: till here and no breadth of a hair further! Fate wants that man would quickly slide down the other side again to again reach the state where you initially started out from. See, this image already gives an important solution for what we have previously seen in the sphere of the sixth spirit. The following scenes will bring us another solution. Therefore, stay for now in the sphere of the seventh spirit, until we found solutions for all the images. Next time, it will be the swing's turn; then the ring wall with its spiral tracks and finally, the water bowl. Therewith, enough for today.

CHAPTER 13

The swing at it’s corresponding image.   Ceremonial religion cult and the worldly life.

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Should the main rope break, all the straps and cords will immediately perish with it. Look, this brings us to the second image.

11. Look at all your church and political situations combined, or compare every detail of it with our image and you will discover that it precisely concurs with it in general as well as in every detail. For you to understand it even more clearly, I want to take something from the sphere of both the church and the state. From the church, we take for example the ear confession. The position of the swing, where it is at its lowest point closest to the ground, is the sinful condition. Man confesses and exalts himself again, swinging to heaven, but falls back again just as quickly. At the lowest point man again confesses and then swings to the other side again up to heaven. As such man repeats this swinging action all his life and takes decisions for life at the resting position of the swing, usually again together with confession. Then the swing does not again swing upward, but man leaves life at the same point where he began. What progression the spiritual man has made by this, you can gather from the image in the sphere of our spirit on the spiritual sun, namely that he will keep on swinging until the rope finally breaks, or if he would get rid of his blindfold. To this given measure you can measure the whole ceremonial church event and you will discover nothing but 'the swing'. The actual being of current church life can also very efficiently be shown by every church bell which, with every swing, makes an enormous, monotonous noise. A harmonically sensitive ear could listen as much as it wants to and can for that purpose go to stand at any possible place, he will not hear it differently than exactly continuously the same monotonous sound which could be clearly heard from the very first blow of the clapper. Such a listener will then proclaim the following: From afar it is still possible to listen to this sound, but up close it is intolerable; saying as much as: if it is not in my vicinity, it suits me! Thus, we have an example from the church sphere. Now, one from the state sphere.

12. Look at your industry and to all monetary issues, being the central point of all state-life. Who does not see the business of this continuous swinging, have to be blind sevenfold? You will detect, generally as well as in singular instances, the upswing and the soon to be followed gliding back. One country swings upwards, the others fall back and reach the lowest stance of his swing. Soon will the once high swinging state begin to fall back again and another swing upwards. Every time you have noticed a kingdom which reached the highest pinnacle, it was a sure sign of its soon plummet, which happens much faster than its upward swing.

13. Would you look at different rich individuals who gained from the privy swing, you would see that they, in their own swing where they find themselves on the so-called highest point of their well-being, already began to sink back. It is always only a matter of the length of the swing ropes. If the ropes would be very long, the swing goes slower and goes further. But even if a swing rope would reach from the sun to the earth, the fixed swing will, the moment it reached the highest point, immediately plummet back into her insignificant depth. As such is the whole of worldly life nothing but a mere swing! You can look at it any way you like; whoever wants to show Me any progression in that, I will give tenfold eternal life as a gift! You can also apply the proverb of the old sages, saying: there is nothing new under the sun! This is also My opinion, for, by such generally selfish moves and progress, there will be found very little that is new under the sun.

14. Happy are those who can retreat from the swing, for on free ground he will achieve with a few steps in a few minutes more than with all that swinging in many thousand years. Who then wants to become perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect, he needs to avoid nothing more than the swinging activity everywhere in the world. It is better for the eternal life of the spirit to drag along a heavy cross than to swing ever so softly into eternal death.

15. Well, hopefully, you would understand this image properly. We will, therefore, take a good look at the next image. But we will leave it at that for today!

CHAPTER 14

The ring wall in its corresponding image.   Forms of the different Christian churches.

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Nobody turns to the poor Track Leader resting at the entrance of the narrowest track. He, therefore, has little to do and would someone go to Him, he will be mocked, or be held back with force by the other track leaders.

11. But now, have a good look, how they have set up on the wall, a noticeable multitude of able spies, whose eyes follow the narrow, un-treaded track. A few amongst them says: Look, that track truly leads to the door. But if all tracks around here only lead to the blind wall, who knows of this narrow track do not actually leads to the entrance?

12. Look, many already are walking around over the wall, following the track with their eyes. The track leaders do not realize the meaning of this wandering, but woe unto them all if these fortunate spies would discover the real direction of this narrow track. Then things will fare badly with them, for they will be held answerable. All the tracks will be destroyed and made equal to the narrow track and the inconspicuous Track Leader will bring all unto Him.

13. Do not wonder about the repetitive laughter going on upon the ring wall, especially at those track leaders who are screaming the loudest. This laughter has its well-founded reason which you can believe: all the current main tracks needs to be bombarded with mocking laughter. All their doctrines and great promises need to be brought to shame when the main track is found! You can indeed believe it, what this spiritual imagery is teaching you, such is reality.

14. There already are many keen-eyed track spies on the wall and they have investigated only half of the track yet. Another few glances and steps and you will see that the narrow way will be heavily trodden upon. Her travelers will arrive without fail at the entrance and come into the tent, will there receive great treasure and present it to all the guests.

15. When this will happen, it will be over and done with all other tracks. The guests will thrust themselves over from the other tracks, tear down the fences and will come to the entrance of the tent from all sides!

16. It is barely necessary to say that the first track denotes the Kingdom of hierarchy, the second one the Greek church, the third the Protestant, the fourth the English Church and that the other smaller tracks represent other smaller tracks. By knowing this, you would also know what this image means. When you made it your own, you will find that much of what you have seen in the sphere of the sixth spirit, will become clear. Next time, the fourth image, but enough for today.

CHAPTER 15

The bowl with the laying scoop.   The prophetic sphere of Daniel.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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?

10. Many of them say: Look, there in the direction of the morning, not too far from here, are mountains. Who of us does not know that the mountains always have good springs? Let us go there promptly, then we will surely find purer living water than this old, watergear-driven living soup. Look how a multitude secretively gets away and journey to the mountains. This is already a good sign. Yet, we still want to stay at the water bowl and see what is still going to happen there.

11. Do you not find it conspicuous to see that there are among the guests on the shore a lot having binoculars? They inspect the gear from all sides and see that it's scoops are completely rotten and ragged. More than half of it is already missing. What becomes of this? We will first listen to what our onlookers are telling each other.

12. Look, there indeed are standing quite a few clever ones; they talk very excitedly. One says: what have I told you? The moment has arrived: the great screamers are sitting with their hands in their hair! They cannot stop the gear to replace the scoops, for if they would do it, the water in the bowl would become still and it would soon become clear to every foolish rower that it is no living water. Neither could they dare to drive the gear harder, for the few remaining, leaking scoops would also break. So, if this would certainly happen, tell me once, best friend, how would it fare with the living water? For the scoop-less gear will, even if it would turn ever so vigorously, not be able to move the water and give it even less apparent life than all the thoughts that have not yet occurred to us.

13. The second says: Brother, I see very well how the situation is turning out. If the rowers will notice this, which is according to my observation certainly the case, that the movement of the water is becoming more and more sluggish, a part of them would become convinced that things are not well with this so-called living water, making it better to rather walk out on the shore! Another part will indeed, because of the lesser resistance, approach the so-called holy site of the gearing with little effort, and they will see with their own eyes what we can see clearly from the shore, namely the condition of the highly praised, mighty gear. You know, the pompous one with a vested interest are saying that it will never break down and still has the same power to enliven the water. What would they say if they would count the scoops and discover to their surprise what is lacking and also see the critical and significant damage to the scoops which are still attached to the loose gear? Do you not agree with me? He will quickly turn away their boats from the gearing and row to the shore.

14. The others say: this is a done deal; especially when the water closer to the shore are barely being moved anymore, they would proclaim something to the extent of: Listen, sea captains, remove yourselves quickly from this surface, to not face the danger of navigating over an increasingly stinking mud puddle instead of over living water!

15. How does this dialogue suit you? I believe it is not a bad one. Yet, at the shore is standing yet another group, measuring the depth of the bowl with small sticks, while empty boats are drifting in every direction upon the surface, acting as if they are the rightful navigators of the living waters. Look, over there is a few depth gauges out onto the shore, earnestly conversing. Do go over there and listen to their discussion.

16. Listen to the words of the first one: I have always said it: this whole pool is a shallow disaster; the water is artificially colored dark, but have nowhere any significant depth. Since there is already something in this water which could easily make it murky, it should be diligently stirred to preserve the apparent freshness. Now the situation is very clear to us. What do you think, in what way should we put an end to this already overdue foolishness?

17. Listen to another one saying. Two ways. As you see, those having vested interest in the water, are caught up in a thousand fears and have no idea how to repair the rotten, old gear anymore. What is easier than to dig a canal, to let their fantastic water secretly drain away to the lowland; when their bowl contains no water anymore, their gear can turn as much as he wants to, but you can be assured that all rowers still rowing, will soon steer towards the shore, where they will become convinced that life is to be found in abundance there.

18. And listen, a third one is saying: Have you not heard that in the place of the gear, the actual source of living water is to be found? If one would be able to conquer it, it would mean the greatest gain! Listen, a fourth one says: I've just had a very good idea! What would you think of it if we should forgo the draining of the water, but dig a tunnel without any trouble to the underside of the gear? If the living source is there, we will for sure let her emerge from there, that she can spread herself in her fullness of life overall vast valleys and plains like a sea. When this happens, these gear turners can turn their gear as much as they want to, and we can be sure that we will be able to count those still willing to be lured onto the water in their rotten little boats, on our fingers.

19. The first says: Bravo, brother, this I would call a good idea! Let us immediately roll up our sleeves, for they have not put this gear on this place for nothing. They are anxiously hiding what is underneath. They know that it will be their sure downfall and therefore they have cautiously hidden and sealed it. We have decided; therefore, it is also decided in heaven and now the building of the tunnel shall commence.

20. Now look further: He, together with many more set out for the lowland and already at first glance detect there, him being a mountain expert, indications of the presence of living water. They begin to dig and with the first shovel already discover a rich source which immediately strongly surges out also with the mighty radiation of the sun. They continue digging, enlarges the tunnel and since they do not encounter rock, they make rapid progress.

21. Look how the already discovered springs have formed a shining brook, searching its way through the valleys. Many who are not far away walk as quickly as possible to the brook, who have already enlarged itself into a significant lake. Its pleasant aroma permeated the whole region and its shores become more and more populated. Now our tunnellers have only a few meters more to go to the main source. Look inside and see how they are coming closer to the main source inside the strongly illuminated tunnel.

22. Now look, one of them makes the determining blow and the source has been opened! She carries the workers to the open into the eternal, infinite freedom and rewards them with eternal life. With great force and abundant riches, they gush over all valleys and plains; they flatten mountains and all who were dead are brought to life with her water.

23. But look, those having vested interest in the water see this too, and they scream murder and burning on their water scaffolding! But it is of no avail. They powerfully drive the old water gear, but one after the other rotten scoop flies off. The water surface is littered with empty little boats at the shores. Everything having feet tries to reach the life-giving water. Only those having vested interest in the waters now sit, as you are used to saying, in sackcloth and ashes! A few grab the bad, broken scoops of the gear and swim to the shore as effectively as possible, to the blessed shore. There will remain very little rescue gear for the main parties concerned, for the boats all have drifted to the shore and nobody wants to steer them there, to save them. Their water begins to stink terribly and the living water refuses to enter there.

24. Look, this is how it is; this is then the full unraveling of the abominable image, which we have seen in its fullness in the sphere of our seventh spiritual hospitable friend.

25. You do now understand these images and this is enough, for this also gives us a view on the spiritual sun. As you have encountered on the sun all material conditions in correspondence with the named celestial body, as such is also the nature of the spiritual conditions.

26. Who then is this seventh spirit in whose spirit you have seen this? Look, it is an old spirit especially destined for this time; this is the spirit of the prophet Daniel. Now that you know, you can again come out from his sphere and next time you will find yourselves in the sphere of the eighth spirit, who has just come to us. Therefore, again, enough for today.

CHAPTER 16

The sphere of the eighth spirit.   The world clock and the “last time”.   The “New Jerusalem” from the sphere of Swedenborg.

1. 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!

2. 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!

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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!

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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!

9. 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.

10. But come up high with me, at least until half the height of the building. There we will look at the dial plate of this great world timepiece, upon which you will very easily be able to see what time it is right now.

11. Look, we again are already at our destination. You are surprised that this dial plate is provided with numbers only at one side, namely the left-hand side, but still just like your watches, from one to twelve. The right-hand side turned to the morning side (east), is completely without numbers. This is because the evening side (west) only depicts the temporary and the morning side, the eternal and thus the spiritual.

12. When the whole of material creation realized, this great, light emanating hour-hand stood right at the bottom, on the number one, which you see still strongly radiating.

13. But where is this hour-hand now? You say: He shows directly upwards and almost at the end of its last number. He only must pass two last dots, then his point will enter the numberless light side. Do you indeed know what this means? Look, this denotes “the end of time”!

14. Yet you ask: Will all cease to exist when the hour-hand will come to the free, white surface! This will be shown by a next dial plate, positioned higher up. Go therefore a few paces higher up with me.

15. Look, there is already another dial plate. What do you see on it? You say: there we see exactly the opposite; the side turned to the evening is dark and numberless. The side turned to the morning is inscribed with new, brightly shining numbers. Here, the one is above, the twelve below. The great hour-hand already touches the first dot of the one, shining like a bright morning star. Every number forming a great circle to the bottom shines brighter and the last number's glow is like that of the sun, gloriously shining in the morning. You have all taken good notice; but what does it want to say?

16. This you will learn immediately. Look, as such is an old, dark time passing over into a new, shining one. Therefore, shall these things not perish, but it will be given “a new time”. As the first time was a time of perishing, a time of night, this coming time will be one of rising and a time of the day! Now you understand the meaning of this great clockwork. Let us then again divert our gazes from this and have a closer look at those things which are still in endless, wonderful abundance around us.

17. You see in the direction of the midday an exceptionally great, square building, looking like a great cubic of about twelve thousand klafter long; breadth and height, therefore, equal to length. On top of the four corners, you see four gigantic human figures, with four different animals at their feet. We will go there immediately to see what it means. You want it and therefore we are, as you see, on the shining surface of this great cubic. Look then, there in the middle of the shining surface stands yet another, strongly radiating cubic, with a completely unsealed book lying upon it.

18. The seventh seal you see already broken and from this seal you see various gigantic forms arise. Many spirits clothed in white, carrying great trumpets, soar to all sides. Look, one is blowing the trumpet and from the trumpet comes forth many things like war, dearth, famine, and pestilence. Look, another blows on his trumpet and from it comes a devouring fire. Wherever it falls, it devours everybody and it melts away the hardest stones like water drops on a glowing plate. Look once again, yet another one blows his trumpet and a great flood, full of multifarious abominable beasts; look, down there, how the old earth drowns in this flood. And look there, a fourth is blowing his trumpet and a great, fiery dragon plummets down, bound and shackled, to where you see an endless depth in an immeasurable, boiling sea of fire.

19. But now, look at the four gigantic figures on the corners. Also, they are equipped with great trumpets. See, the one in the direction of midnight blows his trumpet powerfully, out of which a spirit comes forth, holding a big sickle to punish the earth with. Look, the one in the direction of the evening blows his trumpet and from it comes forth another spirit holding a glowing and fiery broom to sweep the dirt from the surface of the earth. Now look, in the direction of the midday, the great spirit is also blowing his trumpet and from it come forth a multitude of spirits equipped with a variety of baskets with seeds, to plant a new fruit in the clean, swept earth. But now, look, the spirit in the direction of the morning is also blowing his trumpet and from it comes forth a shining cloud. On it, you see innumerable multitudes. Above this cloud, you see a radiating cross and on the cross, stands a Man, meek like a Lamb!

20. See, this is the sign of the Son of man. With this, we have also seen here what can be shown to you; everything of this is the light of the truth, from where you perceive these things.

21. You are shifting your gaze to the morning and see to your great surprise an unusually beautiful, big city, radiating like the sun above her. You would want to know what this city is and would like to have a closer look at her. You want it! Look, the city is already right before us.

22. How does it suit you here? You say: Unspeakably well and good, for here we breathe pure love and everything we see, has a peculiar soft, mild and love-breathing character. You proceed talking: how beautifully shining are the walls of this city; how exceptionally exalted and magnificent her gates and what an indescribable glorious light radiates to us from every gate! Countless overjoyed multitudes of angelic spirits wander in and out of it! Oh, what good dwellings must be in there!

23. You say that you would want to look around inside the city. Also this you can do. But I tell you beforehand: This city is so infinitely big that we would not even with the greatest speed of thought in no eternities can pass through her completely; for this city becomes only big, yes endlessly bigger and bigger, the more one penetrates her inner being and look into the city through the gate.

24. You now say: In the Name of the almighty Master! What endless magnificence and endless row of dwellings! It seems as if there is no end to this street we are now looking at. Yes, I tell you: You could wander forever along this street, but never reach the other end, and of such streets and plains are countless many in this city. Would you like to know the name of this city, then read the inscription above this gate. There is written: “The holy city of God”, or also, the new Jerusalem.

25. But I, who have guided you around here, is the spirit of Swedenborg; with this, you have seen what you were granted by the Master to see in my sphere. Thus, we will go back again. Look, we are again at the place from where we departed. Step now out of my sphere and go to Him, Who is waiting for you and Whose Name is: Holy, Holy, Holy!! Well, you are here again; have you taken everything well into yourselves?

26. You answer positively, but I tell you: What you do not yet understand, will in due time and indeed in the sphere of the next spirit, become clearer. Thus, enough for today.

CHAPTER 17

The sphere of the ninth spirit (Gospel of Mark).   Guidance in the true spirit world.   How the evil of physical love is seen in the hereafter.

1. 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.

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

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. You say: Best friend and brother! We are content with this, for this excessively loathsome houses look as if part of a burnt downtown in some of the other dark corner of the earth. The people we see here, look so homeless that one can barely imagine something worse than this on earth. A pair is just approaching us; the man is half naked. The naked parts of his body are emaciated and dirty and it looks as if he has a burning wound on his chest. His hair is more than half-charred by fire and half of his face looks as if burnt. His companion seems to be his wife. Master, what a pitiable female figure! She looks as if she has already lain underground for three years. Only over her shoulders is hanging a few dirty rags, looking as if they've just been taken from a tar pit. Her bare feet look like fleshless bones and her arms! One is a partly burnt skeleton arm and the other is covered with pus and boils and her head, what a facial expression! Truly, whoever can find anything but death, must have a high degree of wisdom.

11. Yes, my best friends and brothers, do not let yourselves be brought off balance by this scene, for these inhabitants of this region are of the best-looking and this is but the beginning of the great misery accommodated in this region. But let us now go to the town itself, where you will see truly astonishing things.

12. There stands the first house. Look inside through the low frame; what do you see? Oh, you draw back in a fright; what is in there? I very well know that there exists no perfume! On the floor of this room, you see half decomposed human beings caged in together, cuddling their stinking, rotten flesh which partly hangs from their bones. This sure is no praiseworthy scene, but it can be no other way, for this is how fleshly love is expressed here.

13. You ask whether these beings are completely lost? You sure do know the great love and compassion of the Master. Look, the flesh or rather fleshly lust of all these beings should be devoured in the most loathsome way possible before they can get into a condition where any help will be possible for them.

14. Do you think that seen from this point, these highly miserable beings are unhappy in this condition? Oh, no not completely! Would they feel unhappy, they would want to quickly flee, for each of them still have enough strength to move himself upstream, for the water possesses a purifying and healing power. Only, the physical pleasure is their element, therefore they chew on their flesh until it is completely devoured.

15. You ask: Do these people have anything to eat and are they still able to take in any food! Come with me to the second house and look inside through the frame, then you will immediately see a meal.

16. Well, what do you see there? You are not able to keep looking! Why then did you jerk back from the frame so quickly? Yes, look, it also brings with it fleshly lust. On earth, you have a saying: They are so fond of each other, they can eat each other! Therefore, you do not have to be so aghast when you see how the residents of this house eat away each other's rotten pieces of flesh already full of maggots and worms. As such the flesh needs to be digested, if the spark of their better spirit still wants to be freed.

17. Now you ask whether these poor beings have nothing to do. Also this we shall see. There already is another house. Look inside through the partly decayed frame and you will immediately see with what the residents of this are busying themselves with. But once again you flee away from the frame. What repels you from the frame in such haste? Is it so peculiar to see in the right light, how the residents of this house fishes up from the stinking muck on the floor the partly decayed rags of flesh and rub it over their bare bottoms, or if when they have created some kind of skeleton with such pussy rags of flesh, they immediately again think of sensual intercourse and makes every effort to give themselves still some sensual, physical pleasure!

18. Why then are you so surprised of this spectacle? Does it go any better upon earth? If you would perceive so much tender flesh, so admired upon earth, with spiritual eyes, you would see even greater wonders than here!

19. You ask: Do these poor beings have no concept of the Master and absolutely no longing for Him? First, proceed a bit further. Look, there on the hill stands what looks like a filthy ruin of a prayer house. We will go there; who knows what spectacular things we discover! Look, here behind the mountain is an already ruined entrance. We only must look inside, and we will immediately find a suitable answer for your question. Well, you almost fall backward of fright! What amazing things have you discovered?

20. You can barely breathe, let alone speak! You should still not react like this, for this excursion to not be over too soon. What you have seen here, however, is nothing but completely natural. Think it over; the sensual and greedy person is carrying this with him everywhere. Also, when he would enter a house of prayer, he can see what he wants and his sensual love will therefore always be active. Every object will be colored according to her personality. As such will, every object looked at by a sensually lustful person, spiritually be seen in such repugnant sensual love. Because of this, you have seen in the place of the altar, nothing other but pure sexual organs of both sexes. A poorly situated, the unattractive cross statuette was hung and decorated on both sides with such objects of lust. You have even seen how a few people dawdle along as if in a museum in this house of prayer and become completely consumed in looking at the named works of art and take much pleasure in it.

21. Do you find it to be excessive? I tell you: it is not excessive in the least, but it is the pure, sober truth. For there are among you on earth many people who do think of the Master every now and then, especially when they see wood carving of Him, depicting Him only grossly materialistic; but how long does such a reminder last? Only one look at one or the other kind of attractive woman and the remembrance of the Master will be just like the image of Him, decorated and weaved together with all kinds of charming body parts! On earth, such things are hidden by the skin, but in the spirit, all these are open and bared to see.

22. You ask: Best friend, deeper down in this filthy valley are still many such woefully decayed dwellings; is this a continuation of these fleshly laudabilities My dear friends and brothers! It is only a trial, we want to look at a few more of these palaces and I think you will have enough to solve this issue. I do think you will have enough and I am sure there is no further question for the others, as you can see, of many palaces. Behold, we are already in one. Just look into it and you will be amazed at what all you will see there at a glance. Well, well, you start to bend over here as if a grim colic had gripped you! What is it then? I do not find anything new; they are apparitions of your earth, just as they occur there. You see nothing else here but a lot of women lying over dirty boards, which still look quite reasonably fleshy; only the sole circumstance that very wildly sensual looking and really being male beings walk between the women and cut holes in the flesh of the women with pointed knives and then apply their genitals into these fresh wounds. Furthermore that women bind the men's hands, then fasten them to a stake with a rope, then make their way over the male genital parts and tear the same as with glowing teeth; and that even moreover, in reverse, the men tear out the women's breasts and hang them on their genital parts, some of them are even hung on their whole body with such torn female breasts and that this disgrace, of course, looks very bloody indeed – but it's all that you are so horrified about, so the whole circumstance!

23. You say now:"No, but that is an exaggeration after all." "I say to you, however, not at all; for if on your earth you would only contemplate the carnal desire, how different it is, with spiritual eyes on a square mile of space, you would get to see completely different things. You can believe it, if some of the inhabitants of the earth would not keep away punishable state and bourgeois laws, you would see wonders of what truly hellish inventions would come full of the carnal lust in the daylight!?

24. Do you have any wish to look at the next house? You shake your heads and therefore I will not guide you around anymore, but I will briefly tell you that you would not see anything better, but only worse. As such you would have seen in the next house all kinds of desecration of boys. Would you go further, you would see how young girls are being forced and lured by sensual men into fornication. But because the viewing of such terrible abominations would rather hurt than benefit you, it is better for you not to see it!

25. Yet, I do have to tell you that, the more one look at all this, the people's flesh do look as if fuller and more complete in a certain sense than those upstream. This is because those upstream are even more exposed and deprived of their flesh than those living more inland.

26. Look there, deep in that filthy valley, there you will even see houses burning. You ask what it would mean? This means that the fleshly lust has degenerated into maliciousness, depicting jealousy upon your earth. In such a dwelling, you may not look inside if you are not prepared for it, for such a viewing could cost you your life! As such we have nothing more to find in this valley and next time, we will go to another town. We will see how things will fare there. I tell you: Do not expect too much, for we will yet see many other things. We will leave it at that for now.

CHAPTER 18

How usury takes on form in the hereafter

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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!

7. 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?

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Well, what do you now say of this image? Is it not magnificent, and does it not show the evil exactly as it is? This indeed was but a benign beginning. Let us, therefore, go to the next, slightly bigger house and have a look inside.

11. Look, we are standing at the good [door]frame. You must look keenly to the inside, for because the house is bigger and, as you can see, have at the back side only two relatively small, dirty doors, it is rather dark inside. Have you seen what can be found inside? You are jumping back in fright, shuddering; this tells me that you did indeed have a good look to what is inside. But you are not capable of speaking. This I can also readily believe, for spectacles of the likes of these lets even us strong spirits be heavily upset, especially because this is currently becoming more and more common and pronounced. I do see here that it will be necessary for me to narrate what you have seen, for you cannot easily find words to describe such an image.

12. Once again do you see in the background, a repugnantly fattened being? This being has a terribly swollen abdomen; its head has the looks of a hyena; its arms look like a pair of powerful, gigantic snakes; its feet look like that of a bear. On its enormously big abdomen is erected some kind of altar. In the middle of the altar is put a double-sided spear. You see a multitude of emaciated human beings pierced by and strung on this spear. One of the snake arms was continuously busy taking these human beings off the spear one by one, shoving it into the jaws of this glutton. The other snake arm grabs to all sides to snatch up the poor, miserable people who were banned to this horrible room and then throws him onto the spear of his abdominal altar. The terrible sorrowing of these unhappy ones only invigorates his arm. Look, this is the image you have seen.

13. How do you like it? You say: Terrible! And more: This is way too crass! Things are bad on earth, but now it seems to us as if, according to the image, quite a bit exaggerated!

14. Yet I tell you, here is depicted not too much, neither too little, but always the pure truth. Have a look at the great industrial heroes upon your earth. Take a measure and measure the greedy mouth of these magnates. Investigate how it is with his arms and you will determine that it looks just like the snake arms. One is continuously busy shoving in, the other is busy, by many cunning means, devices, and violence, collecting booty. Whenever he caught something, it is immediately pinned as a sacrifice to his greed, on the already known altar.

15. You ask: Why does the altar then stand on the abdomen of this monster? Because the abdomen is the symbol of all the worst kinds of greed, selfishness, and self-love. The big stomach depicts the excessiveness of this love and the altar on the abdomen shows the so-called worldly honorable and exalted and thus to the proud and haughty character of such impressive industrial barons.

16. What then does the fixed, two-edged spear or sword upon the altar mean? This you could surely immediately guess. Have you never heard about merchant or exchange rights? Look, there it is right upon the altar! Therefore, if one or the other poor being should be caught, he will be grabbed, without mercy or excuse pierced by this right and immediately killed.

17. You still ask: Who then are those many poor beings who are so diligently caught and why is the spear double-sided? The many poor beings are many different people. Some, who are caught first, consists of detail merchants; another part is those who out of necessity must provide their products to such big speculant; a third part are various poor foreign peoples having trade relationships with such a house; a fourth part is other greedy merchants; a fifth part is trading corporations stationed elsewhere; a sixth part are those who are dependent upon these houses in various ways. The double-sided spear stands ready for these categories. But we almost forgot about the meaning of the double-sided spear.

18. This is also rather obvious. One side represents trade politics of the merchants. What then does the second side represents? The assumed right she gave herself to organize her trading as such that it would produce maximum trade interest for her. Do you understand this? If you would not properly understand this, research this and tell me, where is trade interest lawfully prescribed for merchandise life. As such the spear cuts to two sides; to the one side, the to you well-known merchant politics and to the other side, the limitless interest hunt. Both cutting edges are so closely linked to merchandise law as the two cutting edges with a sword. Is not this image appropriate, and does it not, as I say, show nothing more and nothing less than the pure truth?

19. You say now: This image is true, but it leaves no doubt that it belongs to the deepest hell! In the foundation of the matter, you are not completely wrong, but the previous declaration stays true, for it all only means the evil on him, without referring to the people acting in the industry. Therefore, it is hellish of nature, but not hell itself. For if you would really see something like that in hell itself, you would have fared far different than you did with the first glance that it did, so close to the image of that evil.

20. Look, there are still many such houses in this filthy ravine. But because the malice of greed in it is depicted increasingly more inward and thereby inexpressibly more atrociously and you would not be able to bear even the following depiction, we will end this case with the viewing of these two houses. For when this atrocity would transform into the sphere of burning, greedy jealousy, then it becomes truly hellish and is therefore not fit for your weak eyes. Next time, therefore, we will go to a third valley. There we will again see many new appearances and we leave it at that for today.

CHAPTER 19

How lust for power is expressed in the hereafter

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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!

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. You saw people being dragged by snakes to the front and this shows that the multi-faceted cunning of the tyrant has taken them captive. The great snake with human arms, cuffing the captives, are the hired lackeys of the tyrant. The chain testifies of the complete servile condition of those standing under the authority of someone like this.

11. Now we have unraveled everything. You say: This image is indeed true, but everything look very much exaggerated. Yet, I do want to draw your attention to a few examples amply present upon earth in your current time. From this, you will easily gather whether this image is exaggerated.

12. To not make you think it over for too long, I draw your attention in the first place to the evil agitators of the people, usually chasing after a high ideal, but who became, after they reached the result of their evil plans, the greatest robbers of mankind. Robespierre is by far not the worst among the innumerable many who have thrust poor mankind of the earth into unmentionable physical and spiritual misery. Exactly this truly hellish, satanic politics of such kind of people is but superficially depicted by this image.

13. If it would be advisable to let you have a look inside the deeper situated earth mounds, truly, at the very first mound, the most cold-blooded one of you would not be able to put even one letter upon paper. This kind of activities belong to the lowest and most evil hell. From this mountain ridge, you have seen how many enormous earth mounds are situated in the despicable ravine. In this respect, I can only tell you that it fares ten times worse in every following earth mound than in its predecessor.

14. This is then enough; I must honestly admit to you: only the mightiest angelic spirits, especially endowed with all possible power by the Master, can go through this valley without being damaged. But with you, I do not even want to proceed to the third earth mound. As long as such lust for power has only worldly things in view as you saw in this first earth mount, it does not yet, with the necessary precautions, pose any danger to the spiritual. But, as is already in the second earth mound the case, this lust for power stretches out her snake arms also to the spiritual, then every spirit must take very good care if he should approach such a mound! Therefore, I want us to be content with what we saw in this valley. Next time I will bring you upon a safe and appropriately situated hill from where we will have a general overview of all the multiple situations of especially this northern region. Thus, enough for today.

CHAPTER 20

Hallway to hell

1. 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.

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. You now see in each of these valleys, underneath every hill, a steaming hole. Their meaning is the undermining of the Godly commandments and the total eclipse and breaking down of neighborly love, which is, all taken together, called the whoring of Babel. This smoke is worse than pestilence. Whoever has inhaled of it once, is soon intoxicated to such an extent and blinded, that he is not capable of finding any free spot, but he cannot, no matter where he would turn or direct himself, depart from the place where he is plagued by the smoke.

11. You ask: what then becomes of such a person? Look a bit keener down there and you will easily be able to see how, from the otherwise well-locked chapels, beings rushing downward to the intoxicated beings to drag them away from this place to freer places. As you see, there are few allowing themselves to be taken away. Most of them stubbornly keep standing at their standpoint, letting themselves rather be dragged into these holes by black messengers rising from the holes, than to be rescued by the watching inhabitants of these chapels.

12. Look, this is the actual image of your current world and it marks the nature of all depravity of humans during their lives upon earth.

13. You can see that this high mountain range is keeping this midnight pre-region infinitely far separated from the actual midnight region, whom you can observe behind our backs in its most horrible and terrible form.

14. Before we look at this background, we shall first turn our gazes to the side of the morning.

15. Look, there you see beyond our already familiar three middle valleys the three we visited in person, another seven valleys. As you can see lies these, in comparison with the previously viewed valleys, in the evening region, significantly higher and everywhere are numerous towns. With only a little effort, you will easily see that there is no order to be found. No life is to be seen. You see the fields lays mostly fallow and wherever is still a bit wheat or some cultivated crop, more than three-quarters weeds are growing over the noble wheat; yet even there is more disorder than order to be seen.

16. At the same time, you see the same kind of hills as is between the valleys in the evening chapels, but if you watch closely, you will see only very few people walking towards it. The benevolent chapel watchers have indeed laid out as much as possible, easily passable roads, but even this is for the inhabitants of these towns way too inconvenient and inaccessible. As you can see, the beautiful gardens around the little chapels, fully planted with good fruit trees and a beautiful view from these hills over the river to the happy regions of the eternal morning, is not capable to move these indolent sleepers to get up from their sleeping quarters and walk up to these little chapels.

17. You say: This is all good and well, and we see it with our own eyes; but what does it mean?

18. Best brothers and friends, I believe you would see it through at first glance. Therefore, I want to say nothing more about it than what the Master has told John regarding the congregation of Sardis when He said: “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” I truly do not need to tell you anymore; only compare the so-called good or better world with this image and you will have it literally confirmed to be true.

19. Is it not said upon earth: I'm not doing anything wrong; what has the Godly commandments to do with me? If I keep myself in check and hurt no one, what do you want more of me? Look, with this principle have the whole population of this region lulled themselves to sleep and do not worry one about the other. If anyone would cry for help, no one rushes to help him, or someone would mumble from his sleeping quarters: help yourselves as well as you can, I will help myself when I'd be wanting something. I have nothing to do with you and neither do you with me; each one for himself!

20. Look, you will surely recognize your world very well in this; but where does she find herself? Firstly, you will see that she is, just like the other terribly bad regions, separated from the fateful river from all happy regions and secondly, that this region is, the same as what we see in the region of the evening, situated very close to the bordering mountain ridge between this side and the other. As you can see, these valleys proceed at this high mountain cliff into a dark so-called tunnel or subterranean hallway, leading straight to the other exceptionally dark world, now laying behind us.

21. You ask: what is this? But I tell you: After we investigated this preliminary area, shall we turn around again to that region lying over against here. Three cursory viewings will tell you more than you would want to know.

22. Well, you have turned yourselves around; what have you seen there? You say: up till now nothing other than denser and increasingly denser nightly darkness. Look some more; what do you see now?

23. Oh, now you call out: Terrible, terrible, misery and more misery! We see nothing but fire and more fire and glowing snakes slithering in the flames. Good, but look some more; what do you see now? I can see that you are dumbstruck by this spectacle and I tell you: What has shown itself in the third viewing, is the first grade of the actual hell! There still is a second and a third. But you cannot see it, for even a cursory glance will cost you your life, since it is there where the most intense death abides. I have let you see this to explain to you where these subterranean hallways from all these valleys irrevocably lead.

24. How difficult it is for the spirit, yes for the materialistic, maliciously heavy spirit to return, you can easily understand in the immeasurable depth which stretches itself into an eternally dark abyss, downwards and out from this mountain range. You do not need to know more of this for the time being.

25. This location where we are now is the free height of man, from where he can discern in himself in equal measure the true and the false, the good and the evil, during his earthly life.

26. Whoever stands on this height, have found the true meaning of life and can never be lost again, except if he would thrust himself down into the abyss like a lunatic. Yet he will not easily do that! Let us descend again from this height downwards to where the boat awaits us; you want it and look, we are again at our destination.

27. Do get in quickly; I will loosen him and take you back to the happy embankment on the other side. You are seated inside; the boat is loosened and the journey begins.

28. Look, this time even more monsters rise up, threatening to devour us, just like before. Yet, there is the safe riverside already; now they may put their teeth to the boat, we are on dry land! From here we will view the region of the evening. We will only direct ourselves to this better region next time, therefore enough for today!

CHAPTER 21

Visit to the region of the evening

1. 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?

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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?

9. 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.

10. Listen best friend and brother! Why are you going to the temple built on the top of the green hill? He answers: Friend and brother in the Master, as you say, where do you come from that you don't know? I answer: Where do you look to where I come from? He answers: I look to the morning. I say: Good, if you look to the morning, how can you ask me where I come from? But for the sake of those here with me, I ask that you speak to me openly and clearly.

11. The questioned one bow and says: Mighty messenger of the Master! A Sage from the morning, probably a well-known brother is teaching here the love of the Master. We are going there to listen to the high wisdom. I ask him: For how long have you immortals been inhabitants of these islands already? He says: Mighty messenger of the Master! According to earthly reckoning, we are here already more than a hundred years. I answer: would you then not want to go closer to the morning?

12. He says: We do not know the way, but this island has been allocated to us to live on it and provide our sustenance. Nobody ever gets there to take us further, and we still lack the courage to undertake such a long journey all on our own. The wiser ones among us says that the morning, whose light we can clearly see from there, is endlessly far away. Therefore, we think that we could never reach it out of our own power, and we have no option left but to temper our longing for it as much as possible. We anyway think that what we possess here, is way too much for us, being pure compassion and pity from the Master. We are therefore also very much thankful for and content with it. Only one thing we would want to experience, then we would be eternally happy and that is to only once get to see the Master!

13. I answer: Then indeed go to the temple where the love for the Master is being taught. This is the way by which the Master will come to you. Look, the company is already making haste over the beautiful fields to the temple.

14. You ask me: What kind of people were these during their earthly life? I tell you: these are the so-called believing Christians who sought their righteousness only in faith and did not want to really accept the love as if it would not have any value for eternal life. To them, only faith has any value. Such a conviction is keeping them here. The lake depicts the inaccessibility of those of one or the other conviction. The islands mean that the conviction has come forth from the Word of the Master. Because truth is not connected to love, or in other words, because the truth of faith is not connected in the true heavenly to the goodness of love, are these land regions inhabited by these people, everywhere separated by water. The vehicles you see on the lake depicts the friendly and good deeds of such people on earth. These deeds bring, as you can see, these inhabitants of the islands in contact with each other.

15. In this region at the left-hand side lives those who gradually began to convert out the truths of the faith, their love into good deeds and out of that also believe in the love of the Master, yet they still believe more than the love. This is shown by the abundance of high, strong trees which indeed bears no edible fruit; therefore, their life sustenance is growing low, yet abundantly. The pyramids on the round mountain ridges on the left-hand side, topped with shining stars, shows that “the faith” is the highest principle of these people and their only light. The parts of the mountains densely overgrown with cedars shows the power of their faith.

16. In that they do not wear any edible fruit, shows that faith alone cannot generate life. Even though the faith is already working in his spiritual life, it still yields but meager fruit and if eaten, it would barely serve to bring life to higher potential.

17. The region to our right-hand side with the steep mountains firstly borders to the north. Therefore, are these mountains so inaccessible and high, forming the border between evening and north.

18. You ask whether this region is also inhabited. Oh yes, but mainly with good-hearted heathens as well as with people who have guarded their hearts from evil through the honoring of statues, being thereby righteous world citizens. The temples you see at the other side here and there among the bushes are also places of teaching where such people can be freed from their errors if they seriously want to!

19. If this is not the case, they are left as they are and no coercion is practiced. Since we now know this, we can follow the road further.

20. You again ask: What is there on the left-hand side, where the lake becomes broader and the land on the left narrower, that exceptionally high pillar? Let us quickly go there; we will reach her soon. Look, she is already coming closer and as you see, we are here already. Read the inscription up there. You read it well, for it is written: “Border pillar between the kingdom of the children and the pre-kingdom”, a dwelling place for those not yet capable to make the transition.

21. Now look before you were an immeasurably great sea is stretching out and where you cannot detect any land of any kind anywhere. This is the consciously glittering plain we saw from a distance. Look there far-off before you, completely on the background, you can see the stars. We will rest at this pillar for today and next time we will commence our journey by sea to the starry distance. Therefore, enough for today.

CHAPTER 22

The pre-order of the Children's Kingdom

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. You say: oh, best friend and brother, it will be impossible to go there, it looks frightening! A few sky-high waves are breaking all over each other. There, a water-valley is forming so deep as if one is looking from a mountain into a horrible depth!

11. But I tell you: All will go well, for as you can see, the water ravine is already filling up again; therefore, we can resume our journey easily. Before we will reach this soaring water-mountain, the water will already be level there too. Look, it is already low again; now our road is level again. But there already is another great ravine; the wet walls are wildly foaming, crashing down into the depth. Let us have patience. The ravine will soon be a level surface again. Look, the walls have united themselves again, and we can follow our way again. Yet again is another enormous water-mountain approaching us and have already formed a new water-valley again. You say: this enormous water-mountain shall certainly drag us along into the ravine. Do not worry yourselves; the mountain shall once again fill up the ravine, and we will once again have a level way.

12. Look now, after the stormy weather and rain, comes sunshine. With this water-mountain, we have passed this wavy patch of the sea, and we again have peaceful water before us. Yet, there in the distance, where you see lots of stars above the water, is another dangerous place with big vortexes. You do not have to worry yourselves about it; she will hurt us just as little as the waves. Look, after our accelerated journey, we are already at these vortexes. We still must walk along the sides of these vortexes, then they cannot hinder us. Do not be frightful of the thunderous noise of these vortexes and look up high to the firmament, how we already find ourselves underneath the stars which we only recently saw from afar. Let your eyes look keenly once more and look straight ahead. What do you see?

13. You call out: Land, land! Well, the sea was after all not so endless as you have imagined it to yourselves just recently. Look, there on a peninsula reaching rather far out into the sea stands yet another pillar. You ask what that means? We will be there immediately and you can read the inscription for yourselves. Only a few more steps and we are already on dry ground again. Look, there is the pillar already!

14. What is written on it? “Pre-border of the Children's Kingdom”. Now you know where we find ourselves. You say: But in heaven's name, this is a terribly mountainous region! Do we have to go deeper into this mountainous region as well? O yes, this is the main cause; therefore, we embarked on this long journey hereto. This you must see, for only here will the true meaning of the evening be made known. We will, therefore, take on this mountainous region next time. Therefore, we will take a rest today at this pillar.

CHAPTER 23

Who sows sparsely, will have a meager harvest

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. If it would come this far that we have been depleted of all his possessions and provision because of his neighborly love that he would truly reach with his pilgrim to the begging stick, he is left in this situation to beg for his sustenance for little while, firstly for his accommodated neighbor and on then for himself; but when then for himself, as such that he would give the greater portion for his poor brother. Then it happens that the Master would send an angelic spirit which he would not recognize as such to him; he would ask him about his situation, upon which he would answer: Best friend, you can see that I am poor; this poverty is no burden to me though, but troubles me more that I cannot help my brother anymore. What do think will then happen there? Now the poor brother turn to him and say to him: I came to you naked and you clothed me; you gave me something to eat when I was hungry and thirsty and you never took notice of your possessions, so much so that you had to take up the begging stick together with me and searched for bread on my behalf. Look, therefore am I now your great reward, for I, your poor brother, is the only Master of the heavens and all worlds and I came to you to help you.

11. When you were upon the earth, you indeed sowed sparsely and a meager harvest was inevitably your share, yet you have not practiced usury with your meager harvest; because your heart became enlarged and you could not let any poor person pass by your hut without sharing your meager harvest with him. This helped you and made you a rich inhabitant of heaven. Look, this brother who came to meet you here will lead you into your new possession.

12. Now the Master vanishes and the sent messenger brings the charitable, poor inhabitants of this region to the golden midday where a new possession, meticulously meted out according to the capital gained with his charity, awaits him.

13. Then the overjoyed farmer says to the messenger: Best friend and brother, I am endlessly happy because the Master have granted me such as this. I know that this new possession will certainly be very beautiful and abundant. But see, there still is some other poor brothers here, I give of my intended estate to them. Let me go back to my poor hut, for it will still happen that the Master will again appear among the many poor ones that will visit my hut. Therefore, I want to go back and meet my poor brothers with a hundredfold more love as what I did up till now. Truly, I can tell you, if such a fortune would befall my poor hut once again, I would be happier there for all eternity that when you would give me the greatest and most magnificent things in the most beautiful part of heaven! Let me, therefore, go back.

14. It consequently happens that the spirit lets the poor farmer and his small family go back. As soon as they reach their poor hut, the Master is waiting there for them with open arms and even makes him a citizen of the eternal morning!

15. Look, such scenes often play out here, but it is almost impossible to grasp the extent of self-denial needed for this. For poverty and self-love is most often automatically inseparably connected. That is why a poor person usually only ask for himself. Has he collected a small amount, he has barely enough for his own needs and his poverty barely permits him to share his meager possession with another poor brother. For this reason, one finds on earth among the poor classes often the most detestable jealousy. Because of this it usually happens that such poor inhabitants of these valleys hide themselves as much as possible for these beggars. Therefore, you will see very few people outside their homes, but those you see outside already have a good attitude. Next time we will look at the very much inaccessible valley to our right, to the north. Therefore, enough for today.

CHAPTER 24

Place and circumstances of stoics in the hereafter

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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!

6. 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.

7. 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!

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. They criticize the too much flesh on their feet, on their behinds, on their hands and wherever they would find some and say: a midget has nothing of it all and is therefore much happier than the sturdy and uneconomically built human.

11. Now that you know this, the small skeletal forms of these people will not seem so pitiable and miserable to you than at first glance anymore, for this corresponds as much as possible with their intellectual principles. You now say: This is all true, and we do see clearly now that it cannot be otherwise here, that these people would feel unhappy in other circumstances than exactly this, which suits them the best. But there is still another question in the background, best friend!

12. Is there no other possibility to bring these people on a better way?

13. Best friend and brothers, there exists barely a more difficult thing! They have only one accessible side and this is the one of the science! For this, endless patience and perseverance are needed to present to these intellectual people something in such a way that they would recognize it as true and would not be in contradiction with their minds. They say: it could be completely true scientifically, but if this would agree with the principles of the mind, is another question. To fully affirm this pronouncement, they would utter a whole list of scientific facts which are completely true, but it completely opposes the principles of the intellect. I will give you a single example.

14. They would, for instance, say: the calculation of an eclipse is scientifically completely true; but ask the ingenuity and his lackey, the mind, to what does this coincidental eclipse avail and whether the whole of humanity gained anything important from it through the science! So, it is also scientific that man takes of the ingested food only a part for the sustenance of his body parts and shed the excess. If you would ask the intellect, it could only show a bad and senselessly calculated relationship. It is also scientifically true that water and other viscous substances is driven to the depths b their own weight. What else does the intellect say of it when his gaze would follow bare rock cliffs against which not even a little moss plant can thrive because such high locations of the earth must lack the constantly needed nourishing humidity. Look at these few examples you can sufficiently see how difficult it is to give unto these critical intellectual people a scientific example which would completely satisfy the correspondence with the intellect. For you to see and understand the way by which such a conversion come to pass, we will next time attend one. With this, enough for today.

CHAPTER 25

A Conversion of a better stoic

1. 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!

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. The intellectual representative says: This consideration is very much welcome. We will immediately present her before the judgment seat of the pure mind; listen, therefore! Because of the essential dumbness regarding its own existence, these things should need just as little light as the dark middle of a celestial body has. Because also we coexist with them as products of the light, we can impossibly arrive at the opposite conclusion that we would exist on their behalf, just as little as a human can say: I exist for the sake of the house to be inhabited and taken care of by me. The house exists for the sake of man, but not man for the house. If light then has brought us forth, it out of necessity should create out of itself the prerequisites necessary for our light-related existence. These things you mentioned are therefore essential to the light, to serve us regarding our light-related needs. I do not mean here the consumption of the higher animalistic stomach, which can also be satisfied in a dark environment, but the higher consumption of the spirit, which can only satisfy itself with concepts and form which, just like himself, has its origin in light. A tree in the middle of the earth will with all his fruit not serve to satisfy the spirit, as long as it is not brought into the light and become related to the light. Look, my dear friends, with this, is your doubtable case solved. Should there still be anything in the dark with you, then openly share it.

11. The initiator says: Esteemed, very wise man, now that you have stated your opinion regarding light, you would surely graciously grant me a question regarding yourself. This question is as follows: What then is the reason that you, being a very wise defender of the light, have chosen a dwelling in this completely secluded corner!

12. The intellectual representative says: The reason is much wiser than you could grasp. If we want to see things in the light and want to discern pure light, we must, according to the correct mathematical rules of optic observance, not going to stand in the light ourselves, but in a place of complete darkness. Through this, our optical abilities become strengthened and we can discern the opposite subject sharply emphasized. But if you consider the light, you become blinded by it and you can only see the subject hazily and obscurely and must be content with only its shady side. Therefore, is my dwelling far from the light-giving object, but not turned away from the practical light. Out of this, you can deduct that my dwelling is not aloof towards the light, but rather towards the very serviceable, well-calculated light. If you would have any more objections, you will always find in me the most untiring, most willing man, wanting to satisfy you with everything within my ability.

13. The initiator still has another question to the intellectual representative and says: I can now see how you think, speak and act about everything with well-calculated principles. Therefore, I would like to also learn from you why you have settled yourself, being an advocate of the food of light, in such an uninhabitable region, producing as little for the animalistic stomach as it does for the spiritual. Is it not sorely pitiable that you did not settle yourself in a richer region, to be a true blessing to many people who still have very little intellect? There would find even more food for your spirit, where you would be able to prepare a powerful food for the weak spirits from the abundance of light rays that would meet your spirit.

14. My dear friends, about this question you will immediately be given sufficient light.

CHAPTER 26

Sequel to the visit to the Stoics

1. 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.

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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:

4. 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!

5. 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!

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Since you have told me some more about this Christ, that He is a certain sense on grounds of His promise would find Himself among you as the always Self-revealing omnipotence and primordial power, then you surely must see that I can say nothing from my given sphere against it, nor for it. In such cases, it always comes down to one's own experience.

11. If I would be able to see this Christ or incarnated Godly center myself, I would sure know to what extent it is true. But as such, esteemed friends, you should be content with what I have. If you would be able to bring this Christ here to me, you can rest assured that I would, as far as it pertains to my sphere, not judge His Being unreasonably, but nothing should be above my sphere!

12. The initiator says: Would that this Christ, being the most loving Being, come here and bid you to follow Him, what would you then do?

13. The intellectual representative says: If He is that and I recognize Him to be what you have told me about Him, then there is not much to consider that the infinitely smaller potentate should follow the infinitely greater potentate, driven by Himself, for there is no other outcome possible or thinkable. If it is not so, then it is also clear that I cannot step out of my sphere in my own power, because my sphere is, as I have already sufficiently explained, a given something and not a self-creating something.

14. The initiator says: Then look at Me, I am Christ, what do you want of Me now?

15. The intellectual representative says: If you are the Christ, let me see it and I will follow You.

16. Christ as the initiator says: Let it be light in this sphere and you, barren region, become a paradise!

17. Look, the intellectual representative falls down before the Master, worship Him and say: Then it is true that everything is possible for God! Master, because You have been so gracious unto poor, self-banned me, I ask You to take me up into Your sphere!

18. But let me be the very least in Your sphere of mercy! I know that you can broaden my horizon, just like You have given me as I am, out of Yourself; I got used to this sphere as the most cramped of all spheres, let me then be as the very least among all those You found to be worthy of Your compassion, stay in this sphere. Believe me, oh Master, and see in me the being which completely came out from You, that my spirit never could imagine that I would see You, the infinite Giver, ever in Your Primordial Being. Because I have now seen you like this, all greatest prerequisites of my spirit have been fulfilled.

19. The Master says: Then follow Me and you will certainly not be the least where I dwell among My children! But not here, but only there you will recognize in Me the most loving, Holy Father!

20. Look, best friends, this is still one of the most effective ways to rescue such a pure intellectual spirit from his sphere. But there is in this for your visible environment, many more such spirits, with whom it does not fare so easy as with this one. This is especially so when such stoic intellectual spirits would have in him a high degree of haughtiness due to his learning; this is not uncommon. It would not be good for you to attend to such a conversion process, for you can deduct that such cases often fail by the hundreds. With this, we will then leave this region and go deeper into the ravine in the middle. With this then, enough for today.

CHAPTER 28

The valleys of the rich, the learned, the handy and the intellectual people

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. I, your guide, interrogate him further: My best friend, this might very well be true, but have you, with the execution of your office, never even thought about or believed in Christ the Master? Have you done anything out of love for Him? Have you considered all simple people as your brothers? Tell me, how did you fare thus? The miserable one says: How can a developed man believe in such an old wife tale Christ? I still have, to upset no one politically, took part in all Christian foolishness. Who can be such a fool to expect of a man of high state office, to consider the rogue street rabble to be his brothers? And to do something out of love for this old wife's Christ, one first must become so foolish even to believe in such a Christ and then to see if one would do something out of a certain love for Him. Yet, I do believe in a God and I often think to myself: If this God is righteous, which He certainly should be, then He should, if there is life after death, also let a righteous man as I am, experience full righteousness. I already experience for three horrible years that there is life after death; for this is how long I have been wandering around here like a wild animal. But I must finally experience here in such circumstances that there does not exist any God; for if there would exist some or the other God, He'd have to treat me just as well as the king did. Even though everything is probably the work of blind fate, I have fallen back in the blind fate and just have to wait and see what it will do to me. If you have something for my stomach, give me something to eat, for I am extremely hungry and have, except for a little moss plant I coincidentally found, no food.

11. I, your guide, say to him: Listen, friend, there do exist a God Who is righteous and this God is no other than your old wife's Christ! Let this be a ray of mercy to you, that you would know to whom you should turn yourself when it would fare worse to you than now.

12. Look, all you have done, even though it was truly righteous, you have done out of exclusive self-love. For your love was your righteous prestige and to be generally liked and the high regard of the world. Therefore, you have brought nothing with you other than your self-love, which has no light here, for her light is taken from the world. The light of the spirit and its righteousness is in Christ, though! Turn yourself in your heart to Him, then you will, according to the measure of your conversion, receive light and bread. But go away from us now.

13. Look how he slinks away, deep in thought; do you see how the black cloud above him is becoming a bit more gray? This is because he is beginning to ponder about Christ. But let us proceed; much more interesting cases will still present themselves.

CHAPTER 29

Kingdom of darkness and unbelief

1. 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.

2. '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.

3. 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?

4. 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!

5. 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?

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. A says: Yes, best friend, now the situation has indeed a completely different light and I cannot but to completely agree with your opinion. Yes, yes, if this was not so, from where else did come this greed after gold and silver of the current Roman pontificate? Yet, I still must acknowledge that the actual pure moral teaching of Christ, wherever He might originate from, is above all criticism, exalted and good. This is what bound me most of all to Christendom. That a selfish parasite has attached itself to this pure tree over time – allow me this – is unmistakable; but I must tell you, an idea just came to me: if I would ever happen to meet such a pure Christ, truly, I would find it impossible to be hostile to Him!

11. B remarks: Yes, if He would exist, then I do think likewise; but exactly where the dog lies buried. A says: You know what, let us go in search of the grave of this dog and should we find it, then we have found at the very least a symbol of faithfulness! Look, it is becoming a bit lighter above A, but not above B for quite some time yet. Because we have nothing more to do here, let us continue our way.

CHAPTER 30

A spiritual philosopher and a fanatic

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. She says: Only now is a light dawning on me for the first time! Have I known this on earth, how much pleasure I could have had! For I was, as one would say, a pretty and wealthy girl. How many choices young men have not competed for my favor, but out of pure religiosity I could barely look to anyone and stayed a spinster for the sake of Our Dear Master and the blessed virgin Mary and on top of it all, left already during my life, all my wealth to the church.

11. Oh, how stupid I was! Would I have become a happy whore, I would have had some joy! Now the saying is applicable to me: 'A timid dog will not become fat'. No, best friend, if this is truly as you have said, I would want to curse and renounce everything! But no, this I will not do. Even if it would go worse with me, I will, even out of habit, call unto God and the blessed virgin Mary. I very well remember that the calling unto Christ and our dear lady did sometimes help; therefore, I think, even if they should not exist, that I have not gained anything by praying to them, but I also did not lose anything either. I do not need to chide myself that I am in this dark resort being punished because of my way of life. The only thing is that I maybe have spent too much time with the spiritual ones, yet it never spoiled my chastity, for on that terrain I have never allowed myself anything. I indeed did often besmirch people who I regarded to be bad and sometimes, yet only to the spiritualities, vigorously dragged them through the mire. With them I also cursed all Lutherans, Jews, Turks and heathens in the Name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; but the spiritual lords said that one as a truly believing Christian, certainly should do this. After this, they did add that one should pray for them, in order that they may convert to the true religion. I, therefore, have done this and have, as it should be, first cursed them and then prayed for them. Maybe it was wrong; I would not have known. I also gave unto the poor; not so much, though, for I rather gave my wealth to the church, because I thought that the spiritualities would be better able to disperse it than I could. So, have I, the more I ponder about myself, came here 'completely innocent' in this judgment. But of course, if it is as you said, then the one or the other have hurt me as little as it benefited me.

12. But as I said, I stick with calling unto God and our dear lady and will drag myself along in this place as long as it goes. Maybe I will encounter someone else who has something better to tell me than you, my otherwise much-appreciated friend. I bid you farewell, for I see I will not become happier in your company. It would have been better for me, the way I feel now if I would never have met you! For only now I see that stupidity makes one happier than an ever so sharp mind.

13. I'm just glad that I did not end up in the feared 'purgatory' or even in hell. For I am faring not that bad after all, because I have, besides, hunger, no pain. I do have to satisfy the hunger with grass, which is in abundance here. If only it does not get worse, I will gain with this food. Therefore, farewell!

14. He says: Yes, yes, farewell to you too and take care to gain from the eating of the grass. I do wish you 'bon appetit'! I did not have the luck to find an abundant grassy field, but only moss and that very sparsely was up till now my only food.

15. Look, they both depart; he in a more northerly direction, she closer to the midday.

16. You say: We cannot really see why they would find themselves in this region. Concerning him, judging by his statements, he seems to have grounded reasoning.

17. My dear friends! This you should be able to see at first glance. How is it with the love of those who do certain things in which he or she find that they are good, but then especially for the sake of the reward following immediately or in the future? Is it not self-love? For who does the good and right thing out of any measure of self-interest, likes himself too much and does everything to take care of himself as well as possible. Such it was with her only to gain heaven, that she gave her sustenance and things, like someone buying something with his earthly things. Yet they have not even a faint idea of true love for Christ, which should always be highly unselfish! Her hunger for reward needs, therefore, to be completely eradicated here, and she needs to be compelled to search God for Himself and long for Him. Only then will it be possible for her to come closer to the true love and compassion of the Master. Likewise, does he need to consider himself to be destroyed before he will be able to receive a higher mercy?

18. You should therefore never consider anyone completely lost, but know that for many, according to your reckoning of time, a hundred, a thousand and another thousand years can pass before he will be able to receive a higher mercy.

19. For you to experience even more closely the variety of reasons why many people come here, we will move on. Only when we will encounter whole companies, you will receive greater light and then you will see with what countless kinds of foolishness people in the current living world of 'better humanity' on earth are infused with and that they perform good deeds mostly out of personal interest. We leave it at that for today.

CHAPTER 31

Resort of darkness.  There is wailing and gnashing of teeth

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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).

6. 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!).

7. 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:

8. 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!)

9. 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)

10. Where is the righteous God for whom you have done so many noble deeds? For it is indeed written in the gospel: what you have done unto the poor, you have done unto Me and you will be richly rewarded in heaven for it. Furthermore, is written: with the measure, you measure, will be measured unto you in abundance. Well, honored listeners, you have done it all; you have supported thousands of the poor and were always particularly righteous regarding measure and weight.

11. But where is now the treasure in heaven and where the richly returned measure of all charitable deeds which you have done as true Christians? (Another: Yes, where is it all? Sounds)

12. Here we have it: The heavenly treasure is this darkness and the highly-lauded reward which would have been showered upon us in the heavens, consists of the scarce moss which is eaten on earth by the Eland in stooping fashion, yet we must satisfy ourselves with it as the highly lauded heavenly reward.

13. How often have we upon earth, at various occasions, stroke up the 'Te Deum laudamus' [composition by Antoine Charpenter (1690)] and the priests have loudly called out: There in the radiating kingdom of the heavens, you will once strike up the great and eternal 'Te Deum laudamus'. Honored listeners, allow me to ask a question at this point and it goes as follows:

14. How is it now with you in this beautiful heavenly realm and with this so highly lauded 'Te Deum laudamus'? You pull up your shoulders; truly, I would not only want to protest with my shoulders alone but with my whole body, if I did not have to fear that my tottering speaker's podium would let me fall from my high position. I think, without wanting to violate anyone's possibly good opinion, that our voices would barely be able to produce a bearable sound to sing this exalted song, due to this exceptionally fatty food; now, another weighty question is presenting itself in this brightly shining heaven, namely:

15. Does some or the other God truly exist? And the 'sit together with Abraham and Isaac at a heavenly table, laden with heavenly foods', does not seem to be the norm here! If I had been on earth right now, I would be able to praise myself that I would be able to present one of the most watertight exegeses about such promising scriptural texts. I would present 'Abraham and Isaac' to be darkness and sand and the well-provided table as Icelandic moss, a truly worthy food for reindeer and land! To anyone wanting to tell us that we are doing better than these miserable animals in the ice-covered north, I would immediately surrender my tottering podium. I do think though that we, to understand this, only must feel our stomachs to find out how this difficult-to-digest food is still fermenting like dry straw. If we would also just have a look at this brightly shining sand, then the proof has been given for our Eland and reindeer status.

16. The good savior of the world Christ probably did not quite know what the heavenly kingdom about which He preached, looked like, for if He knew, He would not have let Himself be nailed to the cross for it. If His praised Father God have let Him see, just like us, after the crucifixion, what we see, then this truly honorable Man would stand truly surprised when He saw the by Him introduced holy communion represented by this pretty, mossy plain. To see this, we should probably not exert less effort than the pearl harvesters, to see the pearls on the bottom of the sea. That this is so, do not need any more proof. But now, dear listeners, I am presenting you yet another important question and this goes as follows:

17. We are here, this is how it is, like a stick standing in water; but for how long do we have to stay in this sober kingdom? Will it be well with our existence? Or shall we have the most blissful privilege to wander about here forever in this blessing-flooded fields? Look, this is an exceptionally important question, but exactly this important question calls out for someone to answer her. Honored listeners, concerning this you can be assured that you would get an answer from a stone, rather than me. Yet, I do think that at this exceptional illumination of our great scene, someone can barely bring something into 'daylight', for to bring something into bright light, light is needed and for light, sun is needed.

18. To bring something properly into the light here means nothing other than to declare himself before others as a fool. It is also true that the great learned of the earth will find here much time to think. Happy are they if they would bring along much material, for with these three elements: darkness, sand, and moss, they will soon be done. Microscopes and other instruments of investigation they can leave on earth, for they would be able to see with the bare eye a scanty mossy field on this sandy surface. Also for the astronomers is very poor provision made. The learned and well-read librarians will be utterly bored, for here they will find nothing. Also, the virtuoso and artists will do bad business here, for they will literally not bite in the grass, but in the moss! Here I understand the idiom: 'to bite in the grass' for the first time fully and see that it had a much older origin than many authors and historians ever would have dreamt. This idiom must have its origin from the primordial Egyptian sages, who would have known of the glorious fate waiting upon the mortals here.

19. Many honored listeners, that the same fate is awaiting living people upon earth than what is ours now, I do not doubt; I am also of the opinion that the honest Moses and very honest Christ have, in this respect of their law-giving, tread upon a very wavering and senseless road. Should they, and especially Moses with his wondrous staff, instead have hit the earth and said: Sun, become dark, and we have for our foolishness enough starlight and you, earth, should become a sandy desert and nothing but scarce Icelandic moss will grow, then would all the strict law of thunder and lightning be left behind. But under this circumstances, sins should automatically become something rarer than diamonds in Greenland, Spitsbergen or Nova Zembla [Novya Zemlya]. I would first like to see who would be able to rob or steal here and who would still be able to have lust with this fatty food and our charming, skeleton-like looks. I would also pay a liar here with gold if I would have any; and would anyone be able to commit murder here? It would be far more difficult for us with all our treasures and wealth to get behind this than would the discovery of planets and other suns, for astronomers with their optical instruments. In short, we can do and talk as much as we want to, I am convinced that we will not improve our fate one bit! I have already undertaken journeys here, farther than that of Christopher Columbus, and have crossed this sea of sand and darkness in all directions, but the fortune has not yet befallen me to call out: Land, land! but only: Night, moss and sand! Therefore, I will close my address with the following opinion:

20. Among all people who ever tread upon the earth, I hold Christ for the most glorious. He abolished the extensive law of Moses which had a strong tyrannical character in a certain sense and taught in the place of it, the only law which preaches neighborly love. Because under this law, man can look at it as you will, intelligent beings in no matter what circumstance can live the happiest lives, I am pro the notion that also we here, for the sake of the good, stay true to this law, keep in mind Christ as the true, honorable Man and then, under these circumstances, be as content as possible with our truly dire fate. I think that we will be able to make our fate as tolerable as possible for as long as it would take.

21. Yet, I do ask you, esteemed listeners, to not regard my wish without consideration to be a set law, for as I have said, my closing words should only be taken as a well-meant wish. If we should act increasingly more socially, I think that we would exactly through this, with combined power, endure our fate much more easily than when everyone would do only for himself. I will from my side, always be willing, as far as it is within my abilities, to support you intensively with my words. With this wish and assurance, I close my speech.” (General loud approval from all sides)

22. As you see the speaker descends his tottering speaker's podium with great caution and is entertained very amiably by the whole company. Many are shaking his hand, saying: It is always good to stay in the company of a man whose heart sits in the right place. Therefore, are we very happy to have found you, dear and loving friend, and we want to follow you in everything, whatever happens.

23. Look now, how it becomes lighter above the company and how the speaker and the whole company is surprised about it and how the speaker is making himself heard for one more time, saying: Yes, yes, as I am of the mind: if the very true Christ with His humane teaching would not bring us any light, then we would forever stay guests of the night!

24. Look, it again becomes considerably lighter and looks backward, how two messengers sent by the Master from the morning-side are rushing closer to bring much more light among the company. We will, therefore, stay a while longer to see what will happen next.

CHAPTER 32

Birth out of the darkness.   In the first grade of light of life

1. 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:

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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!

10. The more you will take hold of the Master with love and the humbler you would be towards Him and all your brothers, the more you will carry the true heaven inside of yourselves. Therefore, join us and follow us!

11. Look how the whole company rejoice and follow these two messengers.

12. You ask where they are going to take the company to. Turn around and look, there, already far behind us is the already known, opened high wall; do you not see it yet? Does it not look like the opening of the mother's womb at the birth of a child?

13. You say: Indeed, like with a stroke of lightning, we now recognize the wondrous correspondence. But when the company has passed through this cleft, where would it rightfully go? What happens to a child shortly after birth? You say: It is wrapped in soft cloth and laid into a crib; it still finds itself in very much restricted life circumstances. You indeed saw, when we approached this wall from the other side from the morning, many valleys to the left and to the right? Look, these are the cloths and the crib. These people are settled in these valleys. It then fares with them just like you have come to know in the beginning in some of these valleys to the left or to the right.

14. Just like a newborn child cannot become a man from today to tomorrow, a newborn spirit also, especially in the kingdom of the spirits, grows only gradually. Now you know in what region you find yourselves. Therefore, it will also not surprise you that you will find among the many moving around here not many higher teachers, for it would be for them just as useless as when someone on earth would want to educate a child still finding himself in the mother's womb.

15. You do know when the time has arrived to educate a child. Therefore, do these messengers also not come here as teachers, but can be considered as truly spiritual 'midwives'! Now that we know this, we can move on a bit, where a very different new scene will present itself to us. With this, enough for today!

CHAPTER 33

About spiritual appearances

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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 [gambling] table though, no one could care less whether his play-opponent would lose home and hearth in the game.

10. Now you say: But best friend, these are obviously bad people. How do they justly end up here; are they not lost then? I tell you: You are judging too strictly; Can you not discern between violent thieves and the so-called opportunistic thieves! Look, our company consists of these. Through their position on earth, they have somehow gained through official channels the political rights to act like this, and they are convinced that they have acted completely according to the rules of their trade.

11. But here in the kingdom of spirits, man is never judged for his actions if he did it with a feeling of righteousness, which did not violate his conscience and this was the case with these people. For them, nothing is complete reality, neither the good, nor the bad, but everything is in a certain sense only a political, clever comedy. For this reason, are they here, for all the vain and the false to be destroyed. When this is achieved, even if it takes much time, they are being reborn from this environment and then justly are brought to the valleys to the left and the right, where we came to know the Stoics.

CHAPTER 34

Mutual influence of married couples upon each other

1. 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.

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

3. 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.

4. 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”.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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!

9. 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.

10. After this example, we return to the women. The voice of a man gains a powerful manly sound already in his youth years; that of a woman retains the sound of a child. Look, as the woman retains this sound, she also retains to a certain extent the nature of a child in her. Because of this ability, she also possesses the childish power which, as was said, is not seldom, greater than the will-power of such a great landlord.

11. Because of this power of the woman, she can have an influence on the man from the roots up. If she would see that she cannot achieve anything by the usual means of 'female politics', then the woman reverts to her well-known apparently weak childishness, with which she is mostly able to conquer the powerful man.

12. I think that this example will make everything even more clear, that you can easily understand why there are also female beings in this company. You should also know that the woman stays with the man in the spiritual realm if he has not completely rid himself of the burdensome things of the world.

13. Many men would have progressed earlier, yes, much, much earlier to spiritual purity, if his ever the same more sensual wife would not have hindered him. Therefore, would our company regarding the men, have been much better off if no women were among them.

14. As often as one or the other man has a good intention and his heart is inclined to a better way, his wife knows how to prevent him by means of her lust for power and shows him another way. In other words: A man having such a wife has it much worse in the spiritual realm than on earth. Even if he seeks to separate himself from her, she knows how to move him again with her pleading and various childish pretending to stay with her and make him promise to her in any possible way to never leave her.

15. Yes, it is even often the case that men with a good heart would come to this resort with wives who have made themselves completely ready for hell. Such women are the most dangerous and the most stubborn, for their heart is attached to what belongs to hell, but also against their man, because of different selfish reasons and lust for power.

16. Because her attitude, in fact, pulls him to hell and the better man do not have the necessary power to loosen himself from her and subject himself to the apparent weakness of his wife, she gradually pulls him over the boundaries of this region and over the, to you already familiar, stream with her; as you would say, most innocently into hell. It then would cost the most powerful angel the utmost amount of patience and greatest effort to free such a man from the hands of his hellish wife. According to you time reckoning, can such a process often last hundreds of years. And look, also in this company are a few such wives.

17. You are indeed saying: But could the Master not intercede and draw a mighty line over the bill of such women. There is something to say for such an intervention if someone is not initiated into the higher ways of the Godly order. But who knows it will very well know that something like this would, with the eye on the preservation of the spirit, be as good as impossible.

18. You need to know that a man's love is his life and this the life he carries within him. But how does it happen that a man let himself be conquered by a woman? In that, he took her too much into his love. A man must take counsel with himself and put his love for his wife and the love for the Master onto a very sensitive scale.; he needs to weigh both these loves with meticulous fearfulness and take a good look, which one weighs the most. He needs to investigate himself which loss would be more bearable to him: the loss of his beloved wife was also all benefits of this relationship would be lost, or the love of the Master.

19. But this may not, as is said, stay with a superficial comment, where someone would, for instance, say: I would offer unto the love of the Master not one, but ten women. No, this question of life needs to be answered with full conviction.

20. Would we consider a situation where the Master would take the wife of a man who alleged that he loves the Master ten times more than his wife, through the death of the body?

21. If the man would then be able to say in himself with all earnestness and full conviction: Master, I thank you for doing this to me, for I indeed know that, due to my love for You, everything You do, is the best. When unto such a man, the love of the Master would be more than a reward for the loss of his wife, then is the love of the Master in him truly greater than for his wife.

22. Should he become sorrowful because of the act of the Master, and he says: Master, truly, I love You so much; why have You afflicted me with so much sorrow and grief? Truly, you can believe it, such a man loves his wife more than the Master!

23. If such a man would survive his wife for many years, would forget her along the way and would have turned himself completely to the Master, he still has not completely banned such a love from his heart. For should his wife return after ten years, he would be as if enchanted and take her back with the greatest of love, especially if she would come back to him spiritually rejuvenated.

24. You again ask: How then is it possible, if such a widower have completely devoted himself to the Master? But I ask you: Was this devotion voluntary, or necessary? Would he have done it if the Master would not have taken his wife from him? With the Master, only the free will and the consequent complete self-denial counts.

25. This man grieves the loss of his wife. He turns to the Master to find the necessary comfort, consolation and full healing of his broken heart.

26. What does the Master then mean to him? Was He truly the central love of the heart of such a man, or was He only a consolation, a covering for the pain and thus also the healing plaster for it? Now can you certainly say nothing other than that the Master only was second, namely medicine, covering and plaster. But who can say that a love out of thankfulness is the fundamental love of the heart?

27. Is this love not comparable to the love one feels towards a benefactor who made one happy and the love for the fortune that befalls him? I think that there is a great distinction to be made between these two kinds of love, for the love for the benefactor is only a consequence of the fundamental love in which lives received bliss and is as such no fundamental, but a subjective love.

28. What does she represent regarding the Master, since man indeed expect one's greatest joy from the Master alone? If considered like this, everything else should be unto him of no and null worth and thus eternally vestigial. He should be able to honestly say in himself: If only I have the Master, I ask neither for heaven nor for an earth, even less for a wife.

29. Out of this you can easily understand why I have specifically focused your attention on how intensively a man should investigate his love for the Master and that for his wife, for the Master Himself says: Who loves his father, his mother, his wife, his brother and his children more than Me, is not worthy of Me!

30. Now you again ask: Is such a man then lost because of his subjective love for the Master? Certainly not, but he cannot come to the Master before he properly said goodbye to the actual ground of his love forever and have made his subjective love, his main love.

31. What troubles this often causes him in the spiritual realm, we have seen in part with this company. We will have a more proper and intensive look at this point at the following scene. Then you will see how often such an apparently completely quenched, wrongly married love again ignites when such couples meet again in the spiritual realm. We will, therefore, let this company continue their way unhindered, and we will go a bit further.

CHAPTER 35

A married couple in the hereafter

1. 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.

2. 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:

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Tell me, therefore, can God unequivocally expect that people and nations, who did not live in that same region, and especially not in the same time as Him, to unconditionally accept that He was the one Who started the teaching? Can God, if He exists and is just, blame them if they cannot do it? Cannot the people revolt against God, if He would perhaps exist and say: How would you want to harvest if You did not sow? How could you judge us, being an unjust God? Would you want to judge righteously, then judge those who saw You and to whom You have preached. But leave us alone, for we have never seen You and could never convince ourselves of Your existence. The word which was delivered to us and would have come from You is impossible for us to judge, for it could just as well have been invented as it could have been true and probably more invented than true. If we have lived upon earth, we only saw the old nature; yet, no trace of You. We came into this world, being pure children of the powers of nature. People and teachers have taught us knowledge. Our whole lives through there were not a trace of You. Why would You now want to execute judgment over us, while You never wanted to give us any proof of Your existence and character?

11. Look, dear husband, this is as clear as the sun on a bright afternoon upon the earth. You do not see it yet because you have been here for only a short while yet. When you will have been here for as long as I have been, then it would become clear to you, even in this dense darkness. As proof of my love and faithfulness I also say that you can call upon your so-called God-Christ here at the side of your above all beloved wife for as long and as powerfully as you want to; yet I guarantee upon my love and faithfulness that you will, after years of calling, come to the clear insight that I, your always faithful, loving wife, see clearer with my natural mind than you do with your so-called godly knowledge.

12. An old adage says about the Bible: Oh Bible, oh Bible, you are to man an evil! And look, that adage is right. Would people upon earth have the courage to destroy that old Jewish nonsense root and all and put in its place pure human logic, the world would have progressed a hundred years into the future regarding her culture. Yet, for some reason, this old nonsense still has to be preserved, by which the most honorable and just people's hands get bound unto the finer arts. What is the result? Just think with your otherwise good mind! Where does one find the most abominable, bad and poor people? Certainly, nowhere else than exactly there where the Bible and the new Christian teaching is predominant. Go to Rome, go to Spain, go to England and you will find my words confirmed.

13. People depend upon God and become lazy while waiting for His help! Yet, the help does not come, with the natural consequence that many people impoverish and even if they do not all become bad, they do finally become a burden unto the zealous and newer people. Man proclaims everywhere, saying: God is endlessly good, highly loving and exceptionally merciful; yet, He would rather let every beggar starve if they would not be taken care of by his zealous fellow man.

14. Look, dear spouse: it is easy for the lazy spirituals to preach to honest, diligent and therefore well-to-do people about an endlessly good and merciful God. But if we would exclude these people, then we soon shall see to what sullen end such sermons will come to. Would these black and white screamers have known how it is with life here in the hereafter, they would probably preach differently, or would instead take up the offering. There could possibly exist a God which could guide as a primordial power the whole universe, but a God as is taught by the Jewish Bible, certainly do not exist.

15. He says: Oh, beloved wife, you are on a dreadfully wrong track, for I did read [in the writings] 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.

16. She says: So, would you be able to do such a thing to me, your faithful, eternally beloved wife? I tell you, you would not be able, even if you would be damned to hell! I would not want to leave you in the fire and you would want to leave me because of my wise words? You are free to give a wise exegesis of your opinion to me, but it should not be any nonsense, for I love you too much to let you go on the wrong track. Rather, follow me, I want to bring you to a place better than here, where you would accept in a greater company, how it is here with people.

17. He says: My dear wife, I do not want to leave you, for I like you way too much, therefore I will follow you wherever you would take me, for I can see that you are still very honest in your heart, despite your ignorance regarding true religion. You still are my good wife against whom I still have nothing to object, except for that you cannot share my insights. If you would then know about a place in the kingdom of darkness, take me there, then we will see what can be done there. Look, she takes his arm and leads him away. But we will follow this interesting pair to be witnesses of the success of this relationship. She's off and we follow them.

CHAPTER 36

The couple and the lying spirit

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

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

9. 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.

10. The manly figure says: Highly esteemed lady, it pleases me greatly that the special fortune has befallen me to again call you one of us, for with your mind and your exceptionally amiable demeanor, you are greatly honoring our company and indeed gives us the most beautiful ornament. Well, my dear lady, would you have anything on your tender heart, it would be the greatest bliss if you would entrust such a sweet wish of your heart to me.

11. She says: My highly appreciated and above all very much honored friend, you see, this man here to my side, is my tenderly beloved earthly spouse. He has acted in every way upon earth exceptionally just, good and profitable, that I can say in all earnest that our marriage truly was very happy. For what can a woman ask more in her marriage, than to have a husband which fulfills all the desires of the female heart? In this regard, I would, with exception of a few trifle things, have no objection.

12. But now comes an important issue about which we never could reach consent and because of which there often was discord between the two of us. I will explain to you the reason for this discord as well as a woman can, and you, honored friend, would certainly be so good to whisper a few words to my husband which would completely heal him.

13. The figure says: I implore you, my very much esteemed lady, you are much too good! I give you the assurance that it would be a great honor and bliss if I could say to myself that I could have served such a loving lady with my little person. Therefore, I ask you to entrust the issue which you bear on your heart to me. She says: Oh, my very much appreciated friend, you are much too good and too modest and exactly this is what inspires so much trust in me, that I will hold nothing back; be thus so good to me to listen to me.

14. See, regarding this fatal issue I can candidly say that my otherwise good and loveable man is a Bible and thus also a Christ-fanatic. The reason though, why he had thrown himself into the arms of this laughable sect, is because he grew up poor. Therefore, he was ingrained from the crib, as it usually is the case with the poor classes, this old beggar's philosophy. But how difficult it becomes over time to get this nonsense, which was nursed in with mother's milk and thus became his own flesh out, you most honored friend, would know even more than I. With this beggar's philosophy have my yet much-appreciated husband also ended up here in this kingdom where the primordial powers of nature rules, as you already have explained to us most kindly. But it does not get through to him! He still is attached to his Christ and even wants to part himself from me to search for this probably nowhere-to-be-found Christ. Now my learned and much-honored friend, I have briefly presented my problem and I, therefore, ask you if you would have mercy on my, in this respect poor, man of mine.

15. The figure says: Oh, if it is nothing else, we will here, in the kingdom of the naked truth, find each other quickly and easily. Now the figure turns to the husband, offers him the hand and say: Best friend, is this what your lovely spouse has just bemoaned before me, truly your earnest?

16. The man says: Esteemed friend, I must honestly admit that I truly do not believe that we will, however beloved and dear my spouse is to me, can find consensus on this subject. For no matter how things will fare, I am solidly resolute to cling to my faith in Christ forever! I am also absolutely convinced that this Name has often given me much consolation and still is my infallible, happy and leading star. Have I ever gone onto a wrong track, it was solely because I did not hold on to Christ with steadfastness. When I then again turned myself toward Christ, I was often helped again as if magic!

17. You as a thinking and wise man will, therefore, see for yourself that it would be very unreasonable of me to remove myself far from such a benefactor, especially now that I need Him the most, as it appears to me. Therefore, esteemed friend, do not exert any effort for my sake, for I assure you openly that you will achieve nothing with me. I've been long enough the foolish slave of the charm of my wife. After her death, I learned in Christ my Master to endure it and I hope that it will not influence me here, especially because the marriage with my former wife was severed because of the death of her body. Should she follow me, then she will always stay valuable and beloved. But I will never give up Christ for her sake, even if they would drag me with a mighty force into the middle of some of the other hell! If she is content with this that I can be with her unhindered with my Christ, then I do not want to sever the old ties of love with her, but if it is not, then I have just spoken my last words in her presence.

18. The figure says to the man. Best friend, I have listened patiently to you from beginning to end and I can only say with all earnest about your words, that I deplore it sorely. For you to know with whom you are dealing (here the figure is taking refuge in a lie), I tell you that I am the great teacher Melanchton, about whom you certainly must have heard about on earth! The man says: Oh yes, but what do you want to say with that? The figure says: Esteemed friend, nothing but that I would know better what Christ is than would you, for I have worked till the last hour of my existence with exceptional zeal in the so-called Christian vineyard and I would certainly even have died, if necessary, for the sake of the Christ. I have not only purified the Roman, but also the more pure teaching of Luther of all vestigial burdens; I lived literally according to the word of this teaching and what was the result? This I do not need, esteemed friend, to explain to you in words, for one glance at my whole being would show you the result of my life according to the so-called purest, abbreviated content of Christianity. I do not need to tell you more. Let it then be according to the old “experyetia docet” [no substitute for experience], then I am convinced of it that we will, if everything shall go well, meet one another again after one hundred years exactly like we are now standing over against each other. You, my friend, is still a completely new arrival here and do not know how one lives in the kingdom of the central primordial powers. When you would have been chased around and hungered by this eternal night for decades, then would more solid and practical insights certainly bereave you of all worldly folly and find more room in you than now.

19. The man says to the figure: Most esteemed friend, if you are in possession of so much well-founded knowledge on this terrain, let me hear it. I am not averted to listening to you, but will nevertheless stay with my conviction if you could not convince me completely.

20. The figure says: Good, my friend, first I want to draw your attention to the fruit of Christianity on earth. The Romans were a great people as long as they remained in their Godly logical teaching. All their work was great and full of wise meaning. Their principles of justice still are the basis of all state and national judicial laws. But when Christianity sneaked in, death sneaked in together with it into the great Roman people. Now, in the place where once lived the greatest and most heroic nation, lazy, indolent priests, a lot of miserable rabble and a great number of thieves and robbers lay watching along the roads with rosaries in the hand, where no pedestrian has an assurance of his life anymore. See, this is the fruit out of the garden of Christianity! Take a journey through beautiful Spain and look at this nation out of old and then look at it again in the Christian middle ages; it would not escape your eye how, through pure Christian blessing, thousands upon thousands have bled and yet more thousands upon thousands have burnt to ashes upon flaming stakes, breathed their last breath in doubt! Look at the touching import of Christianity under Carl the Great, how he had by this blessing, chased thousand and again thousands by the cutting edge of the sword! Journey from there to America; look up their history and you will see countless, most pitiable and sorrowful examples of the Christian blessings which happened there! Go from there to my time and look at the blessed atrocities of the thirty-year border war. You can scrutinize the ancient history of all peoples and you will be able to show me similar gruesome scenes, then I oblige myself to carry you in my arms forever.

21. I do not want to focus your attention on the multifarious blessings of Christianity of other times but would only like to let you see the conditions of other current peoples who do not yet know Christianity, like the almost eternally peaceful Chinese and other significant nations in Asia and on the not yet discovered islands. You indeed must be completely blind if you could not yet, at first glance, see the difference between Christianity and the true wisdom of the older, more experienced people. Yet I tell you, that all these great, harmful deficiencies of Christianity or even more of the new Jewry could be made good if one would say: these historical facts are indeed all true, but Christ have never taught them that and therefore He could impossibly be blamed for all the horror which the spreading of His teaching has brought with it, for His teaching was, in fact, pure and especially humane. Best friend, this is seemingly very plausible and because of that was I also during my whole life upon earth a zealous defender of Christianity. Only here, in this teaching, have I seen the true poison for the nations in it and this is the clear reference to laziness and indolence. Man, having an inborn inclination towards laziness, finds in this teaching the best defense for this inclination, for it is clearly taught to him to do nothing other than to search after a certain spiritual kingdom, where the roasted birds would fly into his opened mouth. You see, various sages do not need much time to become convinced that nothing would come of these roasted birds. They, therefore, reach out to other means, namely, the trusty old sword, leave the Christianized people in their blindness and then serve him roasted birds with the sword in the hand. Friend, think about it as you like, you will, regarding Christianity, impossibly reach another conclusion, despite all other higher, spiritual experiences one gains here in a purified condition as in my case after the passing of many centuries. Worthy friend, I am done now and you can do what you want. Be still assured of my high esteem and my friendship; it will be my pleasure if we would meet again after a few centuries. Look, the others depart and move on with the whole company and our couple is left behind alone. The effect of this 'neat speech' and the exceptionally humane instruction, we will experience next time. Thus, enough for today.

CHAPTER 37

Weakness of the husband.   The wife going to hell.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Because there is no faith in the Master to be found here, and your honorable company has spoken with just as much denial about Him as you, I believe they are finding themselves here for the very same reason as we do. If the great love and mercy of Christ would not help us all, I am convinced that all eternities, filled with melancholic truths, would barely be able to help us.

11. In addition, if you had found something better with your alleged truth, then I want to, as I said, follow you there to show you that I also love you and will not force any of my principles upon you like you have forced your so-called truths upon me.

12. The wife says: You can talk as much as you like, I am right once and for all. I cannot give you the assurance that I have already found something better, but I am nevertheless of the opinion that, if you would follow me, we would in not such a long time, find a place where there will be abundant light. For look, here to our right I have once, according to my inner feeling, walked for a long time all through, where I came to a broad river. To the other side of the river, I came upon a mighty mountain and behind the mountain arise a light as of the light of early morning. If one would be able to cross the river, one would, according to my conviction, find a lighter environment than this.

13. The man says: Well, I will follow you; lead me to it. We will also follow them, for you need to see the unraveling of it!

CHAPTER 38

In the first degree of hell

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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 red glow 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 red glow in the distance behind the mountains. Pay attention and watch the ground, for, in just a few steps, we will reach the riverbank.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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?

9. 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?

10. The man says: Very respectable friend, I have only arrived here in the deep night a few days ago, but my wife has been here already for about six years. She knew nothing of these light domains; I also knew nothing, but only feel a great yearning towards light, so much so that nothing else remains for me than to let me, being a most inexperienced person, be led here by my more experienced wife. You would therefore not, my respectable friend, regard it as a transgression? If anyone has acted wrongly in this, then it could obviously only have been my wife.

11. The stranger says: And you dare acknowledge this here is a man? Truly, you do not seem to be something significant, for men who need the leading of their women is in our view on the same level than apes. Then the stranger turns to the woman and says to her: Has it really been you, my most amiable, lovely lady? She says: Oh, respectable friend, I indeed must acknowledge to my shame that he, my otherwise truly loving husband, would probably prefer to moss and dry grass in the thickest darkness out of pure dumb and insignificant love for the to you well-known Jewish philosopher, than to walk the way of the light as it was suggested not only by me but also by the exceptionally wise, to you well-known scholar, who calls himself Melanchthon.

12. The stranger says: O very estimable, loveable lady, I truly have sincere compassion with you, but on the other hand, I also admire your strength, inherent power with which you are so untiringly busy to bring such an awkward man in the right way. Most loving, most worthy lady, do not blame me if I would, in this shining, increasingly brighter time, jump out of my skin of annoyance about that old Christian-Judean philosophy. Yes, it seems to me even more dumb and stupid than when one would resolve to stay true to terribly old-fashioned dress, while the whole world around him have long ago seen the benefits of the new clothing and have accepted it unconditionally.

13. Now the stranger turns to the husband, and say to him: Is this indeed true, what your truly wise wife has said about you?

14. Look, the man is a bit disheveled and does not immediately know what to answer this man who seems very learned to him. He does not want to let go of Christ and it seems not advisable to say something about Him in the presence of this man who seems to be so mighty and learned.

15. But the learned stranger again turns himself to him and say: Yes, my best friend, if this is so with you, then you get the food without cost. Do you understand me? The man says: No, I do not know what you mean. The stranger says: It does not surprise me anymore. Regarding the ‘without payment’, it was already the custom with the old wise Romans and Greeks that one should always give free food to the crazy and the foolish. Even in this time, men give to men like you the honorable diploma of foolishness without cost, by which you could easily be taken up in a well-provided madhouse. This should not be unknown to you, for, as far as I know, you were indeed on top of management and state affairs. Do you understand what I mean?

16. The man says: Alas, I must understand it, but I am also at liberty to pose a question to you. Who gives you, with all your erudition, the right to treat me so crassly while I, in fact, approached you with particular courtesy, like on earth an utterly haughty schoolmaster would do to a dumb, miserable student? The stranger says: Listen, best friend, that I have treated you only somewhat gruffly was only a special discernment from my side, which you can assign to your sound wife. I would have treated such a dumb Christian simpleton otherwise differently and such a treatment would probably have eternally bereaved you of your longing after a bright region. But when you shall be open to reason, take your wife’s side and give me the assurance that you repent of your old worldly stupidity which caused you to come into this darkness, then I will bring you into - take note, only because of your wife - the neighborhood of that shining place, to a place of instruction where you, if you are not slow of understanding, come to a better insight.

17. The man says dumbfounded and humbly: Best, esteemed friend, if this is so, then I ask you to take me there. On earth, I have as a student always belonged among the best and I will certainly not be the worst in your school.

18. The stranger says: Good, I will accept you, but think to consider that you must leave the school immediately in the case of bad results and be sent back to your original night. But should you be an outstanding student, then your deserved acknowledgment would not be withheld from you. Yet, regarding your old Christian-Judean philosophy, I do recommend beforehand that you would not speak of it much there in the high school, for it will result in you being chased out right away. Such is an adverse sign, for fanatics are not suitable for the study of serious, higher sciences; only sober and controlled thinking can be applied there.

19. The wife now sinks to her knees before the erudite and thank him anew with the most flattering words for such an exceptional favor. The erudite answers her: Yes, yes, my esteemed, beloved lady, you are one in a thousand, yes millions of inhabitants of this nightly region to which he owes this. Follow me, therefore!

20. Look, the wife grabs her husband’s arm, go after the erudite and says to him while walking: Well, what do you say now? I indeed realize now that relationships here functions in a much different manner than you would have dreamt of on earth. The man says: Dear wife, this is so, but if these relationships are good and useful, only the future will show. Said among us, this whole debacle still seems rather suspicious to me; but time will tell what will become of this.

21. In a text of the honorable apostle Paul is written: Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. This I will do also here, but deep in my heart, I do think that there is not much or nothing good to be expected of this strange trial. The increasing intensifying light which seems to me as if one is still approaching a burning city seems to me to be nothing good. But as said, it is all subject to proof. Look a bit further down the river; there, more to the background, it almost seems to become glowing and it seems as if the waves are dissolving in a glowing haze. It seems as if we are approaching a sea of fire which upsets this river.

22. The wife says: Yes, my dear husband, here is the source where to get to know the working powers in the depths of their being and it indeed gives a bit greater light as when a miserable student on earth must study a Roman writer by poor lamp-light.

23. Look, here is a boat moored at the riverbank. The boatman says: If you would follow me towards your greatest fortune, step into the boat with which we shall sail downstream to the exalted regions of the light.

24. The wife steps very quickly into the boat, but the man hesitantly scratches himself behind the ears and do not know what he should do. But not to stay behind alone, and again for the sake of decency, he steps into the boat. The boat gets untied, and we see how it shoots downstream like an arrow from a bow. But now we will also quickly go, for we are as quick as the vehicle and can be even faster if needs be.

25. We have reached the boat. Look how the water down there is glowing with increasing intensity till there where the river flows into a broad cleft in the mountain. Let us therefore quickly gain advantage till beyond the mountain and wait for our boat at the outflow of the river. Do not be afraid, for also here, we are untouchable; all the horrors you will see there, will not influence us.

26. Look, we are there already. You are having a great fright because you see the river as a broad, glowing waterfall, thundering down into a deep, endless sea of flames and you ask what it means.

27. I tell you: this is the first mentioned ‘high school’ where our poor husband would get to know the fundamental working of the primordial powers, or better said: This is the first degree of hell!

28. Now look at the river again; our boat is just coming closer. The man stands upright, wringing his hands, wanting to jump from the boat, but the wife throws her arms around him, holds onto him and look, the boat with the four of them plunges over the edge, right into the high school!

29. You ask: do we also need to go down there? I indeed told you beforehand that you need to see the whole progression until the end, otherwise you would only know half of the bondage of such double love of a heart. Do not be afraid of these flames, for it is only but a manifestation of the hellish. At arrival, it will already look much different again. Follow me then without fear.

CHAPTER 39

Where are heaven and hell located!

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. You should not picture heaven and hell as being materially and spatially removed from one another, but only as a condition. Heaven and hell can find each other spatially next to each other, as a heavenly good person can walk right next to a hellish bad one and even sit next to him on the same bench. The one has perfect heaven in himself and the other, perfect hell. As proof of this, I can immediately let you see my own sphere which can find himself here just as well in heaven as in hell, for you see it all plainly in my sphere and you only have to take a step out of my sphere and you will find yourselves again at the same place from where you have originally entered my sphere. Since you now know this, we can leave this mountain again and look at everything in another light.

11. Now, take notice, the light has changed. How do you see the mountains now? You are astonished that you are instantaneously seeing, instead of the mountain, freely moving groups, as well as various dwellings, looking partly like filthy pubs and partly like old, black knightly castles and see, all this in a reddish, dusky light.

12. But look, up front, not far from us, stands an old knightly castle, seemingly built against the rocky mountain. We will go there. Look, here we are; the gate is open. We are invisible here, therefore we will enter this castle, then we shall see how things are there. Well, there is the first hall. On the walls hang all kinds of instruments of murder and torture. In the background on a throne, sits the so-called lord of the castle. He confers with his brothers in arms, to decide on their strategy for robbing the goods and treasures of the owner of the similar, neighboring castle. Listen how he instructs them to overcome the targeted castle in complete silence, to kill them all with sables and everyone living there mercilessly and take hold of the treasures. Those who would stubbornly resist should be taken captive and as was often the case before already, would this captive be subjected to the most painful tortures. Well, the decision has been made and the council is disbanded. Everyone grab their weapons and runs outside. Because we have nothing more to do here, we shall run after them.

13. Look, there in front of us, not far from here, is the mentioned castle. It is being surrounded and look, the terrible slaughter begins. These evil beings are fighting fervently against each other, resulting in the inhabitants of the second castle to be cut to pieces. Keep on watching; our familiar quartet have just been chained and brought closer by the brothers in arms of our first castle owner. Let us join them and listen to the dialogue. Listen, the man says to the woman: Oh, you miserable snake, now I have seen through you! My anxious suspicion has always whispered to me that you are permeated by a bad spirit! This is now the high school and your merciful light which you have cunningly portrayed to me as a so-called highly experienced spiritual being with hypocrisy and lying. This chained, evil professor of this high school is now bound together with us in this abhorring captivity, in which we can be sure to expect the most horrible fate.

14. The wife says: How can you now think this about me? Who can do anything about unforeseen bad luck? I have but only meant it well with you. The man says: Be silent, you miserable snake! I have only you to thank that I am obviously finding myself in hell. Between me and you shall now every bond be severed forever. And You, my Jesus, on whom I always have called upon, help me from this terrible captivity. I want rather to, if it is Your most holy will, to wander around in that dark resort for thousands of years to make penance for my sins than to stay for one moment longer in this resort of horrors, which seems to be eternally cut off from Your compassion and mercy! Oh Jesus, help me! Oh Jesus, save me!

15. Look, two disguised ones are quickly approaching this caravan. Look, they are there already. They remove their disguise and as you see are they two judging angels of the Master. Each of them has a flaming sword in the hand. One swings his sword over the conquered castle, by which the torn apart and cut apart beings have been put together again, and they begin to mourn the suffered injustice. The other angel swings with his sword over the first notorious castle at which occasion it burst into flames. Burning and howling figures throw themselves outside from the openings, frames, and doors and curse these two judging angels.

16. Keep on looking: an angel strikes with his flaming sword among our quartet. The chain is broken. The man sinks down before the two angels and pleads them for merciful salvation. One angel grabs him and pulls him with him, but the wife also takes hold of him and scream for her husband for compassion and mercy and not to leave her. Look for how long she let herself be dragged along by the angelic spirit! Look now, both angels lift him up; one carries the man, while the woman lets herself be taken along and do not let go of the man. Only now, already on a great height, the other angel loosens the wife from her husband with much effort, striking at her with his sword. She suddenly falls back into her element, weeping; and the man is brought to the border of the kingdom of the children, where the environment still seems but meager and dark.

17. You have now seen such a rescue and that still one of the best. There are indeed countless more horrible and stubborn cases, of which you would barely be able to bear the scene, even expressed only in words. We shall therefore now go back to our initial place and from there pass over into the region of the midday. This, therefore, is enough for today.

CHAPTER 40

Where do the heathen find themselves in the hereafter!

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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!

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. That is why this place is very suitable for our man. The boggy soil is necessary to quench his selfish fire and the rather thick darkness will be good for his eyes, which was used to the thick darkness. A sudden bright light would be just as fatal to him than the strong rays of the sun for the eyes of a newborn child. Above all is his attitude in complete correspondence with the calculation of interest on the capital, which he has given as a Christian to the poor out of faith and love. To this, you should not include the known bequeathing he made before his passing over from the earth into the spirit realm, but only the alms which he gave, being a believing Christian, in secret due to his own feeling of compassion to the poor. That capital cannot attain the total of more than two hundred guilders in silver coins. When you would compare the capital, which he has given to the poor out of love for the Master, to the great amount which he has bequeathed to his children, you will find the mathematical correct comparison between his self-love and his love for the Master.

11. Such an exaggerated care for the children are self-love, for who would love the Master more than himself or his children, would give unto the Master proportionally more than to himself or his children. You ask: Why then? Because the Master would have given him the insight by that, where he would understand as clear as the sun, that the Master can and shall take much better care for his children than he would be able to take care of himself and his children through self-love. The Master has not said: What you have done unto your own children, you have done unto Me, but He only thought about the poor, the naked, the hungry, the thirsty and the incarcerated, when He said: What you have done unto them, you have done unto Me.

12. He also did not say: If you take up your own children in My Name, then you have taken up Me, but He said at an occasion where many poor people have brought their even poorer children to Him, only this: Truly, who would take up such a poor child in My Name, have taken up Me.

13. The Master also said: Who loves his father, his mother, his wife, his brother and his children more than Me, is not worthy of Me.

14. Here, many would say: This surely must have only a deep spiritual meaning. Oh yes, I say, the deepest possible, because this is a completely pure, direct word of God. But I ask: Why do you not seek the gold on the surface of the earth, but you dig deep shafts and elaborate mining tunnels! You ask: How should we understand this! I tell you: Nothing easier than this: who want to reach gold, also need to pay attention to the surface of the earth, for he needs to break through it and ultimately also through the outer crust of the earth, to reach the deeply deposited layers of gold. As such one need to fully consider the literal meaning of God’s Word before you will be able to understand the spiritual, and that in its correct and purposed meaning.

15. 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.

16. As you can see, is this here a completely righteous purification school unto eternal life, based on the great love and mercy.

17. 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.

18. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. But now, again look at our man still standing at the door, how simple he looks. A white robe bound together around his waist with a simple belt is all he took of this heavenly glory upon himself. He could indeed have donned himself very magnificently, but he has no desire for it. His only happiness is only in making his brothers and sisters as happy as he can. Whatever he gets through the love and mercy of the Master, he will immediately talk to his friends and if this causes them great joy, he is moved to tears himself. He is most happy if he could give away everything!

11. But you ask: Why then does he not join the company? You can easily deduct that from his facial expression. He is filled with great thoughts and is pondering what he can do next for his company to prepare even more blessing for them. Look, he has found something. I have already told you that he does not see us, but he has a suspicion about us. Therefore, he is turning ever more inward to try and see us and try to get something from us for the benefit of his company. He is also looking out whether he can see an already new arrival who still have no lodging, to promptly go to meet him and take him into his house.

12. As long as we stay in the house, he will not see us, but when we would go outside, then he shall see us. Then you will also witness his unmentionable joy and find in him a particularly loving and hospitable man. Let us, therefore, go outside.

13. Look, he sees us, falls on his knees before us and say: Oh, my unknown high friends of the Master, I have felt your presence, but could not see you. Yet, since the mercy have now allowed me to see you, I ask you for the sake of the endless love of the almighty Master, to not leave me again so soon. Please come with me into my dwelling, let me give my small company much more joy through your presence, for you would certainly know something more about the Master, our loving Father. Tell us, for a word from Him is more worth to us than all glories we possess here in unmentionable abundance.

14. I tell him: Gemaniel, get up, we shall go with you into your home. Look, he stands up, stretches out his arms to us and humbly shows us, smiling friendly and lovingly, for us to go before him. Come with me then, for now, we will be able to meet the whole company.

15. Look how the whole company is standing up and joyfully coming to meet us. Listen how Gemaniel is going to introduce us to the company. He says: Do you see, my dearly beloved brothers and sisters, I have indeed told you that the good Master and Father certainly would soon send to us great fortune through one of His exalted friends, that we have a word from the Father! Look, the only good Father have granted us our dearest wish, for even before we were aware of it, have these exalted friends entered our house.

16. Our unblessed eyes could not see them initially because of the great glory, but the great mercy of the Master have blessed our eyes, by which we now see them in our midst, to our great blessing. We do not yet know who they are, but we do understand that they are great, intimate friends of the Master and this alone is already our greatest blessing!

17. Look, he turns to us and humbly asks for a word from the Father, while saying: Exalted friends of the Master, I very well know that a word from the Father, even spoken from your mouth, would be too holy for us to worthily receive; but our love for Him, the endlessly good Father, gives us no rest; therefore, we ask you humbly for it!

18. Now then I will give you a word from the Father. Listen: Listen, best Gemaliel and you, people of his household, brothers, and sisters, thus speaks the Master: “Let the little children come to me, for to them belongs the kingdom of heaven!” Look how all of them are radiantly sinking down and Gemaliel says, sighing with love: Yes, yes, this is truly the word and voice of the Father; who is not small and equal to little children, will not enter the kingdom of heaven! Oh, dear brothers and sisters, let this most holy words become the greatest decoration and greatest wealth of our home.

19. We, therefore, want to be small forever and always, to maybe once get to partake in the great mercy that the Master would visit our region, that we can go to Him; and should His exalted friends want to prevent us, that He would say in great mercy also to us: “Let the little children come to me, for to them belongs the kingdom of heaven!”

20. You have now seen how it is here. You secretly ask me: These spirits are obviously already in heaven; how can they speak as if they never have seen the Master! But I tell you: They do see the Master indeed continuously just like you see the sun from the earth; this means as much as: the light of God is above their heads, which denotes the sphere of the wisdom.

21. Since the humanity of the Master depicts the most pure love, a love that should be of much different character than theirs here, they are not yet capable to see the humanity of the Master, therefore they are here where they can be perfected even more. It does happen, even though not often, that the Master would visit this region sometimes in person, or by means of a higher angelic spirit. The smallest ones of this region are then accepted and taken to the morning.

22. We shall now leave this house with blessing and move on through the region; we are going over the high mountains which you see there in the distance. There we will get to know another region of the midday. Therefore, enough for today.

CHAPTER 42

The difference between journeys in the hereafter

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. You are surprised that we are not seeing a valley from the beautiful high mountain, from where we previously have seen the familiar little house. Instead, we see the most splendid, vast and outstretched fertile fields, on an even height from where we stand, as a plain before us. But you are even more surprised because of the river, which you have seen before, flowing with exceptional beauty and width, freely and openly, uphill against the mountain.

11. You say: But best friend, this is obviously very unnatural! I say: As long as you see such a phenomenon with worldly eyes, you are right, but if you see it spiritually, it is very much different and just as natural as it is natural on any celestial body for the water to flow downwards from above.

12. You ask: How so, then! We cannot really understand it. I do know that, but by this time you should have been already so far that you should have been able to understand this phenomenon yourselves. Tell me: Why do water flow downwards on celestial bodies! You say: by its own weight. What determines the water’s weight! You say: The power of attraction of the center of gravity of the earth or another celestial body. Well said! If the central point of gravity of the earth initiates the mass and thus the downward flow of water, what in this spiritual realm do you know which could be such a central point of gravity which would pull everything to him! Is it not the Master, who lives in the highest of heights! Look, this is the reason why the upward flow of the water against the mountains, are here just as natural as it is natural for water to flow downwards on celestial bodies. Now you understand this; hopefully, you will also understand now what this mountain, as well as this vast stretch of platonic height behind it, means.

13. You indeed say: We do have a vague suspicion, but we cannot say anything about it yet. But I do tell you that such words sound truly very peculiar, coming from you, for what do you have staircases in a multi-storey house for? You smile, saying: This is obvious, indeed. How would you be able to get from a lower to a higher storey? One would have to tediously pull yourself up with a rope. Good, because you are arranging a house on earth so comfortably, do you not think that the great Builder Master would perhaps have any lesser insights than you?

14. Have you never heard how old Jacob have once dreamt about a ladder, along which angelic spirits ascended and descended, while the Master would be at the top of the ladder! Look, here we have a step of exactly this heavenly ladder. Because every step of this ladder means significantly more than a step of a staircase in your homes, we see the first step countless, wondrous and glorious things, which we shall have a closer look at with the next opportunity; therefore, again enough for today.

CHAPTER 43

Peculiar environment and dwelling of blessed spirits

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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?

9. 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.

10. Could I then not ask you: Why is the initial form not visible anymore, after such a chemical analysis! You say: best friend, this is indeed very natural, for because of the analysis of the object, it unavoidably had to lose its initial, crude outer form. I say: Good, but what was the cause or reason that this part, which have portrayed a specific form beforehand, had to be dissolved like this! You are pulling up your shoulders and is at a loss for a working answer. Well, then I will give you an answer on this. The reason was the spirit which wanted to penetrate deeper into the innermost of the matter. He has walked the ways and has penetrated to the inner parts of the matter, but in the process, he completely has let go of the outer form.

11. Now look, what is done upon earth more mechanically to satisfy the needs of the spirit, is manifested in the spirit in the most beautiful, harmonious reality. For if you would enter something you first have seen from the outside, it depicts your entrance into the inner meaning and thus also into the complete analysis and dissolving of it; in other words, you pierce through to the nature of what you view. Thus, we here do not have to see the outer form as seen from outside anymore, but instead, we see the deeper meaning which spiritually corresponds with the outer form.

12. To let you see it even clearer, I will declare to you the correspondence between what you have seen from the outside and what you are now seeing inside. The “stream” or river shows the continuous and always visible spiritual life on him, consisting of the love and the wisdom, or what is identical, from the truth of the faith and the good of the love. The “hill” which we initially saw on the right-hand bank of the river, means the upward striving of the wisdom; the soft glow of the hill shows that this wisdom has come forth from the love. The “ring wall” enclosing the river means that the wisdom is still moving itself within a determined form. That the wall is going all around the hill, means that the wisdom form is softened by love; with leaves growing from the wall is depicted that this circle of wisdom is full of life and this life is also love. The wall is translucent in places, showing the unification of love and wisdom. The “bows” above the ring wall shows the order of the wisdom when united with love. The “gutter” running on top of the bows depicts an open receptacle vessel, which is a way of the light. The moving, glowing “balls” in this gutter, means the true-life coming forth from the wisdom when united with love.

13. The “temple” upon the hill, with pillars resembling poplars and having a hovering, golden roof on top, adorned with a shining ball, says that such wisdom is made alive by the love towards the Master; that is the why of the living pillars. The “golden, hovering roof” is the wealth of the Godly mercy coming forth from such a love; the “shining ball” on top of the roof, means the living, high wisdom in Godly affairs. Look, this is the enigmatic form.

14. When we enter there, it disappears, but instead, you see the demonstrated, exalted reality which are expressed in such a sphere, in which the wisdom is united with the love for the Master. All this palaces, buildings and cities are in their purpose, correspondences of the love and altogether splendid form of the radiating wisdom.

15. So, we have made these important things our own again, and we can proceed through this region and observe the glories thereof. We will not again enter such a building, for we would see many other things; there would again be much to declare and discuss and there shall never come an end to it. When you shall once be pure spirits yourselves and find yourselves in a complete spiritual condition, you will forever get to see the endless variety and wondrous multiplicity. We are now merely investigating the principles of how the spiritual develops. You can now feast your eyes and have a good look at the great, wondrous glories to your heart’s content, then next time, we shall summarize everything you have seen and then proceed. With this then, enough for today.

CHAPTER 44

Beauty and splendor of the midday.   Teaching about the nature of love and wisdom

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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!

7. 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?

8. 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!

9. 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.

10. Yes, beloved friends, just as it is with you now, seeing all these glories, it has been with many. The only difference is that you come along here freely. But spirits coming here still have many trials laying in wait for them where they must deny and prove themselves if they would want to cross this river to go to the hill country with the plain houses.

11. You ask: who in fact are these blessed spirits inhabiting this palace and where do they come from! They are spirits of partly poor and partly rich families on earth, whom have come here in course of time from the already familiar evening. A part of them are here due to their faith in the Master, having lived strictly ordered and righteous lives upon earth. Deeper into the midday you shall also encounter heathen spirits, who faithfully lived their lives upon earth according to their faith and have willingly accepted the faith unto the Master.

12. In the palace, here before us are living those spirits who have been faithful Christians from their beginning, out of the sect of the Calvinists. Three of them was wealthy while on earth; they are here not the richest, but they belong to the serving classes. Both those you have seen at the gate and still see there were extremely poor upon earth. He was a mountain herder in Switzerland and she also was a very unattractive cow minder. The pious herder has in course of time came to know the good, Christian characteristics of the girl and he has taken her according to his knowledge as wife. The couple have lived their whole life with utmost chastity. They do have a few children, which were strictly educated according to their Christian conviction and these principles have been faithfully maintained in the following five generations. You are therefore witnessing here, something that happens very seldom, namely a blessed family of blood relations consisting of parents, children, and grandchildren. Both of those you saw, are the first parents of this whole family. The three subjects in this company, are indeed also relations of this family, but they were people who have, in their fortunate earthly conditions, worked themselves up and by that, became prominent and rich. Because of such earthly riches and honor, they have had many privileges and luxury upon earth, which remained foreign to the other, poor family members. Therefore, they now must experience lack of many things here, of which the other family members can enjoy to the full. Despite that are they here, you could say, still unspeakably happy, because they have used their worldly prominence and riches mostly for good causes.

13. We want, however, since we are here, to pay a short visit to those standing before the gate of the garden, for you to see what spiritual attitude they are. Let us go to them at once. Look, they have already seen us and are rushing towards us; but as you can see, they suddenly stopped. What could be the reason! They do suspect something sensual in you, therefore they want to wait till we come to them. Look, we are with them and the truly beautiful man receives us with the following words: Be greeted with the purity of the word of the Master! May I, the most insignificant servant of this house, ask you which pure and good intentions have brought you hence!

14. Because you are not able to speak here, I need to speak on your behalf. Dear friend, your question is justified and from the tone of your voice sound the pure wisdom of heaven, but look, one thing is lacking and that is the love! You have ordered your household very well and your whole, beautiful possession comes forth from your pure wisdom; but look, a grain of sand in the kingdom of the love of the Master surpasses all these glories multiple times! Look, those who are with me are disciples in the love and I am from the highest love for them, a leader in the Name of the Master. Recognize and understand us from this viewpoint. See, purity of morals is a beautiful attribute and the righteous is a friend of the Master, but when a sinner does repentance out of love for the Master, it is to Him better than ninety-nine people like you, who never had the need for repentance due to perfect purity of morals.

15. And you, pure wife of this pure man, your life conduct truly was as that of the purest star and a never profaned chastity was your way to this glorious kingdom! But in the eternal morning are living many women who have often sinned against their flesh. But these sinners have recognized their guilt, have humbled themselves in repentance before the Master and then ignited into great love for Him, being moved by it to want nothing but receive so much mercy from Him that He would take pity on them and would take them to Him after their death on the only grounds that they may eternally indulge themselves in His infinite mercy! Now look, they now live blissfully in the eternal morning in the constant company of the Master! Truly, everything here is glorious and exceptionally radiant, but the smallest hut of straw in the Master’s kingdom has infinitely more worth than all this splendor!

16. Look now, how this couple says in unity with their hands on their hearts: Oh, mighty friends of the Master, you have told us much with few words. We have had the suspicion now for a very long time that there should be something more than here, but we did not know the way, for our wisdom could accomplish the most exalted here. Now we know that this was only allowed for us to recognize the love from it. Tell us what to do to become worthy of only a drop of the true, real love.

17. Now I tell them: Dear friend and lady friend, have you never heard what the Master have told the rich youth: Give everything away and follow Me! And, have you not read in the Book in which the Master have made an eternally valid comparison when a righteous Pharisee have related his deeds before the Master, completely according to the law of Moses, while at the same time, at the back of the temple, have stood a poor sinner, beating himself on the breast in repentance, saying: Oh Master, I am not worthy to lift up my eyes to Your Holy Place! Who of these two has been justified by the Master? You say: the humble sinner. Look, here you can easily find the actual way to the Master. Do so yourselves too, for the Word of the Master is completely valid in the heavens and that for all eternities!

18. Look, the couple is getting up and walks back, weeping. We see how all are assembling before the palace, listen attentively to the first parents. Look how they are all taking off their adornments and replace their beautiful clothes for very poor garments and how the first parents are handing over all these glories to the three most poor ones. You can see how the great company of hundreds of people are rushing outside, over to us.

19. You ask: But best Friend, what shall we do with them! But I tell you: Do not worry about it; you shall have a truly heavenly scene to witness, at which, as you are wont to say, hear and see shall almost perish! But we will only see this next time. With this, enough for today.

CHAPTER 45

The corresponding meaning of eating and drinking of the heavenly spirits.  The heavenly marriage

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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.

7. 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’.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. In the first congregation, that of Adam when the people still had much more contact with heaven, the deed of intercourse was conducted in a much more spiritual than sensual manner. At the time of such a deed would both spouses be permeated by the Spirit of God, would fall asleep physically, would soon wake from this natural sleep again and then would become one in spirit and thereby enter a state of heavenly enchantment. Only in this condition would intercourse be performed, they would soon be separated again and would be put back physically into the natural sphere.

11. For this reason, was this deed in that time called “one-sleep”, “co-sleep” or “sleeping together”. Because the people have become more and more sensual through various worldly pleasures, they began to sleep with women in their earthly sphere purely physically, do not experience the spiritual sleep, or rather the physical sleep anymore for the spirit to be free. The resulting fruit, therefore, became equal to the deed. You indeed say yourselves: Ex trunco non fit Mercurius [saying: a tree stump is immobile]. How then is it possible to beget fruit of the spirit along with a purely physical way? I believe if you would consider this important, old historical, completely true description, you would portray yourself this purely heavenly act of intercourse much more correctly and honorable than would be the case otherwise, while you should necessarily regard this act to be unholy in its current, purely sensual form, for which sake the laws of Moses have been given about unchastity.

12. Now you know this. But what does “action for the sake of necessary needs” mean, which corresponds with the natural? What does the natural mean? Nothing other than the getting rid of the outer form, after it, being the carrier of life-giving substances, have delivered it. Look, life can impossibly manifest itself differently than with her corresponding form. This form corresponds with all outer, membranous stripping of these things. All these fruits you see here, are also nothing other than pure, living correspondences, coming forth from the love and wisdom of the Master, but the way it appears here, being outer forms of true faith and active love, cannot be portrayed without an outer form, just as little as a thought can be manifested without words.

13. Therefore, if you hear words, you are eating spiritual fruits. These words as a form are quickly spiritually digested by you, but the meaning of the words stays in you. This corresponds exactly with the spiritual deeds for the sake of the necessary needs.

14. Forms are the carriers of the living. Since the living is purely godly and therefore also the innermost and most purely spiritual, it cannot be taken up completely by any outer spirit. The Master, therefore, creates corresponding outer forms, which are then the carriers of His life. Would we like to take the life into ourselves, we should take it in together with the form. Only inside of us will the form acting as the life carrier, be destroyed; the life then is freed and soon unites itself with the resembling Godly life in us, strengthens it and keeps it alive. The form itself, as a destroyed house, are then eliminated from our life according to order of the omnipotence.

15. This is called ‘excrement’ on earth, but here it is called the division. With you it is coarse matter, here it is also spiritual, therefore it would immediately dissolve and would completely disappear. Since you now know all this, we shall return to our big, wondrously beautiful company.

16. Look, our former first parents are already standing here with us. He comes to me, saying: Mighty resident of the eternal morning and certainly very much beloved friend of the Master, see, we have now left everything and have given away all our possessions and our treasures according to your advice. You can see we are many and yet there is not one among us who is of different mind than me. We now stand here, humbly before you; You can tell us, you who are here in the Name of the Master, what you want and what is the will of the Master, then we will do it!

17. Now I tell them: Beloved brothers and sisters, do not regret that you have chosen the love for the Master, but follow us in His Name! Look, over there, to the other side of the river where you see the seemingly more uninhabitable hills, with on them evenly distributed small and unattractive houses, there is where I shall take you and give unto each of you his own dwelling. You will surely not live as pleasantly and glamorously as here in the beautiful palace, but you shall only gain from it, for in the eternal morning, in continuous presence of the Master, one do not live in such palaces, but in very simple, small huts. One is also not as splendidly dressed as here, but the true children of the Master walks about almost completely naked. No one should be unemployed there, for the Master knows how to keep his children diligently busy.

18. Here, you have “blessed rest” and pleasantly and peacefully enjoy of everything you possessed in rich abundance; there is no such provision. You must work there diligently to deserve your daily bread.

19. Here, you do not need to ask or thank for anything, for the Master gives you everything freely from Himself in the greatest abundance, but there, you always shall have to ask and thank the Master and the Father.

20. Here, everyone could eat and drink at his own table as an independent lord according to his liking. There, no one has his own table, but everyone must go and sit at the Father’s table.

21. Here, you can eat what you like, but there is the rule: eat what is put before you on the table.

22. If you are content with this transaction, then follow me! Yet, your will shall thereby not be violated in the least.

23. Listen, now the whole company says: Oh, great and beloved friend of the Master, even if we would possess a thousand of these palaces, we would still leave them if only we could be close to the dwelling of our great, Holy Father, being only the lowest and most insignificant servants! All the prerequisites you have explained to us, are too great and too exalted for us. If only we would be found worthy to receive breadcrumbs from the table of the Master, we would be unspeakably happier than here, for we must, amidst all this magnificent splendor, do without exactly that which causes the angels the highest bliss, namely to see the Master, which is most of all an excellent, holy Father unto all of those who lives with Him in the morning.

24. We are aware of the Master also here in the holy sun of mercy above us, but we cannot see the Father among His children!

25. Take us wherever you want to and give us a place according to your heavenly insight. We will follow you!

26. Now, I say: Then follow me across this river to the hill country. Do not be deterred by the waves which were not able to carry you before, because your foundational principle was not the actual “foundation of life”, namely the love unto the Master. But now have this love become your foundation and the water of this river shall carry you, for it indeed represents your foundation. Look how they all now follow us and how the water is carrying them like a sturdy surface!

27. Thus, we shall go together to the hill country over there and settle our company there. Then we shall see what else will happen there and how happy the company shall be there.

CHAPTER 46

In the hill country of the eternal morning.   A little love-test.   How do you depict the Master for yourselves!

1. 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.

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Yes, my dear friends, it does not seem to be as splendid here as there in the palaces. You now ask, saying: Best friend, would it indeed be a higher degree of blessedness than in the endless plain down there, abounding in countless glories and unspeakable beauty? I tell you: The degree of bliss here is higher; the less outer glory and splendor can be seen. It shall soon become clear to you. Look, here is our man, and we shall receive him immediately.

11. Listen, he says: Be welcome a thousand times, beloved brothers. I can see that you have brought along a considerable company. I know what they want here. I do tell you right away that it will still cost these good people a fair amount of effort and self-denial before they shall be accustomed to the higher life and even then, shall it cost them, even more, effort and considerable effort before they would have made the higher life completely their own. But you, my best brother, indeed know that all obstacles can be overcome with love and patience.

12. I shall therefore not neglect to do the necessary for the true, eternal, living care of these dear brothers and sisters.

13. Dear friends, we shall now enter my dwelling and take with us the first parents of this company to organize the necessary preparations with them, to bring them into the eternal order of love soon. Let us therefore go!

14. Look, our host beckons the couple, and they find themselves with great joy with us in his home. We are already in the room; take good notice of what is going to happen here.

15. Our host says to the couple: Dear friends, I welcome you from the depth of my heart; tell me frankly and freely what has moved you to leave your great glory to come here to these hills where is no beauty, splendor, riches or abundance, in search of your progression.

16. The man answers: Heavenly friend, I do not know you yet, do not know who you are in being, but because you are asking me from the depth of your being after the motivation behind our endeavor, I can tell you that my - and therefore all of us - only motivation is the Master.

17. The host says: It is the greatest joy of my heart to hear this from you. Yet, the Master has already given you an immeasurable great reward; would you still want more? I believe it should be enough when the Master has given you everything you can imagine in the depth of your heart and therefore I think that your endeavor is founded upon ingratitude.

18. The man says: Dear friend, it might look like this if evaluated superficially, but not according to our inner being. Look, what would you have done in my place, if you would possess glories which are a thousand times more beautiful to see than mine, but despite all the unspeakable glories, would never get to see the holy Giver? You would certainly want to leave it all, because of your great love for the Master, to possibly get closer to the Master.

19. The host says: Dear friends, I can see that very clearly and I also know why you have said that to me. But do you know if you would see the Master here, and when? Do you know for certain that this one of the regions where the Master certainly do appear in person?

20. The man says: Dear friend, I do not know this for sure, but I do know that the Master love the small more than the great, for He Himself had said: “Let the little children come to Me!” Therefore, I do not believe that I am on a wrong track as I am standing here before you after I have left all my splendor out of love for the Master and have searched out the simplicity and humility of these hills.

21. Our host says: Dear friend, you have answered well, I only think that your answer is out of place here, for the Master says this only to the world, since He clearly declares that all worldly greatness is an abomination to Him, and He says further: “Who on earth is the smallest, is the greatest before Me and in heaven. You are indeed not on earth anymore but in heaven. You were small on earth, yes, you were an inconspicuous shepherd in the Alps and therefore the Master has made you great in heaven. Do therefore ask yourself what you want.

22. The man says: Best friend, I do realize that you by far surpasses me in wisdom from the Master, but I also know that I have never seen the Master any other way than in the holy sun of mercy during my great blessedness.

23. The host says: What do you want more! Have you not read: “The Master, God Jehovah, lives in the inaccessible light”! Do you then want to come closer than what is possible to you!

24. The man says: Best friend, it is true, but the Master God Jehovah was upon earth also a human being, having taken up our nature and being a man, have ensured those who were His, that they would eternally live with Him. He even told the crucified criminal: “Even today, you shall be with Me in paradise!” Also, the apostle Paul rejoices himself to come to the Master. Therefore, I do believe that it must be possible somewhere in God’s heavens to meet the Father in Christ personally and blissfully look at Him with a heart overflowing with love.

25. The host says: Good because you believe this, you may stay here, for what the Master have said upon earth, are truly equally spoken before all heavens and because all heavens have been created by the word of the Master which was spoken upon earth. But now, my dear friend, something else.

26. Look, down there you have been a lord in your glamorous, great possession and your company were the same. Here you should serve and deserve your bread and food with the works of your own hands. As you see, I myself must work and till the ground, to harvest and provide my needs.

27. The soil is indeed very much blessed by the Master and yield more than hundredfold of fruit, but still need to diligently work it, otherwise, the Master would not bless it. Therefore, you shall have to plow here and shall have to cultivate the fields with various farming implements, you shall have to enter the fields with sickles to harvest the wheat, bind it in sheafs, bring it into the barns and winnow it. All this you must do being servants and not owners of some or the other piece of soil. Yes, you shall have to be very diligent, for one would not allow any of you to walk about idly!

28. Consider this well; if you would find it advisable, then stay here; for there is no shortage of work here, but mostly of workers. If these prerequisites do not suit you, you are welcome to return to your glories.

29. The man says: Oh, dear friend, do not worry about it. We’ve certainly gotten used to the lazy life but is not yet unaccustomed with the blessed work. For all we have done upon earth in self-interest, we would prefer a thousand times more to do here out of love for the Master as well as out of love for you, who certainly is an important friend of the Master!

30. The host says: Well, if that is so, then you may stay here. The man says: But dear friend, we are about a hundred men; how can all of us be taken into your modest little house? The host says: Dear friend, do not worry yourself about it! Have you never heard what the Master have said upon earth! Have He not said: “In the house of My Father are many dwellings! Look thereupon the hills, as far as your eye can see in the region of the morning; just see how many similar houses stand there. You shall all find a place there. You ask who’s houses all those are! I tell you: All these dwellings belong to only one owner; therefore, I shall settle you there and disperse the work among you. You ask whether I am a designated manager on behalf of the owner of these houses! Dear friends, if I would not have been such, how would I be able to speak to you like this! How would I have the right to bother you with other men if I would not be capable to justly and lovingly manage this according to my own pleasure?

31. You and your wife can live here in my house, but your beloved company shall I distribute in my closest vicinity. Go outside, therefore and tell them!

32. The couple goes outside and share the news with a friendly demeanor to the anxiously waiting company. Just look how the whole company is thankfully falling to their knees and thank the Master for being so merciful to them and have given accommodation to them all, where they would make themselves useful with joy.

33. Our host is going outside now, lay his hands upon them all and show their dwellings where they must settle in.

34. Look how the previous form of our company has changed at the laying on of hands. Their previous white color changes into a natural reddish color and their exceptionally subtle, tender beings have become sturdy. Look how they are looking happy, alive and content, while their countenances shows a secretive, wise earnestness.

35. They disperse and at every house which has been assigned to them, the owners are awaiting them with open arms.

36. The first parents and the host are entering again, presently asking Him: Dear friends, how do you imagine the Master; would you recognize Him if He would stand before you?

37. The man says: Oh, my friend, you who have received us so lovingly in the Name of the Master, this is a very difficult question to answer! For in our religion on earth we have never bothered with the human, visual external of the Master, but only with His word, thinking that the Master would show Himself immediately upon entering this world, and we would recognize Him by His voice and His words. Only now do I see that the true love unto the Master, besides His word, encompasses His being. This is not so easy since they never paid any attention to it and have not been taken up in Him. Would you, therefore, be so kind as to describe to us the stature of the Master.

38. The host says: Well since you lividly wish this from the bottom of your heart, I tell you: Look at Me, for the Master looks exactly like Me in His human stature.

39. The man says: Oh, dear friend, it is a great comfort and joy, and I am already exceedingly happy to see such a perfect image of the Master before me, but what bliss it would be to get to see the Master Himself!

40. The host says: Truly, your love for the Master waxed great; be then of great cheer, for see, I am the Master and you shall now live with Me forever!

41. Look how everything has suddenly changed. Nothing of the midday is to be seen anymore. The previous simplicity of the environment stayed and she is the only true, eternal, above all beautiful morning of the Master! It is for us not the time to stay here anymore, but according to the will of the Master, we should move on in the midday. Therefore, let us proceed!

CHAPTER 47

The “Roman Catholic” heaven.  In the most distant midday.

1. 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?

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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?

9. 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.

10. Direct your gazes a bit more to the mainland, then you shall soon see a great number of the well-known Roman Catholic churches and monasteries. There, not far from here on the plain, is a very stately church; we shall see what will happen inside of it. Do you hear the chiming of the bells? You say: Truly, best friend, it sounds exactly like we have often heard it upon earth. Now listen a bit more keenly; You shall even hear organs. You ask what in fact is to be done inside the church.

11. I tell you: We will be just in time for the first blessing. We are already at the entrance of the church and see the high altar where a great number of candles are burning. Look how the bishop takes hold of the silver monstrance casks and gives the blessing to the many attendants, just like on earth. Since we have received the blessing, we shall stay for the mass.

12. Look, the full ceremony proceeds exactly as upon earth and you see that the whole ceremony of the mass is ending with the usual performance of the organ and the second blessing just began. You ask: Best friend, which holy one is honored on this high altar? We cannot see what the statue depicts.

13. Let us go a bit closer; Look, it is very distinct and beautifully painted, ‘the holy trinity’. The only difference is that here in this testing heaven, no other image is allowed. Both the side altars depict on the right-hand side, the crucified Savior and on the left-hand side, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Nothing other may be on there. This is to not entice the arrival to some or the other idolatry, where they would pay homage to some other so-called ‘saint’, which should, according to their insights, belong only to God.

14. For this reason, are all the so-called ‘saints’, including the popes, kept far away from this region; if any popes would come here at some point, they are not allowed to be recognized as popes, but only as very modest priests. But you say: Best friend, how does it then go with the ‘three Godly persons’ sitting together on a glowing cloud, surrounded by all the saints and the angels, also on shining clouds, kneeling before them, seeing and worshipping God face to face?

15. Just wait until this ‘religion’ has played out, then we shall witness the so-called ascension to heaven of the spirits who attended this service. As you can hear, the priest is presently busy to proclaim the imminent ‘ascension’. Therefore, shall we leave the church to await these events.

CHAPTER 48

Procession of the so-called ascension.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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”.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Since we are experiencing all these fateful things together with the procession, we shall follow it from this last rosary until the end, by foot.

11. Look, the following height is already steep and it takes enormous effort to climb her. Our company have reached it after a long and exhausting climb. Just look how everyone immediately lies down on the small plateau; the bishop takes out a small psalm book, lays down the silver and gold cask at his side and begins to read the first psalm as drawn out as possible, for him and his company to get as much rest as possible.

12. The first psalm has been read and our bishop again picks up his silver and golden cask but tells the four carriers of heaven that they can let the little honorary heaven stay where it is since they are already rather close to the real heaven.

13. Everybody gets up after this instruction and immediately begin to climb the next height. You can see that they climb the height this time on all fours and our bishop, the carrier of the banner and the carrier of the cross, has it increasingly difficult. The bishop allows himself to be pulled up by some more experienced mountaineers; the carriers of the banner and the cross uses their heavenly banner sticks for climbing support.

14. The next height has been climbed with much effort and exertion. The next plateau is so small that our company can barely find a place to rest properly. After everyone found a place to lie down, the priest began to read the second psalm. Yet, as you can see, also he is beginning to feel rather frightened, for he sees in front of him yet another, even steeper height and when he looks down, he becomes really dizzy.

15. What should he do now! He gets battered with questions by his fellow mountain climbers; they also ask him where the staircase to heaven would be. The priest says: I think that this immense mountain terraces are the steps, showing all of you by experience exactly how purified one needs to be if one do not want to be burdened by this enormous heavenly steps. We will have to divide ourselves since it seems as if the room is getting less, and we would not be able to find enough resting room for all when we should have a time of praise unto the Master and the Godly trinity. Therefore, should the most fearless ones of you first. Have a rest up there until you see that we start to move here and begin to climb the next step immediately if there should be another one.

16. As you can see with your inner eye, about half of the company is getting up and climb the very steep height with hands and feet. Some reaches the top, but the weaker ones slide back. The priest asks those who reached the top, whether there is another height. They call back: Victory!! There is not another height; we stand on the edge of a vast plain. In the distance, we see the heavenly cloud covering and in the middle of it, a strong light. We cannot yet tell what it is.

17. Look, everybody is getting up and exerts all his powers to get to the top. The priest binds his silver and gold cask to his back and climbs upward on hands and feet as best he could.

18. Finally, and after much effort and exertion, everybody, fortunately, scaled the last height, praises the priest, saying: This is a clear proof that no one can gain heaven without such a spiritual leader. But the priest says: Yes, beloved children, this is true, because God has ordained it thus, but the honor is not mine, but God’s alone! For if I look at myself, I have brought you here in a certain sense through pious deceit, rather than with my insight. Since the Master have even admonished His apostles to be cunning, I am justified by it and the success of my leadership shows you that I indeed have led you reasonably and faithfully according to the teaching of our only saving church. Let us regain our known order and proceed to our eternal goal.

19. They begin their journey with revived strength over this vast plateau; see how quickly our procession is moving forward here. The heavenly clouds are coming closer fast, and we are already beneath this heavenly cover of clouds. There you see a high wall with a golden gate, which is indeed locked. The priest comes to the fore and say: Dear children, we have asked, and we receive; we have searched and have found; now it is time to knock. The carrier of the cross may knock first, three times. In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then the gate shall certainly be opened.

20. It happens exactly as the priest has predicted. Truly, at the third knock, the gate is opened and there appears Peter with the archangel Michael, they investigate our company and allow them without exception into heaven. Only the specific attributes of Peter and the archangel Michael is being omitted, to quench the too materialistic spark in them who are admitted to heaven.

21. You want to know whether this truly is Peter and the archangel Michael? I tell you: this is completely only an apparition brought about by angelic spirits in the Name of the Master. As such have this whole heaven originated and this is how it should be, for if it should be different, there would be no way to find an entrance with these spirits who have based themselves on things that are untrue.

22. Everyone shall, therefore, find the spiritual world and heaven the way he has portrayed it to himself according to his faith; the only exception is purgatory. This is not allowed by the Master, for too great damage would be incurred to these spirits if they should turn in such a miserable condition, instead of to the Master, with even more zeal to the saints, or would expect help from the Mass offerings upon earth. All these would completely kill the spirit in due time because the spirit would completely cease from all diligence, and he would only want to gain his salvation in the direct or indirect mercy of God; which would mean, in other words, nothing other than spiritual suicide!

23. You now ask: How so? This is, in fact, easy to understand! The life of the spirit consists solely of the grace of the love present in it and specifically with the corresponding activity.

24. What happens to someone who retreats from all activity? He finally becomes completely powerless and so weak that he can barely defend himself against a fly. If he then would fall into the greatest, inescapable misery because of his complete inactivity, experience on earth teaches that such a condition on earth mostly results in suicide. Also in the spiritual world, would spiritual suicide be the result, for if such suffering spirits would find no salvation despite their pleas to the saints, they would become faithless and despondent, resulting in the true spiritual death!

25. Why! Because spiritual despondency means a complete, violent separation from the Master. For this reason, would such a condition not be allowed, even in hell. When evil would become too active there, the Master would chastise the evil in a very sensitive way. Would the evil cease because of it, the chastisement and pain would also cease.

26. Regarding this (Catholic) heaven: it is no detriment to the spirit, but can be regarded to be a good, living school where the spirits for the first time would begin to recognize the true heaven. We shall see at the next occasion how this heaven and its activity functions, as thoroughly as possible. With this, enough for today.

CHAPTER 49

Seated at Abraham’s table in the view of the holy trinity

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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”.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. The actual reason for my question is this: Look, all honor and praise unto God! It is truly indescribably glorious to be here, the food and drink taste truly heavenly, but I must honestly admit to you that I am beginning to get bored because of this continuous monotony. That is why I asked you how long this banquet is going to last.

11. The table servant says: Well, best friend, have you not heard upon earth that this heavenly bliss would last unchangingly and forever? How can you then ask me for how long this banquet would still last? Look, such a banquet indeed lasts forever!

12. Our guest becomes fearful and says to the table servant: Yes, best friend, I do understand this, but I also have heard upon earth about eternally seeing God. I do indeed see there far in the background, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but nowhere anything of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

13. The servant says: My best friend, do you think that the Godly trinity would sit right before your nose? Look up, there above Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; you would immediately see God in His threefold being in the inaccessible light. You should often have heard upon earth that God lives in heaven, where all blessed ones see him face to face, that is, from the face of the Father to the face of the Holy Spirit, but the Godly trinity, in fact, lives in the inaccessible light! Well, best friend, could you want a more perfect heaven?

14. Our guest says: Oh, best friend, I tell you, not at all; I am completely content if only I could have been a servant like you, only to have a bit of movement. Or, if it would be allowed, to have a stroll around in this beautiful garden; this would enhance this heavenly bliss considerably, in my opinion!

15. The table servant says: Dear friend, what do I hear out of your mouth? It indeed seems as if you are discontent with what God has allocated to you in heaven. You talk about movement and wandering in this garden; Have you not always prayed: God, give them the eternal rest and the eternal life? Do you not have eternal rest and eternal peace here? What for do you want to move around here?

16. The guest becomes thoroughly embarrassed and finally says to the table servant. Dear friend, I do acknowledge that it is all correct and that the heavenly kingdom has come here to expression in true, literal sense and I also see that it cannot be different because of the eternally spoken truth. If I must think about having to sit here in this place forever, though - truly best friend, the cold chills run down my spine; then also do I have to honestly acknowledge, about the heavenly bliss, that I, having been a poor farmer, was considerably happier than I am here with the eternal prospect in heaven! Since I am now for once in heaven, everything is sacrificed to God! The best thing here is that one cannot sin.

17. The table servant says: I do indeed see that you are discontent with heaven. But what should I do? The heavenly order cannot be disturbed for your sake!

18. The guest says: Best friend, I have once heard upon earth and have seen in paintings that the blessed ones can see God uninterruptedly, kneeling upon clouds, but here is only a garden; where then are the clouds? The servant says: Dear friend, have a closer look at the ground, then you shall soon discover the loose underground. Do you think that this is an earthly kingdom? Just look, I shall loosen the ground a bit, then you can convince yourself immediately that we are all finding ourselves upon “heavenly clouds”.

19. Look, the servant moves the grass a little to one side and our guest sees to his great surprise that the ground does indeed consist of shining clouds. After he has properly convinced himself of it, he promptly asks the next question: Best friend, since the ground is so terribly loose here, is it possible for one to, in case of a slightly thoughtless, clumsy move, fall through? And if it is possible, whereto does he fall? There would be no purgatory beneath us?

20. The table servant says: Best friend, you do not need to fear such a thing, for you are in fact an exceptionally radiating spirit and this surface is just as sturdy for you as was the earthly kingdom for your body.

21. The guest continues: Best friend, allow me yet another question: Is this surface as solid everywhere as it is here at the table? The servant says: Friend, why do you ask questions about things that does not pertain to you? You can see that the surface is sturdy enough for eternities, here where you are enjoying your blessedness. You do not have to enter the vast garden; why would you worry yourself regarding its solidity? Yet, since you have asked me, I can tell you that the garden has the same solid ground, otherwise it would not be able to carry us when we constantly must collect of the abundant fruit for the eternal table to bring them here.

22. The guest is finally satisfied and the table servant wants to go, but just then, another thought comes to our guest. He, therefore, says also the following to our table servant: Best friend, since we have already exchanged so many thoughts, I would want to ask you one more thing, but only between me and you. What would happen to someone if he, because he had had enough of the extended sitting if he would get up and take a little stroll over the beautiful fields?

23. The table servant says: Nothing would happen, but you do indeed know that God do not like to see that a blessed spirit would be discontent with His ordinances. I cannot guarantee what could happen to you, but one thing is certain: if your place would be occupied by someone else, then you must sit down right at the end again. In fact, my friend, I see that you have not even once looked up to the trinity, while it was said that you would see God uninterruptedly.

24. The guest says: Best friend, it is all good and well, but look, my whole being yearns for more freedom and if possible, also some or the other kind of activity - for with God, I must tell you, I can bear it not one moment longer, let go of eternity!

25. Look, our guest now gets up and walks away as quickly as he can; and as you can see, many are following his lead. The table servants chase after them and when they would have caught up with them, we will also have caught up with them; then we shall see how this shall unfold. But now, enough for today.

CHAPTER 50

Untenability of this material apparition of heaven

1. 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.

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Judge for yourself regarding the despair in me and do with us what you will. I shall not be brought back to the table, even if you put in ever so much effort! I would rather wander about in this garden and when I’m hungry, I can get something to eat from the trees for myself; but as said: I’m not going back to the table!

11. I want to add that my memories of my active life upon earth is giving me greater pleasure than this whole heavenly table, with exception of course of the sighting of the Godly trinity. Some things can still be said about that, but this theme is too holy and we are not worthy to express ourselves verbally about it. Therefore, judge only this and act accordingly.

CHAPTER 51

The true trinity.   The sin against the Holy Spirit.

1. 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.

2. 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?

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

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

5. 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!

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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!

9. 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?

10. The guest says: Oh, best friend, believe me, I now see my enormous error and openly admit that we are literally finding ourselves here in a heaven of punishment, for I have come to this conclusion by your question. If the Lord has given us work to do out of pure mercy, to obtain heaven, then I do not see how His mercy, His infinite love, and goodness would cease in heaven.

11. Best friend, I can see on your face that you have something else on your mind. We therefore urgently implore you to not leave us in uncertainty anymore and tell us what the true will of God is. We want to do everything and subject us in everything, but do not bring us back to this literally speaking, long and exceptionally boring table; for truly, I would like to die and cease to exist if possible, than to feign myself to be a gluttonous polyp on the bottom of this immeasurable sea of light!

12. The table servant says: dear friend and brother, look, only now you are ripe and I can share the truth with all of you. Therefore, listen:

13. The heaven you are seeing here is nothing other but an apparition of your wrongful faith; the trinity you see depicts the pinnacle of your misconception.

14. How could you ever think that three gods could, in fact, be a God!! That each of these three gods would function in a different way and still be completely one in being and nature? Furthermore, how can you imagine yourselves an idle God, while He is in all eternity, the most active Being? Look, because of this have you imagined yourselves an eternally idle life, without considering that life is an energy, which God had breathed into His living creations out of His eternal energy.

15. Have the Lord not taught that He and the Father is completely one? Has He not said: “Who have seen Me, have seen the Father”! Have He also not said: “Do you believe that I and the Father is one and that the Father is in Me?” Look, you could have thought about that before, that the Master is only One and therefore also a person, but no “tri-god” as you have pictured Him for yourselves.

16. You indeed say: Best friend, you would know how our faith has been bound. We could not have known about anything other than what the church has taught us, on the one hand under much threatening of eternal damnation in hell and on the other hand with the still vague praises of heaven and to which they always added: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.

17. Oh, friend and brothers, I know it too well that you have been cheated and utterly deceived. Therefore, have the moment of salvation arrived, upon which you will get to know the real God and the real heaven.

18. You have read in the word of the Master with which external form He has compared the heavenly kingdom. If you would properly consider any of those forms, it should very quickly become clear to you that the Master never taught an idle, but a very active heaven in many ways.

19. Therefore, turn yourselves now therefore to the only Lord Jesus Christ, for He alone is God of heaven and earth. Turn to Him in your love, though; then you shall immediately find Him and out of Him very clearly see your true destination of eternal life.

20. This untrue tri-unity should perish inside of you, for you to know the true tri-unity, which is the LOVE, the WISDOM and the forthcoming POWER in the only Lord Jesus.

21. Do not think that a Godly triple personality is depicted with baptism, for what has happened there, was only an apparition, allowed by the Lord, to help the people recognize the full omnipotence and fullness of godliness in the one Lord. The wisdom of God, which comes forth as His eternal Word out of Love, has taken up flesh and is called the Son of God, saying as much as: the wisdom is the fruit of the love and comes forth out of it, as does light from the heat. The visible form of God’s spirit above the Son only says that the eternal, infinite power of God indeed does come just like the Wisdom out of the Love, but works through Wisdom, as does the heat of the sun in the radiated light, brings forth effects.

22. When you would understand all this, you would easily understand that, because the complete, infinite light of Wisdom was evident in the Master, He also had to possess the fullness of infinite Love, and likewise the infinite, Godly Power, flowing from them both.

23. John has indeed said: “In Christ lives the fullness of God” and: “In the beginning was God, and God was the Word and the Word was with God; the Word became flesh and have dwelled among us”. You indeed say that it is written: In the beginning was the Word, God was the Word, for the Word was with God and God was in the Word”. This has the same meaning, for God and Word is one and the same as Son and Father. Or when you say: Word and God, what again is the same as Son and Father, the one is not before the other, for Father and Son, or God and the Word, or Love and Wisdom are since eternity, fully one. Therefore, can you turn this text in John any way you like, it’s witness stays the same, namely that the Lord is One, as well as the Father, as Son, as Spirit, as Love, as Wisdom, as everything!

24. You ask how one should understand it when the Master says that sin against the Father and Son is forgivable, but “the sin against the Holy Spirit” is not. This is quite simple; whoever would wrestle against the Godly Love, would be taken by the Godly Love and be healed; who would wrestle against the Godly wisdom, would receive the same treatment. But tell me, if there would be a fool who would truly set himself against the infinite Godly Power and might, what could he expect other than that the Power of God would also take hold of him, but then would blow him away into infinity, from where he would have a hopelessly long return journey to possibly return and come closer again to God’s Love and Mercy.

25. Look, all this is done by one and the same Lord, who reveals Himself to every person, in accordance with the will of the person. Who wants to take it up against His power, he shall have a taste of His omnipotence in comparison to the weakness of a creature! But do not think that the Lord would condemn or destroy such a foolish contestant, for the Lord does everything out of His endless love, that no man should perish. Consider this in your hearts; then I shall come back and guide you to what you have found and recognized in yourselves.

CHAPTER 52

The true poverty of the spirit.   Danger of blind doubting.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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!

10. It certainly is better to be in this heaven having a clear cognition, than to get into a true farmer’s heaven according to the somewhat far-fetched opinion of our table servant. If this would not be the real heaven, we would not be able to do anything about it, since we were never taught anything different on earth. If the conduct here would be completely just, as we were taught upon earth that it certainly would be, I would want to know why we have been conned with a false heaven for a time. We have always believed in a true and real heaven, but not in a fake or apparent heaven. It would be truly infamous of us if we would suspect God of teasing us with this heaven. Let us therefore courageously proceed.

11. Do you now see how this point has, like a wood beetle, the initial forest of good insights; our skeptics have fallen back into their old deceptions. You do ask: yes, why have the table servant done this? I tell you: the servant has spoken correctly in a spiritual sense, but because the deceived, prejudiced skeptics have not lifted their microscopic minds over the boundaries of the point of doubt, through which they could have discovered the good associated connections.

12. You would have noticed that the servant has not fully quoted the text of the apostle Paul and have omitted the concept of “being”, “bodily”, or “material”. Look, this is the crucial link. This link is exactly what the company is missing, for such a link means the active love out of the pure love of the Lord.

13. Keep on looking; the complete gospel of John, depicting the inner, living word of love unto the Master, is bound together in a heavenly sense in this text which the servant has quoted and which is, regarding the Lord, the one, and only correct light.

14. But Paul lividly takes up the light into himself, which is according to John the love of the Master. This is the reason why Paul says: “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”. The text quoted by the servant can therefore impossibly be that of John and not of Paul because the whole company is still lacking the love unto the Master. We shall soon see the continuation of this important progression near the company.

CHAPTER 53

Surprises in the apparent heaven

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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!

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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!

10. Look, someone just pushed a finger against our speaker, pointing to the perpendicular crevice, drawing his attention to how a great piece has just sunk down. Our speaker shrinks back, now rather bewildered: Now what have I said, we shall certainly come to sit as if on horseback on this wall. Truly, if I would not have steadfastly believed that one cannot be thrown into hell once you got into heaven, then I would have alleged that this miserable heavenly life was prepared everything here for such a praiseworthy journey. I think that we should immediately go to the wall, for one cannot know how much space would be left after a second break. Once we would be on the wall, we can slide down the other side until we are outside of this fatal square, then we can try to reach the exit gate of this heaven, from where we can go back the already well-known, tedious way. May God give us so much mercy and luck that this wall would not fail us. I believe we would be able to come through this horrible situation all in one piece.

11. Look, after these words, everybody rushes towards the wall. They reached it, but it is too high to climb on. Our company now forms living ladders and conquers the wall.

12. They finally have worked themselves up, but just as the last man had been pulled up, the wall begins to bend over and our speaker says: Best friends, do not lose hope! All honor to God the Master; now we just have to see where we shall justly end up! To me, it’s all the same, for it is now clear that except the Godly trinity we still can see, that our respectable table servant would not show himself again and regardless of his promise to come back, he lets us sit here in the most dire heavenly trouble. And look, our leaning wall has broken down, and we are going with, God knows where to!

13. We shall follow and listen to our speaker along the way. His company seems hopeless; only our speaker refuses to lose hope. He consoles the sharers of his fate as well as possible, saying: dear brothers, do not sigh about it; the Master indeed wants only the very best for man. We do not know what this journey is good for. Maybe we are going to embark on a truly spiritual, exceptionally interesting heavenly journey, getting acquainted with the lower starry heaven and perhaps it would turn out that we would even end up in some strange, beautiful world. I only say: let the Master’s will prevail! We cannot die; it can only fare better with us than in the heaven above. It would indeed be rather terrible if we would keep on falling like this forever, but it cannot be assumed, for then would the still visible trinity in front of us, be only a spiritual, meteorological appearance. We already must be very deep down, for the whole image of the trinity is becoming really small. No, best friends, it may be as it is, but I am really concerned about where we would end up after this spiritual aerial journey.

14. Look, someone from the company draws the speaker’s attention to it that he sees mighty waters deep below. The speaker now also sees it and says: For such a surface, a wall would certainly not provide any protection of note, but could not care about a thing anymore, for in such circumstances I truly had enough of life! Let come what may, water or no water, everything is the same to me! Now look, the company reaches the water; their piece of wall transforms into a little boat, in which the whole company now find themselves unharmed. The wind begins to blow and the little boat speeds over the waves.

15. In the direction between the morning and the midday, as if pressing up from the water, emerges a beautiful, stretched out land and our speaker says to his company: I did tell you that we did not lose much in the previous heaven. All honor and thanks to God the Master, for this miraculous salvation! Even our fair table servant is forgiven all; but if I would encounter him somewhere again, I will still give him some lip! Look now, the little boat is coming closer to the land; but have a closer look, at the shore is standing our well-known table servant, waiting on the quick sailing company. Our speaker also recognizes him now, for he looks at the shore in astonishment. What shall happen next, we shall see next time.

CHAPTER 54

Rescue from the apparent heaven

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Look, there between morning and midday stands a great palace.   You should go there.   You shall find there everything you will need.

11. Our speaker says:   Oh, dear, heavenly, highly appreciated friend, would you not be so kind to guide us there?   The alleged table servant says:  this is not necessary, for you shall not lose the way, but I shall go before you at the speed of a thought, shall receive you there and introduce you.   Only there shall we have more light on some words of John and Paul; then we shall see who of us is the ablest on the terrain of the Word.   Do follow my advice and go there.   Amen!   Look, the alleged table servant has vanished suddenly and our rather flustered company get set on the indicated road.   We will follow them again and be witness to all the memorable things which still shall happen.

CHAPTER 55

First solid dwelling after the apparent heaven.  Incomprehensible tri-unity.  The Christ of the Gospel.

1. 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.

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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!

10. I fared in the same way not much better than with my love unto the trinity and for the most holy altar sacrament; for as often as I entered communion and had to ask my heart whether my heart is longing more after the sacrament or more after my wife and children, I had to admit to my shame that my love for my wife and children was much stronger than for the holy sacrament.   Likewise, could I never really manage to truly include the trinity, just like the holy altar sacrament, in my heart, but I could only approach it with a kind of holy reverence.   Yes, I, in fact, have gone so far with my holy reverence, that I regarded the natural love of the heart for God, literally to be a sin.

11. Only with Christ, it was different.   When I read His gospels, I would always imagine myself to be present and during my poor life, I always thought that if I would have the mercy that was the share of the apostles, truly, I would have become an apostle myself and I would have, without effort, leave wife and children out of pure love for Him!   Yes, I have to tell you that I would in fact if I would properly consider, have done everything solely out of love for the Christ of the gospels, to which the few blissful dreams I had about Him, have stirred me up.

12. I involuntarily keep struggling in myself with the holy trinity and the holy altar sacrament.  Because my heart has always been as cold as north pole ice towards this too mysterious, incomprehensible, Godly exaltedness.   Friends, I do not want to force anything upon anybody with this confession; I have only openly exposed my heart in this free environment.   You are free to do the same as well, for there is still enough time before we shall reach the indicated palace.

13. Many of the company reply to him, saying:  Friend and brother, we can honestly assure you that it fared not one hair better with us in this respect.   We did obligingly believe everything, but we were often filled with a mysterious, holy awe, which completely dumbed us down, but has then found our rest back in the evangelical Christ.   Our hearts therefore often ignited with a greater love for the most blessed mother of God as well as for many other saints, rather than for the most holy, Godly Highness, whom we, in fact, fear, and that unto a measure of doubt.   To stir up love for the One we are fearing so terribly would take some doing, though.

14. Then there is the question whether we would get to see the blessed virgin Mary or any other saint in this region, for in the heaven we have been, there also was no sign of them.   Friend, you who still have the best reasoning, can perhaps tell us something about it.

15. The speaker says:  dear friends, I think we should not ask too much concerning this issue, but only exert ourselves to reach the indicated palace as soon as possible, to receive there the promised explanation about the word of God which we did not understand, especially those of Paul and John; secondly can we, since we are not able to see the Godly trinity anymore, hold on stronger to our evangelical Christ.   According to His proclamation: “In the house of My Father are many dwellings”, does this place look much more like a heaven than the heaven up there, where we saw only one dwelling.   Enough of this now, for look, our alleged table servant is already coming to meet us.   Let us go to meet him silently and peacefully.

CHAPTER 56

En route to Christ

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Look, the problem consists of the following:   if I look at such a perfect god-hostie, the doubtful thought often came to me by which I would ask myself:  if this would be the perfect, true God as my faith teaches me, how is it then with the actual God in heaven?   Do He have to come nether completely, or does the Father stay in heaven while the Son comes nether, or does the Holy Spirit permeates this service?

11. I have often enquired about it, but never got another answer than that it is an unfathomable godly mystery and it is one of the greatest sins to ponder about it and could very easily lead to the sin against the Holy Spirit.

12. I had to suppress my dumb thoughts as much as possible after such an answer, for I saw just too clearly that man would never come to conclusion about it upon earth and therefore I have always consoled myself with the spiritual world.   I indeed did think about the words of Christ who said that it is His body, but not His Godhead.   Even this did not help me much.   I have felt the best about it when I thought about it to be the living bread from heaven, which would be food unto eternal life for the believer and I have lived with this faith as best I could, until the end of my earthly life.

13. Best friend, this was my fantasy number two.   Number three pertains to the evangelical Christ.   I must openly admit to you now that I have been honestly in love with Him just like a Magdalene.   If I would dream about Him and see many scenes of His earthly life before me, then I have to tell you, would my heart ignite.   I do not know if this came about and could try as best I could; yet I was not able to see Him as a relentless judge, despite the Catholic teaching.   For the scene with the murderer on the cross and how He has, while dying on the cross, pleaded His Father to forgive those who insulted Him; then the parable of the prodigal son, the merciful Samaritan, the tax collector and the Pharisee in the temple and that of the adulteress and many other, have always been like a strong wall against which my complete Catholic judgmental faith could not prevail.   That is why I am imagining heaven for myself as follows:

14. If heaven would be like a very beautiful landscape where one would have the unspeakable joy to meet Christ, be taught by Him and become active in charitable and fruitful loving activity being a disciple of Him, then it would indeed be heaven like no mortal upon earth would be able to imagine something more beautiful, more blissful and more exalted himself.

15. I also have often thought to myself that the simplest hut would be the highest heaven to me if I could be with Christ this way, even if it only was every now and then!   Yes, I also have not seldom thought:  If I only could have You, most beloved Christ, then I would not ask for a heaven or a blissful earth anymore!   See, best friend and brother, these are my fantasies.   Thoughts are free and therefore can everything be as God wills it!   You can think about it as you like; If you find that we can learn something from this, then it is good; if not, then the will of the almighty, triune God’s will shall prevail!

16. The alleged table servant looks at our speaker with a smile and says to him:   listen, my dear friend, your fantasies are better than you think; especially your third one is without a doubt the best.   It is true, eternally unfathomable things, relationships, ways, and councils are indeed inside the Godhead, which cannot be understood be a created being, but regarding your love for Christ, a bright light shall soon arise for you.   I can tell you in advance that your fantastical heaven shall indeed be you and your company’s inheritance in due time!   Since we are now standing at the door of the palace, we shall enter, where you shall experience more detail.

CHAPTER 57

The residential palace of the company.  The seed of the heavenly kingdom.  God’s Word.

1. 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!

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Now listen some more!   When we came to the gate of the palace, you saw that it was decorated with diamonds because you have taken the Word into yourself; and with rubies, because you have acted according to the Word.   These were only still pure external seeds of grain.   The whole palace depicts your whole life and the gate with the diamonds and rubies shows that you have granted entrance to yourself by means of the Word of God.

11. 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.

12. 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:

13. 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?

14. 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!

15. 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.

16. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. When I think back to all the beloved ones of the Master during His earthly life, he indeed has loved those the most, who came to Him with a most natural, childlike love of their hearts. Like John, whom the Master probably have often kissed left and right and have even laid on his chest at the Lord’s Supper, who was His beloved. The same was the case with Mary, the sister of Martha and no less with Magdalene, who was truly in love with Him. Exactly for this great love of hers, was she the first one to see Him after His resurrection.

11. The most graphic and tactile example was given by the dear Lord Christ when the people have brought their little children to Him and He said: “Let the little children come to Me and do not prevent them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them!” Look, the little children certainly know nothing of the higher, more worthy love, but they embrace the almighty Lord of heaven and earth with fully childlike, natural love. Following that, the Master tells His apostles and followers: “If you would not become like these children, you shall not inherit the kingdom of the heavens!”

12. Look, best friend, this is what gives me the courage to love the Master with my natural, childlike or childish love; and who knows whether this very simple love would not be much more pleasant to Him than when I would love Him with the purest love of a seraph. I would indeed want to love Him with the love of a seraph if I would possess it! Truly, I shall wear my heart upon my sleeve; but now I must call out together with the best apostle Paul: “My most beloved Christ, look, I obviously have neither gold, nor silver in my heart, but I want to give You all I have, If I could only have You!

13. Our alleged table servant opens his arms, holding them wide and says to our speaker and through Him, to the whole company: Beloved friend and brother, I indeed have told you: take up Christ in you, then He will be present! You have taken Him up and therefore have happened what I told you, for Christ have come to you and you shall never again be without His company and therefore you may embrace your Christ to your heart’s content!

14. Our speaker, whose heart was really moved with love, ask the still alleged table servant: Best friend, where is He then, that I and my whole congregation could sink down before His feet?

15. The alleged table servant says: Friends, Brothers, He is standing here before you; I am The One whom your hearts have searched for! I have been with you since long ago, have searched for you and brought you here. Therefore, come close to Me, then I shall take you to where I live among those who love me just as much as you do; for truly, I do not ask for gold or silver, but for the childlike love for Me! If I would want beauty and splendor, dear friends and brothers, I am certainly able to decorate the whole of infinity with it.

16. I am a true Father unto you, My dear little children and therefore are your hearts in their childlike simplicity, worth more than all the magnificence of the heavens! Come therefore with Me!

17. See how everything suddenly changed. Our whole congregation now embraces the Master, caress Him and lean into the Father like children would when they have not seen their parents for a long time. The Master leads them like a good Father and makes His wonders known to them along the way. Look what bliss is emanating from the faces of our company! Our speaker calls out: Oh, what a journey; our Holy Father is leading His children to where He lives!

CHAPTER 59

Arrival in the eternal morning.  God’s power is limited by the education of the human mind.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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!”

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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!

9. 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.

10. You would want to know of what such a deception would consist? Look, such deception is founded on the following: when someone would, out of fear for God, accept the faith out of duty and then live a faithful life according to it, he is not able to embrace God with true love, because he fears Him too much. This exaggerated fear for God is such a small error that cannot easily be removed from them without damage to their life and freedom. You indeed think: How can the Almighty allow such a thing? Yet, where it comes to the full freedom of a being, I must forgo of My omnipotence. For would I use it, it would be the end of such a person and I would create machines, instead of children who live, think, work and act freely, which would only be relentlessly forced, but would never act voluntarily according to My will. I can therefore only use My omnipotence when it is utterly essential and still never limit the free spirit in his thoughts and acts.

11. I will, therefore, give you an example, which shall show how I do employ My omnipotence.

12. The natural world and the forming of all beings, in general, is the work of My omnipotence. When free spirits then have taken up the life out of Me into themselves on basis of My Word and the following guided life, then My omnipotence takes care that those freed spirits would be able to abundantly see and immediately make free use of everything which they would recognize in themselves to be useful, good and true.

13. This region here below is mainly such a work of My omnipotence and completely corresponds with what these spirits have in themselves as truths of their faith and what good works they have done because of it. This is the case everywhere, wherever you would turn your eyes to, whether it would be the endless midday, the whole evening, or the whole north.

14. You are now asking yourself: Is then not also the case with the eternal morning? No, this is completely different conditions and completely set in all its parts, just like every natural world is set. The unshakable solidity of the morning stands as an inner, eternal foundation over against the outer natural solidity. The reason, therefore, is first that I am unchangeable in My will. Whatever I have once given a certain form, stay forever unchangeable and enduring, just as I am in My eternal will unchangeable and enduring.

15. Secondly: this environment is unchangeably set, because My children who come here to Me because of their great love for Me in them, are in their will and their insights completely one with Me - or in other words, because they have humbled themselves to the last drop and because of their love for Me, have completely surrendered their own will and have taken up instead, My eternal, living will in them.

16. They, therefore, want here also nothing other than what I will. My will is the clearest, eternally settled example of what is good and true. This environment in which I am living here with Mine is therefore completely solid and there is no illusion. What you see here, is completely the same inside and out. All plants, trees, fruit, and grain fields are here not only visual apparitions but perfect, determined realities. When you want to go from one place to the other you shall see, if you count your steps, that the distance there and back is the same.

17. You now ask Me whether this solidity has anything in common with the solidity of the earth. The solidity of this heavenly world has nothing to do with the solidity of the material world, for the solidity of the world is but an appearance and only last for a spirit for as long as he is an inhabitant of matter. Once he departs from matter, then the solidity also vanishes. But here it is not so, for this solidity is true solidity and is unchangeable and indestructible because it is the perfect expression of My eternal Fatherly love!

18. You ask how far this region goes. My dear friend, brother and son, this region as you see it laying towards the morning, have forever no end and is so big, that when all people who shall be born all through the ages on all heavenly bodies would come to this region, after more than a thousand centuries, then the size of this region would not even be that of a grain of sand in the infinity of this eternal space.

19. You ask Me now how I could oversee all of this and if those who live, seen from here, so endlessly far away, deep into the morning, ever get to see Me? Dear friend, brother, and son, I shall tell you also this, for My children shall be denied nothing!

CHAPTER 60

The Primordial God sun.   Explanation about the personal, substantial omnipresence of the Master.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. But now I ask you: Has the sun truly been multiplied by this multiplication or only its activity? You say: Indeed, only the activity! I say: Good, but how many suns do you have in your mirrors? You say: seen from the mirrors, it is as much as there are mirrors, but regarding the sun, it still is the same.

11. Well, as your natural example shows you, you are now seeing in the greatest, living reality and fullness before you.

12. You are now saying to yourself: I can understand that, but if one would look at and investigate every mirror-sun to get to know the being of the sun, one would not have anything to gain from the mirror-suns, for the actual being of the sun would still stay completely unknown for the investigative eye.

13. This is right, but how would you and the whole earth become better if the true sun would come so close to the earth like when you would come close to the mirrors? Look, the whole earth and you too would instantly vaporize like a drop of water on a hot plate. What did the approach of the sun benefit you then?

14. This is even much more the case with My sun here. It has to stay forever in the inaccessible center, for no creature to be able to come closer than the set order, for every inordinate approach would completely destroy this being. This was also said to Moses when he wanted to see God’s face, for with “see”, one should not understand the seeing with the physical eye, but the full approach to the deepest being of the Godhead.

15. Take note, if I would be the same as who I am on the sun, but unto you, I am as such that you could approach me fully like one brother would another, is it not worth more? Is it not more love and mercy as when you would indeed be able to approach the sun but would be destroyed by it?

16. Above all, neither you nor I would have been perfectly happy if it would not be possible for me to be present in My true, full personality as Father, wherever My children might be.

17. See, heaven is infinite! If such a substantial, endless multiplication, without any effect on My whole Oneness would not be possible, how forlorn would My children be and how lonely I would have stood in their midst!!

18. You can understand that I am the same with the same living, Godly consciousness and all Godly love, wisdom, and power, from the fact that I have truly lead you here personally and showed you the way and the power of My love, wisdom and perfect Godly will. If all this is not enough for you yet, think of anything you want, then I want to let it appear before you, perfectly created.

19. Well, you want to see before you a familiar region upon earth. Look before you. I have created it already visibly and tangibly before you.

20. You say: truly, only God can do such a thing! Good, I tell you, then you would certainly understand that I, as I stand here before you and reveal the wonders of My Being to you, are completely the same as I am since eternity there in the sun!

21. You say: yes, I do completely believe that, but if I would go to another house now and You would stay here, and I would find there a second being of the same origin than You, shall he be fully one with You and shall he looks exactly like You?

22. I tell you: you are free to try this: I shall make you find yourself as quickly as a thought in a house there far beyond, just like this one. I shall stay here and your company shall testify of it when you are back; then you can tell Me if you have found Me completely over there or not. We'll be there!

23. See, dear friend, brother, and son, you are now deep into the morning. You can see this by looking around you: you do not see your company anymore, nor anything else than the endlessly stretched out morning with its dwellings. Tell me, am I not the same here?

24. This is how it should be, and if it were not so, nothing could have been created and the existence of man would have been unthinkable! For the life of every man is nothing than a perfect mirror image of Me. I one, or a million people would have lived according to My Word, can only one say that Christ lives in Me, or cannot countless righteous ones say that? If all the righteous ones would say that, am I then a divided, an eternally undivided Christ in them?

25. I am eternally the same in the heart of every human. If millions upon millions of hearts would be filled with Me, and that each one fully for himself, then would none have another Christ, but in every heart, lives the same Christ fully! Well, what do you say now? Am I not completely the same than the One you have left over there with your company?

26. You say: Yes, Master, You are the same and there is no difference; neither in your person, nor in Your Word, or in Your Godly will and I can imagine myself nothing other than that You have come here just as quickly as I did! Yes, it does seem to you that way, but as I have said already, your company shall testify of my continuous presence there when you go back. Therefore, I tell you: be there! Look, you are back again. How did you find Me there?

27. You say: You were there Yourself just like here and there was no difference in the least. I tell you: this is correct; but now, ask your company whether I have been gone from here in the meantime. The company says: absolutely not; the Master has, in fact, told us how things were with you over there. Look, you are now making big eyes and are surprised. I tell you that it is not surprising in the least, but completely in order.

28. If you had been an optician upon earth, you would have been able to picture this for yourself even better. Why would many people who all are looking at the same object, see the object to be only one thing, while all the people see only this one object? Look, this is in the eye of man. This object emanates rays to all sides and man accepts this radiated image into his eye. Man then see only this internalized radiated image, which is fully equal to the watched object.

29. Has the object been made copies of, or ripped into pieces, as everyone saw an image of it in himself? You say: absolutely not. Look, likewise is it here the living truth, which is on earth only a dead, natural apparition.

30. You would have an even deeper insight into this wonder, but you first should digest what has been revealed to you, to be true heavenly bread.

31. In the meantime, shall I enter my dwelling here, where I shall let My servants set the table for you and your company to sit with Me at the table for the first time, to enjoy the bread of your true heavenly Father. Wait therefore here until I come back and lead you into My house!

CHAPTER 61

The meal at the Father’s table.   Lamb, bread, and wine.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. I, therefore, give to you My power in abundance, that you can with it, wherever I might send you to, can work with the same perfection as I. I would indeed be able to do it all Myself, but I delegate such work to all of you, for your bliss by My side, to increase continually from eternity to eternity!

11. You, therefore, should, when I would send some or the other of you for such a great purpose here or there, just like I do, see every natural world externally, from her deepest inner being. You shall also have to see it from their deepest inner core all through to the external crust and backward into the most inner core. What you shall have to do at such a mission, you shall become fully aware of.

12. I have thus assigned to you your high calling, by which you can be fully industrious according to My love, wisdom and order. With this, I do name you and make you true angels of My kingdom and therefore also true inhabitants of My holy city, the eternal Jerusalem! Your inner eye has been opened, that you may see how great and glorious He is who now is speaking to you and shall be with you forever! Now, look in the direction of the morning and tell me what you see there.

13. The speaker says: Oh Master, my most beloved Jesus Christ, true, endless, loving Father, You are holy, holy above all! What do my eyes see? What endless glory! And in this glory a city, having seemingly no end; and the sun, the beautiful sun: it stands shining in the middle above the city, and the city … it shines like the sun! I again see my old starry sky and I see, oh my Master, into the endless depths of your creations. Yes, this I indeed call a heaven! Then it is in fact literally true:

14. “... neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which You, oh Holy Father, hath prepared for them that love him!” Yes, what endless blissfulness of blessings my immortal eyes are seeing now! Oh, loving, holy Father, may I embrace and love you with all the power of my heart?

15. The Master says: dear friend, brother, and son, look, I indeed stand here before you; love Me as much as you can, for I have in fact created you to blissfully love Me and for you to be My beloved and dear children, whom I now can love from My Godly abundance as Father!

16. Let us now go into the city and do not inquire of what would happen to these dwellings, for these dwellings are correspondences of the true humility, flowing forth from pure love unto Me. These dwellings shall remain here, and we shall indeed often come here; but since I have My ‘Council office’ in this city, my angels need to be there too, where their great, most important destination of love awaits them.

17. You still ask Me who would then inhabit these huts. Look, dear friends, brothers, and children, if the city dwellers upon earth have for their recreational purposes often have one or more rural homes, why should we not have it? Therefore, I tell you: when we have done some great things, we shall grant ourselves the necessary rest here; but we shall now go to the city!

18. Look, the Master is now leading our company into the city Himself. Because one can usually move here very fast forward unexpectedly, we are already approaching this city of all cities of the whole of infinity.

19. See how the great multitude of God is coming through the gate of this holy city to meet the Master, who is now approaching the city! Right in front do you see the well-known friends of the Master, namely His apostles and all patriarchs from Abraham and prophets! Listen to the loud rejoicing resounding from the blissful multitude and see how all are stretching out their arms, overjoyed to receive the Master with fiery love; what joy is emanating from all their faces because of this newly won multitude.

20. The multitudes have met and are now surrounded with great glory. This glory comes from the Master and is distributed to all.

21. What do you think about this scene? But let us go on now. Look, the Master lets everyone enter the city before Him, and He follows His children like a simple shepherd his lambs! We are now also in the city. Just look at the infinite, indescribable with human words, glory, and splendor which we see here to the left and the right of this street. Everything is engulfed in the glory of the Master. The Holy wind blows through the streets and alleys and this air is the life flowing in endless abundance from the Master!

22. The Master now go to stand before a great house and says to our company: hereto, dear friends! This is our home and our official building; we shall move in here!

23. Also, here do they follow the Master inside. See the many, big and beautiful rooms; they are fully prepared for the reception of our new heavenly princes!

24. You now see how the Master shows them a shining plate and says: on this plate, you shall always see My will. The Master now lays His hands on them and fill them completely with the almighty power of His love. See how the most trusted friends and brothers speak to each other about the infinite, Godly relationships of all things!

25. You now have seen what the true destination of man is in the most actual, true, perfect heaven; and you have seen how our company fares.

26. You should indeed not think that this would happen with everyone finding himself in the apparent heaven. This is only the case with the few who, despite all illusionary ideas they’ve been taught, loved only and solely their Master in their hearts, already during their earthly life.

27. How it fares with many others, we shall see with our own eyes according to the will of the Master, and we, therefore, leave this holy city and again travel quickly back to the Roman Catholic, spiritual church-state.

28. Look, I have barely said it, and we already are again close to a monastery. You say: dear friend, even though we are terribly sorry that we had to leave the beautiful city of God so suddenly, we would want to know, since we are here again, of what order this monastery is. Beloved friends and brothers, we shall here first get to know a female monastery and that one of the Carmelite nuns. You shall experience very vividly how it is with such a monastery. Think about this order beforehand, then you shall have it so much easier to understand whether this order is acceptable to the Master or not. With that, we shall leave it for today.

CHAPTER 62

Visit to the Carmelites

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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!

9. 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.

10. Look, our sister gets up, turn her cheek humbly to the superior and as you can see, she gives her, to drive out the devil, no light, but a full-blown, almost dizzying slap. Our lady begins to weep bitterly, thank the superior for this chastisement and retreat with the other sisters from the refectory to her cell. What would happen there, we shall see next time.

CHAPTER 63

The confessing nun and the true confessing father

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?

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

7. 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!”

8. 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?

9. 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?

10. You say: certainly not the Master, for you have acted completely in His Name! Well, if I do not have to fear Him, should I then fear your monastery or the ecclesiastical authority? Oh see, this is by no means the case; And therefore, I tell you, if you have a true love unto the Lord, then also dare from this love, that you may go now, and say unto your superior, which I have told you; And then tell her that she should immediately come here with you.

11. Our nun asks what she should do to satisfy penitence.

12. The confession father says nothing other than what I have just told you.

13. Our nun now gets up, but because our superior is beginning to become suspicious that our nun is staying away for so long, she is meeting her on the threshold of the little confession chamber, where our sister tells her what the confession father has said. The superior almost falls over backward in fright and say to our sister: just see what a sin you have committed! The mercy of God has completely retreated from you; a devil has taken on the form of an angel of light and has taken possession of the confession chair as a confession father to give you such a cursed teaching. He also wants me to speak with Him for the whole monastery to be pulled down into eternal damnation because I am the soul of the monastery. Yes, I indeed have often thought by myself that you would once plunge this holy house of God into misfortune. No, we have no other recourse than to powerfully unite and present our great need before the most blessed virgin Mary, the holy Joseph, and the Holy Theresia. If she does not answer us, then we are lost, for then there are no mercy and compassion with God anymore!

14. Our sister says to the dignified woman: very honorable mother, you can say what you want, but after this lesson of this most worthy confession father, I have no more faith in your words and would much rather die if it were possible, than to allow the slightest doubt in myself in the teaching of this worthy confession father.

15. The dignified superior now wants to give our sister a slap on her mouth out of pure monastic zeal. But our confession father has the audacity to break through the confession grid, for which he has sufficient power, and remove our sister from such maltreatment. What would happen further, we shall see next time.

CHAPTER 64

Rescue of the poor captives.  Judgement and the youngest day.

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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!

7. 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?

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. For you and all these poor sisters to see that I have full power to act thus and that I do not have this power from Beelzebub, who you, superior, have sprinkled with holy water, but have it directly from God, I now make it known that this sister now rescued by me is Theresia herself, sent by Me to you, to free you from your delusional ideas. Next, I do declare unto you that I am Myself the One who is so dearly beloved by Theresia! If you would not believe Me, then lay your hands on My scars just like Thomas!

11. See, you, superior of this monastery, have damned Me in your great blindness. I also have the power to condemn you but to show you that I am better than your order, I shall not condemn you; instead, I shall teach you and show you the way to Me. You cannot follow Me yet, but only after you have torn down your imaginary monastery to the floor.

12. Look, all the sisters fall down on their knees before the Master, praise Him for His great love and mercy and plead with Him for mercy towards their superior. The Master says: this is so, but the superior still has her free will and shall have it for eternity. Would she want to break down the monastery, she can come with you; would she want to keep it, I shall not hold her back one second longer than when she would surrender it willingly to Me.

13. Look, the superior stand as if petrified before the group of sisters and do not know what she should do next, for she is still holding this scene as if a peculiar work of the devil. The Master says to her: what are you now thinking to yourself? Was it not your faith that the satan should flee before the name of Jesus Christ and that every knee should bow before this Name, in heaven as well as on the earth and under the earth? If then satan has such an intense fear for the Name of Jesus, would he then speak his mind or even change himself into His figure? See the immensity of your delusion! You are not yet ripe for pure light and you shall not be ripe for as long as you would not yet have the last stone of this monastery destroyed inside of yourself.

14. I also tell you this, that you only have to turn to Me if whenever you would want to be freed from your institution.

15. You shall wait in vain on your ‘youngest day’, for it is there continually for all people. This is for the loving, righteous ones a day of resurrection unto eternal life, which is the full rebirth of the spirit. But to all those who do not accept Me in the spirit and in truth and do not want to take Me in with all love in himself, to them it is a day of judgment.

16. Now you know where you stand; direct yourself according to it, then you shall reach your youngest day for your eternal life; otherwise, the sun which is brightening this day, shall certainly not rise for you for eternities!

17. The Master now turns to the sisters, telling them to follow Him. As you can see in the spirit, the superior finally throws herself down in doubt before Him and pleads with Him now that she recognized Him, to not leave her alone. The Master says to her: look, here is My beloved sister Theresia; I want her to help you break down your monastery. Look, Theresia immediately helps the superior to get up with great love and show her the true way to the Master.

18. The Master takes the road to the eternal morning with His innocent lambs! It shall not take long before our lovely disciple of the Master shall have her still blind sister free from her institution. She shall not go to the morning so quickly, though, but to the midday, or the second heaven.

19. You now have seen another way of rescue from a wrongful spiritual resort of bliss, which was, in fact, one of the better institutions. There are still many others, though, where things are much more difficult. Next time we shall have a look at a similar men’s monastery. It shall again be one of the strictest and you shall see what kind of troubles life is riddled there, where a flood of false principles has completely suffocated the seed of life.

20. No one should bind himself anywhere, therefore, but should only keep the love to the Master and his neighbor as the only measure for his life. For the love is the good seed in which the seed of life thrives; but if weeds have been sown, then the good seed shall have trouble growing. We shall see this clearly in the following example. With this, enough for today!

CHAPTER 65

A monks’ monastery.   The Augustinian faith.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Here we see now a monastery which is founded upon such a false foundation, only still carrying the name of the original founder. You immediately see this from the trinity consisting of three persons, depicted right above the gate of the main entrance. Under it, almost as if pushed away by the clouds, is the “eye of God”, showing that the delusion has prevailed over the truth.

11. These (spiritual) monks are still walking about barefoot and still wear the same clothing, but when you would want to see their inner scholastics, you shall see that they only act outwardly as in the beginning did the real Augustinians. If you would ask the one or the other why he does so, you would get no answer and if you would get an answer, it would sound like this: we do this as staunch penitents for the sake of heaven, for the kingdom of heaven can only be entered with violence; for whom would not take it with violence, shall not gain it. From this, you can easily grasp their actual motivation for such a strict life. They do it all for the sake of heaven; they also love and fear the Master, but not for Himself, but only because of heaven and hell. If the Master would take the hell away from them and their dreamed-of enjoyment and yawning would change into a heaven of activity, they would soon cross out their strict, penitent life.

12. This is the case with all monastic inhabitants of a better attitude. Yet, for many, the following of the strictly ordained rules is only a political way by which they think they can obtain important, worldly privileges for themselves. These are actions of hellish nature, an abomination to the Lord. We shall not find this nature here, for that belongs deep into the evening, with the worst degree even at home in hell.

13. We shall here encounter only thoughts about heaven, wanting to gain heaven by means of the strict following of the rules of their order, being day laborers. This monastery furthermore is here because of their materialistic belief in the last judgment. Because of such a belief, you shall find many deviations here, flowing forth from the little understood old scholastic and mystic concepts, that the soul would keep on living after death in either a state of complete soul-sleep or ‘psychopannychia’ or in a passive paradisiacal life. How all this would develop, we shall see at the next occasion. Therefore, enough for today.

CHAPTER 66

Explanation of the organization of the Augustinian monastery

1. 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?

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Look, only one thing is lacking on this painting and that is hell. Because it does not exist in the mindset of this community, it cannot be part of this depiction. We have now carefully studied this picture on the high altar from top to bottom. What else strikes you? You say: the beautiful tabernacle, depicted with a little group of artfully combined seraph’s heads. Then the tabernacle entrance, depicting the risen Christ and if we see correctly, is this Christ slightly translucent and one see at the side of the heart, instead of his heart, a beautiful monstrance with the most saintly shimmer. Yes, this is indeed so, both visually and practically. The love for Christ is here depicted by means of the love for gold, silver and noble stones and the bread of life which clothe him with these most important earthly riches.

11. If you, best friend, would explain this more clearly, then it sure shall not harm us.

12. Oh yes, that I can certainly do. First, ask yourselves where one would have to go in order to get the bread of life? In the first instance, the noble Christ. But here, it is nothing else but the dead masonry or bricks of the church building. Whoever is not baptized or confirmed in this church, cannot partake in the living treasures of the mercy of this church, but who would find himself for once in this established church, should not forget the gold and the silver, for the keys of Peter, is made of silver and gold. Should someone bring along silver and gold, he is granted the bread of life.

13. You should not think that one must pay for the communion, for everyone attending the communion, get such a little hostie for free, as often as he would want to confess. Should one want to have the full working of the hostie for himself, he must pay and let a mass be read. If he wants to have a regular mass to be read for him after his death, he needs to give a substantial donation. If he wants, even more, power added to the read masses, it must be read in front of the privileged altars. I think that you can without much trouble gather from these few facts how one can enter through the door of the sighted holy of holies by means of silver, gold, and noble stones. On earth, gold, silver, and noble stones mean an honoring of God and is called: Omnia ad majorem Dei gloriam! ["for the greater glory of God and the salvation of humanity."] 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.

14. One has to honestly ask oneself where the gold, silver and noble stones fit in with the true Christian humility and despising of the world, where the neighborly love, the self-denial and the ‘take up your cross and follow Me’. For regarding the gold, silver and noble stones the Master then had to say: ‘take up your gold, silver and noble stones and follow Me in My beautifully adorned kingdom’. Also, Peter should not say: ‘silver and gold have I not’. The Master should not have said so stingily to the rich young man, that a camel can go through the eye of a needle easier than would a rich man into heaven. Everything is thus distorted and destroyed and the church calling itself the only church offering salvation, has very little to do with Christianity anymore.

15. Whoever would note himself on a certificate or any other document as “Catholic”, do not need to add “Christian” to it, but if one would write only “Christian”, then he would be regarded as a kind of heretic and can even expect to be treated somewhat unpleasantly. We shall nevertheless let it be, for the consequence of such great delusions are now clearly before us. Because you know the true heaven, you shall not find it difficult to recognize the great distance between here and there at first glance.

16. You now ask why the Master does not make a quick and full end to these delusions and why He had allowed it from the onset. I tell you that the ways of the Master are always unfathomable and His counsels eternally unsearchable. It should be enough for you to know how endlessly good, patient and merciful the Master is, how He, being the holiest love and wisdom is very well and unfailingly able to bring all crops to ripeness. When they become ripe, He knows how to apply them for His eternal, loving and wise purposes in the most capable and best ways.

17. You could just as well ask why the Master have placed so many weeds and wild and poisonous animals upon earth, even though you do not understand their use. I tell you, regarding this, the Master always follows His unfathomable ways and His own counsel. It is sufficient for us to have a holy conviction that He is the endlessly good Father. If we have such a conviction, we know that He did not create anything with a bad purpose, but that He shall lead everything without a doubt to the best purpose and shall do so unto eternity! You now ask whether we are going to visit and view the rest of the church. This is not necessary; we shall therefore now go to the monastery and make our observations there. Look, there is presently coming a friendly Augustinian from the so-called ‘sacristie’ (holy place). He greets us and beckons us to come to him. We, therefore, react upon his call.

CHAPTER 67

Have Peter founded the Roman church!

1. 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:

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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!”

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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?

9. 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.

10. Now I say to him: Friend, you have certainly not understood the word of God from the mildest side, but indeed from the most strict, judgmental viewpoint. But I should like to ask you a question, and you can then give me an answer, but you must assure me in advance that you will not owe me the answer. The monk said: If it is not of a purely devilish nature, I will answer thee well. But you know that you do not owe the devil an answer. I say to him, "Well, well, I'll ask you a question. If you can prove to me that this is the devil, you may well retain your answer; but if you cannot do this thoroughly, you will not come from this place until you have answered me. Beware, however, of every lie, for this might cost you dearly. So, however, my question is:

11. How can you prove to me from the Holy Scriptures that the Roman Catholic Church was truly founded by the apostle Peter? To my knowledge, there is not the slightest mention in the whole of the present Scripture. That Paul taught in Rome and preached the gospel of the Lord, is well-known; but that Peter truly has founded the papacy in Rome, I cannot remember one syllable of throughout the whole of the Holy Scriptures. If you wish to bind me to your ecclesiastical right of condemnation, you must first prove to me whether the Roman Church was really founded by Peter, to whom the Lord would have given such a right. If you cannot prove this to me, and indeed from the Holy Scriptures, you shall have a staunch opponent in me.

12. See, our monk puts on a rather pitiable face and search from one corner to the other to find a suitable answer. He now thinks of a clever excuse, but it shall not help him much. He beckons us to listen to him and this we shall do. He (the monk) says: O you abominable devil, that is the most hellish question, and is so tremendously heretical, and so very contrary to the Holy Spirit, that for such a heretic, a thousand of the most abominable of hells, with a thousand-fold eternal damnation, would be still too good. Should I give an answer to such a question, that all devils should come together to get me? I shall let that be.

13. The Roman church not founded by Peter!? He who has taught himself for three years in Rome and have set up his chair there and have died a martyr’s death on an upside down cross! Besides, his imperishable body is until this day in the crypt of his church in Rome and his chair is still today the mighty throne of the pope! And you, infernal devil, dare to ask such a question and dare to tread so completely to a pure servant of God, an anointed priest? I entreat you in the name of the triune God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Joseph, and in the name of all the holy apostles, disciples, martyrs, in the name of all the other saints, and in the name of the entire Roman Catholic Church, that you, abominable devil, leave this holy place with your hellish, damned company! Otherwise, I will summon all my brethren, who are resting in paradise and in heaven, so that they may persecute and veil you and your condemned companions with three highly consecrated crucifixes, and with other highly ecclesiastical insignia, until this place becomes more miserable than that the devilish devil, you unchristian devil, you deceiver of all men, the eve of the seventh day of creation, the ever-damned creature of God, away, away, away from here!

CHAPTER 68

Dispute with an Augustine.  Peter and Paul.

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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!

9. 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.

10. Paul was called as an apostle for the Gentiles; nowhere is written that the Lord also called Peter for the Gentiles. Moreover, Peter knew the excellence of the Apostle Paul and did not consider it necessary to be a follow-up apostle where Paul founded a Christian church. It is well-known from Scripture, and indeed from Paul himself, that he once rebuked Peter; But an opposite situation is not mentioned.

11. But since Peter, as the first visible head of the Church, had already been rebuked by Paul regarding an error and been made accountable, the Holy Spirit has not really helped him, or rather, he forgot the Holy Spirit a bit - then one might assume that such historical data, which vary so much from each other, had either willfully been taken out of the air, or else could the Holy Spirit be blamed of infidelity.

12. But I know that Christ the Lord gave the same power to all the apostles; and when He returned after His resurrection, according to John, He commanded Peter to follow Him, the disciple John also followed. When Peter made a remark about it, the Lord said to him, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" - Which will say just as much as if he wants to follow Me like you, let him. Why then? Because the Lord wanted to show that this disciple was to follow the Lord, like Peter, in the constitution unalterably and continually. So he should continue forever despite the objection of Peter in such a state of mind, following the Lord.

13. I also know that the Lord once defended a certain unreasonably accused John before the apostles, who was not called by Him and thereby brought the minds of His jealous apostles to rest. There is also no syllable to be found about Christ ordaining an apostle to build any temple building, neither of a later ordinance by the Holy Spirit.

14. Christ has indeed said, "preach this My Gospel everywhere;" But that He would have said, "Built Me a house of prayer", is nowhere, even slightly, mentioned. But we know that He has spoken to the woman of Jacob's fountain:

15. There will come a time, and it is already here, where the true worshipers will worship God in spirit and in truth, and neither the temple of Jerusalem will be needed, nor the mountain of Gerizim, but people shall be able to do this everywhere, in spirit and in truth. "(Joh.04)

16. We also know that the Lord has commanded those who pray, to go alone into their chamber; but He did not tell the Apostles, "Lock yourselves into the convents, but: "Go out into all the world, and preach the gospel to all of creation."

17. If you, however, want to empower your ecclesiastical power play by the Holy Spirit, you make Christ either a liar or a fraudulent teacher, who did not, during the time of His teaching, know what is necessary for His doctrine, and had to secretly correct it afterwards, according to conflicting historical data. He did not foresee that monasteries and churches would be necessary for the spreading of His teaching; He has not understood that Peter would have to found his church in Rome and that an immense house of prayer and an even more immense residence will be built for his successors.

18. Thus, Christ also could not have seen that in the course of time great rankings under the priesthood of His Church will be necessary for the spreading of His doctrine, for if He had seen this during His time of teaching, how could He have answered the apostles when they asked Him who should be the leader: "None of you is the Master. This is I, but ye are all brethren together. "

19. But his ignorance goes even further. Not knowing this, He said: "No one is good, for God alone. You shall not call anyone father; For only One in heaven is your Father. Therefore, no one is holy, for God alone." Now every apostle is holy, and the successor of Peter is even a" holy father! "

20. If you, my dear friend, take this very seriously, then you must accuse Christ of the ecclesiastical order, and, if you believe in His Godhead, also say: God also sees as a weak man, He only comes to know over time which would be better, and is compelled to surrender to His creatures, putting to risk His eternal truth and infinite wisdom.

21. We do know that the Lord established the Jewish Church through Moses and through the prophets as a prefiguring to the Lord in all its parts. But He did it literally through Moses. But no mention was ever made that the Lord, on His appearance in the highest person of Christ, had established a ceremonial and figurative church. Yet, He laid the foundation of His doctrine nothing but love towards one's neighbor, and, being indispensable in the foreground, love towards God by saying: " love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another."

22. So, He also said that His Apostles and disciples should not condemn anyone and judge no one, that they might not be condemned and judged. Indeed, the Lord even said of Himself that He had not come to judge the world, but to save and seek that which is lost.

23. How, then, have you been able to judge against this explicit doctrine of Christ, and have you even obtained the temporal and eternal condemnation and death sentence?

24. Could not in this context, Christ's text be applied to you, where He, excited in Himself, speaks to those who would like to say to Him: "We have preached in your name, prophesied, and exorcised devils, the following: depart from Me, you doers of evil, I never knew you; For it is you who always resisted the Holy Spirit! "

25. So I tell you, judge these words exactly in yourself and give me an answer. But I will show you the power of another exorcism, which will open your blind eyes, and you will see the abyss which awaits you if you remain in your stubbornly folly.

26. Behold, the Lord had pity on you and sent me here for your salvation. If you will hear me, you shall be saved; but if not, I also have the power to throw you at once in the right place which the Lord have appointed for you.

27. Behold, the monk begins to become intensely upset, and he can no longer advise or help himself. So, he turns around and retreats to his company. Let us also follow him, that you may see how such errors develop in the spiritual world.

CHAPTER 69

The Augustinian monk in counsel

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Look, the crucifix is already destroyed, like dirty chaff on the ground, and one after another the dumbfounded monks begin to rise. From every face shoots wrath and anger, but none dare to put his hand on us. No one wants to speak a word; therefore, I will address the monk who is still in the background. And I say to him,

11. Listen, you gloomy spirit in the background! Come out and give me my answer on the question posed the temple. The monk, struck with great fear emerges and want to respond with a curse because of the destruction of the crucifix. But now, right in front of him, a klafter wide gap opens and he looks down to hell. I say unto him, Behold, thou dark spirit, that is thy Christianity; your heart is filled with what you see here.

12. Instead of the most tender love of Christ, bleeding for the forgiveness of the evil offender, asking the Father in himself to forgive them, you have nothing but hatred, sectarian zeal, condemnation, judgment, and fire within you, and thus you oppose the most basic teaching of Christ, being staunch antichrists. You take the last drop of life from all your confessors and fill their hearts with death.

13. Instead of the living bread, which is the true living Word of God, you are to offer them glowing stones, making them all, like you, to be full of vengeance, anger, rage, judgment, and condemnation against all those whom the Father Himself has drawn and taught. Yes, you do not have any conscience to suppress others for the sake of your lust for power and gain, and to take away the Word of God from the congregation as much as possible, and even to dominate a possessor with a heretic's curse and condemn him. Instead of the word of God, you feed the people with your own self-interest, with your lust for power, and your motto is to keep every spark of better light away from the people, while Christ the Lord has said expressly: "Be perfect as your Father in Heaven Is perfect! "

14. What shall I do with you? "You who were to feed the Lord's flock and warn them against the raving wolves, have crawled behind a sevenfold wall, and in the end, instead of being faithful shepherds, became wolves yourselves. And there are many thousands and thousands of thousands who have tasted the hardness of your wolf's teeth and accuse you loudly at the judgment seat of Christ.

15. What shall I do with you, who have always trodden the word of God with your feet, because it was not good for your insatiable lust for dominion? What am I to do with you, who, boldly enough, dared to assert before the people, saying, "The earth is at our feet, and we bear God in our hands?" I say to you, you could never invent a more injurious testimony, and at the same time a more striking one, then this. For indeed you have always stepped, wherever it was possible, with your domineering and profit-hungry feet upon the peoples, together with their anointed emperors and kings, and you traded with God in your hands as with a bad commodity. But there never was anything godly in your hearts, and they were always filled with what you, dark spirit, now look at in the yawning gap at your feet.

16. What shall I do with you? Ask me who I am, and I will answer you, and say, I am a true Apostle of the Lord, and have been sent here to raise you in His name. But how shall I arouse you, when ye are full of eternal judgment? So, I ask you again: What do you want to do? - Speak, or this abyss will devour you!

17. Now listen, our monk speaks and says: In the name of all these my brethren, I ask you, whoever you may be, that you may spare us with this hard trial. If according to the doctrine of our Lord, we became true deceivers, we were it not out of ourselves, but we must be as we are, and none of us were allowed to speak or act differently than what was allowed us to speak and act by the church. If we were wolves, we had to be; And so, if you truly are a higher Messenger, you shall certainly know how it was and still is with us. We are still trapped here just as we were on earth. Therefore, if it is possible for you, free us, and we also want to accept the pure Word of Christ! But only cover this horrible abyss before us.

18. I say to him, If thou want to go over this chasm, you need to stifle, in Spirit and in Truth, that which you see before you in the abyss, for this is an apparition of what you carry in your own heart. Therefore, search yourself; do likewise, all of you present here. Awaken from your death sleep so that when I return, I will find you cleansed and alive to lead you out of this prison of death! But there are still much more in this monastery which I still need to admonish; When you have come to your senses, then I shall return and show you a new way in the Name of the Lord. - See how they are beginning to groan and weep. We shall not listen to this, but shall at once go to the "Paradise Monks."

CHAPTER 70

The Paradise Augustinians

1. 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:

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Well, the first paradise man opens his mouth already and asks us: where are you from, from above or from below? I say, from above. He asks us: Where is up? I show him with his hand on his chest and say right here in the heart, the sole love of the Lord is from above! He says, "What do you think you're a silly thing?" Do you not know where the sky is, and do you not know that you find yourself here in the paradise of God? I say to him, I know where heaven is, and know very well the paradise. But this paradise here and your heaven I do not recognize as a haven and as a heaven, but I recognize such only for the truth, and in this, the sky and this paradise is nothing but a figment of your and your utter worldly folly. He said, "What a speech! So, are those who come from above? No, just wait for a little, we'll show you where it's downstairs. Come, ye angels of God, take at once these three infernal gallows-rascals and escort them to the safehouse, you know what place I mean; the school where they will learn to distinguish above from below.

11. Behold, the angels take hold of us, and we will not defend ourselves this time, but let us be brought in by them. It is only when they have executed upon us a very humane judgment that we shall begin to stir a little, for all this belongs to the cause. You would not have a complete knowledge of this spiritual situation, and we could not easily get to these spirits in any other way, and then, for their own good, would convince them of their delusion. So, as I have said, let us allow ourselves to be taken with good-naturedness, so that you may see in how many endless ways the Lord knows to continually provide His servants with the fruitful labor of love.

CHAPTER 71

In apparent captivity of the paradisiacal Augustinians.  Their doubts about the correctness of their conduct.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

1. 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!

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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:

8. 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!

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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).

13. 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.

14. 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

1. 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:

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. The visit of Rome also sucked the last drop of my faith in immortality and therefore also of my thoughts about Christ.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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!

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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!

20. 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.

21. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?"

7. 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.

8. 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!

9. 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?

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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?

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. The heads of the cherubim and seraphims, which were barely fist-sized, now have a diameter of one klafter [1,9m]. The trinity is already so big that you could still see it very well on earth from miles away. The formerly quite shallow background of this podium seems to be almost twenty miles in depth, and the former cloud scenes now appear, as you can see, to be like immensely heavy thunderclouds on the earth, as you have seen them now and then began to pile upon each other on earth in the morning and evening. But now, too, look at our forecourt, just as this also has expanded enormously, and we now stand like three dots, scarcely noticeable in such a great space. How do you like this story?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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?

10. 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.

11. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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!

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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?

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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:

12. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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'?

11. 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.

12. 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!

13. 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.

14. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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!

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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

1. 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?

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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:

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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?

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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’ [indispensable and essential action], then I break out in cold sweat.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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?

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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!

12. 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.

13. 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?

14. 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?

15. 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!

16. 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?

17. “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.

18. 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.

19. “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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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”.

7. 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!

8. 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!

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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”.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. The Prior says, "O divine friend and brother! Would it be possible that I could escape hell?

14. 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!

15. 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.

16. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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

17. 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?

18. 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.

19. 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?

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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."

23. 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.

24. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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!!

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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!!

8. 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.

9. 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:

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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?

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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!

14. 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!

15. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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:

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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!

10. 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.

11. 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?

12. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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. (mt.18,03)

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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,

13. 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!

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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! "

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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?

12. 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."

13. 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?

14. 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.

15. 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.

1. 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!"

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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. "

7. The monk said, "Yes, I am now quite well, so I will now be quiet as a mouse when she smells the cat.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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? "(a mat.10:16)

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!

17. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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!

6. 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!

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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?

11. 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.

12. 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?

13. 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!

14. 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.

15. 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!

16. 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.

17. 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!

18. 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.

19. The simple man said, "Now, go into another arbor there, and you shall find the right garment."

20. 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?

21. 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.

22. 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?

23. 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.

24. The simple man says, "How then does it stand with your love for the Lord because you are so afraid of Him?"

25. 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.

26. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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!

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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!

11. 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.

12. 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?

13. 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?

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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?

17. 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!

18. 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!

19. 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?

20. 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!

21. 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!

22. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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!

12. 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!

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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!

16. 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?

17. 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?

18. 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!

19. 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.

20. 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!

21. 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!

22. 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.

23. 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

1. 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.

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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!

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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?

12. 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!

13. 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!

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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!

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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?

13. 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

1. 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.

2. 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:

3. 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!

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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! -

12. 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 [man] 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.

13. 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.

14. And now look, the Lord is speaking to the heavenly married [men]: So, my brothers, let yourselves be led by your heavenly spouses and let every man take full possession of the everlasting goodness which God has prepared for him.

15. 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.

16. The Lord says, "Do you really want to give up your wife and your garment and your heavenly property to this brother?"

17. The Prior says, "Yes, O Lord, on the spot, and even if I would have to go back to my former dormitory.

18. 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?

19. 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?

20. 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?

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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:

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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'.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

to be continued in

The Spiritual Sun - vol 2

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 The Spiritual sun, a Spark of Grace of God 4

CHAPTER 2 The whole of nature a Gospel of God's order 7

CHAPTER 3 The clock, an agreeable image of the sun 9

CHAPTER 4 The natural and the spiritual sun, their different appearance 11

CHAPTER 5 About the Kingdom of God and man 13

CHAPTER 6 The spiritual cosmic diorama. The sphere of the first spirit 15

CHAPTER 7 The sphere of the second spirit. The foundation of life is the love of the Father. 17

CHAPTER 8 The sphere of the third spirit. An image of infinity 19

CHAPTER 9 The sphere of the fourth spirit. The mystery of the Son of man. 21

CHAPTER 10 The sphere of the fifth. The greatest wonder, the heart of man. 24

CHAPTER 11 The sphere of the sixth spirit. Peter the rock. 27

CHAPTER 12 The sphere of the seventh spirit. Enigmatic images of spiritual conditions. 29

CHAPTER 13 The swing at it’s corresponding image. Ceremonial religion cult and the worldly life. 32

CHAPTER 14 The ring wall in its corresponding image. Forms of the different Christian churches. 35

CHAPTER 15 The bowl with the laying scoop. The prophetic sphere of Daniel. 38

CHAPTER 16 The sphere of the eighth spirit. The world clock and the “last time”. The “New Jerusalem” from the sphere of Swedenborg. 41

CHAPTER 17 The sphere of the ninth spirit (Gospel of Mark). Guidance in the true spirit world. How the evil of physical love is seen in the hereafter. 44

CHAPTER 18 How usury takes on form in the hereafter 47

CHAPTER 19 How lust for power is expressed in the hereafter 50

CHAPTER 20 Hallway to hell 53

CHAPTER 21 Visit to the region of the evening 56

CHAPTER 22 The pre-order of the Children's Kingdom 59

CHAPTER 23 Who sows sparsely, will have a meager harvest 61

CHAPTER 24 Place and circumstances of stoics in the hereafter 64

CHAPTER 25 A Conversion of a better stoic 66

CHAPTER 26 Sequel to the visit to the Stoics 69

CHAPTER 27 The victory and redemption of a wise stoic 71

CHAPTER 28 The valleys of the rich, the learned, the handy and the intellectual people 74

CHAPTER 29 Kingdom of darkness and unbelief 76

CHAPTER 30 A spiritual philosopher and a fanatic 79

CHAPTER 31 Resort of darkness. There is wailing and gnashing of teeth 82

CHAPTER 32 Birth out of the darkness. In the first grade of light of life 86

CHAPTER 33 About spiritual appearances 88

CHAPTER 34 Mutual influence of married couples upon each other 90

CHAPTER 35 A married couple in the hereafter 93

CHAPTER 36 The couple and the lying spirit 96

CHAPTER 37 Weakness of the husband. The wife going to hell. 99

CHAPTER 38 In the first degree of hell 101

CHAPTER 39 Where are heaven and hell located! 105

CHAPTER 40 Where do the heathen find themselves in the hereafter! 108

CHAPTER 41 Visit to the Midday. The working of true faith and active love. 111

CHAPTER 42 The difference between journeys in the hereafter 114

CHAPTER 43 Peculiar environment and dwelling of blessed spirits 116

CHAPTER 44 Beauty and splendor of the midday. Teaching about the nature of love and wisdom 118

CHAPTER 45 The corresponding meaning of eating and drinking of the heavenly spirits. The heavenly marriage 121

CHAPTER 46 In the hill country of the eternal morning. A little love-test. How do you depict the Master for yourselves! 124

CHAPTER 47 The “Roman Catholic” heaven. In the most distant midday. 128

CHAPTER 48 Procession of the so-called ascension. 130

CHAPTER 49 Seated at Abraham’s table in the view of the holy trinity 133

CHAPTER 50 Untenability of this material apparition of heaven 136

CHAPTER 51 The true trinity. The sin against the Holy Spirit. 138

CHAPTER 52 The true poverty of the spirit. Danger of blind doubting. 141

CHAPTER 53 Surprises in the apparent heaven 143

CHAPTER 54 Rescue from the apparent heaven 146

CHAPTER 55 First solid dwelling after the apparent heaven. Incomprehensible tri-unity. The Christ of the Gospel. 148

CHAPTER 56 En route to Christ 150

CHAPTER 57 The residential palace of the company. The seed of the heavenly kingdom. God’s Word. 153

CHAPTER 58 Intense longing for the Lord. A test for love. The holy purpose. 155

CHAPTER 59 Arrival in the eternal morning. God’s power is limited by the education of the human mind. 157

CHAPTER 60 The Primordial God sun. Explanation about the personal, substantial omnipresence of the Master. 159

CHAPTER 61 The meal at the Father’s table. Lamb, bread, and wine. 162

CHAPTER 62 Visit to the Carmelites 165

CHAPTER 63 The confessing nun and the true confessing father 167

CHAPTER 64 Rescue of the poor captives. Judgement and the youngest day. 169

CHAPTER 65 A monks’ monastery. The Augustinian faith. 171

CHAPTER 66 Explanation of the organization of the Augustinian monastery 173

CHAPTER 67 Have Peter founded the Roman church! 176

CHAPTER 68 Dispute with an Augustine. Peter and Paul. 178

CHAPTER 69 The Augustinian monk in counsel 181

CHAPTER 70 The Paradise Augustinians 184

CHAPTER 71 In apparent captivity of the paradisiacal Augustinians. Their doubts about the correctness of their conduct. 186

CHAPTER 72 Prickly question, honest answer 188

CHAPTER 73 A question to the prior of the Augustinian monastery 190

CHAPTER 74 Enquiry after the love unto Christ 192

CHAPTER 75 A walk through the monastic heaven 194

CHAPTER 76 Inflation of the deceptive heaven 197

CHAPTER 77 Comedy play in the monastic heaven. The gigantic table and the eating of worlds. 199

CHAPTER 78 Second act of the heavenly comedy 201

CHAPTER 79 A glance at the true way to the true heaven 202

CHAPTER 80 Further exposition of the fallacious comedy. The spiritual life is guided along infinitely many ways. 204

CHAPTER 81 Third act on the tragically comical podium 206

CHAPTER 82 Arrival of the newly converted souls in the 'paradise garden'. Their acknowledgment of guilt. 208

CHAPTER 83 The Eternal Word as the Judgement Seat of Christ 210

CHAPTER 84 About sin against the Holy Spirit 212

CHAPTER 85 The Word of the Lord! The actual judge. 215

CHAPTER 86 The Master’s pure love is also in hell 217

CHAPTER 87 The difference between correct and wrongful use of the confession 219

CHAPTER 88 The prior’s trouble at the crevice. The true bridge of salvation. From death to life. 222

CHAPTER 89 The living prayer of the prior and its effect 224

CHAPTER 90 The simple man. Voluntary recognition of the prior. 226

CHAPTER 91 Prerequisite unto salvation. Crossing of the bridge. 228

CHAPTER 92 Three trials to test love’s willingness to serve 231

CHAPTER 93 The ability to appear in different places simultaneously. Exposition. 233

CHAPTER 94 Be discreet as the snakes and meek as the doves 235

CHAPTER 95 Even more testing. The beginning of reward. 238

CHAPTER 96 Everything must be exposed before the judgment seat of Christ. The prior finally recognizes the Lord. 241

CHAPTER 97 The testimony of a preacher 244

CHAPTER 98 The secret of true progress 247

CHAPTER 99 Another heavy test 249

CHAPTER 100 The heavenly destination 251

CHAPTER 101 Meaning of lead, pull and carry in the spiritual kingdom. 254

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 The Spiritual sun, a Spark of Grace of God 4

CHAPTER 2 The whole of nature a Gospel of God's order 7

CHAPTER 3 The clock, an agreeable image of the sun 9

CHAPTER 4 The natural and the spiritual sun, their different appearance 11

CHAPTER 5 About the Kingdom of God and man 13

CHAPTER 6 The spiritual cosmic diorama. The sphere of the first spirit 15

CHAPTER 7 The sphere of the second spirit. The foundation of life is the love of the Father. 17

CHAPTER 8 The sphere of the third spirit. An image of infinity 19

CHAPTER 9 The sphere of the fourth spirit. The mystery of the Son of man. 21

CHAPTER 10 The sphere of the fifth. The greatest wonder, the heart of man. 24

CHAPTER 11 The sphere of the sixth spirit. Peter the rock. 27

CHAPTER 12 The sphere of the seventh spirit. Enigmatic images of spiritual conditions. 29

CHAPTER 13 The swing at it’s corresponding image. Ceremonial religion cult and the worldly life. 32

CHAPTER 14 The ring wall in its corresponding image. Forms of the different Christian churches. 35

CHAPTER 15 The bowl with the laying scoop. The prophetic sphere of Daniel. 38

CHAPTER 16 The sphere of the eighth spirit. The world clock and the “last time”. The “New Jerusalem”

CHAPTER 17 The sphere of the ninth spirit (Gospel of Mark). Guidance in the true spirit world. How t

CHAPTER 18 How usury takes on form in the hereafter 47

CHAPTER 19 How lust for power is expressed in the hereafter 50

CHAPTER 20 Hallway to hell 53

CHAPTER 21 Visit to the region of the evening 56

CHAPTER 22 The pre-order of the Children's Kingdom 59

CHAPTER 23 Who sows sparsely, will have a meager harvest 61

CHAPTER 24 Place and circumstances of stoics in the hereafter 64

CHAPTER 25 A Conversion of a better stoic 66

CHAPTER 26 Sequel to the visit to the Stoics 69

CHAPTER 27 The victory and redemption of a wise stoic 71

CHAPTER 28 The valleys of the rich, the learned, the handy and the intellectual people 74

CHAPTER 29 Kingdom of darkness and unbelief 76

CHAPTER 30 A spiritual philosopher and a fanatic 79

CHAPTER 31 Resort of darkness. There is wailing and gnashing of teeth 82

CHAPTER 32 Birth out of the darkness. In the first grade of light of life 86

CHAPTER 33 About spiritual appearances 88

CHAPTER 34 Mutual influence of married couples upon each other 90

CHAPTER 35 A married couple in the hereafter 93

CHAPTER 36 The couple and the lying spirit 96

CHAPTER 37 Weakness of the husband. The wife going to hell. 99

CHAPTER 38 In the first degree of hell 101

CHAPTER 39 Where are heaven and hell located! 105

CHAPTER 40 Where do the heathen find themselves in the hereafter! 108

CHAPTER 41 Visit to the Midday. The working of true faith and active love. 111

CHAPTER 42 The difference between journeys in the hereafter 114

CHAPTER 43 Peculiar environment and dwelling of blessed spirits 116

CHAPTER 44 Beauty and splendor of the midday. Teaching about the nature of love and wisdom 118

CHAPTER 45 The corresponding meaning of eating and drinking of the heavenly spirits. The heavenly ma

CHAPTER 46 In the hill country of the eternal morning. A little love-test. How do you depict the Mas

CHAPTER 47 The “Roman Catholic” heaven. In the most distant midday. 128

CHAPTER 48 Procession of the so-called ascension. 130

CHAPTER 49 Seated at Abraham’s table in the view of the holy trinity 133

CHAPTER 50 Untenability of this material apparition of heaven 136