J. Arthur Findlay's Overview Commentary about Spiritualism

Dec 17

Divine Dispensations of Spiritualism Article #8

J. Arthur Findlay is the author of On the Edge of the Etheric (1931), The Unfolding Universe (1935), Where Two Worlds Meet (1951) and other books about Spiritualism. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) Today his name belongs to a college dedicated to the advancement of Spiritualism and 'psychic sciences' in the United Kingdom. This blog article presents a passage from The Rock of Truth (1933). The book was written at a time when Findlay expected Spiritualism to be widely acknowledged and accepted as offering lasting metaphysical insights to the established spiritual wisdom traditions of humanity. The following passage is from the opening portion of the seventh chapter, "Spiritualism, and what It Stands For." There are also some additional excerpts from the book chapters about Spiritualism. Findlay's perspective reflects an intelligent reckoning of the new Divine Dispensation of Spiritualism allied phenomena. Although some of his statements may not all be literally acceptable in the vaster knowledge resulting from the chronicling of 'paranormal initiation' during the years succeeding the Spiritualism epoch, there are many thoughts and expectations expressed by Findlay that offer reasonable insights regarding how Spiritualism may be defined in comparison to the formal religious traditions that have evolved during the course of centuries.

Spiritualism is not the faith of a sect or a cult; it does not rest on tradition, nor on writings, ancient or modern. It has no ecclesiastical organisation claiming to interpret God's purpose towards mankind. It has no forms and ceremonies, pomp or circumstance. What Spiritualism stands for is a fact of the same nature as the fact that we exist. It is the only realization that has ever come to man from a higher level of intelligence than exists on earth. It does not depend on the sayings or teachings of a past age, nor on inspired writings. It rests fundamentally on the fact that communication takes place between the inhabitants of this world and the inhabitants of the Etheric World. This is a scientifically established fact, and, once it is accepted, what follows is natural.

Under the required conditions, that is, in the presence of a Medium, voices quite apart from those of the sitters or the Medium speak and can be recognised. These voices are claimed to be the voices of those who once lived here on earth, who retain their earth memories, and claim relationship when it exists. They converse on subjects which concerned them and their friends while they lived on earth. They tell us that they have survived death, that death is only an incident in life, and that it results only in a change of appreciation of the conditions of life, as the result of discarding the physical body. They tell us that they have an Etheric Body, the exact duplicate of the Physical Body, and that this etheric duplicate was the real body on earth, which acted as the framework of the physical body. They also state that they are living in a real, tangible world, interpenetrating and surrounding our earth, composed of substance too fine for us in our physical bodies to sense and appreciate.

Once this fact of communication between those who once lived on earth and ourselves is accepted, everything that was relegated to the region of faith emerges into the full day of knowledge. Knowledge takes the place of faith, and consequently errors and conjectures are discarded.

We can converse freely with our friends in the Etheric World and with others whom we have never known on earth, people belonging to all religions and races. Though their environment is changed, the means of communication by word of mouth is still unaltered. They tell us that they live under better and happier conditions than those they knew on earth, and none has ever expressed the wish to come back to live on earth. This fact at once disposes of the creeds and dogmas of all religions, as we find that entrance to the Etheric World does not necessitate any passport. Those who have passed on from the world to the Etheric World, and those who come back and speak to us, tell us that they are living together happily in companionship with those who had different beliefs on earth, and even with those who had no beliefs whatever. When asked questions on the subject of belief they tell us that earth beliefs count for nothing with them, and that these are soon forgotten, after we leave the earth. This is not surprising to intelligent people. Why should God wait till we die to punish us? Could He not do so here just as easily? Moreover, people of divergent opinions live happily together on earth, so why should they not in Heaven?

Our Etheric friends tell us that they can now comprehend things more clearly, and have a better understanding of the problems of existence than they had on earth. They tell us that they are instructed and guided by higher intelligences than their own, and that these greater and wiser people were once men and women like ourselves who lived on earth, but having lived so much longer and being so much more experienced than are our friends, their guidance and help are of the greatest value to all wishing to gain further knowledge and wisdom.

Here on earth we are limited in our ideas and in all that appertains to sight and hearing and the other senses. We may be likened to the Caddis worm living at the bottom of a pond, which, when the day comes for its liberation, sheds its sheath and becomes the Caddis fly, with all the expansion of faculties which such a change of condition implies. It can now sense something of the beauties of earth, which hitherto had been denied to it. So with our friends who have passed on. They have a wider vision and a greater knowledge, and they use the opportunities afforded them of conversing with us on earth to tell us something more about the Universe, something about their world, which has the effect of increasing our understanding, and making us realise more clearly the relationship of each created thing to the Universe, of which it is a part.

Just in so far as our capacity to understand increases, are we given information from those in the Etheric World, whose duty it is to guide and direct us here on earth. The ordinary individual attending a séance for the first time will doubtless get into touch with some friend or relative who will without difficulty give him ample proof that he still lives. This satisfies the great majority of enquirers, but only to those who wish to get beyond ordinary conversation is deeper knowledge imparted. A high dignitary of the Church of England recently publicly expressed the view that only trivial remarks were ever made at séances. He had never been to a séance, but this is what he thought was the case. If he had gone to one and received trivial remarks, as he called them, from friends of his on the other side who were anxious to prove their existence in another world, the reason of their being trivial would have been that his mind was entirely limited to earth conditions. I was with him once in the company of a man of eminence who had made a great study of psychic phenomena and the conditions ruling in the Etheric World. Though every opportunity was given to this churchman, he never took the trouble to avail himself of the opportunities offered. His mind was not capable of grasping the subject, and so it is with everyone save those whose minds are capable of grasping the deeper problems of life.

It is therefore only those who have kept an open mind, and have put aside prejudice and are willing to learn, who receive information surpassing that of others, however learned, who have acquired their knowledge only from what can be seen and heard outside the séance room. Spiritualists are thus guided by higher intelligences in the Etheric World, and the basic teachings of Spiritualism come from the great minds of those who, though they have passed through death, yet endeavour to guide and help mankind on earth. The basis of their teaching is very simple, so simple that the simplest of us can understand it. The basis of Spiritualism is contained in what are called the Seven Principles of Spiritualism and are accepted by Spiritualists in every part of the globe, not as an act of faith, but because the same teachings are given from the Etheric World to all who make contact with it, no matter where they be.

Those who call themselves Spiritualists believe that it can be accepted as scientifically proved that:—

(1) The universe is governed by Mind, commonly called God. That we all have sensed, do sense, or will sense, is but Mind expressing itself in some form or another.

(2) The existence and identity of the individual continues after the change called death.

(3) Communication under suitable conditions takes place between us here on earth and the inhabitants of the Etheric World, into which we shall all pass at death.

On these three fundamental principles, which Spiritualists believe are scientifically proved, the following logical deductions are naturally drawn from the information which comes to us from those who have passed on to this larger life.

(4) That our ethical conduct should be guided by the golden rule, given first to our world by the great Confucius. "Whatsoever you would that others do to you, do it also unto them."

(5) That each individual is his own Saviour, and that he cannot look to someone else to bear his sins and suffer for his mistakes.

(6) That each individual reaps as he sows, and that he makes his happiness or unhappiness just as he harmonises with his surroundings. That he gravitates naturally to the place in the Etheric World in harmony with his desires, as there desires can be gratified more easily than here on earth.

(7) And finally, that the path of progress is never closed, and that there is no known end to the advancement of the individual.

The foregoing are the Seven Principles of Spiritualism. They can be accepted by the intelligent Christian or Jew, Mohammedan or Buddhist, Hindu or Confucianist. These Seven Principles contain all that is needed by the average man or woman. They act as a guide to our conduct on earth, they give the necessary urge for improving our conduct and strengthening our character, they give us something to live for, and they give the basis for an understanding of man's origin and destiny. No one need ever fear getting old, as age is only an earth condition, Lastly, they give comfort in sorrow, especially in sorrow occasioned by parting as a result of death.

Besides this, when these principles are accepted and all the creeds and dogmas and ceremonials which surround orthodox religion everywhere have faded away, mankind will be knit together by one common belief, as would have always been the case but for ignorance. There is no darkness but ignorance. Spiritualism is filling the world with intellectual light. When mankind is bound together by the common link of Spiritualism, humanity will become as one family, and thus will be brought about the brotherhood of man, so longed for by the great minds of the past. When mankind realises his origin and his destiny and is convinced that his conduct here will determine his place hereafter, wars will cease, and our social conditions will improve beyond anything we can possibly imagine. The time wasted trying to placate the Almighty will be used for more useful purposes, and man will at last have become a rational being. . . .

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Statements about Spiritualism by J. Arthur Findlay (from The Rock of Truth)

. . . it gives a scientific explanation of the reasons for man's existence here on earth and the proof positive of his continued existence after death.

It is the basis for all the religions of the past . . .

. . . we have to-day in our midst many who have this same psychic power, through which we can get into contact with the great intelligences of the Etheric World, who are able and willing to guide us throughout our earthly existence.

We are all part of the directing and creating Mind, and through Mind we are related to the guiding Intelligence of the Universe.

. . . instances could be given from the beginning of history of how a small minority or an individual has kept a nation in ignorance and in servitude, or driven it on to war. The reason of course is that an uneducated individual is like an animal.

We have still to take the next step, when all the nations of the world will be bound together in one human family.

The Universal Mind is the Thinking substance of the Universe, and it is forever seeking expression.

. . . all is Mind varying in degrees of motion.

What we call physical matter . . . is just this motion at a certain fixed rate of vibration.

Etheric matter which we do not sense is matter at another fixed rate of vibration . . .

The Etheric World is different to every type of mind.

From the etheric has all life come and to it will it return.

To try to explain the Universe from a physical standpoint, therefore becomes obviously ridiculous.