I end up on the wrong side of a debate on Spiritualism... “Hereafter” not my cup of tea.... Topaz... Wise words from Jim Brown...

Sunday 11^th February I attended the AGM at The Glasgow Association.  (SNU)

 12^th it was voluntary work and then on to a discussion group where the topic for the evening “Do only the vulnerable in our society accept Spiritualism?”    More about this in a moment.

 14^th - A trip to Perth Spiritualist Church (SNU) where there is always a great welcome from Ivy & Co

 15^th – taking part with a few selected people in a “Psychometry experiment”.

 17^th - I took the second of my six workshops at Somerset Place. (SNU)

 18^th – I was off to Edinburgh Spiritualist Church (SNU) Albany Street.

 19^th -24^th – we took a small break and headed south east to Scarborough.

 The courtesy call I got to make sure I would fulfil my booking at a Debating Group should have left me a bit puzzled and I should have phoned back.  The secretary of the club chatted away about everything but what the debate was to be about.  My past visits to this club the themes have been loosely on Spiritualism and paranormal research, so maybe being a bit complacent I decided to go with the flow and did no preparation.

The secretary had been a bit devious in not giving me details of the evening, because even although the debate was about Spiritualism I was in the team trying to debunk our religion.  I was a bit uneasy about this but decided not to ask to change sides.  Gerry, the leader of the other team made in clear in the other debates that I attended with this group that he was against all religion.   So I would play it by ear and put as much effort into the debate as he did.  It turned out to be a most interesting evening as Gerry had put a lot of research into it and fought spiritualism’s corner well.   There could have been no better result at the end of the evening, seeing the change of roles, the vote was a tie and the chairman decided not to take the casting vote.

 I think it was a learning curve for the two of us who were ‘on the wrong side’ so to speak.  For the next few days I started looking at how those who cannot accept Spiritualism look at us and Gerry phoned me to say he was thinking in-depth in the opposite direction.

An unsigned email

Tom did you think the Clint Eastwood film “Hereafter” was anything like the real thing?

I seldom watch any TV programme or films that are connected with the spirit world.  Only two such pprogrammes that I watched were; -

 “Medium”, the first two series I felt were passable.  But after that I felt that each storyline had to be more successful that the last to keep good viewing figures. 

“ Ghost Whisperer” I also only watched the first two series but I did not abandon this programme because I felt it was going over the top it was more that I did not have time to watch television..

“The Lovely Bones” was the only film in this genre that I watched and I have no complaints about it.  I will just say say that it was thought provoking.

I find the real thing so much more interesting than fiction.

Maxine sent the following email

“My daughter is now the proud owner of her first pony and they will soon be taking part in pony club activities.  I am a bit concerned for both of them.   I remember reading that there is a semi-precious stone that protects both rider and horse.  Can you help me please”?

Hi Maxine.  Sorry I have taken so long to get back to you on this as it took some time to trace this stone, but I eventually found the stone you were thinking off.  It is Turquoise. 

European Spiritual Myths from as far back as the middle ages have   believed that this stone could protect horses from danger and illnesses as well as the rider from any fall that might occur while riding.

There are many spiritual myths about Turquoise from all around the world and you may wish to research the many properties turquoise is said to possess.

As promised - more wise words from Jim Brown...

We would become more content with our lives, so instead of facing the world with a dissatisfied mind that is continually crying out for more and better material things we will transform our attitude so that whatever situation we are in we can feel happy and contented and our life will be more meaningful.

 In learning about spiritualism and Spiritual Enfoldment we have to be very practical and to the point without getting distracted into useless speculation.

 For instance, take the story of the man who was run down by a car. Before consenting to have any treatment for his injuries he insisted in knowing the name of the car owner, the type of car and the make presumably to make a claim for compensation.

 Perhaps he would die before learning the answers to a lot of unhelpful information. The crucial thing for him at that time was to be treated for his injuries immediately to prevent further complications.

 Likewise, while we are engaged in the development and learning of our inner self, if we allow ourselves to be sidetracked by useless speculation about irrelevant subjects that we can’t possible answer immediately then we are impeding our own advancement. It is much wiser and beneficial to get on with what is important.

 In Buddhism, they have a little story of the three faulty pots which is used to explain how obstructions can obstruct the learning process.

The first pot is sitting upside down therefore; nothing can be poured into it. This is like trying to reading a book while watching the television.

 There are so many distractions from the television that very little of what is being read goes into the mind.

The second pot is sitting upright but has a hole in the bottom. Something can be poured in but it doesn’t stay there for long. The book may be read with little attention but if we are asked sometime later, what it was about, we can’t remember.

 The third pot is also sitting upright but this one is very dirty. If we were to pour clean, fresh milk into it would stay there but it would become undrinkable. This can be compared to filtering what we read, through our own preconceived ideas. We won’t understand the subject referred to because we have polluted it with our own misinterpretations. 

 It can be difficult to set aside our preconceptions because sometimes we aren’t always aware that our ideas are prejudiced.

 When we have understood the spiritual way in its own context then we will be more successful in seeing how it corresponds with philosophy and science and other religions.

We should learn and practice spirituality according to our own abilities so that we improve the quality of our lives. In this way, we will gradually come to understand and appreciate the teachings that may have seemed difficult or unimportant.

 The goal in spiritualism is simplicity and clarity. With simplicity, we leave behind hypocrisy and selfishness, therefore letting impartial love and compassion grow in our minds. With clarity, we abandon the confusion of ignorance replacing it with direct perception of reality.

I will close by saying to those of you, who are new to spiritualism and may wish to develop your own awareness of spirit, be dedicated to your studies and understand our teachings.

I am still waiting on background information on Jock McArther and Tilda Wilson...