Page:The astral world, higher occult powers; (IA astralworldhighe00tiff).pdf/68

 *ciate the idea of sphere with that of place. The persons in this room are all together, so far as space is concerned, but so far as sentiment or sphere is concerned you may be at heaven-wide distances. While one is in rapport with celestial affections, holding communion with the Divine Father, the other may be in rapport with Spiritual beings, holding a communion with the angels; and a third may be in rapport with the infernal, holding communion with the spheres of lust. It is not a question of place, but simply a question of condition. If you and I are in the condition of lust in our affections and perceptions, if we associate with others in the same condition, heart thrills to heart, just as in the moral or divine sphere heart answers to heart. Each in his own plane seeks that which is adapted to his own nature. I say, therefore, do not connect the idea of place with that of sphere.

Man is a little universe—a microscosm. This sphere of lust is within him, from which the dark sphere of the Spiritual world is developed. Those who are in the sphere of lust on the earth respond to the inhabitants of this dark sphere of the Spiritual world. So also in the Spiritual spheres is the development of man's relational love. Man in fulfilling his relational duties lays the foundation of the Spiritual Paradise. Thus man rises and dwells in different spheres according to the development of his affections. If we love our neighbor as such, and seek after the redemption of man on his own account, we become allied to that band of guardian angels whose mission it is to watch over him and to stimulate in him impulses to resist that which is evil and impure. We become guardian angels,