USB Teachings

 

The following sections introduce the scope and content of the USB’s teachings.

 

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Their Scope

The scope of the USB’s teachings is indicated by the following table of contents from its principal publication, Spiritual Light (page numbers are per the paperback edition; links are to full or partial text under Bookstore/Spiritual Light/Front Pages and Chapters, etc.)

About the Contributorsxiii
How to Use This Bookxv
Introduction1
Preface9
Greetings from an Illumined Soul13
An Offer and a Call15

THE BASIS

Chapter 1.The Universal Spiritual Brother&Sisterhood21
Origins, values, outlook

Chapter 2.Teachings and Reason39
Teachings of the new age, thought, reason

Chapter 3.Truth49
The nature of truth, searching for truth, spreading truth

Chapter 4. The Laws That Govern73 (condensed)
On laws, responsibility, service, justice, love, attraction, life

Chapter 5.Love85
God, love, service, prayer

THE WORLDLY

Chapter 6.The Individual107
Characteristics, knowledge and understanding, medical aspects

Chapter 7.Personal Responsibility and Behavior123
Will, personal responsibility, integrity and standards, attitudes, behavior, right living, directing our efforts,
personal progress

Chapter 8.Our World191
This material world, humans, these times, good and bad, crime, leadership and example, freedom, challenges

Chapter 9.Everyday Life251
Relationships, family, health, sleep, time and cycles, sound and color

Chapter 10.The Divining Arts285
Prediction, astrology, palmistry, phrenology, psychometry, hypnosis

THE SPIRITUAL

Chapter 11.Phenomena315
Types and methods of unorthodox healing, about healers, materialization and plasms, other phenomena,
psychic experiences

Chapter 12.Survival and Communication365
Survival, mediums, mediumship, spirit guides and friends, communication, home circles

Chapter 13.Spirit Life421
The spirit realms, our spirit makeup, spirit existence, living in the spirit realms

Chapter 14.Spiritual Progress467
Spirituality, challenges, responsibilities, forgiveness, enlightenment, the path, the USB view

Appendices493
A.Addresses by Illumined Souls495
B.Error and Misteachings505
C.Reincarnation533
D.Operation of the USB537
E.The USB Leaflet557
F.Glossary565

Index 573

 

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Their Essence

The USB emphasizes high and pure teachings and philosophy, given by Great (Illumined) Souls.

In order to bring peace and harmony to our world, they teach that humanity needs to live in accord with God’s perfect spiritual laws. (They see so much suffering on earth, and that life on earth itself is too often in serious danger.)

They teach:

• There is no cause greater than Truth.
• Truth includes God’s Laws. [See below.]
• We should accept nothing unthinkingly, from anywhere (including from the USB).
• Because we are all children of the one living and loving God, we are all spiritual sisters and brothers without exception. We should always remain conscious of this, and treat people accordingly.
• Only in love and unselfish service to fellow travelers can we truly love and serve God.

 

Other Key Teachings

Personal teachings:

Personal spiritual teachings:

Teachings on spirituality:

Truth and spiritual Laws:

God and love:

The universe is governed by Law.

God is That Which Is All-Good, a God of Love and Wisdom,
of Law and Justice, and is the Indescribable.

Love is the greatest basis of spiritual life.

It is love that inspires people.

True love does not think of self.

If we cannot love people, let us pray to understand them.

Prayer must be intense, concentrated, and from the heart.

 

Service:

The USB view:

There are so many wonderful teachings about a great variety of other subjects,
such as our world, everyday life, divining arts, phenomena, mediumship,
spirit communication, the spirit realms, and the USB.
Above, you may read the full scope of those teachings.

 

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The USB’s Principal Book

The USB’s principal book, Spiritual Light, is the only complete official collection of its teachings. It comprises over 600 pages. How the information was transmitted and compiled is described in its Introduction, reproduced on our Spiritual Light page.

The book is copyrighted, but it may be quoted and/or copied under certain conditions described on its copyright page.

The essence of the USB teachings, with extracts and examples, is given in the section above this.

The specific subjects addressed in Spiritual Light are indicated two sections above, under Their Scope (of the USB Teachings).

You can find more introductory information about Spiritual Light, including the back cover and most of the front matter, by visiting Spiritual Light.

A variety of sample teachings is given below in the following sections.

AVAILABILITY OF THE BOOK

Please visit the USB Bookstore for more information.

 

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Samples of USB Teachings

 

Truth Two Safeguards in the Search for Truth THE LAW—and The Laws Excerpts on Spirituality

Disappointments and Disillusionments—and the Secret A Little about Twin Souls The Greatest Need

These seven samples are taken from the USB’s principal book, Spiritual Light.
(Numbers, like 301, refer to topic numbers in Spiritual Light.)

301 Truth

Truth slowly walks; the lie and half truth fly.
But truth, in time, will pass the others by;
For truth is deathless, while the others die.

310 Two Safeguards in the Search for Truth

Ever swelling are the ranks of those who search for Truth, as more and more people, realizing that there must be more to existence than appears on the surface, seek answers to questions and solutions to problems.

But ever swelling, too, is the flood of printed material that is produced to capitalize on the quest. Unfortunately, most of this material does little to enlighten the readers and much to confuse them, so that it eventually discourages many from continuing the search.

For as a rule, too many publications portray things vividly but inaccurately. They quote one another, or quote from books and “authorities” that usually offer at least as much error as truth and at least as much fancy as fact; and as we emphasize, errors and fancies, repeated often enough, are often unthinkingly accepted by people. Such publications often present conflicting theories and conflicting philosophies, apparently in the hope that each reader will find something palatable; and unthinking individuals then are likely to accept a ton of fiction with an ounce [grams] of truth, not knowing which is which.

Among the safeguards the seeker has—safeguards that more people should exercise—are the following. To suspend opinion about any theory or statement that could not affect one’s existence for the better. And to accept only what one’s reason embraces and one’s inner being senses is both true and vital to living according to The Laws That Govern.

402 THE LAW—and The Laws

There are innumerable Laws That Govern, and that together make up THE LAW. They are Truth, being eternal and operating everywhere on all levels of existence.

THE LAW is universal in its application, but personal in its interpretation. In other words, while THE LAW governs the entire universe, our understanding of it will vary, according to the level of our consciousness. We should strive to live according to our highest perception of THE LAW; and the more we evolve, the greater will be our perception.

We should not expect others to interpret the Laws precisely as we ourselves do. Nor should we try to force our own interpretations on them.

What we can do is to plant a seed here and there; and if the ground is fertile, the seed will eventually take root. Then we can nourish the plant with light and water, always taking care to provide no more than it can readily absorb. Too much sun would wither it; too much water could uproot it.

Whereas laws made by people, like creeds and dogmas made by people, cast only a shadow, the Laws that come from The Source of Light shed light.

The Laws That Govern are simple—as is all Truth and Beauty. And we should express the Laws simply, if we wish to bring that light to others.

608 Excerpts on Spirituality

Spirituality is by far the most important of our noble qualities.

It is part of our consciousness, and therefore part of our mentality.

The nobler our character and ideals and aspiration and efforts, the greater is our spirituality.

The higher our level of moral consciousness (with a compulsion to do right, not wrong), the more spiritual we are.

. . . . . .

Spirituality is evidenced less by words than by deeds. For those who have the eyes to see, spirituality, if any, and the degree of that spirituality, is evidenced by our way of life, by the way we express ourselves in all things, great and small.

Our aura records the sum total of what we are, including our spirituality.

. . . . . .

Someone who is spiritual:

. . . . . .

We benefit spiritually from giving only if the motive is selfless, without any expectation of reward.

We can grow in stature spiritually from the way we respond to challenges that problems present us.

It is spiritual development, much more than psychic development, that makes contact with Illumined Souls possible.

As we evolve spiritually, that greatest part of us that is not our divine spark becomes more and more godlike.

728 Disappointments and Disillusionments—and the Secret

Life not infrequently brings disappointment and disillusionment—in things, in people, in events.

Those we trust, may fail us. Those whose support we expect, may oppose us. What we have taken years to build, may topple in an instant. Whichever way we turn, a wall may face us. Strive though we do, we may make no progress. We may be misunderstood, hated, vilified, or slandered.

If disappointment and disillusionment flood us from time to time, let us not reproach ourselves. Living in this world, how can we escape such emotions?

Even great souls, who remain human despite the spiritual heights they have attained, at times know disillusionment and disappointment in some of us from whom they hope so much. And if they, with their far vaster wisdom and enlightenment, and their greater perspective of life, can be touched by such feelings, much more so can we.

We can do what they do at such moments. We can send out love, where there is hate. We can pray for light, where there is darkness. We can be tolerant, even of the intolerant. Most important of all, we can reject all feelings of revenge and bitterness and every other unspiritual emotion.

It may be difficult to resist the impulse to meet hate with hate, bitterness with bitterness, unkindness with unkindness; but it can be done.

Resist the impulse, and with every stand
The impulse is the easier to command.

. . . . . .

As we have said elsewhere: It may be hard to be patient with those who are consumed with envy and jealousy, or who lie and vilify and slander. But if we are patient with the blind and the lame, and others who are physically afflicted, surely we should be patient with those who are spiritually afflicted—for spiritual ills are far greater than physical ills, and have far greater consequences.

1321 A Little about Twin Souls

A great deal has been said and written about twin souls. Much that is expressed, however, is more fanciful than true, and so we present a few facts on a most intriguing subject. Those who accept these facts will recognize some common misteachings for what they are.

Twin souls is a term used for the two halves of one soul—using soul in the sense of a human being; a person (and not in the USB’s usual meaning of the spark of God within each individual).

For some purpose or purposes unknown to us, all souls were at one time divided into two, to go their separate ways for varying spans of time before eventually reaching the stage where they can reunite for good.

There are many conjectures as to why such division or separation took place, but they remain just that: conjectures. When Illumined Souls of almost incredible wisdom and spiritual elevation do not know the reason or reasons for it, we can resist the theories of those of lesser stature.

There are certain things that must remain beyond our comprehension, certainly at least while we are living on earth, and perhaps long, long after. But while we do not know the why or how or when of twin souls, we can know some things about them, including the lasting and rapturous reunion that it is possible for them, in time, to achieve.

In describing The Law of Affinity, we noted that it is, in a sense, the finest distillation, the purest essence, of The Law of Attraction. For while we may attract or be attracted to many, we have only one affinity—our twin soul, whom few of us meet on earth.

People often say they have, or feel, an affinity with someone, when it is actually just an attraction to someone—a vastly different thing.

The Law of Affinity is definite: one has an affinity to one—and only one.

. . . . . .

It is not unusual for twin souls to accept different pathways for literally ages. They may not meet even if they both live on earth. And unless at least one of the pair is aware of its eternal tie to another, and thus naturally longs and reaches out for the other, they may not meet even if both live in the spirit world.

When twin souls reach the point where neither needs any of the experiences and opportunities that earth alone offers, they may, if they wish, become reunited, permanently this time, as one soul. The fusion of twin souls is an exceedingly delicate, long, and intricate process—but a glorious one!—that is completed only in realms beyond the Celestial, however much earlier it may begin.

. . . . . .

The love between twin souls of profound spirituality is truly the great love, the romance magnificent, the passion sublime—dwarfing all other loves, beautiful and wonderful though some of those other loves are. Can there be a greater incentive to evolving as rapidly as we can, than the knowledge of an affinity and the matchless love that only twin souls of high spiritual stature can experience?

1431 The Greatest Need

Awareness of the Laws that Govern is always needed. Knowledge of Survival and Communication is always needed. Spiritual mediumship is always needed.

But the greatest need today is the realization that all people are sisters and brothers, children of a living and loving God.

There is not one of us who cannot express that truth—by the way we live, by the words we say, by the things we do, by a smile or greeting or handclasp for those we meet, and by the love in our heart for all people everywhere.

The wounds people have inflicted upon one another have been bitterest when some have looked down upon others because of the color of their skin, or the slant of their eyes, or the way that they worship. We can help to bind the wounds by showing love to all who cross our path, and by both proclaiming and living by the principles of The Universal Spiritual Brother&Sisterhood.

 

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USB Teachings on Healing

 

Four Phases of Unorthodox Healing About the Mechanics of Healing Healing, and Prayers for Healing

These three samples are taken from the USB’s copyrighted book, Spiritual Light.

1101–2 Four Phases of Unorthodox Healing

Other than the traditional healing arts practiced in the medical and allied professions, there are four main manifestations of unorthodox healing arts.

It has become the practice in some quarters to deride the work and efforts of those practicing unorthodox healing. We don’t.

Many unorthodox healers, including those who do splendid work in their field, have little idea of either the various types of healing or the actual mechanics of healing. Nor are all aware of the host of skilled spirit specialists without whom innumerable “miraculous” healings would not be possible. [Clearly many such healers are mediums.]

There is much confusion about different kinds of unorthodox healing, certainly at least in the terms used. “Spirit healing” and “spiritual healing” are often used interchangeably, for example, although they are not the same thing.

A USB Inspirer has clarified and described the four main forms: magnetic healing, mental healing, spirit healing, and spiritual healing.

Magnetic Healing

Some people have a superabundance of magnetic curative essence, manufactured within their physical [earthly] bodies. When they enter the auric emanation of someone who needs relief from a physical condition, there exudes from their being—usually from their fingertips or from any of the orifices of their body—a magnetic curative essence that gravitates to the part of the patient’s body that needs rehabilitation, when mentally directed there.

Such healing is magnetic healing—which may or may not be permanent, depending on whether enough of the healing essence is absorbed, and on whether the patient is mentally receptive.

Mental Healing

Mental healing is the conscious directing of the flow of vital healing force [essence, energy] either to one’s own body or to those at a distance.

In the latter case, it is often called absent healing. We much prefer the term distant healing.

Spirit Healing

Spirit healing takes place when a spirit being enters the auric emanations of a medium and uses the physical vehicle of the medium to heal another person.

Many of our spirit friends continue to work along the lines they practiced on earth. Thus a spirit who was an osteopathic physician on earth, might manipulate the medium’s hands.

If the spirit friend was a diagnostician, he or she might diagnose, using what we could call X-ray clairvoyance to see what was wrong. If trained to heal, the spirit friend might then also be able to correct the condition.

A healing channel [medium] sometimes is the instrument for many healing workers, each skilled in a different field, and each contributing to the over-all work of the team [or band].

Spiritual Healing

Spiritual healing takes place when one or more spirit people heal the patient directly.

In other words, in spiritual healing there is no earthly channel or intermediary used.

1106 A Little about the Mechanics of Healing

Healing is not as simple as it seems.

Most of the uninformed—among them many healing channels themselves—think that all “healers” have to do is to place their hands on [or near] a person [the so-called “laying on of hands”], to bring about a cure; or to raise their arms with the palms of their hands facing an audience, for a supply of healing essence to originate from their being and flow to those in need. But it just does not happen that way.

Even in private healing, where patients are treated one by one, alone—and where, by the way, the vast majority of lasting cures are accomplished—there are at least several members in a healer’s spirit team including diagnosticians, physicians, scientists, and chemical engineers, and they play an important and vital role in the alleviation or cure of ills. Among their other duties:

— They help to raise the rate of vibration, so that healing may be more easily accomplished.

— They extract from the atmosphere, and from articles in the environment, or bring in from the outside, chemicals that the patient lacks.

— They regulate the flow of healing essence or essences, so that the patient receives no more than he or she can comfortably absorb.

— They try to induce the patient to relax, or relax further, so as to be more receptive to the healing flow.

(Water is a great cleanser of vibrations; that is why some who heal by the “laying on of hands” take pains to rinse their hands before and after treating any patient.)

1111 Healing, and Prayers for Healing—Some Things to Remember

For a clear picture of the relationship between prayer and healing, several things must be understood.

The first is that when we pray to the God of our understanding, we should not assume, as almost everyone assumes, that we are praying to the very same God of everyone else’s understanding. That is just not so.

The higher our spiritual consciousness—that is, the higher we have evolved spiritually—the higher our conception of God. There are literally millions of different conceptions of God; and it is to these different conceptions of God that different people pray.

Many spirit people can “tune in” to an earnest prayer, which is an intense and concentrated thought expressed silently or aloud. Among them may be some with the skill and ability to accomplish that which is prayed for. But usually our own guides and spirit friends pass our prayers along or upward. It is as if our prayers climb a ladder until they reach their destination. If, as often happens, our own spirit associates can relieve or cure a condition, there is of course no need for our prayers to travel farther.

Another point to remember is that an affliction or tendency to an affliction that we are born with is much more difficult to cure or arrest than that same affliction acquired later.

One might say, as many do: “Why pray for healing at all! Having all-wisdom, God knows our problems and our needs!”

It is true that God (or our conception of God) does know our problems and our needs. But God is a God not of caprice, but of Law; God expresses through Law, let us never forget. When we ask, when we pray, we set a Law in motion; and a prayer for healing, whether for ourselves or for others, is a request for aid from those skilled in the particular field of healing needed.

There are spirit specialists in different fields of healing, just as there are specialists in different branches of medicine on earth. But of course they have other duties and responsibilities also, and instruction to receive if they wish to acquire further knowledge. So apart from those on earth with whom they may be linked by the Law of Attraction, they occasionally attend others, assuming they have the time, usually only when asked—either by the sufferer, or by the sufferer’s friends on either side of life.

Still another point to bear in mind is this: Whether on earth or in spirit life, we assume great responsibility if we venture without invitation into a situation that is not our direct and immediate concern. We are responsible for what we think, say, and do; and what we say and do, unasked, with respect to others, is a still more serious thing. Many on earth have learned the wisdom of refraining from giving counsel on certain matters, or taking part in certain activities, unless invited to do so. So of course have many spirit people.

We would stress another point. In itself, the mere petition or prayer neither brings healing to us, nor prepares us to be receptive to it. But by setting a Law in motion, it invites others to help us if they can, and, if they cannot, to relay the plea to those who can, provided the circumstances are favorable.

Another thing to remember is that in prayer one usually is quiet; and to be quiet is a step towards being receptive. Of the millions who pray, however, too many pray in desperation; and in that very desperation is a tenseness and a tightness that may prevent them from absorbing much of the healing essence directed to them. Mental attitude is most important in prayer; and when one prays with expectation and a joyous anticipation of the result, one is more receptive to what is available.

 

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USB Teachings on Mediumship

 

Of Psychics and Mediums Use and Misuse of Mediumship Three Points on Spirit Communication

These three samples are taken from the USB’s copyrighted book, Spiritual Light.

1205 Of Psychics and Mediums

The difference between psychics and mediums is not always clearly recognized.

A psychic is a person [on earth] who is sensitive to forces or influences of a seemingly supernatural nature.

A medium is not only a psychic but, much more importantly, a channel used by spirit people to communicate with people on earth and to help in making some other psychic phenomena possible.

While all mediums are psychic, not all psychics are mediums. It is something to bear in mind. And while almost everyone is psychic in one degree or another, comparatively few individuals have potential mediumship.

There are other significant differences.

— A major one is that while almost all mediums know and acknowledge the truths of Survival and Communication, most psychics either do not know them or, if they do, fail to acknowledge them for one reason or another.

— The psychic centers are far more developed in the average medium than in the average psychic, and mediums are consequently far more sensitive to vibrations of any sort, physical as well as non-physical.

— Most mediums can usually tell whether a thought or impression comes from a spirit person or from someone on earth. Most psychics can not.

— Too many psychics, unaware of the fact that we receive thoughts and impressions from others on earth and in spirit life, believe that either God or they themselves are the source of all they proclaim. Certainly their rate of error is proof enough that the former is absolutely not the case.

1220 Use and Misuse of Mediumship

Mediumship is unquestionably one of the greatest talents that a person can possess; but unless it is accompanied by spirituality, it is a doubtful blessing.

What is harmful is not the use, but the misuse, of any force; and psychic power—like fire, electricity, and atomic energy—can be used either for good or for bad. The choice is ours.

Apart from fraud—which is perpetrated by a few practitioners in almost every field—many mediums too often restrict their psychic force to the trivialities of an elementary level of communication.

Proof of Survival is of course vital and important. It is a first step, and a most important step, to Truth revealed through mediumship. But it is only a first step; it is by no means the entire journey—a journey of almost unimaginable beauty.

Another thing to remember is that the desire for power—control or command over others—is expressed in many fields by many people, including a few unscrupulous mediums who, behind a facade of humbleness, suggest or imply that they are the repository of wisdom available to few if any others. That “wisdom,” unfortunately, is usually a hotchpotch of errors compiled from various sources and augmented by some original, deliberate misteachings.

. . . . . .

An Illumined Soul says:

“We must remember that the limitations are set not by us, but by the instruments we use. And if the instruments that we use are open in their heart and mind, free in their heart and mind and spirit, if they can put themselves in the background… if they can be humble and know they are in the world to serve God and humanity, then indeed it is possible for us to do great things.”

Another sums it up succinctly.

“We realize that mediumship properly used in the right way can be a tremendous blessing and boon to humanity. But… it can also be used to enslave people.”

. . . . . .

As far as fraud is concerned, it is a fact that from time to time there are mediums who prostitute the very Truth they profess to serve. In the United States some decades ago, there was complete and overwhelming proof of the most heartless fraud at “materializations” at a world-famous Mecca of mediumship. England too, has had its share of mediums who prey upon the public. So have other countries.

That the number is not greater is at least largely due to those psychic publications that expose such malpractice as soon as they are aware of it.

In any case, the ranks of charlatans and rogues are insignificant compared with the great majority of mediums, in the public eye or in unpublicized home circles, who are in every way beyond reproach.

. . . . . .

Despite their recognition of the wrongs that some mediums do, Illumined Souls do not condemn them. Again and again they say: “We do not condemn any soul!” In their gentleness and compassion, their main feeling is sorrow for those who fail to use their psychic force for good only. One of them has said:

“Some of the instruments that we have used or endeavored to use, in many respects though we have great regard for them, nevertheless have failed us, and in consequence have failed themselves which… is even more to be concerned with. For we are saddened to see those who have the power of the spirit upon them neglect their duties in regard to the things that they have to do.”

1234 Three Points Relating to Spirit Communication

Personal interpretation is part of our mentality, no matter who or where we are, or whether or not we live in a physical body.

In the great majority of cases, what exalted beings share with people on earth does not come to us directly, but is relayed through many souls. The personal interpretations of those in the “relay” may sometimes so color and distort a communication that it bears little or no resemblance to the original by the time it reaches its destination.

The recipient’s personal interpretation must also be considered, whether or not a communication is altered in transmission.

. . . . . .

Spirit communicators who are less than highly evolved, in their desire to impress, sometimes assume the identity of a person of distinction or importance. So it is wise to judge, by the light of reason, all that is presented by anyone. As Illumined Souls tell us:

“Do not consider our names in weighing what we share, and do not unthinkingly accept any teachings and philosophy. Judge all teachings and philosophy, old and new, on the teachings and philosophy themselves!

“Remember, there are many false prophets, on both sides of life. Remember, too, that there are spirit people who impersonate great souls, to better impress their own teachings and misteachings on the unwary and unreasoning.”

Especially beware of people (on either side of life) who claim to possess supreme power or to be the sole fount or representative of Truth. For as we know, the more advanced the being, the more humble is that being.

. . . . . .

Errors may occur even in “authoritative” works of earnest and sincere writers.

A famous book, considered a masterpiece on its subject, quotes some spirit people as renouncing their denial (made when on earth) of the truth of spirit communication. Which is understandable. But at the same time they are quoted as also renouncing other views that were, and are, correct! Because they were told by someone that their opinion on communication had been incorrect, and they then confirmed it by their own success in communicating, they apparently fell into the error of blindly accepting everything else that he told them.

This emphasizes the fact that anyone, on either side of life, may be correct in some things but not in others. It is something the seeker of Truth should always remember.

 

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Glossary

containing only USB definitions

Apport: Any material thing that spirit beings transport from one place to another.

Astrology: The study that assumes and professes to interpret the influence of heavenly bodies upon people.

Astronomy: The science of the material universe beyond the earth’s atmosphere.

Aura: The magnetic field of energy that emanates from and envelops people, creatures, and all things. [Also known as the odic field and electromagnetic field.]

Bilocation: A [supposed and impossible] state of being, or ability to be, in two places at the same time.

Bioplasm: The plasm used when a spirit person is both seen and heard.

Blessed Soul: A very enlightened spirit individual, spiritually progressed and much revered, who may or may not be an Illumined Soul (see below). Blessed Souls referred to in this book are also leaders, inspirers, or supporters of the USB.

Channel: See Medium.

Character: The sum total of traits that form one’s individual nature.

Circle: See Home circle, Rescue circle.

Communication (with a capital C): Communication with spirit people.

Conscience: An inner knowledge or feeling of right and wrong, with a compulsion to do right.

Conscience with intuition: See Intuition with conscience.

Consciousness (of an individual): The sum total of what one is, what one has become.

Control, spirit: A spirit guide who is in temporary control of a medium during trance.

Cosmic pool, the: The thoughts of everyone, everywhere, on both sides of life. [Also known as the cosmic sea and cosmic consciousness.]

Democracy: Government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them or by those they elect under a free electoral system.

Direct voice: The term used when spirit communicators speak through either the vocal cords of the medium, or a “voice box” constructed in the atmosphere by skilled spirit chemists and scientists.

Distant healing: The conscious directing of the flow of vital healing force to those at a distance. [Also known as absent healing.]

Divine: Only That which always manifests in order.

Doorkeeper: A medium’s spirit “protector” who screens spirits who would control the channel, who ensures that the medium is completely protected from all undesirable influences, and who engages in “dual control” (see below) when necessary.

Dual control: A technique used by experienced spirit communicators to assist another spirit who wishes to speak through a channel but falters in the attempt.

Duoplasm: The plasm used when a spirit person [or creature] is seen but not heard.

Ectoplasm: An easily visible form of protoplasm; the outer layer of the protoplasmic cell.

Ectoplasmic rods: Rigid rods, often with finger-like endings, formed from ectoplasm by skilled spirit chemists, to facilitate spirit phenomena.

Enlightened Soul: The same as Illumined Soul (see below).

Enlightenment: Freedom from ignorance, prejudice, or superstition. It embraces both fact and truth.

Exorcism: The use of ritual commands or religious or solemn ceremonies to expel an unwelcome and undesirable spirit person who is possessing the body of someone in the physical.

Extra sensory perception (ESP): Perception or communication outside of normal sensory activity.

Fact: A fact is often a reality for the moment only (compared with truth).

Faith: Confidence and trust based on experience (not automatic or unthinking acceptance).

Glossolalia (speaking in tongues): Incomprehensible speech or jumbled syllables uttered by an individual or group of individuals in certain forms of worship, often during frenzy or “ecstasy” bordering on hysteria.

God: That which is All-Good, The Supreme Power, The First Cause, The One Great Source, The Great Spirit, The Indescribable, All That Always Manifests in Order, That Which Creates and Expresses in and Controls the Universe.

Group soul: A group of individuals united in a common purpose.

Guide, spirit guide: Spirit beings who touch our lives for varying lengths of time for various purposes.

Home circle: A meeting in a home, in which a group of harmonious people sit in a circle for a common spiritual purpose, such as healing, distant healing, prayer, communion with spirit friends and loved ones, physical spirit phenomena, the development of mediumship, or “spirit rescue” (see Rescue Circle).

Hypnosis: An artificially-induced state resembling sleep, characterized by heightened susceptibility to suggestion.

Illumined Souls: Spirit people who live in, or are qualified to live in, the Kingdoms. Illumined Souls specifically referred to in this book include the spirit founders, the spirit leaders, and some of the spirit inspirers and supporters of the USB, who are beings of the highest [spiritual] attainment. Some of them have been revered here by hundreds of millions of people over the centuries [and some whose lives on earth are remembered are still so revered today].

Independent direct voice: The specific term used when spirit communicators speak through a “voice box” constructed in the atmosphere [near a medium] by skilled spirit chemists and scientists.

Individuality: The real self, one’s entire consciousness, one’s triune of soul, spirit, and mind (mentality).

Instinct: Either the tendency to behave in a way characteristic of a species, or a natural or acquired tendency, aptitude, or talent.

Instrument: See Medium.

Integrity: Uprightness, honesty, and soundness of character that nothing can impair.

Intellect: A person’s capability to understand.

Intelligence: The degree of intellect in an individual.

Intuition: A receptive quality: the immediate knowing or learning of something without the conscious use of reasoning.

Intuition with conscience: The immediate (and usually unconscious) moral appraisal of a situation, sometimes accompanied by the knowledge of what to do and doing it.

Laying on of hands: A method of healing in which a healer (on either side of life) places his or her hands on [or near] a patient, to try to help bring about a cure.

Love (in its noblest sense): Charity in thought, word, and deed; understanding, tenderness, and compassion; service to others without thought of reward; at times, sacrifice.

Magnetic healing: healing accomplished by a magnetic curative essence that is manufactured within the physical [earthly] body of a gifted person and which, when the healer enters the auric emanation of a patient, exudes from the healer’s body and gravitates to the part of the patient’s body needing rehabilitation.

Magnetize: To impregnate a physical object or person with an essence or essences to make it/him/her more conducive to phenomena.

Mantra: A word, words, a sound, sounds, or formulas recited or sung.

Materialization: In which spirit people, with the help of spirit specialists, mold ectoplasm (usually onto their spirit bodies) into a recognizable likeness of themselves, to make themselves visible to people on earth.

Meditation: This may be: reflection; contemplation; extended thought; a reaching outward; a reaching inward; a receptivity that draws one closer to an attunement with what many call the still, small voice; a state of desiring nothing but to be used in some way for good; greater rapport with, and occasional manifestation by, loved ones and others in spirit life with whom we are linked.

Medium: A person who is not only a psychic (see below) but, much more importantly, an instrument or channel used by spirit people to communicate with people on earth and to help in making some other psychic phenomena possible.

Mental healing: The conscious directing of the flow of vital healing force either to one’s own body or to those at a distance.

Mentality: A mind, the portion of Universal Mind that an individual possesses.

Microplasm: The plasm used either to transport the spirit body of a medium away from the scene, or to block out any interference (conscious or unconscious) from the medium’s own mind, so that a full and free flow of communication is possible.

Mind (not a mind): The same as Universal Mind (see below).

Moxibustion: Health treatment by means of flammable substances placed on the skin at acupuncture points and burned to produce stimulation by heat.

Obsession: When low or degrading spirit people are in control of someone’s physical [earthly] body.

Parapsychology: The branch of psychology that deals with the investigation of psychic phenomena.

Personality: What one appears to be to others.

Possession: When people, usually mediums, invite or allow a spirit person to temporarily occupy their physical [earthly] bodies and use their vocal cords.

Prayer: Intense or concentrated thought expressed silently or aloud.

Prophecy: The especial ability to see into the future (on earth, a form of mediumship).

Protoplasm: The living matter of all vegetable, animal, and human cells and tissues; the basic substance of all plasms that spirit chemists combine with certain spirit chemicals to help make possible various types of spirit manifestations.

Psychic, a: A person on earth who is sensitive to forces or influences of a seemingly supernatural nature.

Psychic centers (chakras): Seven especially sensitive regions in the physical body that serve, among other things, as receiving centers and storehouses of vital life force.

Psychokinesis (PK): The apparent ability to influence matter or events by mind alone.

Psychometry: The process by which a medium, viewing or holding or touching an object, is able to obtain and relate information about it, or about some of those who are or have been associated with it.

Real self: A person’s individuality or entire consciousness, the eternal triune of soul, spirit, and mind (mentality) that each person is.

Reason: The mental powers concerned with forming conclusions, judgements, or inferences.

Regression: The act of going back to a previous place or state.

Rescue circle: A meeting led by an experienced medium and assisted by spirit colleagues, in which sitters converse with “lost” spirit people, to help them realize that they are no longer in the physical, and/or to help them correct other misconceptions that are severely hampering their progress in the spirit realms.

Séance: The same as Sitting (see below).

Self, real: See Real self, above.

Shells: A term some use for astral bodies and for thought forms.

Sitting: The same as a séance. A private sitting with a medium is usually for either communion with spirit friends and loved ones, or to experience physical spirit phenomena. A group sitting is the same as a circle (see Home circle, Rescue circle).

Soul: The spark of the divine that is in each human being.

Spirit: The animating factor that is in each human being and all living things.

Spirit blindness: An inability of some spirit people to see certain things that they have been previously convinced they will be unable to see.

Spirit body: The body comprised of all the various bodies we still retain at any time, other than the physical [earthly] body. [Also known as the etheric, incorporeal, counterpart, subtle, and beta body, and sometimes as the etheric double.] In ascending order of more rapid rates of vibration, it may include the astral body, the psychic body, the spiritual body, the celestial body, and others.

Spirit chemists: Usually chemical engineers who confine their activities to preparing a medium’s physical [earthly] body to absorb more of the vital chemicals needed in producing fuller and more complete and satisfactory manifestations of phenomena.

Spirit guides: Spirit people who touch our lives for varying lengths of time for various purposes; not one of us is without them.

Spirit healing: Healing given when a spirit guide enters the auric emanations of a medium and uses the physical [earthly] body of the medium to heal another person.

Spirit realms: All the spheres or planes (levels of consciousness) occupied by those who do not live in an earthly body. In ascending order of more rapid rates of vibration, they consist of: the Astral Realms, the Spiritual Realms, the Celestial Realms, and the Kingdoms.

Spirit scientists: Those who undertake scientific research in the spirit world and/or help make certain spirit demonstrations possible.

Spirit world (spirit realms): All around and about us, it consists of all the spheres or planes (corresponding to levels of consciousness) occupied by those who do not live in a physical [earthly] body.

Spiritual healing: Healing that takes place when one or more spirit people heal the patient directly.

Spirituality: Part of one’s mentality, it is evidenced by the level of one’s moral consciousness and the nobility of one’s character, ideals, aspiration, and efforts; it is by far the most important of one’s noble qualities.

Spiritual blindness: An inability of some spirit people to see certain things that they have previously been convinced they will be unable to see.

Spiritual healing: Healing that takes place when one or more spirit people heal the patient directly.

Standby: A skilled spirit communicator who speaks for spirit people who have not mastered the techniques of voice communication [with people on earth].

Survival (with a capital S): Survival of death of the physical [earthly] body.

Survivalist: One who believes or knows that we all survive the change called death.

Telekinesis (TK): The production of motion in a body, apparently without the application of material force.

Teleplasm: The plasm used to reproduce audible sound.

Thought forms: Resembling astral bodies, these are created and controlled usually by the minds of those who live on earth.

Trance: An altered state, in which spirit guides may have anywhere from slight to complete temporary control over the medium’s speech and actions.

Travelling clairvoyance: Describing what at the moment is taking place elsewhere, sometimes hundreds or thousands of miles [kilometers] away. [Also known as remote viewing.]

Truth: That which is eternal (without end).

Twin souls: The two halves of one soul (being), one male and one female, which will ultimately reunite.

Universal Mind: The source of supply; power in essence; all that is known and unknown by humanity; an infinite reservoir of information.

USB: The Universal Spiritual Brother&Sisterhood on earth, The Universal Spiritual Brotherhood in the spirit world and formerly on earth.

Vital life force: A subtle and as-yet unmeasured essence that is contained in oxygen and is vital to life. [Also known as life force, vital energy, bioenergy, chi, and prana.].

Voice box: An artificial larynx constructed by spirit chemists and scientists from various plasms contributed by the medium mostly, together with other chemicals they bring, for spirit communicators to use in speaking instead of using the medium’s vocal cords.

Will (of an individual): The part of one’s consciousness that provides the power of choice and deliberate action or intention.

Wisdom: Knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgement as to action.