A judge who is religious will try to give out justice to the very best of his or her ability. A man who really tries to be a servant of God will develop his intuition. Then he will be able to discern the real motive behind the deed and he will unerringly give out a fair decision. If such a man is honest with himself and with others he will be well rewarded for his conscientious attention to his life work. Such a man makes a very useful Invisible Helper.
Let us consider a physician and see how he can make use of his religion in the practice of medicine. A physician has a high calling and he can earn much reward in Heaven, and build up better conditions for himself in his next life on earth; or he can heap up great suffering for himself in Purgatory and in other lives by the way he conducts himself. It is the duty of a physician to relieve suffering, and to minister to those who seek his services when they are ill.
A doctor should go out of his way to treat the sick. He should not charge fees that are far beyond the means of those of his patients who are poor in this world's goods. Those who are able to pay should do so promptly. Every doctor should be willing to do some charity work. St. Luke was called the beloved physician because of his kind acts. A doctor has more opportunities for service than most people. If he is a good man he makes a useful Helper, for the work of healing is one of the most important lines of work carried on by the Elder Brothers and their assistants.
Christ has been called the Great Physician because of his extraordinary ability to heal the sick and suffering. Christ not only healed the sick, but he cured the blind and cast out devils. Casting out devils means that he could cure cases of obsession. Helpers often do the same things today. The modern physician can do much to help himself and others, if he is a religious man who really wants to do his whole duty by others.
Such a man needs a hopeful religion, for he will be more successful if he is able to instill hope and confidence in his patients. If he puts his whole heart into his work, he will develop the intuition necessary to help him diagnose difficult cases of illness, and treat them successfully. Some of the present day physicians have developed their finer faculties, and are thus much better fitted to aid the sick.
A true physician and others will avoid drunkenness and other forms of dissipation, and will keep themselves fit so that they will always have clear heads ready for any emergencies that may arise. Anyone who wishes to be a Helper must let all forms of intoxicating liquors alone.
Here is a difficult commandment for the people of the modern world to keep. It is this: "Thou shalt not kill." Many people take this to mean that we must not kill human beings, but the Esoteric students know that the animals are included in this command. You should remember that Daniel and his friends refused to eat meat from the table of the king of Babylon. In order to really obey this commandment of God you must live a harmless life. You must wean yourself away from eating meat, fish, and fowl because they are our younger brothers.
Those who cause someone else, by economic necessity, to kill animals for their food are really accessories to the deed, for they are responsible for the death of the animals. An honest religious man cannot become a butcher, or a bartender, or a hunter of fur-bearing animals. Such men cannot be accepted as Invisible Helpers.
There is only one excuse for the hunter who goes after game. If he is hungry or if his family is in need of food, and it is necessary to kill an animal in order to sustain life, it may be pardonable for him to do so, even if he is trying to live a religious life. Hunting, merely for sport, is wicked and the man who professes to be a Christian should engage in it openly or secretly. Any hunter places himself in a position where he becomes inhuman and callous to all pain and suffering.
The scientist also needs his religion in his work. If such a man devotes his time to work that will be helpful to human beings and animals be will be rewarded; otherwise he will be punished for his deeds. The scientists who have perfected cures for various human ailments have helped in our modern life. Many scientists have worked for the good of humanity and we may be sure that they will be rewarded after death. Many of the scientists of the past have been very useful Invisible Helpers.
Inventors who desire to become Invisible Helpers should work only for the good of mankind. It would be better if every inventor asked himself if his invention would make the world a safer and happier place in which to live, or if it would cause more suffering and crime. Inventors should use their ability to help mankind and not cause suffering.
In Atlantean times the people had a wonderful instrument called a water generator. By means of this useful invention the people would generate water by using the oxygen and hydrogen from the atmosphere and combining these gases so they formed pure water. This invention has been lost. Some day some worthy man will be shown how to make a water generator and perfect it for humanity. It would be wonderful for the people in semi-arid lands where there is insufficient rainfall. It might also solve the problem of safe water for cities and rural communities. To invent this instrument the inventor will have to improve himself, for that is the best way to learn the secrets of nature.
It is possible for a man to develop faculties within himself, which will enable him to read in the Memory of Nature. Then he can investigate many things in his search for truth and knowledge. Before, a person can reach this stage he must become a Helper, both in his waking and in his sleeping hours. A man receives spiritual gifts as a reward for merit, and for persistence in well-doing.
A farmer may become an Invisible Helper and use his religion in his work. A good farmer can do his part to improve the quality of the grain, vegetables, and fruit that he raises on his farm. He gives the members of the plant kingdom an opportunity to grow and gain experience. The farmer raises food to feed others. If he produces good food and sells it at a reasonable price, he is helping other people to live and work out their destiny and learn necessary lessons.
A good farmer is kind to his farm animals and feeds them properly. If they are injured he doctors them and tries to provide for their comfort. A farmer who tries to be a religious man takes good care of the members of his family and sees that they have an opportunity to attend school and church. He tries to teach his children how to work on the farm so that they will be fitted to earn their own living.
Some men have aided the world by developing new and better kinds of vegetables, fruit trees, and plants. Such a man leaves the world much better and earns treasures in Heaven by his service. Any religion may be judged by what it does for the people who believe in it and practice it's teachings.
Religion has done much for thousands of people who are living today. If the truth were known, we would find that many people have been healed by their faith in God. Other people have been saved from death because of their sincere prayers. If you want to be a Helper, choose some religion, study it, live it, and keep away from the evil practices of the world. You should pray to God for wisdom and guidance and do all the good you can. If you do this you are sure to advance to the place where you can be used as a Helper to humanity.
If you wish to become a Helper you must be unselfish. You must be willing to do for other people. I do not mean that you must give away all you have, but you can share what you have with others. If you are fortunate enough to have money or power, feel that it is yours to use wisely for some good purpose. Be willing to give your time to help other people who are striving to improve themselves so that they may advance in some chosen line of endeavor, or to help others learn the Mystic teachings. Here are two stories that tell about a selfish man and an unselfish man.
One night two Helpers stopped at a home where a boy had appendicitis. The Helpers were told that the doctor would not come to see the sick boy unless he was paid fifty dollars for the visit. The doctor lived some distance away from the people and he was very prominent. The lady Helper went to see this doctor about going to help the sick boy and he refused to make the visit unless she would guarantee that he would receive his money.
The Helper went back to the sick boy and the man Helper sent out a call to the Higher Ones for help. They were told by means of thought to massage the boy's appendix carefully and then to empty it out. The man Helper did this and then he massaged the boy's large intestine and he passed the contents out and the boy became better at once. The Helpers told the parents of the boy to feed him soup and soft vegetables, but no meat. They promised to go back to see the boy in a day or two.
Two days later the Helpers went back to see the boy and they found that he was feeling fine. They told the parents that their boy would get well. "You must always be careful of his diet," said the man Helper, "and do not let him swallow any kind of seeds."
"The doctor came by yesterday to see our boy," said the mother. "He said that he had worried all night about him and he offered to do what he could for him free of charge if we wanted him to. I told him that we didn't need him as some new friends had come and helped him. He wanted to know who our friends are and where they live. He said he would like to see the lady who had called on him."
The lady Helper had materialized at the doctor's office the day before when she had asked him to go and see the boy. He had flatly refused to go unless he was paid his fee of fifty dollars. She had told him that the time would come when he would be glad to go anywhere to help a sick person no matter how far it was.
The boy's parents wanted to know who the strangers were and they told them about their work. These Helpers have met many other doctors who were unselfish and were glad to do what they could for the sick.
Here is a story about how a Helper saved a man from going through life with only one arm. This story is so strange that it is almost unbelievable. Nevertheless several people know that it is true. A Helper who is a doctor and another Helper were sent to a country in Europe to help a man. This country was going through a terrible war at the time.
The Helpers reached the place just as a man cut another man's arm off with a saber. The Helpers rushed to the injured man and the lady Helper picked up the severed arm and her partner told her to hold it in place below the man's shoulder. She did this quickly and the man Helper placed the two ends together and rubbed them and they healed at once and the man began to move his arm.
The soldiers who saw this happen were so astonished that they could not move. One Helper told them to go about their business as they would meet their reward. This meant that they would be punished for what they had done, when the time came for them to reap what they had sown.
The man who received this help was an advanced Esoteric student. The Helpers gave him some instructions and told him to go about his work as he would not be bothered anymore. The student had spiritual sight and hearing and was doing good work among the people at that place. Both of the Helpers plainly remembered the details of this useful work, and the lady Helper marveled that such a thing could happen. The healing power that comes from God can do many wonderful things for people who have earned such assistance.
Another reward for right living is being able to live one's Purgatorial existence here on Earth and then go straight to the First Heaven after death. This may be accomplished by reviewing the events of the day in reverse order every night before going to sleep and judging one's actions carefully, and by living a good, clean, helpful life.
This evening exercise is called retrospection. It is very valuable to a student who wishes to advance him or herself on the path of attainment, for it enables a person to learn all the lessons of this life and some lessons that are ordinarily reserved for future lives.
The exercise helps a student to restore harmony in his desire body consciously, and in less time than would be necessary during sleep. It leaves more time for the ego to go out as a Helper. When a student does his retrospection thoroughly each night he cleans up his desire body and begins the work of building his soul body.
One night two Helpers had the opportunity of seeing three people concentrate: a student, a common man, and a business man. All of them did well.
The student was a married woman with two lovely children. She cleaned up the children and put them to bed and made things ready for her husband. She put the house in order and then got ready for bed. After she lay down she relaxed. The Helpers saw her gather in her thoughts until they did not radiate at all. Her mind became dark and then she began to go over the events of the day. At times her mind blazed up and died down, first red, then dark, and then green and gray, showing the different emotions that she went through. Finally her mind cleared up and a pale blue and yellow light flowed from her head. Then she turned over and went to sleep. The Helpers saw her leave her body in a beautiful desire body and go away.
Next the Helpers saw a man lying on a cot in a flophouse. He had had a hard day getting something to eat and money enough to pay for a bed to sleep on. He had a difficult time bringing his mind under control. The only thing he concentrated on was how to manage to live. His childhood life floated before him and he saw himself sitting on his mother's lap, and she was telling him to be a good boy and grow into a good man. He was happy and contented until his mother passed away when he was about twelve years old. Then he was placed in several homes by his father, and then he got to going with some boys who led him astray. The man groaned and said, "Mother, how different things would have been if you had lived."
"Your mother gave you enough instruction," said the man Helper, "to last you all your life if you would only stand up and be good. There is much that you can do if you will only be a man and not a weakling."
"If I can find a job I will be good," the man promised. I will do by others the way I would like to be done by."
"You will find some work," promised the Helper.
The man was soon asleep and over his body. His desire body looked very bad, with all the dirty, muddy colors in it, except the dark red of passion. The man never saw the Helpers. He only heard the man Helper as he talked to his ego. The Helpers were assured that this man would do better and rehabilitate himself.
The last man was a hard, shrewd business man who was lying in his bed alone thinking how he could put over a deal that would wreck another man who was in the same kind of business. He planned a scheme that would slowly put this other man out of business. After that he went to sleep and went to his fine office and began to go over his work. His imagination ran away with him and in his mind's eye he saw money all around him. His desire body showed only greed and selfishness. His mental body was very large.
The Helpers found that the main point of concentration is that the person must have an object or point in view. He must at first be in a quiet place so he can go over the day's events and pick up the flaws and replace them with good or whatever is needed.
In concentration or retrospection to clean up one's bodies, the person must go over the events of the day backwards. He must be fair and just with himself. He should try very hard to punish himself when he comes to what is wrong and give himself praise where good was done.
The object is to wake up the conscience so it will be disturbed when wrong is committed and it will worry the person until the wrong is made right. After the person does that awhile he will stop doing wrong and do right for right's sake and forget rewards.
The person who wants to become an Invisible Helper should take an inventory of his life and note what he needs to eliminate and where he needs to improve. He should seek the way in which the reformation should come. He has three routes from which to choose. First, he may choose to study the Western Wisdom Teachings. Second, he may choose the Bible method. Third, he may choose the way of the Esoteric scientist
The Western Wisdom Teaching way is the safest and surest one that I know of, because it teaches the student how to cleanse his desire body day by day. In this way he lives his Heaven and Purgatory experiences here and now.
The Esoteric scientist takes the path of the intellect and accepts nothing that the intellect will not be satisfied with. In the end, unless he is extremely faithful, he will clean his slate up in the Purgatorial regions.
The devotional Christian prays and is baptized and joins a church. He calls himself a converted person and a child of God. When he dies he goes to Heaven and rides around on a cloud and plays his harp. He fails to recognize that whatever a man soweth that shall he also reap.
Our dear Elder Brother Christ taught that a man must make restitution for his wrong doings. If he has defrauded anyone of anything, he must seek to return what he has taken to the man to whom it belongs, or, to his family. If a man injures a person in an accident, he must pay the damages. If restitution is not made, he will have to spend time in Purgatory, cleansing his seed atom, and then in another life he will have to even up the score and pay off his debts of destiny.
Many people have found it best to seek out some organization that gives special training along Mystic and Esoteric lines. There are seven schools of the Lesser Mysteries and five schools of the Greater Mysteries. Each of the several Lesser Mystery schools has an entrance school which trains students for entrance into the real school. All humanity should study with one of these schools. Each of these schools serves people of a certain region or race.
Students are usually attracted to the teachings of the school best fitted to their development, but sometimes people make mistakes and follow teachings that are not suited to their development. People of the western world should study the methods designed for their needs and not take up the methods used by the people of the East.
Spiritual teachings should never be sold and so it is best not to study with an organization that charges money for giving lessons or for teaching one how to develop his spiritual faculties. It is all right for the students to give free will offerings. They should do their share to finance whatever organization they choose, for people cannot expect to get something for nothing.
I have been told that Jesus has charge of the work of the churches and that he has a band of Invisible Helpers working with him. These Helpers were the disciples of Christ. Then there are thirteen Elder Brothers who have charge of those people who work in the world as scientists and utilitarians.
Before a student can go out as an Invisible Helper he or she must first develop sufficient soul body to be able to materialize his body if necessary. The Medieval Alchemists called it the astral body because by means of it, one could traverse the starry regions. In other words they could lie down and leave their bodies and go out as Helpers to far distant lands and help others in many places. Later they could return to their bodies and get up and go about their daily work as usual.
The soul body is one of the bodies of the spirit. It is composed of the two higher ethers of the vital body. These ethers are called the light and reflecting ethers. The desire body is in constant motion, but the soul body does not move. It is built from the head down.
The ordinary man's soul body is just a line. The soul body of a man who is just beginning to develop extends about one inch beyond the edge of the vital body. The size of the soul body of a Lay Brother depends on how many initiations he has had. The soul body of an average Lay Brother with a few initiations extends about twenty inches beyond the end of the desire body. The desire body of such a person extends about eighteen inches from the physical body. These higher bodies of man form an oval-shaped aura which surrounds and interpenetrates his physical body.
The ordinary Angel has an aura about a mile wide, while the aura of an Archangel extends as far as we can see. The aura of a Liberated One is much larger than that. It is so bright that when a Helper sees it he is almost blinded by the brilliance of his bright soul body and yellow mental body and cannot see his many colored desire body. When we see such a High Being we can only see the bright light of his countenance. The rest of his body is so bright that we cannot look at it even when we are out in sleep. We cannot tell how far his aura goes out into space, for it outshines our physical Sun which furnishes our Earth with light and heat.
In order to build a soul body that is large enough to use as a vehicle for travel, a person must live a life of love and service to humanity. He will then unconsciously attract more of the two higher ethers and they will be built into his soul body and it will continue to grow. The more such a person does to help others, the more his soul body will grow; but he must be unselfish and be willing to help everyone he can, regardless of who the person is. The soul body will waste away if we do not continue to add to it. A person cannot stand still. He either goes forward or he goes backward. When we go forward we add to the soul body, but when we go backward we lose some of our soul body.
In order to illustrate how aspirants can make their soul bodies grow we will tell you four true stories of work done by some Helpers who are trying to follow the suggestions given in this chapter.
At one time two Helpers went to the home of a drunken and jealous man whose wife and child were afraid of him. He would come home drunk and beat them both. The wife told the Helpers how her husband had been treating her for six years. "He does very well when he is sober," she said.
In a little while the man came home and the little boy ran to his mother. The lady Helper stepped in between the man and the boy, for she saw that the man was drunk. He took hold of the Helper and swore an oath. She let out her aura and he seemed to freeze in the place where be was with his hands and legs out and his mouth open.
Go and sit down," said the lady Helper, and the man went to the nearest chair and sat down a sober man.
"Angel, what will you have me do?" he asked.
"Stop drinking at once," she said. "Stop eating meat, but you can continue to eat fish for six months. After that stop eating all kinds of meat, chicken, and fish. You must treat your family kindly. Your wife has not given you any cause to be jealous. Go to church with them, too."
"We do not like the church here," said the wife.
The Helper then told these people about their teachings and where to get the books. She said they could study and live the same teachings.
"We will do it," said the man.
"You should fix your home up for your family," went on the Helper. "If you turn back to drinking I will come and get you and carry you to Purgatory."
You see, the Helper knew by the appearance of the man's vital body that he would not live very long unless he stopped drinking at once.
"I will quit drinking and do as you say," the man promised.
Another night these Helpers were sent to a place where a lady was sick with pneumonia. She was praying that the people in the house would keep still and not play the piano and the radio so loudly. She had a quiet and refined friend helping her but that lady could not do anything to stop the relatives from making so much noise.
The Helpers materialized in the sick lady's room, and spoke to her.
"Please stop them in the next room," the sick lady said in a weak voice. "I wish they would let me rest or die in peace. I am so weak and choked up."
The lady Helper went into the next room and the people stopped their noise because she was a stranger and they wanted to hear what she had to say. "The lady in the next room is very sick and you should make less noise," the Helper said.
"Oh, she is not that sick," said the man at the piano. "She is an old-timer. We are young and need music," and he started to play again.
"Stop that playing and be quiet and go to bed," said the Helper. "It is time that you were in bed, as it is long after midnight."
"Woman," said the man, "go nurse the sick while you are well."
The Helper let out her aura and the people in the room scrambled out hurriedly, with the exception of the man who was so impudent. The Helper went up to him and took him by the collar and he became frightened.
"Oh, I did not know you were an Angel," he said. "We will be quiet until she gets well."
Then the relatives went to bed. The visitor, who was named Rex, thanked the Helper. "Oh, I am so glad you came, as these people were about to drive me away and let the lady die. I am glad I came, for I have seen an Angel."
After that the Helpers worked on the sick lady and when they left they knew that she would get well.
"When you get well you should set your house in order," said the man Helper. Later these Helpers passed the place twice and the house was quiet.
One night some Helpers went to an elderly man's home and met his wife and a family of children and some grandchildren. They talked about various things and then they gradually told these people about their teachings.
"Rats, there is nothing to it," the old man said with a laugh.
The man Helper said nothing about that but began to talk about the different work that Helpers do, and the lady Helper unconsciously began to glow and send out very pretty rays of light.
The old man had a pipe in his mouth and it fell out of his mouth as he stared at the Helper. The other Helper continued talking and watching the old man. Finally his cane slid to the floor.
"Am I seeing Angels or seeing things?" he asked suddenly.
"What is the matter, my friend?" inquired the man Helper.
"I see all kinds of pretty lights and colors coming from that young lady," the man said. "Young lady, are you an Angel? Of course you are. Well, I am eighty-eight years old and now I see one. Young man, are you an Angel? Tell me this, are all the people I see human?"
"I do not know. It depends on how you see," replied the Helper. "Man has two sets of eyes."
"Where is the second set?" asked the old man with a laugh.
"They are in your eyes," the Helper said. "Let's join hands and look back three or four thousand years." Then he began to talk about the old man's life and it unfolded before them all. It showed how he met his brother and his parents and onward to his present life. The old man and the rest of the family were much surprised and shaken by what they saw and heard. The Helper told all of them that if they lived good lives their eyes might be opened before they died.
The old man had not lived a very clean life and so the Helper told him how to cleanse it and escape the punishment that awaited him.
The members of the family were all very much interested in the lady Helper because of her pretty soul body and desire body. The many colors were interchanging and becoming visible, now and then. The Helpers left these people much wiser and happier than they had been.
Once some Helpers saw a pair of wolves about to attack a pet deer in a yard. "Go drive them way," the man Helper said to one of the lady Helpers who had not had much experience as a Helper.
"Oh, I can't," she said. "They will kill me and I want to live."
"Come with me," he said, but the other refused, protesting.
The man Helper went down and stopped the wolves and made friends with them and called the other Helpers to come up to the wolves. The first lady Helper came up gingerly and acted as it she were afraid. The other lady Helper went and quieted the deer which was trembling with fear, for it was tied to a tree in the yard.
The man Helper went to the house and woke the people up and told them to put the deer in the barn or shed as it would get killed if they left it in the yard. We told them that they had stopped two wolves from killing it.
A young girl heard the Helpers talking about the deer and came running out excitedly. She screamed because she thought her fawn had been killed.
"No, it is safe," said the Helper.
The girl ran outdoors and untied the fawn and took it into the house as it was very small. There was a boy with the Helpers and he wanted to know what the animals were that looked like police dogs. When he found out that they were wolves he, kept away from them. One of the Helpers told the people not to tie the fawn up because she would not run away. Then they took the wolves away and left them in a large forest.
If you feel an urge to be of real service in the world, you may start at once to make preparations for a new field of service. You will have to purify your body and your mind. You will have to forsake all injurious habits as soon as possible. You will need to recognize all men as your brothers, for all are children of the same Great Being, the God of our Solar System.
You must live a consistent life seven days a week and you must be willing and eager to help others. I do not mean by giving them our earthly possessions, for that might only harm them. You must give yourself. Be willing to cheer and encourage, advise and help all who come to you.
Great truths are dearly bought,
The common truth,
Such as men give and take from day to day,
Comes in the common walk of easy life,
Blown by the careless wind across our way.
Great truths are greatly won, not found by chance,
Nor wafted on the breath of summer's dream;
But grasped in the great struggle of the soul,
By hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.
— Unknown
Christ first gave two commands to His disciples when He said, "Preach the gospel and heal the sick." Now this is exactly what the Invisible Helpers aim to, do to the very best of their ability. When a Helper is out of his dense physical body and able to function in his desire body, under the direction of a Lay Brother or a Lay Sister who has been placed over him to direct, instruct, and care for him, he can accomplish much, as I will show you very soon.
In many places Helpers explain the Mystic teachings to people whom they have saved or helped. In such cases they have had more attentive hearers than it is possible to find in ordinary circumstances. These people have had visible proof, and we are told that they will give a good account of themselves.
Every Invisible Helper should be like the man who lived in the house at the side of the road, who was a friend and helper of every man who came his way.
As little children we were taught that fire would hurt us; that water would drown us if we did not exercise great care; that our bodies were much heavier than air; and that therefore, a fall from a cliff or a high building would injure us or cause death; that it was impossible for us to penetrate into the earth or go through stone walls; and that it was dangerous to work under ground because of the danger of the earth caving in.
Helpers, when out of their bodies helping others, cannot be injured by fire, earth, air, or, water. They can go down to the ocean depths. They can go over active volcanoes and peer down into their craters. They can go through the air much as birds do and with far greater speed, and some can enter the earth itself with safety. They have to be taught all these things while out of their bodies in sleep. At first they are very fearful, but gradually fear leaves them, and they can go through flames to rescue people and even allow themselves to be shot or stabbed, for they know that when they are clad in their desire bodies and on errands of mercy, no one can harm them.
The work of Invisible Helpers is a very large subject as well as a very fascinating one. You know it has been said that truth is stranger than fiction, and I am convinced that it really is. There is a very great range in the beings who are engaged in this useful work of helping humanity. I will enumerate some of them. There are the "Nature Spirits," which include the Salamanders, Sylphs, Undines, Gnomes, and Fairies. Then there are the Devas, the Angels from the Moon, the Archangels from the Sun (Christ is one of these Great Beings), and other High Beings from Venus and, the other planets in our Solar System.
Besides these, there are Invisible Helpers among ordinary humanity. In this chapter I will limit my subject to this class only, and I will tell you of actual work engaged in by Helpers who have physical bodies, and who are employed during the daytime, as they must earn their own living.
Max Heindel has told us that the Invisible Helpers are banded together in bands of twelve under a competent leader, who is often a physician, and that they work on the invisible bodies of sick people, and help or heal them.
Many persons, who are Helpers at night, do not remember in the morning what they did while at work out of the body. Others occasionally remember meeting other people they know, or, they remember various incidents that took place and made such a strong impression that they were able to bring the memory through. Then, there are others who can sometimes remember whole scenes and write down what was said and done by all present. Conscious Invisible Helpers are able to remember all that they do because their consciousness is unbroken. There are times, though, when they are put to sleep temporarily by their instructors who may not think it best for them to remember certain journeys made or work done when they are out on important missions.
Some bands of Invisible Helpers work principally with the sick, going from patient to patient, often materializing a hand or an arm in order to do what is necessary. They may even materialize their whole bodies.
Two Helpers went to a fishing boat one night to remove a fish bone embedded in a man's hand, which had swollen to twice its normal size. He had a high fever and lay in his bunk unable sleep. When the helpers came to him, he thought they were Angels, and he prayed to them to help him. The Helpers materialized, and one held the injured hand firmly while the other put her fingers under the fin bone to push it out. This caused the man pain, and he cried so loudly that some of the other fishermen came to his bunk. When they saw the Helpers, they rubbed their eyes as though they could not believe their own sight.
Then one man called to the rest. They all came and stood off at a distance and watched what was taking place. After the bone had been pushed out, the Helpers rubbed the man's arm down, washed his hand in salt water, and applied a wet salt pack. They told the man to wash his hand twice a day in salt water. Then they left to go on with their work.
Another night these two Helpers were going over the Hawaiian Islands, when they were able to perceive a white boy with a fine fish bone stuck in his throat. His throat had swollen so that he was choking. There were many people gathered in the room, but they were helpless. Two doctors present wanted to send for a surgeon to remove the bone. The Helpers materialized, and one spoke up and said, "We can get it out."
The doctor laughed at the Helper, and said, "She is crazy with the heat."
The boy's mother told her to do anything, in order to save the child. The helpers stepped up to the child, who was in a bed. One held the boy while the other pushed the fish bone out. When a person is out of his dense body, he has clairvoyant sight. Because of this ability, the Helper saw where the bone was. Then she dematerialized her hand, and put it in his throat behind the bone and below it, and pushed up as she materialized a finger. The boy gagged and coughed, the bone flew out, and the Helper picked it up and gave it to his mother. The doctors looked on in amazement. Then the Helpers gave the boy some salt water to gargle with and let him go. The people asked the Helpers many questions, which they answered, and then they left.
Here is a strange case of healing. In Europe some Invisible Helpers found a poor farmer who had been assaulted by soldiers. They had shot him and left him for dead. The Helper removed thirty-one bullets from his breast and took him where he would receive shelter, food, and care. On the second visit they found him recovering rapidly. It was not destined that he should die at that time.
Various diseases are treated successfully. I wish to tell you of various phases of such work carried on by Helpers, and I have written records of many actual occurrences. When a death takes place, there is always someone present to aid the spirit, who is usually frightened and unable to understand what has happened. Usually two persons carry the spirit off to the Desire World where he is taken care of by other Helpers, who are Initiates. They explain things to him and help him to adjust himself to new conditions.
Suicides are difficult to handle because they want to re-enter their physical bodies and will become violent if anyone comes for them. Ordinary Helpers cannot control them alone. Lay Brothers, or Lay Sisters, have to come and gently put them to sleep. Then they can carry them off to the Desire World where suicides are kept. There they must remain for a period, which may be long or short, according to the time they should have lived normally.
Babies are carried away to the Heaven world just as anyone would carry a baby ordinarily. One Helper has remembered carrying two babies at different times. In one case, two Helpers were told what to do, and they got on a bus that was going to St. Louis. There was a mother on it with a baby who had just died.
One of the Helpers took the ego of the dead baby up in her arms and carried it about for some time before she carried it up to the Children's world. She was new at this work and had to wait until the other Helper was free to go with her.
One night some Invisible Helpers were told to go to the South Atlantic Ocean, where they were shown a steamer in trouble. They were told that it would sink with all on board, and that they were to go down with it. It was a freighter, carrying six women and forty-two men. The ship had struck something which had made a large hole in the hull, and the water was coming in rapidly.
After materializing, the Helpers went to the cabin where the women were gathered and tried to quiet them. The captain came in and said that all hope of saving the ship was gone and that they were unable to put the life boats out, as the water was too rough. They had already lost two of the boats. The people prayed and asked the Helpers to save them. One of the Helpers told them that all would be well and that if they shouId die, they would all come back in a little while.
Suddenly the boat stood up endways for about five minutes, shook a little as the boiler exploded, and then it went down. It finally struck the bottom, and fell on one side, and settled in the mud. The people all asked what had happened, not realizing that they were dead. They said that at first they had left like strangling for the want of air, but then the feeling had left them. They were instructed to follow the Helpers who took them to the Borderland, where they were told that they were dead.
On the way out, one Helper remembered seeing many kinds of fish deep down in the ocean. Some of them were enormous in size. They swam about the ship and even tried to catch the Helpers, who slipped to one side when they dashed by.
During the past few years, ships have had increasing difficulty in going from place to place, due to the rising of the sea bottom and to storms and carelessness of various kinds. On one occasion someone on board had intended to sink the ship and had loosened the sea-cock. The lower hull was flooded, and the boat had listed to one side. It would have sunk if help had not been sent to the people, for the seamen did not know where to look for the trouble, and besides it was dangerous to open the trap door that led to the bottom of the boat. The Helpers told the captain what the trouble was and said that they would go down and tighten it up. The captain told them that they were crazy and would drown.
"No, we will be all right," said one of the Helpers.
The captain gave them a wrench, and then went down into the hold of the boat. One Helper materialized a hand and tightened up the sea-cock. The Helpers then went back to the captain, and he thanked them. After that they disappeared.
There is a law of nature by which a body can temporarily draw the ether from the air. It is done regularly by Helpers, who are first taught to do it unconsciously with the help of some Lay Brother or Lay Sister. Helpers are also endowed with special powers to do the work which may be difficult. For instance, it is not easy to control vicious snakes and wild beasts, which are, nevertheless, controlled by Group Spirits who appear to be as mean as their charges.
Once two Helpers went up to the far north where a cod fishing boat had sprung a leak and was sinking fast. The men were too far from shore to swim to safety. The Helpers materialized so that they were then visible and looked as if they were in their physical bodies. They found some blankets and stuffed them tightly in the cracks of the leaking boat. The pumps were put to work full force, and the boat headed for shore. It was raining, and the wind was very strong.
The fishermen wanted to know who the strangers were and how they got on the boat. When the Helpers, who were not even wet, went inside the boat, the men became afraid. They wanted to feed the Helpers. The Helpers tried to explain that they had human bodies but that these bodies were asleep far away. They said that they would return to their bodies when it was time to awaken. Naturally people who have never studied the Mystic teachings are deeply perplexed about all this, but they are very grateful for the help they receive.
A friend told me of this remarkable experience:
Two Helpers were sent to a captain on a ship coming to the United States to tell him to stop and fix a leak. He was far from land and did not know of the leak. The Helpers materialized and told the captain, who at first refused to believe it. He sent the first mate own to see. The man came back and told the captain that there was a leak in the ship. The captain almost fainted from fright.
The captain stopped the ship and took some men and went below. The people on board became frightened and nearly started a panic, but they were quieted by one of the Helpers. The captain wanted some man to get into the water and hold a square plate so that it could be bolted from the inside.
A man and a woman Helper said that they would do the job. The captain objected to the woman Helper going down and told her that she would drown or that a shark would get her.
"No, I will be all right," she said.
When the man Helper took the plate, which was about eighteen inches square, and started to climb down the rope ladder, the woman Helper followed, although the captain took hold of her and tried to keep her on deck. She slipped from his fingers and went down into the sea. The hole was about ten feet below the water line, and the Helpers had to go under the water to put the plate in. The repairs were made, and when the Helpers turned, they looked dry. This made the people who saw them wonder. Two large fish jumped for the Helpers and hit the ship and were killed by the impact. The sailors thought the Helpers had killed them.
On another occasion, a Lay Brother told some Helpers to hurry to the United States and warn some people to get out of their house, as it was going to be destroyed by a windstorm. The Lay Brother showed the Helpers just where to go and said, "Hurry!"
In this house there were some people who had a little boy, two years old. Their house was on a hilltop overlooking the lowland. The Helpers woke the grown people and they ran out of the house, leaving the child inside. One Helper told the other Helper to go and get the child, which she did, returning just before the wind carried the house off. The wind blew the house about two blocks away, and it went over the cliff and broke to pieces. The Helpers went down and retrieved some clothing and some money from the wreckage and brought what they found up to the people, who were very grateful for having been saved from death.
Here is a queer story that both Helpers remembered quite clearly the next morning. They were sent to a farm in Texas to help a man who was treed by a bull. That is, the bull had become angry and went for the man who climbed upon a stall as high as he could get. The bull stood below, so that the man could not get down, and he prayed for help. He was too far from the house to call to anyone.
One of the Helpers is particularly fond of animals, but not of bulls on a rampage. However, she went up to the bull and quieted him, and he followed her out of doors and around the barn. The man then came down and wanted to know where the bull came from so early in the morning. He had come out to do his milking. When she told him that they were Helpers of humanity and that they could go about helping those in trouble, he just looked at her in surprise and became nervous, so they left. The same Helper remembered how frightened the man had been, because she took on his nervous condition. She knew exactly how he felt when the bull was after him.
Those who are HeIpers and can remember some of the things that they have done while out at night, while their bodies were peacefully sleeping, will understand what great joy these memories afford them.
One night two Helpers were down in South America. They stopped at a small lake that emptied into a river that flowed into the Amazon. It was a moonlit night, and many people were out in rowboats having a pleasant time. The Helpers went over the water and saw many fish swimming among the weeds in the clear water. Then they went to a nearby hotel and materialized. The owner was sitting on a long porch. A maid came out to the Helpers, thinking they, were guests, and asked if they wanted anything. Some children followed her.
"No, I do not need anything," the lady Helper said. "What is the matter with you?"
The woman said that she had been dismissed and that it was her last night on duty. Then she went to the lake and got in a boat and rowed far out to where the water was very deep and swift. Suddenly she jumped in. One Helper said to the other, "Oh, look! She has jumped into the lake. Save her!"
He said, "Go on, and I will get the boat."
The Helper rushed out over the lake to where the woman had jumped in, went down, and got her about one hundred feet from where she had disappeared. The other Helper hurried to the scene in the boat, and the Helpers laid her in it and came ashore. The people were amazed at the Helpers and asked many questions, all of which were answered. The Helper who had gone into the water was perfectly delighted at their success in rescuing this unhappy woman. She told those present what the consequences would have been had she drowned herself.
Then an old lady came up and asked the Helper go to her home and see a sick lady. They found her mother very ill with nervous indigestion, and they were able to greatly relieve her. They instructed her about her food and what she would have to do to stay well.
Here is how some Eskimos were saved in the far north. They were on a large cake of ice that had broken loose and was floating out to sea. There was a wide gap all around it. The Eskimos had been on it for two days, and things looked hopeless. They knew that if they got into the water, they would freeze. The Helpers took the grown people right up into the air and carried them to safety without much difficulty, but when they took the children, they screamed and wriggled in their arms, as they were not used to strangers. The dogs and the sled were then carried over in the same way. There were twenty-five people and twenty-four dogs.
The Eskimos, thinking the Helpers were Angels, thanked them and went on towards home, while the Helpers continued their work. Invisible Helpers can talk to all people and make them understand because they speak the language of the soul.
The Invisible Helpers also help the animals in various ways. I know of a number of cases where polar bears have been let out of traps. Here is one instance: While in the far north, some Invisible Helpers saw four pretty white bears. One was caught in a trap, and it was very angry. Its mate, with other companions, was there, too. When the Helpers came up, they all showed their teeth, which were pretty and white. They also showed their sharp claws. It took the Helpers, about ten minutes to quiet the bears so that they could open the trap and release the bear. They finally got him out and the bears stood around the Helpers, who played awhile with them as they had become very friendly. When the Helpers started away, the bears followed them for a long time.
They met two trappers, who said that they owned the trap, and they wanted to shoot the four bears. One Helper told them to shoot them if they could. They tried and failed, and then they became frightened.
Esoteric students know that the Salamanders are the Nature Spirits who cause fires. Without their activity, no gun can be set off, and no fire started. This explains how the three Hebrew children could be thrown into a blazing furnace and not be harmed. The fourth person whom the king saw in the flames could control these Nature Spirits and did so.
In this instance the Teacher of these Helpers could control the Nature Spirits, and so the guns would not work. The bears wanted to fight the trappers, and the Helpers called them back. The men wanted to know who the Helpers were and what they were doing in the north, thinly dressed and without overcoats. The Helpers told them that they were just people who helped every living thing in trouble. The trappers wanted to know where they live, and one Helper named the State. They laughed at this and said the Helpers were crazy, as that State was nearly three thousand miles away. One Helper told them that distance was nothing to them.
The Helpers sent the bears on their way, and they started off, although they did not want to go. One Helper told the men that they could not shoot anything until that time the next day. They were ordered to go directly home and told to stay there for a day. Meanwhile nothing would harm them. Then the Helpers disappeared. The trappers had plenty to think about after this experience.
One morning a Helper woke up with the most delightful memories of what she had done when out alone early one morning. She went to some place in or near Arabia where a horse had died. It was a family pet named Frank, or something similar. This horse had been a handsome brown fellow with a beautifully shaped head. He had grown old and very thin. His teeth were so poor that he could no longer eat grain and dry grass; so he was shot to end his troubles. The family were sorry about it and felt distressed about what had taken place. There were other Invisible Helpers there to take the spirit of the horse away to the Desire World, but this Helper wanted to do it. She picked up the etheric body of the horse, and he folded up his feet neatly so that she could carry him without trouble.
The Helper remembered plainly the next day how beautiful the horse looked as he lay in her arms wide awake but perfectly quiet and not a bit afraid. She carried him right through the side of the barn, which was gray and unpainted. There was a little hay on the floor inside, which she noticed when going out. She had one hand free, and as she went along carrying the desire body of the horse, she patted it gently on the neck and said, "Dear old Frank." (....continued)
