André:

[What I have first to explain to you, which I am sure you must] know, is there are so many different planes of experience of life that, uh, if one were to give you one little, uh, description of one part of it, it would be but infinitesimal of the whole.

 

Woods:

Right.

 

André:

You see, every individual, uh, when he comes here from your world he, uh... has, as it were, only his own character to bring with him and his own [unintelligible]. And in consequence he creates for himself his own particular vibration or condition in which he lives. What may be familiar and natural and a 'happy place', if you like, for one person, would not necessarily be so for another.

 

Everyone vibrates in a condition which they are best suited, with people of a like nature and a like development, but that would not necessarily mean though it would be alright for that person, that it would be alright for another. And in consequence only [unintelligible].

 

There are so many different conditions. For instance, assuming a person that was an Arab passed from your world, who has been used to his normal environment and condition upon Earth - if you were to place him, shall we say, in a condition here in which he would have to live completely and absolutely differently, uh... he would be at a loss.

 

The thing is, our world is not composed, as it were, a heaven just for Christians or for people who have a certain train of thought or outlook or religious belief. Our world is vast, so vast that one cannot describe it. It houses millions and millions and millions and millions of souls, of all degree and classification.

 

And there is a general merging, but there is, nevertheless, a separation, if I can use it that way; the expression. The point is, that a man will find for himself his own heaven, his own nirvana, his own paradise - or indeed, if you like, his own hell on this side, according to his mental outlook, his development, his character and so on.

 

The point is, that when you ask me, 'what is it like here?', well, one can give, in a sense, a vague description or outline. But that which one gives would only necessarily, uh, depict a certain aspect of life, a different, uh, plane, perhaps from another.

 

But the point is, we have all the beauties of nature, in the general outline - that is, we have birds, we have flowers, we have trees. We have green pastures, we have rivers, we have lakes, we have mountains. We have desert even. We have all the different conditions of Earth [and] nature in all its many forms and all its beauties. But everything here is on a vaster and greater scale.

 

We have houses in which we live, but the houses are constructed, as it were, by the minds of the individual. But that does not mean to say that they are not built, because they are, because you do not just think of something and it is there. If a person feels that he would be happy in a small cottage, then a small cottage is provided for that person, but he can only merit it by how he has lived his life.

 

Therefore, you find some people here live in hovels, because their minds have been so shrivelled up - so narrow and so bad has been their character and temperament when on Earth, that they have deserved nothing better. So they find for themselves a condition which is very, very poor indeed. Man receives exactly what he gives out.

 

It has been said in the Bible about the book of life that one is judged, [but] no one judges anyone here. A man judges himself. Everything he has made for himself, he receives - nothing more and nothing less. So, some have beautiful places in which to live [and] beautiful robes which to wear, and great beauty all around them and sunshine (if I can use the expression 'sunshine') although we have no sun, as you understand it, though there is great light.

 

For some there is illumination, great light and great beauty. For others there is not the great light, but perhaps even darkness. For there are lower spheres - even on the Earth, where people are degenerate, where there has been no progress, but only degeneration. But there is always the opportunity, shall we say, for salvation - that is, the person or individual can save himself. No one can do it for him.

 

Others may show the way and try to lift him out of darkness into the light. But until there is the desire within himself to gain knowledge and experience and develop himself in a spiritual sense, uh, nothing can be done. The person must do it themselves. Others can help, but they cannot do it for the person. Everyone must find [for] himself his own salvation.

 

And so it is, as I say, there are many spheres, according to the minds of men. For this world is a world created by thought. Although it is created by thought, nevertheless, all the thoughts and things are put in action. So a person here who perhaps would be very keen on music, he can make music. He can play, if you like, the piano or the violin or the cello, or he can play other instruments which you have no knowledge of, which are far removed from your idea of music.

 

In fact, there are no limits, for instance, to music here. Our ears are attuned to a higher rate of vibration, we can hear much that you do not hear. I think science has told you, or proved to you in your world, that there are many things that are... in the air which you do not hear, because your ears cannot receive those notes. So it is here.

 

We are on a higher rate of vibration, and in consequence many things which you have no knowledge of, or could not understand while on the Earth, are the natural things to us. Our trouble, when we come to you, is, we do not know how to describe it, for words are inadequate. Words are made to describe material things, things which are familiar to you and therefore, when we talk about things that are familiar to you, it is easy.

 

But when you ask us to talk about some of the higher spheres, for instance, there are no words with which we can describe or depict it to you. It is all very difficult. But what I want you to know is, that life here can be very beautiful and very wonderful, but it depends on you!

 

No one can change you. A priest cannot make you any different to what you are, just because you have suddenly decided to accept certain things and you say you wish to be 'saved'. That does not make you any better, [when] still you have done 'this or that' that is wrong. And therefore it is more then, as it were, a record against you in your mind.

 

You may say, 'oh, well, we do different - we make different plans - we are different people' you know, 'my life' and so on. That is all very well and is to credit, we like it, we help you with it if we can. But you cannot alter, fundamentally, uh... things that have already happened, but you can help, as it were, in your future, to do the right things and to do the things that help others, that in consequence, help you.

 

The point is, that everything is important. Nothing is lost, you know. For instance, all around your world, if you could but realise it, in the atmosphere is recorded all the happenings of the Earth. And I know that, uh...at certain times, certain things are rerecorded or 're-happen', as it were - or shall we say, sensitive people are able to see and know and feel things.

 

You talk about haunted houses, [but] there are no spirits necessarily there at all. They are merely recorded conditions upon the atmosphere, which at certain times, uh... can be received or picked up [and certain] individuals, so it seems, can be seen at certain places.

 

You have haunted houses, but they are not necessarily haunted by the spirit who is still there. It's merely the mental thought, which has been so strong at the time of the happening, has recorded itself on the atmosphere and at certain times becomes clear to the normal eye. A person may see something, but it does not mean to say that the individual is present. It is only a recorded condition in the atmosphere that is picked up by a sensitive.

 

There are so many things we've got to tell you - but the thing is, to know how to tell you, how to find words to express it all to you. You are seeking, we are trying to help you. We shall teach you gradually, bit by bit - show you what we can show you. But what I want to impress upon you is, that you yourselves have so much within yourselves, which you can express.

 

Within you is the spirit of God, within you is the essence of the Divine. It is for you to express that from without, to make people conscious of the change within yourselves, so that they also might see [and feel it]. You have great and wonderful opportunity. We help you to the best of our ability. We need your love and your co-operation.

 

For what we have to do is not just for ourselves; we are not selfish people. We are here to work in God's will and way, for his children - to show them the path, to break down all the barriers that divide men, one from the other, through caste and creed and colour and all the hypocrisies that man has built up over the centuries.

 

We want to make people conscious of their brotherhood, one with the other; that they are indeed brothers of the most high - all children of light. There need be no darkness in the hearts and minds of men. If only they would see within themselves, as Jesus said. He understood these simple truths, he was the 'great teacher', the 'great leader', the 'great messiah'...

 

Sitter: [Coughing]

 

André:

But he did not come for an Earthly kingdom. As he said, 'my kingdom is not of this world. I go to my father and I prepare a place for you. But where I am, ye may be also.'

 

He knew about the many mansions of spirit - the many spheres, the many homes, in which peoples would find themselves, according to their spiritual development and advancement.

 

You have found a great truth and that great truth has made you free - free of all the ties and all the tyrannies of the Earth and all the narrow-mindedness that you find among men, who say 'this is the right path' and 'the other is the wrong path'. We know there is only one path to God and you have found it. It is the true path.

 

But remember, that in service you will find great joy and happiness, for service is the key that unlocks all the doors and you have the keys. And you can serve and we can help you to serve and we can bring you such a peace that the world does not know.

 

You can find the peace that Jesus found - the peace that all the great teachers and all the great seers and all the great ones of the past, knew - the peace that comes from being in harmony with the Divine.

 

We have so much to tell you, my friends. But we shall tell you step by step. Be patient. Trust, above all, in the things of the spirit. And know that we who come to you, come in love to serve, to guide and uplift - you and mankind.

 

All sitters:

Thank you - that's wonderful.

 

Woods:

Thank you so much.

 

Female sitter:

May I ask you a question, André?

 

André:

Oui madame. What is it?

 

Female sitter:

Well, the thing we all desire most of all for this world, is peace and brotherhood. And we ordinary people seem so feeble and so inadequate in... in bringing it about. Would you say that the thing that is most helpful is prayer... in this respect?

 

André:

Prayer is very important, but to understand prayer you must realise that your thoughts are very pregnant, they are very real, very vital. When you send out your thoughts, for whatever purpose it may be, those thoughts, if they have real feeling and meaning behind them, can do a great deal.

 

I do not say that your prayers can save the world from itself - or I do not suggest that. But what I do know is, that if you think deeply and sincerely about a thing or a person, or a group of persons, or whatever it may be, it can have an effect. You cannot change a person just by thinking about them, but you can help them to change themselves.

 

[In] the first instance, it must always come from the individual. A person, uh... may be shown something but you cannot make that person understand or appreciate it until such time as they are stirred from within. Everyone must be affected from within themselves, they must have a response, shall we say. They must respond. If they do not respond there is nothing that you or anyone can do.

 

When we come to you, for instance, we try to impress you, we try to inspire you. Sometimes you pick [up] our thoughts and impressions and you say, 'I feel so-and-so. I feel this, I feel that.' You may not always get exactly what we are trying to convey, but you receive a certain amount. And in consequence you do react, shall we say, to what we give you.

 

In other words, I suppose you might say it is a form of hypnosis. All communication, all mediumship is a form of hypnosis. The person is merely, shall we say, sitting for development and he opens his heart and his mind to the things of the spirit. He becomes, to a certain extent, under the influence, if you like, of another entity from this side - a guide or control or a relation, maybe or some soul who comes to inspire that person. And that person reacts under a kind of hypnotic condition or state - or trance condition, if you like. We have that method of communication with you.

 

All communication is a mental process. If you want to speak to each other, you think of what you want to say. Then your organs - the vocal organs - respond, you vibrate the atmosphere, you create sound, other people hear what you are thinking. We do exactly the same. We come, we transmit our thoughts to you, you respond, your vocal organs give out certain sounds, other people say 'that is so-and-so speaking, so-and-so conveyed this message or that message.' We do the same.

 

All communication is mental. All life, you might say, is vibration and mental condition - it is a vibratory condition. Life is all vibration. You vibrate the atmosphere [to] create sound; you make yourselves known and understood. Your body is vibrating, everything in your world. You sit on a chair; the chair vibrates in harmony with your body, therefore it is solid to you. It is in the same rate of vibration.

 

Here we are on a much higher rate of vibration. When we come to you we lower our... rate of vibration to 'tune in' with you. That is why... you must try and heighten your vibration - tune upwards, as it were. Mentally aspire, have aspiration in your heart and mind. It helps us to come closer to you. There is a merging - a fusion, as it were, of our thought and your love. And there is such condition then that we can convey much, through you, to others.

 

We all have to learn how to do these things. It requires great patience. But where there is love and a strong desire to serve, where we put ourselves in the background, forgetting self in service and only thinking of others, then we find a great peace and that peace helps so much to make us happy.

 

We, who come to you, are happy to serve. You, who sit together in harmony and in love, are happy to congregate together to serve. We have a great purpose. The purpose that we have to do is God's will on Earth. All we ask is that you will endeavour to do that.

 

Female sitter:

Does that mean, André, that service is more important than prayer?

 

André:

What is prayer, if it is not service? To pray just for something, is nothing - unimportant, in a sense, you might say.

 

Woods:

Yes.

 

André:

It must be service. If you pray, it must be service.

 

Female sitter:

Not for self.

 

André:

No! Prayer... you see... ah! If you go... listen - people pray, they say, 'oh, God give me this. Oh God send me this. Do this! Do that!' Poor God, he is so confused, you know!

 

Female sitter:

Yes...

 

André:

It must be terrible. No, a person who prays, not for himself, but prays for the good of the world or good of others - or perhaps even for some little animal that is suffering...

 

Female sitter:

Yes, yes.

 

André:

That is real prayer and that is service. You are giving out, not desiring to receive for yourself and those prayers are invariably answered - because you helped to make something tangible between our world and yours, [so] some force, some power can descend in your world and bring about transformation and help.

 

Female sitter:

But it must be sincere, mustn't it André?

 

André:

Prayer without sincerity...

 

Female sitter:

...no use at all!

 

André:

...is useless.

 

Female sitter:

The ritual prayer...

 

André:

That is why, when you go to church, the clergyman he prays automatically. The same words are drummed out, week in, week out - little feeling, little emotion, little meaning behind them. Do you not think they have any power or effect? Of course they have not. But a simple prayer from the heart...

 

Female sitter:

Yes.

 

André:

...the prayer that means so much to the individual, that he desires, shall we say, the recovery of health of someone near and dear to him; someone who is suffering, someone who is in great need - or for the good of the world, for peace in your world. The sincere prayers of the humble heart are heard. But the idle prayers of the...

 

Female sitter:

It need not be a [unintelligible] to fear.

 

André:

Prayer is not what you put into words, but what you feel in your heart. You could pray without saying a word. No...

 

Female sitter:

Prayer as thought.

 

André:

Oui. That it so.

Mr Woods, you are a very quiet man.

 

[Laughter]

 

Woods:

Well, thank you for saying so André. I was listening to what you were saying.

 

[Coughing]

 

Greene:

Well, it's been very helpful.

 

Female sitter:

Yes indeed.

 

Woods:

What would happen to the... to people who, uh... in the case of... hanging, for murder, on this side. What will happen to those when they go on the other side?

 

André:

My friend, I don't think you need... have to be told. But there are so many degrees of murder. Even the person who does something on the spur of the moment, in the heat of temper, when they are not altogether responsible for their actions, there is understanding and there is great help given to them.

 

And... uh, there is not necessarily a stage of unhappiness even for them, only the remorse for what they did. But there are worse murders. In fact, I would say the worse murder of all is the murder by the State - which is cold, calculated, deliberate, with no mercy.

I have very strong views on this.

 

Woods:

Yes.

 

André:

And I consider there is [unintelligible]. There is often [an] excuse for [a] man who murders in the heat of passion, who loses control under circumstances, while he has been provoked; something happened in the 'mad moment', as you say.

 

But that which is cold and calculated and detailed to the very hour when it should happen, that is far worse murder.

 

Woods:

What I was thinking about really, was about these... my sympathy is a great deal with the coloured races, you see, and the treatment they are getting in Kenya... uh, what's happening with all those people over on the other side, these [unliked people]?

 

Female sitter:

You mean the Mau Mau?

 

Woods:

Mmm-hmm.

 

André:

Well, there is no doubt about it, I think you are very conscious or should be conscious of the fact there is black magic, as you understand it.

 

Woods:

Yes.

 

André:

It's a loose term, but there are those in your world who are very unenlightened and who are used by evil forces and controlled by evil forces. And when they are killed or when they come here, they are held, as it were, in chains or bondage by evil influences on this side. As I told you there are spheres lower than the Earth, more undeveloped, and they are drawn into that condition.

 

That's why, when you have this kind of séance or any kind of séance, you should always sit with the highest motives. Far too many people in your world fiddle (how you say?) about with psychic things. They...they...they do this and they do that. They have no motive, real good motive, and that is dangerous.

 

You must always approach this subject from the highest motive. Otherwise you might draw to yourself low entities who would delude you, who will lead you astray, who will give you wrong information and wrong guidance and who will be bad for you in every way.

 

You have to be careful. Always aim for the highest and the best and you cannot go wrong. But some people unfortunately get into touch with wrong entities and are misled and misguided, you know.

 

Woods:

Yes. The...um... aren't we more or less responsible for the development of the coloured races?

 

André:

Well, I would say that everyone is responsible for everybody else. It is the white are responsible for the black, the black are responsible for the white. You may say that is not very practical. In your world a lot of things are not considered practical and yet there is reason, if only you will follow them out.

 

You are put into the world as children of one God. If you happen to be born in one country and another in another country, there should still be a fusion of love between you. If one person's skin is black through a few centuries of time in the hot sun, which makes him different in appearance to the person who has not been so used to that condition for so many centuries and the colour of his skin is different - it makes no difference.

 

Fundamentally, you are spiritual beings encased in a mortal body for a space of time, travelling through life to learn lessons, develop your character, to develop your personality, to develop all the conditions which are essential for your spiritual progress.

 

The Earth-life is but a school in which you learn lessons, and you have to learn those lessons. Perhaps you have to come again and again to learn them, who knows? In some cases it is so. But there should be no differentiation because of the colour of the skin.

 

Woods:

Yes.

This, um...[for] myself, I don't believe...

 

Flint: [Sniffing]

 

Woods:

...[in] building up of arms of any kind. I believe...

 

André:

While there are countries, who amass great arms there will always be wars, there will always be fear of wars. Because the more you amass, you more you fear your enemy and the enemy more fears you, so he gets more and more too. Until such time as diverse peoples have courage to discard all forms of warfare there will always be war.

 

Female sitter:

Would it help if one nation refused to rearm... to arm?

 

André:

That would be the most wonderful step towards progress. If a great nation, like America or this country or France, could say 'we refuse to go to war, at any time, at any price. We are disbanding all our armies and our navies. We are getting rid of all munitions', and the example would be so tremendous.

 

And there could be no glory for any nation that would walk in and take them over, that it would become so pointless, that in the end, in time, there would become confidence in the world - confidence in peoples and nations and there would be no wars.

 

Female sitter:

I think you're so very right there, but, uh, it's, uh... each nation is afraid to take that first initial step.

 

André:

I know. And in consequence, what happens? There is a 'mad race' for armaments.

 

Female sitter:

Yes.

 

André:

Money...

 

[Coughing]

 

André:

...untold millions of pounds are spent on building up this and that, which could be used for [the] good of humanity. Now you have atomic bombs.

 

The only good that one can say about them is; that the fear of them is so great that it may outlaw war in the end, because a nation would be so afraid to go to war, because the retaliation would be so tremendous. And in consequence, no nation can win a war. The last war was not won by this country or by America or by France. Nobody won the last war, everybody lose.

 

Female sitter:

Yes.

 

André:

And so it goes on. As wars become more intense, the less there is to fight for. I believe the time is not far distant when war will be outlawed forever, but I do want to see great confidence come into the hearts of men. And I want to see peoples of all nations mingle together in happiness and in peace. It can and it must and it will come, but we need all your love and all your help too.

 

Don't feel insignificant, for you would be surprised if you knew what you can do to help in these matters. Your thoughts and your prayers are very important.

 

Female sitter:

Thank you.

 

Female sitter:

I know, we cannot keep doing this...

 

André:

But I must go, they tell me the power is going. I've taken up so much time and power. It has made it impossible for some others who would want to come. But all I can say is I have enjoyed and love coming and I hope that next time others will come in my place. Because I think it is only fair they should have the opportunity.

 

But all here send their blessing and love to you.

 

Sitters:

Thank you very much.

Thank you...

 

André:

Continue in love and in harmony and make service the key, because it is by service that you find all the things that would bring your heart joy and peace. Farewell.

 

All sitters:

Thank you.

Farewell...

 

Mickey:

Goodbye, goodbye everybody.

Goodbye, goodbye!

 

Woods:

Thank you ever so much.

 

Female sitter:

Thank you very much.

 

Flint:

Very interesting tonight... today, wasn't it?