The Road to Paradise
Chapter 31
Where the "curses" upon "sin" set forth in the Bible occur and where they do not occur
Here we have seen that the being, by virtue of its spiritual and eternal structure, exists just as much after death as it existed before it was born. That it can now no longer experience or create on the physical plane does not mean that it cannot experience or create on the spiritual plane. It can simply no longer transfer its thoughts or mental images directly to the physical plane, and it can no longer experience the thoughts or mental images manifested on the physical plane or in physical matter directly either. This has, however, liberated it from the considerable burden of having to juggle with an organism made of a substance that is thousands of times more concentrated, and thereby correspondingly heavier, than spiritual substance. Here the Biblical curse "In the sweat of thy brow, thou shalt eat thy bread" and the other curses upon "sin" come to pass. Here the woman shall give birth to her children in pain. Here the serpent must be fought, the serpent whose head shall be crushed by the seed or offspring of the woman, while the serpent shall crush the heel of the human being. Here errors and their unpleasant effects – wars, illnesses and sufferings – are manifested. Here, as previously mentioned, the culmination of the dark contrast has its abode. These things cannot happen on the spiritual plane. There the light contrast is manifested. There we are in the home of all culminating happiness and bliss. There no one has to work in the sweat of his brow in order to maintain his existence. And there, painful childbirth is a thing of the past. There, in that wonderful spiritual world, matter automatically obeys the being's thoughts, wishes and will. It needs only to think of a thing and it happens; it needs only to give an order and it appears. Thought thus automatically obeys the being's wish and will or the impulses of energy that it sends out. And since the being learns to think logically during its physical existence, its manifestations of thought on the spiritual plane will thus be logical or illogical, perfect or imperfect according to the degree of perfection that it has acquired in its previous physical terrestrial lives.