What is necessary, however, in order to be able to face up to and to love life in the right way and to go on doing so? The answer is: One must learn to love one's neighbour as oneself! Doing so gives you cheerfulness and preserves it for you. But why do people lose heart, over and over again? Because life does not turn out as they expected or wanted it to do. Martyrdom is the mental content which mostly sapping human cheerfulness. Martyrdom is one of mankind's worst enemies because it is a vital lie. In reality there is no such thing as martyrdom, because nobody can suffer wrong, and nobody can inflict wrongs on another. If one could do so, or if anything in life could be without design or intent then human beings could be certain of nothing and the whole universe would be in a state of chaos. This it evidently is not; on the contrary it is a perfect example of order and an expression of the highest logic. Nothing is incidental, so when the human beings are worried and have troubles and regard themselves as martyrs, it is because they believe themselves to be the victims of injustice. Such a feeling of martyrdom may be result of the inclemency of the forces of nature. The farmer for example regards himself as a martyr when his crops fail or his cattle sicken and die. In relation to catastrophes of nature people may also feel themselves as martyrs when the elements break loose and they are helplessly exposed to the giant forces of nature. It is, however, in relation to other human beings that the feeling of martyrdom most frequently arises. If somebody is slandering you or tries to annoy you, you may think that he or she tries to do you harm and consider yourself a martyr who is treated unfairly, and so you will waste a lot of energy on negative thoughts and feelings of self-pity which is most injurious to human beings both physically and psychically. Through Cosmology it will come to one's knowledge that in reality evil does not exist in this world, and that everything is love and intellectuality. It is very difficult for mankind to understand this, but it is most important to learn that it is so. The universe is a manifestation of the highest and most brilliant perfection. However, as man's knowledge and scientific understanding do not yet embrace the whole universe but only a local part of it, then the great majority of people still remain subject to partial and erroneous judgement. If a fly is crawling over a picture and everything it sees at the moment is black, it would describe everything in life as black if it were able to speak. In the same way a human being may consider life to be "black" and so become a pessimist because he is lacking in sufficient breadth of view over the great cosmic entirety, of which the so called "black" is but a small part. In reality everything is in harmony. While certain conditions prevail within the consciousness it may, however, lead to disharmony until one achieves a greater knowledge and consequently a broader perspective of life.

The human beings will learn that they are alive all the time, no matter whether they are "here" or they are "dead". They will realize that the spirit ought to rule matter and not the opposite. When man is sorrow-stricken, embittered or disappointed it is a sign that he has been overcome by matter instead of the contrary. The creative principle ought to control matter; it is unworthy that matter should dominate the creative faculty. Man will become the master of life and matter. For this to come true, however, it is necessary that man has obtained a general knowledge not only of the little, local aspects of everyday life but of the connection between these sections and the cosmic or universal whole. This is what I try to make evident through my cosmic analyses. I demonstrate that the I, the fixed point of the living being, is the master of matter and not the reverse. But why, then, are not all people sovereign, why are they not Christ-beings? Let us compare this question with another one: Why is one human being a child and another one a grown-up person? Concerning both questions it is obvious that when all people are not of the same age, are not equally developed, this is due to the fact that their experiences concerning the contrasts of life are not equally wide. All that bears the name of development is based on the experience of contrasts. When a grown-up person, i.e. a person of mature years, is able to think and act differently from a little child, it is owing to his life-experiences, especially those resulting from suffering and troubles of the past.

This is valid in one life, but it is also valid concerning the development which takes place in a cycle so great as that which I call an evolutionary spiral. When man is able to act otherwise than an animal, and when developed man is able to act and think differently from primitive man, this is due to the difference between their cosmic ages in the spiral of evolution to which they belong, i.e. it is due to their different experiences concerning the contrast principle. Life must hold contrasts, if not, it would be impossible to experience life. We can only enter into an experience to the degree that we have known its opposite already. Thus, one is able to experience love only to the extent one has experienced the consequences of hatred. The more one has met with darkness and suffering, as well as light and joy, the more it becomes possible to be in harmony with the laws of life. Based on its experiences the living being's I will become master of both spiritual and physical matter, and when, at the present times more and more people have developed an inquiring mind and exhibit peace-loving traits then this is due to the suffering they have undergone during many past incarnations.

Terrestrial humanity is at present passing through the zone of culminating darkness of an evolutionary spiral and is on its way towards the regions of light of this spiral. This is so because the living beings themselves, have a long time ago, longed for this state of darkness. Now they want to experience another state, and they will get what they want and long for. This fulfilment, however, will not take place miraculously, but it will take place because the living beings will learn how to create the state they are longing for. Through the knowledge of darkness light will gradually be created in the consciousness of mankind. We decide our own fate ourselves, and it is a divine arrangement that what we long for will always appear as a light ahead, and that with which we are satiated as darkness behind us. Therefore, in real life one cannot speak about something as evil or good, but only about the unpleasant good and the pleasant good. Nothing is evil in itself. But when nothing is evil in itself, martyrdom does not exist either. What is, then, so-called martyrdom? It is but a delusion.

I have mentioned previously that "the fall of man" is taking place continuously. Indeed, terrestrial human beings of today exemplify precisely "Adam and Eve" eating of the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The sufferings, the hardships, the disease and all the other things belonging to the so-called evil are some of these fruits. They are, however, nothing but the fruits from seeds they have sown themselves through previous acts and behaviour. What does terrestrial man learn from the destiny he experiences in his everyday life? He obtains information of what he has sown previously both in this life as well as in former lives. He now experiences the consequences of his previous acts. This is, however, an education, an instruction and by no means a punishment, and it will cause him to follow new lines of thought as well as new courses of action.

At present a large number of people have no heart for certain lines of action but which others have no hesitation in pursuing. This is due to the fact that the former have experienced the painful consequences of such acts so often that they feel them keenly within themselves and as a consequence they cannot possibly inflict on other beings a similar experience. Once upon a time human beings believed in religions such as recounted in old Norse mythology, and at that age condition of darkness was yet "the light" to mankind. It was considered a piece of: good luck to be killed in the battlefield because consequently you were taken to Valhalla, which to them was the same as Paradise, while it was considered a calamity to die in one's bed of old age or disease, because then you were sure to go straight to the Hell of that time. At present most people do not take up such an attitude, not even those who are fighting on the battlefields. They do not fight for the sake of war any more, but for the sake of peace, and they do not make a sport of it as they did previously. But they will come to learn that this transformation of consciousness is not enough to exterminate war. You cannot exterminate anything by cultivating it, not even if you do it with the best of intentions. If you want to exterminate war you must learn to create its opposite, which in this case means peace.

Many of these civilized people who have a great faculty of compassion and who also have a fairly developed intelligence with which they think and act logically in their work and in their local fields, belong precisely to those human beings who lose the courage to face up to and love life because of all the malice in the world and so become depressed, disappointed and perhaps downright ill as a consequence of their negative mental state. Everything, their own situation and that of the world, they find hopeless, and they see no means or possibility for improvement. They become pessimists if they do not go to the other extreme and become indifferent because they find everything absurd. It is for such human beings I have created my analyses in order to help them so that they will be able to use their faculty of love and compassion together with their intelligence in another and more positive way which, as a consequence, will give back to them the courage to face up to and love life again.

Of course I meet with both pleasant and unpleasant experiences, but I know that there are such things as the pleasant and the unpleasant good, and I know that everything which comes to pass is an application tome from God, no matter by means of whom it takes place. God does not speak to us by means of a single being; all beings are instruments which might be used by God when He wishes to communicate with a living being. If you are annoyed with these beings you are actually annoyed with the Deity, with God. As long as you are annoyed with certain troubles, they will come back again and again. This means that the unfinished parts of a human being's conscience has to be ground smooth. This will not stop until the polishing is perfect. But why do you allow yourself to be annoyed with other people? Because you think they ought to be different from what they are! Human beings are so different and of course each single individual must be precisely, what he or she is just now. In the same way as the animals are what they are. Human beings make the mistake to demand the same behaviour from less developed beings as they do from the higher developed ones, and they despise the beings whom they consider to be less developed, while they are so great snobs to those they look up to, that it verges on a personality cult and idolatry. None of these attitudes is to love one's neighbour as oneself, for true, neighbourly love is to love all living beings, all instruments and organs of the Deity, and to try to find God in all of them.

If you are facing an unpleasant human being, two things should be taken into consideration: In the first place you must remember that it is your own karma which has brought you into contact with this person and so provided you with the opportunity to meet with this trial in toleration and equanimity. In the second place you must try to overlook what this being is at present, and consider what the future stage of this person will be. One must not forget that the person in question has arrived at the temporary zenith of his existence and that he cannot be blamed for lack of experiences not yet encountered and from which he therefore has not been able to learn. At some future time he will learn and, eventually achieve cosmic consciousness, and then perhaps you will meet under quite different circumstances than the present. Of course you cannot mention this to the person involved, because he or she would most likely then believe you to be out of your mind. In your heart, however, you may think: "Even you are a divine being, and so it is but a natural thing to be kind and affectionate to you!" Love, however, is more than a pat on the cheek. Here the point is to do what in this special situation is most kind, and to do so without any form of anger, embitterment, disappointment or irritation. It is quite possible to be firm without being ill-tempered, and you may even reprimand someone in a kindly and affectionate manner - without banging the table!

The purpose of world-redemption is to make human beings understand life and to accept the lessons in the laws of life they can get here. Just imagine the effect of not being annoyed with events happening, but instead of this trying to understand, that these are the entirely proper things to happen in the present situation when looking back on the past, and in anticipation of the benefit you empirically know you will have from them in the future. One must not allow oneself to be annoyed or disappointed because of the behaviour of other human beings any more than one should not be disappointed with a thistle or a dandelion because they are not a rose or a lily. Christ said to his disciples: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost". What kind of baptism is this? The real baptism, the only one of importance, is the loving interaction in everyday life between oneself and one's fellow men. The real baptism is to communicate the Essence of Light to others through one's own attitude and behaviour. You cannot change them, but you can set an example which will have a long-time effect. In reality this Essence of Light does not come from yourself, it comes from God and reaches your fellowmen through you as a medium. Then you have become a being who has the courage to face up to life and to love your fellow beings, and so, through your interaction with them to bring God into their minds and hearts. And so no feeling of martyrdom will remain in the consciousness of man, and even if he finds himself on a battlefield, light and peace will emanate from him.