The Ghost of Guir House

"You said just now," answered Paul, "that matter, being mind, was

governed by mind, and that the tree or chair before me, owing its

existence to mind, is subject to that mind; do you mean by that to

say that the existence of that sofa, as a sofa, may be transformed

into something else by mental action alone?"

"I do," said Ah Ben, "under certain conditions; namely, the condition

called hypnotism. On this material plane we are imprisoned; the will

is not free to operate upon its environment, but in the spiritual

state this dependence and slavery to the appearances we call

realities is cast aside; the will becomes free and controls its own

environment--in short, we are out of prison. But even here, Mr.

Henley, by practicing the self-control we were speaking of, the will

becomes so powerful that it can sometimes break through the bondage

of matter, which, after all, is no more real than the stuff a dream

is made of, and mold its prison walls into any form it chooses; in

which case, of course, it is no longer a prison, and the other world

is achieved without the change called death!"

"And why do you call it a prison, if no more real than a dream?"

"Have you ever had the nightmare? If so, you must know that your will

was insufficient to free you from the horrid scene that had taken

such forcible hold of you. Was the nightmare real or not?"

Paul was silent for several minutes. He could not deny the reality of

the scene through the chimney, for it had the same forceful existence

to him as anything in life. Ah Ben, seeing that he was still puzzling

himself over the problem of mind and matter, the puzzle of life, the

great sphinx riddle of the ages, said: "Let me ask you a question, Mr. Henley--I might say several

questions--which may possibly tend to throw a little light upon

this subject, and perhaps convince you that matter is really mind."

"Ask as many as you like."

"Pantheism," continued Ah Ben, "is scoffed at by many people calling

themselves Christians as being idolatrous, and yet to me it is the

most ennobling of all creeds. Without knowing anything of your

religious faith, I would first ask if you believe in God?"

Paul answered affirmatively.

"Do you look upon him as a personal Deity--I mean as an exaggerated

man in size and power--or as a Spirit?"

"As a Spirit," Paul replied.