My Library

Perhaps this, too, has already been done. Willful use of the Second Body, then, potentially yields power so great that other means are helpless against it. People wielding this power might well be able to suppress or divert any serious expanded study into this area of knowledge. If history is any indication, something has already retarded growth in this direction. First, it was a wall of ignorance. Next came a veil of superstition. Today, a double barrier exists: the suspicion of organized religion and the derision of recognized science. On the other hand, use of such power may be under the control and direction of animate, intelligent, or impersonal regulators, and may preclude nonconstructive interference, There are some indications that this may be the case. We can only hope that it is. Let us assume, then, that sophisticated man will undertake serious research of the Second Body. One by one, others will learn the technique, and the reality will become generally accepted. What then? First, man will be freed of all uncertainty of his relationship with God. His position relative to nature and the universe will be unequivocal knowledge. He will know, rather than believe, whether death is a passing or a finality. With such knowledge and expanded experience, religious conflict will be impossible. Quite probably, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, et al. will still retain much of their individuality, knowing that each has its place in Locale two . However, each will at last understand how this is possible, and that there are infinite variations in the spectrum. Each will rationalize by saying, "That's what we've been trying to tell you all along." Prayer techniques may be rediscovered. Knowledge, rather than belief, could alter the altar procedure vitally. Man would then proceed systematically with his preparation for life in Locale two on a sound basis, liberated from the misinterpretation of distorted visions subjectively experienced and/or observed by uninformed and relatively uneducated fanatics many centuries ago. In so doing, he may have to face facts both unpalatable and uncomfortable. Traditional concepts of good and bad, right and wrong will undoubtedly be subject to radical redefinition. The truth may indeed hurt for a generation or so. The practice of medicine would be seriously affected. Recognition of a possible relationship between physical health and the Second Body would greatly influence the purely mechanical method of diagnosis and treatment. The exact relationship of the Second Body to the physical is not now known, but there is much to suspect. The growing results of the practice of