In the same way the soul often experiences a “heaven” in accordance with its hopes, beliefs and longings of earth-life.  The “heaven” that it has longed for and believed in during its earth-life is very apt to be at least partially reproduced on the Astral plane, and the pious soul of any and all religious denominations finds itself in a “heaven” corresponding to that in which it believed during its earth-life.  The Mohammedan finds his paradise; the Christian finds his; the Indian finds his—­but the impression is merely an illusion created by the Mental Pictures of the soul.  But the illusion tends to give pleasure to the soul, and to satisfy certain longings which in time fade away, leaving the soul free to reach out after higher conceptions and ideals.  We cannot devote more space to this subject at this time, and must content ourselves with the above statements and explanations.  The principal point that we desire to impress upon your minds is the fact that the “heaven-world” is not a place or state of permanent rest and abode for the disembodied soul, but is merely a place or temporary sojourn between incarnations, and thus serves as a place of rest wherein the soul may gather together its forces, energies, desires and attractions preparatory to re-birth.  In this answer we have merely limited ourselves to a general statement of the states and conditions of the Astral World, or rather of certain planes of that world.  The subject itself requires far more extensive treatment.

QUESTION IV:  “Is Nirvana a state of the total extinction of consciousness; and is it a place, state or condition?”

ANSWER:  The teaching concerning Nirvana, the final goal of the soul, has been much misunderstood, and much error has crept into the teaching even among some very worthy teachers.  To conceive of Nirvana as a state of extinction of consciousness would be to fall into the error of the pessimistic school of philosophy which thinks of life and consciousness as a curse, and regards the return into a total unconsciousness as the thing to be most desired.  The true teaching is that Nirvana is a state of the fullest consciousness—­a state in which the soul is relieved of all the illusion of separateness and relativity, and enters into a state of Universal Consciousness, or Absolute Awareness, in which it is conscious of Infinity, and Eternity—­of all places and things and time. Nirvana instead of being a state of Nothingness, is a state of “Everythingness.”  As the soul advances along the Path it becomes more and more aware of its connection with, relation to, and identity with the Whole.  As it grows, the Self enlarges and transcends its former limited bounds.  It begins to realize that it is more than the tiny separated atom that it had believed itself to be, and it learns to identify itself in a constantly increasing scale with the Universal Life.  It feels a sense of Oneness in a fuller degree, and it sets its feet