lone upon himself nor upon the preparations for his own
new earthly existence, is man's attention bestowed after death.--No, he is
called upon then to work upon the outer world, just as he is in life
between the time of his birth and death.

Not only does the life of man affect the conditions of the physical world
from the spirit-land; but vice versa, activity during physical existence
has its effects in the spiritual world. An example may explain what
happens in this respect. A bond of love exists between mother and child.
This love arises from a mutual attraction caused by the forces of the
sense-world. But in the course of time it changes. A spiritual tie
gradually grows out of the sense-bond, and this spiritual tie is not
created for the physical world only but for the spirit-world as well. The
same applies to other ties. Whatever is created in the physical world by
spiritual entities continues to exist in the spiritual world. Friends who
were closely united in life belong to each other in spirit-land also, and
when their bodies are laid aside they are in much more intimate communion
than during physical life. For as spirits they exist for each other in the
same way as, in the above description, spiritual beings reveal themselves
to others by inner manifestation; and a tie created between two persons
brings them together again in a new life. Thus in the truest sense of the
word we may speak of finding one another again after death.

What has once happened to a man between birth and death and from then till
a new birth, repeats itself. Man returns to earth again and again when the
fruit he has earned in a physical life has ripened in the spirit-world. It
is not, however, a case of repetition without beginning or end; but man
has emerged out of other forms of existence and passed into those which
run their course in the manner just described, and he will again in the
future pass into other forms. A viewpoint of these transition stages will
be gained when the evolution of the universe in connection with man is
subsequently considered from the standpoint of occult science.

The occurrences between death and a new birth are of course still more
concealed from outer sense-observation than is the spiritual foundation
underlying manifested life between birth and death. This sense-observation
can see only the effects of that portion of the hidden world where they
impinge upon physical existence. With regard to this the quest