call "abnormal" happenings, the
so-called "phenomena," from the normal every-day happenings of life.
For there is no fundamental difference between them. All planes are
equally within the realm of law; all worlds, denser or grosser in
material organisation, are equally worlds moving by order and law.
There is nothing really abnormal in Nature. Some things happen more
seldom than others--are unusual; but the very idea of abnormal seems
to me in many respects mischievous and harmful. It is better to look
on the whole world-system--universe, call it what you will--as a part
of a definite order in which all the things that happen happen by law,
in which there no gaps, no abnormalities, but only limitations of our
own knowledge at a certain time. All the gaps in Nature are gaps in
the knowledge of the observers of Nature. There is nothing miraculous
or supernatural, but everything is the orderly product of Nature
working along definite lines and guided by definite intelligence.

And one reason why it is so important to recognise this is in order to
clear away the atmosphere of wonder, of marvel, of awe, of reverence,
that is apt, very much to the detriment of the observers, to enshroud
everything unusual, every manifestation of a force with which we are
not familiar, everything that in the old days was called "miraculous."
And one thing I want strongly to impress upon you is, that in
everything that can be called a "phenomenon," you ought to deal with
it according to the same laws, according to the same canons of
observation, as you deal with the phenomena with which you are most
familiar on the physical plane. You should not regard an unusual
phenomenon as one which is necessarily to be regarded with reverence
in any way. You should not necessarily talk in whispers, when speaking
about what we call "phenomena." It is better to talk in your natural
voice, and apply your ordinary common sense and the laws of sane
judgment in every case. If you do that instead of getting alarmed or
astonished, if you will stand on your feet instead of falling on your
knees, your study of the other worlds will be more profitable, and the
dangers you are likely to meet will be very much diminished.

To come back to the point of the beginnings of all religious
movements, we find that all begin in the atmosphere of "phenomena."
The divine Man who founds the religion, and those who immediately
surround Him, are always people who have a knowledge