d 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 firmly upon the Path toward
_Nirvana_. After many weary lives on this and other planets--in this
and other Universes--after it has long since left