All of the spirit messages cited here are quotations from volumes one to three of “The Spirit Teachings of Silver Birch,”
（Vol.1） “Guidance from Silver Birch” by Anne Dooley
（Vol.2） “Silver Birch Speaks” by Sylvia Barbanell
（Vol.3） “Wisdom of Silver Birch” by H・S Home circle
［Notes on Citations and Terminology in This Document］
● General overview
Ⅰ. For the sake of human spiritual evolution, a law has been built into life that requires us to experience both success and failure.
Ⅱ. The inescapable problems of life that absolutely no one can avoid
● Details
① Why do fear and sorrow exist?
② Why fear persists even when we possess spiritual knowledge
③ Silver Birch’s comments on that fear
④ The basis for being free from fear
⑤ How can we put this Silver Birch teaching into practice in our daily lives?
⑥ A shift in how we perceive things
Constantly shifting our focus from material standards to spiritual standards
⑦ How can we receive spiritual power and inspiration directly from the higher realms?
● How to deal with fear and anxiety
● Summary
With knowledge you should live in the sunlight of spiritual understanding
● General overview
Ⅰ．For the sake of human spiritual evolution, a law has been built into life that requires us to experience both success and failure.
“The soul that has knowledge must realise that frustration and setback are equally parts of the plan, as are advance and progress. The negative and positive, action and reaction, are opposite and equal, these are the two sides of the coin. You cannot have the one without the other.
There is a law that sets in motion the means by which you can advance. There is a law responsible for frustrations and setbacks. All is part and parcel of the same complex, intricate pattern, designed to allow the human spirit to find its fullest expression. You cannot have all-knowledge. Where your knowledge cannot take you, you must have faith, not blind, foolish, credulous faith, but faith founded on knowledge.
Knowledge is the unshakable base, the enduring foundation. Knowledge, which has revealed the eternal truth of the spirit, in turn should produce complete, unwavering, unrelenting, undisturbed confidence in the power of the spirit which is the life-force itself.”
（Vol.1 P41）
Ⅱ．The inescapable problems of life that absolutely no one can avoid
“I would be untrue to my mission if I could offer any who come within the orbit of these truths an easy comfortable life. It is not our purpose to show you how to avoid life`s problems. It is our purpose to show you how to face up to them, to conquer them and to emerge all the stronger for them.
The treasures of the spirit are far superior to any earthly riches. These are eternal possessions which, once acquired, can never be lost. Strive to acquire them. No soul has to carry a burden that is beyond its strength. No soul faces difficulties that are incapable of solution. Carrying the burden and tackling the difficulties are signposts on the road of the soul`s attainment.
It is not easy, but the rich prizes of the spirit are not easily attained. If they were, they would not be worth the having. The truth is, uncomfortable though it may be, and doubt, for doubt comes even to those with experience, that those times are best for you.
We, who love you, often have to stand back and watch you fight your battle. We hope and pray that you will do so in that spirit which will enable you to learn the lesson and equip the soul.” （Vol.1 P35）
● Details
① Why do fear and sorrow exist?
“The gold of the spirit cannot emerge until it has been purified and refined through sorrow and hardship. There is no other way.” （Vol.1 P37）
When you encounter suffering and adversity, you cannot help but feel anxiety, worry, sorrow, and fear.
However, Silver Birch repeatedly appeals to you in a strong tone, saying that you must “not fear one shred.”
Why, then, is it that you have no need to be afraid?
It is because there is a sure and reliable guarantee that underpins this.
In other words, because you are a “child of God,” a spark of the Great Spirit, you are able to receive directly the spiritual power that created and governs the universe, together with the help, guidance, and inspiration that flow from the spirit world.
Even if your present suffering and sorrow do not lead to the outcome you desire, Silver Birch tells you that, through the very process of overcoming these trials, you will become a wiser and stronger person, and this will lead you to the true purpose of your present earthly life, which is the unfoldment of your divinity, that is, your spiritual nature.
That is precisely why, in order to fulfil the true purpose of spiritual growth, hardships and trials in earthly life are absolutely necessary, and it is for the very sake of experiencing them that you have chosen to be born on earth.
Hardships and trials are “tools” that you can never avoid; they are precious instruments for disciplining your spiritual nature and drawing forth your divinity.
“It is the comparison that enable you to understand the difference, but they are only opposite ends of the one pole. You cannot to through earthly life with a monotone.
You must have light and dark; you must have warmth and cold; you must have happiness and sorrow; you must have the variety of experiences to enable the soul to come into its own.” （Vol.1 P46）
② Persistent fear that remains even with spiritual knowledge
No matter how strongly Silver Birch goes on repeating that you must not worry, the vague feelings of anxiety and concern that dwell in your heart do not easily disappear.
The reason is that anxiety has already become a fixed habit in you and has taken deep, stubborn root in the depths of each person’s mind, down in the subconscious.
Even when you possess spiritual knowledge, the lingering fear and the persistent feelings of anxiety and worry arise because, deep in your heart, you have not yet come to truly and wholeheartedly trust in God, who governs this world through laws, and in the working of God’s power, that is, the power of spirit, which maintains and administers those laws.
To put it even more concretely, this means that you do not truly believe in the teachings themselves.
Even if you have, to some extent, awakened to the truth that “I am spirit,” in the midst of this intensely real material world, your five senses, which respond only to coarse vibrations, are incapable of perceiving the spirit world, which belongs to a realm of far more refined vibration.
As a result, although you may think you understand these things as spiritual knowledge in your head, you feel almost no living sense of the reality of the spiritual world.
It is as if the spirit world, like a range of mountains stretching out behind, were completely hidden from view by the thick clouds of the various events of daily life.
Especially when you are filled with anxiety and worry, your surroundings seem all the more covered over with heavy rain clouds, mist, and haze.
For this reason, you do not realize at all that, just beyond those thick clouds, the sun and a wonderful blue sky, that is, the spirit world, are spreading out right beside you.
When you are possessed by worry and anxiety, it is as though you were living in a dark tunnel with no visible exit.
“How foolish are they who see only the light of the candle when they could behold the radiance of the sun!”
（Vol.3 P64)
③ Silver Birch’s comments on fear from the perspective of spiritual law
“I have perfect confidence in the infinite power that created the whole universal system. There is none in your world who can produce any power that approaches by a fraction the power of life which enables them to continue from day to day. I know of no country or nation which can produce systems of law that will compare in any way with the natural laws that rule all life.
Why then should there be any fear or lack of trust in that divine power which has been directing the universe for all time? You must put yourself in tune with it. You must learn to have inner tranquility and serenity, complete confidence, so that through you the maximum of divine power can flow to fulfil its purpose. When you are in harmony with the law of love and wisdom it works itself out. The wind bloweth where it listeth. Love finds its own. Love, divine love, of which human love is but one expression, is the fulfilling of the law.
The simple truth is that those who have knowledge of spiritual realities should face each day without a trace of fear and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Great Spirit within gives them automatically the possession of such an armoury that they can fight any battle which they are privileged to encounter. They must triumph, for the power of the spirit is mightier than any material force.
Fear is the worst enemy of mankind. Fear is corrosive, Fear saps, drains, vanquishes reason, overwhelms, keeps away the very power that would enable you to conquer every difficulty. Fear disturbs, prevents harmony, stops attunement, causes wavering and doubt. Banish fear. Those who have knowledge should be tranquil, radian, serene, confident, impossible to be disturbed.
If what I say were not true, matter would be superior to spirit, darkness would be greater than light, ignorance would triumph over knowledge. The power of the spirit, which is the power of God, is supreme throughout the whole universe. The spirit is not only all-powerful, it is all-wisdom, it is all love. Behind all life`s manifestations is the divine wisdom.” （Vol.1 P40）
④ The reason why we do not have to be afraid
To repeat the same point once more from the standpoint of spiritual law, Silver Birch tells you to “cast aside every form of fear and every thought of worry.”
As the unshakable guarantee for this, he explains that there exists as an absolute truth and law the spiritual law whereby the power of God, that is, the power of spirit, which sovereignly rules the universe, is protecting and guiding you through your guardian spirits and spirit guides in the spirit world.
“It is the power of the spirit that we offer, the power of the spirit which can triumph over every difficulty, conquer every obstacle and reveal the light of truth, wisdom and understanding and enable the children of the Great Spirit to build systems of enduring peace.” （Vol.3 P36)
The Great Spirit is God, who manifests as law and providence, creates the universe, and sustains and governs it.
The “power of spirit” is the very “power of God.” In this sense, just like the laws themselves, spiritual power can be said to be identical with God. Spiritual power is life energy itself.
It is this spiritual power that, throughout the vast universe including the spirit world, manifests itself in an infinite variety of forms and phenomena, embracing all things in existence.
In this vast universe, human beings, who exist for less than a mere hundred years on a planet as small as a grain of sand called the earth, entertain thoughts and feelings that are modest, ever‑changing, and shallow: fear, worry, anxiety, and even emotions such as romantic love and human trust. These stand in complete contrast to the unwavering, immutable, and true love of God, who is carrying out the laws of this great universe.
Through those laws, God’s reliability, faithfulness, and tenderness, which are at work impartially toward every single person, leave not the slightest room for doubt.
Our own knowledge, as beings who live under these laws, is naturally limited. Therefore, there is in truth no room at all for us to resist, or to harbour distrust or doubt toward the eternal and unchanging spiritual laws, the very laws by which God administers the universe.
For this reason, in regard to those things that you simply cannot understand, what is strongly required of you is a steadfast faith that trusts in the “power of spirit” on the basis of spiritual knowledge.
Therefore, it is essential that you firmly maintain the conviction that the laws of the universe, the spiritual laws, are eternally indestructible and unchanging, and that you place your full trust in God, who manifests through these laws, and in the power of God.
And as the proof of that trust, you are called to put into practice a way of life that is in harmony with the spiritual laws, including a living faith that believes in spiritual realities.
“Problems will cross your paths, but they will cross them, they will not stay. There will be no difficulty so great that you cannot solve it, no load so heavy that you cannot bear it upon your shoulders. Have no fear. Face whatever the morrow brings you with a resolute heart and a determined spirit and all will be well.” （Vol.3 P62)
The fact that you have now come to know the spiritual truths that have been set forth up to this point means that you have incurred the responsibility to strive and make an effort to live each day without harboring even a shred of fear, to remain always calm and serene, and to live with a deep sense of confidence.
Here, “living with confidence” does not mean placing confidence in yourself, but rather having a confidence grounded in the firm conviction that you are constantly receiving support from “spiritual power” in the form of protection and guidance from your guardian spirits and spirit guides in the spirit world. This is precisely what Jesus of Nazareth himself teaches in the Bible.
And so, once you have gained this spiritual knowledge, you incur the obligation, in every situation, to hold fast to it in your daily life, to trust it deeply, and to put it earnestly into practice, remaining calm and bright in spirit and never allowing yourself to lose composure. Silver Birch teaches that this obligation itself is also a law. (Vol. 1, p. 62)
By doing so, you will be able, in accordance with spiritual law, to receive help and guidance, and thus to open up your destiny by means of spiritual power.
“Far more important is the application of spiritual truth to all daily life. （snip） Ours is a practical religion, a religion for every day, for 24 hours of every day, for 60 minutes of every hour and for 60 seconds of every minutes.”
（Vol.3 P45)
It is precisely by putting these spiritual laws into practice that, through many experiences in which you come to be convinced that what the teachings say is true, an “unshakable faith” in “spiritual power” is gradually nurtured within you.
This “unshakable faith” in spiritual power is by no means something that can be obtained in a short time or with little effort. You may say that this journey is in fact a lifelong discipline.
⑤ How can we put this Silver Birch teaching into practice in our daily lives?
Then how, in fact, can you dispel “fear, the greatest enemy of humanity”?
In other words, why is it that, even though you have been given spiritual knowledge, it is still so difficult to firmly believe in spiritual truth and put it into practice in your daily life?
One reason is that spiritual knowledge about the spiritual world and spiritual truth seems, at first glance, far too remote from the realities of this material world, which exalts material science above all else.
As a result, without even realizing it, you end up receiving the spiritual world as if it were merely something out of a story, unconsciously treating it as fiction and automatically stowing it away in a kind of “story box” within your subconscious storage.
In other words, that spiritual knowledge has turned into “dead stock” that is never actually put to use in your daily life.
In complete contrast to this, unpleasant experiences and past failures keep bubbling up, time and again, into your dreams and into your conscious mind, no matter how much time has passed.
Furthermore,
“You awaken in the morning and before your consciousness is completely functioning a thousand and one material cares begin to engulf you. Before long you are so immersed in these problems, some large, some small, some real, some imaginary, but all of them transient, that you forget the power of the spirit is exercising its beneficent effect on you. You almost shut it out of your thinking and build a kind of wall that makes it more difficult for it to penetrate.
It is such a familiar story with all the instruments of the spirit.” （Vol.1 P45）
Thus, these two factors give rise to a lack of conviction, become the main reasons why you are unable to put spiritual law into practice in daily life, and cause worry and anxiety never to cease.
It is therefore no exaggeration to say that everything depends on how deeply you trust, and how firmly you are able to believe to the very end, in God who created this vast universe and administers it through absolute, eternal, and unchanging laws, and in the spiritual power that is God’s own power.
Yet for such certainty, it is absolutely indispensable that you put the spiritual laws into practice and accumulate many spiritual experiences as the firm basis for your “assurance.”
As for this world of spirit, it is left to your own responsibility whether you receive it merely as a product of imagination or as a description of a truly existing reality.
According to Silver Birch, spiritual laws are a kind of knowledge that simply cannot be accepted unless the time has come for a person to receive them, that is, unless that person’s level of spiritual development has reached that stage.
“I see far too many who know these things but, alas, no trace of that knowledge is to be seen in their actions. Try to realise, even though it is hard for you, that every individual in the whole wide world of matter is living in the world of spirit now and he will be no more living in the world of spirit on the day that he dies.
Try to realise that it is only a question of vibration, a question of changing your rate of vibrations.” （Vol.3 P24)
⑥ A shift in how we perceive things
（Constantly shifting our focus from material standards to spiritual standards）
“You will have victories and defeats always, but the soul that is aware should not let itself be troubled by either. There will come a time when the scales have fallen from your eyes and you will be able to judge by eternal standards.” （Vol.1 P52)
“You are not the best judges of what is spiritually best for you. Sometimes the worst answer to your prayer would be to give you that for which you asked.
You must try to judge, and it is very difficult for you, every situation, not from the material standpoint, but from the spiritual standpoint. Sometimes what seems disaster to you is victory to us. Sometimes that seems triumph to you is disaster to us. If you ask for guidance, you will receive it, not necessarily in the way in which you want it to come but in the way that is best for your soul at that moment
of its evolution. The divine power cannot fail you, but do not attempt to measure eternity with the yardstick of earthly life.” （Vol.1 P38)
In this way, the answer to your prayers may not always be fulfilled in the form you desire.
Yet from the long-range perspective of the spiritual view, you will later come to realize that, even in matters that you cannot possibly understand at present, you are in fact being led unfailingly in a truly good direction.
This is because the development of your divinity and your spiritual growth is the true purpose of this life that you yourself planned in advance when you were born into this world.
“Let the power which guides the universe, let the power which proved it is capable of guides you, fulfil its purpose. Trust implicitly in that power which cannot fail, for if it could the universe would cease to exist.
The simple truth is that unless you had problems to resolve, battles to fight, difficulties to master, the latent divinity of the spirit could never attain a maturity of expression.” (Vol.1 P39）
⑦ How can we receive spiritual power and inspiration directly from the higher realms?
“It is true that everybody has a guardian angel in one form or another, but how many realise this fact? Where there is no realisation, unless the individual is unconsciously psychic, then that guide or spirit being is unable to register in your world. The whole activity of the spirit is dependent upon your providing the conditions through which it can express itself. When you provide the conditions a finely-attuned instrument in harmony with the world of spirit, then those who are close to you can manifest their presence and make their impact on matter. That explains all the cases of guardianship, protection and guidance, of which you have many records. It is for you to provide the right conditions. You are our hands, without them we cannot work in your world.” (Vol.3 P170)
“The fears in your world, the wavering doubts, these disturb the atmosphere.
We work through tranquility, through certainty. When you disturb the atmosphere with fear, doubt, anxiety, apprehension, you block the path by which the power of the spirit can reach you. (Note)” (Vol.3 P41）
(Note)
“Inspiration is a continuing process through-out all times.
Ever since the first moment when mans consciousness dawned and began to blossom, there have been sent to help those who could guide his footsteps so that he can achieve his great destiny.” (Vol.3 P52)
“There us a vast range inspiration that you can have access to if you so desire, but fear doubt, uncertainty, these are discords that interfere and should have no place in your consciousness.” (Vol.3 P62)
“If you would but allow that divinity which is within you to reise to the surface, if you would but learn the laws which are responsible for the full flowing of power and inspiration from higher spheres, you would begin to live as the Great Spirit intended that you should.” (Vol.3 P43)
“Only you have acquired this knowledge, you cannot lose it. Your soul has made its magnetic link with the world of spirit and you are open to receive what can be, when you are ready, a flood of power and wisdom, of inspiration, truth and beauty. To each one of you there is given that amount of free will which, as you evolve, you learn to exercise.” (Vol.1 P42)
“Retire into the silence of your own being; forget the world of matter with all its harsh discord. Tune in to the subtle, delicate vibrations of the teeming spirit life around you, and you will know that you can transcend the limitations of the fleshly body. Awaken to knowledge; awaken to understanding. You need not be a prisoner, you can leave the jail of ignorance and live in the light of spiritual freedom.” (Vol.3 P42)
● How to deal with fear and anxiety
“Just as the darkest hour precedes the dawn, so the light of the spirit must shine. All that is required is that you should discharge your duty faithfully and well, and rest your confidence in the power which has revealed its loving beneficence towards you.” (Vol.1 P41)
And now, let us make it a point always to call to mind the following two sayings from the teachings.
“There will be no difficulty so great that you cannot solve it, no load so heavy that you cannot bear it upon your shoulders.” (Vol.3 P62)
“You must put yourself in tune with it. You must cast out all thoughts of fear, and anxiety.” (Vol.1 P40)
● Summary
“There is nothing in your world to fear. Fear is the great enemy; fear saps the vitality; fear prevents the spirit from finding expression. Derive out fear. Perfect love castes out fear, and love rules the universe; there is no place for fear, which belongs to the darkness of ignorance.
With knowledge you should live in the sunlight
of spiritual understanding. He who worries indicates that he is actuated by fear. You have nothing to fear but fear itself. Fear belongs to the darkness, not to the light. A soul that has complete, unswerving confidence in the power of which it is an integral part does not worry.” (Vol.1 P47)
※ Although this reflection has become a very lengthy piece of writing, it is not something that can be truly understood or made your own merely by reading it through a few times.
You will need to read and reread the teachings many times, until they become an integral part of your own consciousness.
We, myself included, must firmly recognize that coming upon the supreme spiritual treasure of the spiritual laws set forth here is by no means a mere coincidence.
