Published: Monday 20th of November 2023
Back to School
The teachings on this website are a result of the lifelong investigations made by our founder, Gladys Franklin. Her unstinting dedication to the work of light, and her loving example in everyday life, made a lasting impression upon all those who met her. That is why, though she passed from this earth in the year 2000, I felt privileged to have been in her company only recently in the following out-of-body experience.
It started when I found myself in a school staff room, deep in discussion with other people. I knew we had a book somewhere that related to our subject, but it took a while before finding it. That led to me being given the task of reorganising all of our books into a small library.
Coming from the staff room, I went outside and there I met Gladys. This was her school, the one promised many years before to allow her work of teaching to continue. I wondered how many pupils altogether were in attendance and Gladys told me there were five thousand! As we stood there talking, whole groups of children were walking past us. We joined them and had no trouble keeping up, even though we went at a slower pace because Gladys was helping one child who had difficulty walking. We came to a gently sloping, grassy bank where Gladys and I sat down surrounded by the children. Close by at the bottom of the slope was a raised stone channel, an aqueduct along which water was flowing, sparkling in the light. Then some of us, perhaps all of us, took a little water in our cupped hands to drink. I don't know how long I was there before finding myself back in my bed at home.
You can imagine how elated I felt to have had this experience. Firstly to know that Gladys was continuing her work in a higher plane of life. And furthermore that we were able to visit, perhaps to play a part. Schools in places far removed from the earth are not like schools on earth, for pupils are taught how to find happiness within, and similarly to radiate peacefulness out into the atmosphere. Even whilst on the earth we can go to such a school during sleep. Our age matters little, for adults when asleep can become like children, learning how to unclutter the subconscious mind. We need only to silently and sincerely ask to be taught, and every day make our best effort being patient and generous-minded, not forgetting to be wise.
Being given the job of reorganising the library has strengthened my determination to make our teachings available to a wider audience. One book almost impossible to get hold of comes to mind, and that is Gladys' autobiography. It was originally written in three parts, but we, the trustees of Studies on Life, have given ourselves the task of publishing it in 2024 as one volume. Its value lies in the wonderful way that Gladys explains how some of her many experiences each led to a wider understanding of this life and the afterlife. I can't wait for you to see it!
But what of the water in the aqueduct? Water in higher planes is full of life force, and drinking it can energise both body and mind. Here in the earth it symbolises the water of life, the life force that can enliven the soul. It is the water of which the master teacher, Jesus, spoke, when he said to the woman at the well, that if she had asked he would have given her living water. He added, that whoever drank of that water would never thirst but would find in themselves a well, springing up into eternal life. [John 4:10-14] These words may be taken from the Bible, yet Jesus spoke not of religion but of learning to be naturally loving, kind and tolerant. The opportunity to seek and to find is available to everyone, but only we ourselves can make up our mind to be open to learning with no ifs, ands, or buts.
Author: Colin