and to say
that a majority of those who are of ordinary health and strength are
likely to attain a stated age, while it is certain that the majority of
those who have such, and such, a physical handicap will lose their
physical bodies when they are much younger. Such general rules may also
be applied to the astral life.

Here a long and alert life is most desirable because the purpose of the
physical plane is to gather experience that shall be transmuted into
wisdom on a higher plane. It is a seed time against a later harvest. But
the astral plane is, for the vast majority of the race, related to the
purgative process. In that life the errors of the physical life are
largely worked out and desires that have grown up like weeds in a garden
are rooted out and the budding virtues are given a chance to grow. It is
a corrective plane, where blunders are checked up and the moral
perspective is re-established. Naturally enough the sooner that can be
done the better. The rule of a long life being most desirable on the
physical plane is, therefore, reversed on the astral plane. It is the
shortest life in the astral world that is the greatest prize, and it
comes to those who have lived the purest and noblest lives while here.
The sooner a man gets through the astral world and begins the reaping of
his harvest on the mental plane, or heaven world, the better it is for
him.

The length of the astral sojourn depends primarily upon the durability
of the astral body and that, in turn, depends upon the kind of a life he
has lived here. Let us suppose that he has lived a very gross and
sensual life. All of the emotions of that type that he indulged built
more gross matter in his astral body and also strengthened and vivified
the lowest grade of matter that was already there. Let us also imagine
that he had an ungovernable temper and frequently gave way to outbursts
of fury; further, that he was cruel and revengeful, seeking and finding
many opportunities of inflicting injuries upon others. Here we have a
case for long life on the lower levels of the astral world.

Let us now consider a different type of man. He lives peacefully and
harmoniously with those about him. He feels strong affection for wife
and children. He has a host of friends because of his cheerful, helpful
and sympathetic attitude toward others. He lives cleanly and thinks
nobly. His mind is kept free from trivialities and his tongue is never
employed in gossip. He mak