(Published by A.R.E. Press)
Book Summary by Lorrie Kazan

Have you ever asked yourself, “Who am I and why am I here? What’s my purpose in life?” These are questions most of us ponder at different times. They are certainly questions which were asked of the most documented psychic, Edgar Cayce, and which he frequently addressed during his readings.

In his book, Soul development: Edgar Cayce's approach for a new world, Kevin Todeschi noted that Cayce saw each of us as an entity that had experienced life times in which we’d both gained and lost. Gains were generally made as a result of our being of loving service to others, and losses were generally due to selfishness, and greed.

A devout Christian, Cayce was startled by what he learned from the transcriptions of his readings. In fact, he’d begun to describe his clients’ past lives, which he said he were recorded in something he called the “akashic records.” Every soul’s thoughts, words and deeds are etched in these records and Cayce claimed that with proper attunement, any one of us could perceive them.

To reach these records, Cayce would go into his sleeping “trance.” Soon he would see himself like a dot out of his body traveling through layers of different worlds until he reached a divine library, which had no walls. There an old man would lead him to a book and point out the section most relevant to his client’s current situation.

It was through those records that Cayce was able to advise a client of where they had gained and lost in past lives, what soul talents they had cultivated, and what issues they needed or were being given the opportunity to transform.

Cayce stressed that there was no greater determinant than a soul’s free will and by that will one could over-ride any misfortunes or lose one’s self abjectly. It was not what happened to you but how you dealt with it that made the difference in whether your soul progressed or regressed.

So, to the question of “who am I?” one might rightly ask, “whom do I declare myself to be, and by what standard am I willing to live?”

We are companions and co-creators with God, in Cayce’s view, and as part of our soul development, it was important for us to follow a program of self-mastery. Basically we were to set a spiritual ideal, such as love, or patience, work with personal attunement, such as prayer and meditation, and apply right action in our lives. Right thought leads to right action.

For Cayce, nothing exceeded the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” His advise in all situations was to be patient, kind, “long suffering,” and selfless. Each of us was here to learn to work cooperatively with each other. We are all sparks of that same celestial light. Our soul purpose was to bring a sense of heaven, or godliness, here on earth.

Unlike many new age philosophers, Cayce did not regard suffering as a sin but as a stepping-stone. Often he told a client that he or she was “meeting self,” someone or some way that person had been in a past life. This is for the soul’s understanding and correction. He viewed our hardships as processes through which we might become more godlike.

In response to difficulties, he recommended that we choose role models, such as Buddha or Christ, and ask ourselves how they would have responded to our particular circumstances. For instance, do we react to someone’s criticism with hurt feelings, or even shame, or do we take a step back and ask how Christ or Krishna would have viewed our offender? Certainly we have the opportunity to do both and decide which provides the greater access to insight and freedom.

Cayce frequently recommended that we use the following process for guiding our development: Take a sheet of paper and arrange 3 columns. Label the first column, “My Spiritual Ideal,” the second column, “My Mental Attitude,” and the third, “My physical Activities.” Under spiritual ideal, write a word or a phrase that best expresses a way of being you wish to embody. Some examples sited were love, compassion, and understanding. Our ideals will change over time as we continue to grow through application and practice.

In the second column, list the attitudes congruent with that ideal. For instance, Mr. Todeschi ascribes forgiveness, love, understanding and openness as mental attributes consistent with the ideal of compassion.

“Physical Activities” is the column that is meant to be the most detailed. “For every attitude, there should be at least three corresponding activities that you can begin doing in your relationship with other individuals.” If compassion is in our ideals column, and love in our mental attitudes section, the author proposes activities such as, “To verbally express feelings and love every day. To do something loving for another person with the thought of receiving anything in return.”

Meditation and prayer were Cayce’s suggested method of attunement to higher vibrations. “…Whatever the mind dwells upon—whether in meditation or by constant thought—becomes a greater portion of the individual.” Cayce created spiritual affirmations to be used in meditation and contemplation, and Mr. Todeschi has provided a generous selection of these.

If you want to be more psychic, Cayce said, become more spiritual, and the psychic will naturally arise as an offshoot. Become a blessing to others. Contribute in thought and service so that you make the world, or your corner of it, a better place for your having been there.

Cayce told us that the soul has an “affinity to things of a spiritual nature.” In reading 3393-2, he advised, “…Take time to be holy. Be holy purposefully, and ye will find much of that ye have looked for, hoped for, will come to thee in new environs, new surroundings.”

Mr. Todeschi reminds us that each of us “is ultimately a companion to and a cocreator with God. Although inevitable, this relationship is not forced but only comes to pass as each soul chooses to allow its occurrence. We have the free will to postpone the inevitable, but not to change it.”

Soul development: Edgar Cayce's approach for a new world
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