Some people in The Spirit Realm did not wish that Their true names be used in this Work. To respect Their wishes fictitious names have been put in to take their place.

Greetings! I am Vladimir Hyich Lenin. I am writing to you on a matter of most importance concerning NOT my life, or, my earthly philosophy- these are well known; but concerning what happened to me AFTER my life. For I think these are things important to be said, and need to be heard.
I was a man that did not believe in God, did not believe in the After Life. I expected only an eternity of blissful, empty darkness, and in the beginning this is what I had. I found myself in such a condition and did not find it unpleasant. I enjoyed it for a great long time. Later I learned this was nineteen years. But then I began to wonder. If I was here, enjoying my rest, could there not be others here, also? So one day I called out and said,
"Greetings! Does anyone share the darkness with me?"
And a pleasant voice came back, saying, "Indeed yes, brother! I come here often to rest. Who is it that calls?"
And I told the stranger who I was, and he answered, saying, "Yes, the revolutionist! I have heard of you. May I call you Lenin?"
"Why, of course, friend," I told him. "And what may I call you?"
"I am Ivan," my new friend told me. "That will do."
"I wish I could see you, Ivan!" I announced. "You sound like a countryman.
"That I am!" Ivan answered, "But before your time. Come into The Light. I will greet you. If you wish a guide I have no pressing business. I would be glad to show you around."
"The Light?" I asked, "What Light?"
"Look behind you," Ivan told me, "you'll see a glimmer of Light, like a dim candle. Come toward it. I will greet you."
I turned around and, as he had said, there was such a Light, and without effort I moved toward it and found myself in a pleasant valley filled with farms where happy peasants went to and fro tending their fields. I was on a small hill near the village. I looked around to see a fully bearded man with long hair dressed in modest garments approaching me.
"Relax, my friend," he said, "I am Ivan. You have nothing to fear. Be again at peace."
"I am not afraid," I answered, "just bewildered. What is this place?"
"The Heart's Desire," Ivan told me, "of the good, and The Resting Place of the not so good...those who survive. It has many names; Heaven, The Land Of The Blessed, Paradise, whatever man chooses to think it is, whatever man wants, is here.
Oh, glorious is the person who comes here free of guilt, who can enjoy it from the hour of his death to the beginning of his next journey. If man could but learn what he loses for his greed and ignorance."
I shook my head in bewilderment. "What was that place I was in, then?" I asked.
"Your own Paradise," Ivan told me. "What you wanted. What you needed.
"But why did not someone come and tell me this was here?" I asked.
"Because the first rule here," Ivan answered, "is, 'If a Soul is at peace, if it is not troubled, leave it alone until it is ready of its own accord, to receive more understanding. Then, let it absorb as much as it needs, as much as it wants. Let it find its own way.' The wise ones here, in the passage of time, have learned that this is the very best philosophy.
When you were ready to seek the company of others you called out. It was not our place to approach you until you were ready. This might have done you harm. And thankfully we have learned here NOT to do others harm. I am glad, though, that I happened to be resting in the Darkness when you chose to seek company! Are you hungry? Would you like to break bread?"
"You EAT here?" I asked.
"To sustain ourselves," Ivan told me, "we must absorb energy. To make that absorbing pleasant we make it into a form that is pleasing to us. That is what these people are doing here, turning the raw energy of The Spirit World into grain and meat...farming it with their thoughts into a form that is pleasing to us and others through the process of preparation, purifying it, and making it enjoyable."
"The lesser still must labor," I scolded, "for the higher. Nothing is better here."
"Oh, no! NO my brother!" Ivan cried. "Nothing is further from the truth! Each man does here ONLY what he wants to do, and each woman, also. These people enjoy tilling the ground. This is their pleasure. Feeding the hungry is their fulfillment, fulfilling a need Their joy. Anyone can come and go as they please. If they seek to do anything else they may do so. None here is bound to any man; sure, those who did evil and must make amends to a brother or a sister, but even those do this of their own joy, of their own will. No man, my brother, or, woman, is forced to do anything here. Go about....ask them. You will find my words are true.
The greatest of all things here, is no man can deceive anyone. Here we must always speak the truth."
"I do not have to ask, my brother," I answered him, "for as you speak to me, I know your words are true. I begin to wonder at all why I am here, but I am thankful for your hospitality, and would be grateful for your bread."
"Come, my brother!" Ivan cried, and he led me to his pleasant home, and we enjoyed a wondrous meal. And I found my hunger was great, indeed!