This is one of Bartholomew's most sensitive and carefully nuanced sessions. Speaking to physicians, he addressed abortion, then broadened the discussion into a profound analysis of guilt as humanity's primary tool of manipulation. He also spoke powerfully about reincarnation and closed with a remarkable statement about the future of his own teachings.

Context: This is the second part of a private session with a visiting physician and his wife. It opens with a direct question about the ethics of abortion, then expands into a wide-ranging discussion of guilt, reincarnation, the Church's removal of reincarnation from its doctrine, and a deeply moving statement about Bartholomew's hope that his own teachings would eventually become unnecessary.

Abortion - No Justification, but No Judgment: Bartholomew stated plainly that from his perspective there is no real justification for abortion - but immediately separated this from any notion of divine punishment, which he said has nothing to do with the divine understanding. He excluded cases involving health risks, danger to the mother's life, or obvious inadequacies in the fetus. For elective abortion, however, he said that regardless of how unconcerned a woman may appear on the surface, in the deepest recesses of her being there is a tremendous feeling of having violated the life force - a deep guilt that can trouble her for a very long time. He emphasized that he was making no judgment whatsoever, but rather expressing concern for the wellbeing of those who carry this hidden burden, and that far too little attention is given to this deep inner consequence.

Guilt - Humanity's Most Destructive Tool: Taking the question about abortion-related guilt as a springboard, Bartholomew expanded into a sweeping analysis of guilt itself. He declared that guilt is entirely of man's making - a judgment made by men, for men - and has nothing to do with the divine powers. From the divine perspective, no one is found guilty of anything. Guilt, he observed, is probably the single most destructive force in close human relationships, used as a manipulative device to control others. He described the escalating pattern with striking precision: it begins with withdrawal of good humor, moves to emotional manipulation (ranting, crying, hysteria), progresses to withholding (sexual favors, companionship), and culminates in the ultimate threat of abandonment - divorce, eviction, or walking away. He urged listeners to watch their verbal patterns for guilt-inducing phrases and to recognize that while guilt may work in the short term, in the long term it breeds only hatred and resentment.

Reincarnation and the Church: When asked about reincarnation, Bartholomew affirmed it as reality and addressed the historical question of why the early Christian Church removed it from its doctrine. He dismissed the sometimes-offered explanation that Church leaders removed it to motivate people to live well in this single life - a rationale he called more exalted than the actual truth. The real reason, he said, was simply arrogance: the Church leaders' belief in their own power and understanding was so great, and their actual spiritual power so limited, that they removed reincarnation because they genuinely did not believe it was true.

The Future of the Bartholomew Work - Experience Over Belief: In one of the most remarkable passages in the entire Bartholomew Material, Bartholomew laid out his vision for the future of his work. He insisted his words should never be called "teachings," and that nothing he said should be believed until it was personally experienced. He warned that if people begin saying "Bartholomew said..." rather than sharing their own experience, something has gone wrong. His hope was that listeners would open themselves to sources far higher than Bartholomew, and that someday his tapes would become redundant. He expressed this as his deepest aspiration: that he would have succeeded when the day came that he was no longer needed - when people had made their own direct connection with the Divine. He compared this to the Buddha's essential message: don't believe because I say so, but experience it for yourself. Anyone who truly teaches from the depths of the source, Bartholomew said, will always say the same thing: your freedom is my freedom.