He walked over and seated himself at my left， whereEmerson was accustomed to sit， and said， “You aredestined to witness the discovery of the secret oflife. When the time comes， you will observe that lifeconsists of great swarms of energy， or entities， eachas intelligent as human beings think themselves tobe. These units of life group together like hives ofbees， and remain together until they disintegrate，through lack of harmony.
These units have differences of opinion， the sameas human beings， and often fight among themselves.
These meetings which you are conducting will bevery helpful to you. They will bring to your rescuesome of the same units of life which served themembers of your Cabinet， during their lives. Theseunits are eternal. THEY NEVER DIE！ Your ownthoughts and DESIRES serve as the magnet whichattracts units of life， from the great ocean of life outthere. Only the friendly units are attracted—the oneswhich harmonize with the nature of your DESIRES.”
The other members of the Cabinet began to enterthe room. Edison got up， and slowly walked aroundto his own seat. Edison was still living when thishappened. It impressed me so greatly that I wentto see him， and told him about the experience. Hesmiled broadly， and said， “Your dream was more areality than you may imagine it to have been.” Headded no further explanation to his statement.
These meetings became so realistic that I becamefearful of their consequences， and discontinuedthem for several months. The experiences were souncanny， I was afraid if I continued them I wouldlose sight of the fact that the meetings were purelyexperiences of my imagination.
Some six months after I had discontinued the practice I was awakened one night， or thought I was，when I saw Lincoln standing at my bedside. Hesaid， “The world will soon need your services. It isabout to undergo a period of chaos which will causemen and women to lose faith， and become panicstricken. Go ahead with your work and completeyour philosophy. That is your mission in life. Ifyou neglect it， for any cause whatsoever， you willbe reduced to a primal state， and be compelled toretrace the cycles through which you have passedduring thousands of years.”
I was unable to tell， the following morning，whether I had dreamed this， or had actually beenawake， and I have never since found out whichit was， but I do know that the dream， if it were adream， was so vivid in my mind the next day that Iresumed my meetings the following night.
At our next meeting， the members of my Cabinetall filed into the room together， and stood at theiraccustomed places at the Council Table， whileLincoln raised a glass and said， “Gentlemen， let usdrink a toast to a friend who has returned to the fold.”
After that， I began to add new members to myCabinet， until now it consists of more than fifty，among them Christ， St. Paul， Galileo， Copernicus，Aristotle， Plato， Socrates， Homer， Voltaire， Bruno，Spinoza， Drummond， Kant， Schopenhauer， Newton，Confucius， Elbert Hubbard， Brann， Ingersol， Wilson，and William James.
This is the first time that I have had the courage tomention this. Heretofore， I have remained quiet onthe subject， because I knew， from my own attitudein connection with such matters， that I would bemisunderstood if I described my unusual experience.
I have been emboldened now to reduce my experience to the printed page， because I am nowless concerned about what “they say” than I wasin the years that have passed. One of the blessingsof maturity is that it sometimes brings one greatercourage to be truthful， regardless of what those whodo not understand， may think or say.
Lest I be misunderstood， I wish here to state mostemphatically， that I still regard my Cabinet meetingsas being purely imaginary， but I feel entitled tosuggest that， while the members of my Cabinet maybe purely fictional， and the meetings existent only inmy own imagination， they have led me into gloriouspaths of adventure， rekindled an appreciation oftrue greatness， encouraged creative endeavor， andemboldened the expression of honest thought.
Somewhere in the cell-structure of the brain，is located an organ which receives vibrations ofthought ordinarily called “hunches.” So far， sciencehas not discovered where this organ of the sixthsense is located， but this is not important. The factremains that human beings do receive accurateknowledge， through sources other than the physicalsenses. Such knowledge， generally， is received whenthe mind is under the influence of extraordinarystimulation. Any emergency which arouses theemotions， and causes the heart to beat more rapidlythan normal may， and generally does， bring the sixthsense into action. Anyone who has experienced anear accident while driving， knows that on suchoccasions， the sixth sense often comes to one’srescue， and aids， by split seconds， in avoiding theaccident.
These facts are mentioned preliminary to a statement of fact which I shall now make， namely，that during my meetings with the “InvisibleCounselors” I find my mind most receptive to ideas，thoughts， and knowledge which reach me throughthe sixth sense. I can truthfully say that I oweentirely to my “Invisible Counselors” full credit forsuch ideas， facts， or knowledge as I received through“inspiration.”