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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Reincarnation and the Law of Karma, by
+William Walker Atkinson
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Reincarnation and the Law of Karma
+       A Study of the Old-New World-Doctrine of Rebirth, and Spiritual Cause and Effect
+
+
+Author: William Walker Atkinson
+
+
+
+Release Date: August 19, 2008  [eBook #26364]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REINCARNATION AND THE LAW OF
+KARMA***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Turgut Dincer, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+REINCARNATION AND THE LAW OF KARMA
+
+A Study of
+the Old-New World-Doctrine of
+Rebirth, and Spiritual
+Cause and Effect
+
+by
+
+WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Published and Sold by
+Yogi Publication Society
+Masonic Temple, Chicago, Ill.
+
+London Agents
+L.N. Fowler & Co., 7 Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus. E.C.
+
+(Reincarnation and the Law of Karma)
+
+Copyright, 1908, by
+Yogi Publication Society
+All Rights Reserved
+
+NOTICE.--This book is protected by Copyright and
+simultaneous publication in Great Britain, France, Germany,
+Russia and other countries. All foreign rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+                                                       PAGE
+
+CHAPTER I. THE EARLY RACES                                7
+
+What is Reincarnation?--Transmigration of
+Souls--The Something That Persists After
+Death--The Soul Not a Fresh Creation, but a
+Traveler on a Long Journey.
+
+CHAPTER II. THE EGYPTIANS, CHALDEANS, DRUIDS, ETC.       20
+
+The Egyptian Idea of the Soul--Forty Centuries of
+Occult History--The Inner Teachings of Egypt--The
+Ancient Chinese Teachings and Doctrine--The
+Ancient Druids and Their Teachings.
+
+CHAPTER III. THE ROMANS AND GREEKS                       35
+
+The Reasons of Rome's Backwardness in Spiritual
+Knowledge--Why the Greeks were
+Advanced--Pythagoras; Orpheus; Plato--The Various
+Grecian Teachings Regarding the Soul and Its
+Future Life--Plato's Wonderful Teachings and
+Philosophy.
+
+CHAPTER IV. THE JEWS, ESSENES, AND EARLY CHRISTIANS      49
+
+The Inner Teachings of the Jewish Priests--The
+Jewish Rabbins and Their Secret Doctrines--The
+Kaballah, the Zahar, Nichema; Ronach; and
+Nephesh--A Mysterious Brotherhood--The Christian
+Inner Doctrine--The Mysteries of Jesus.
+
+CHAPTER V. THE HINDUS                                    64
+
+India the Mother of Reincarnation, Past and
+Present--The Aryan Teachings--The History of the
+Belief Among the Hindus--Fundamental Hindu
+Philosophy.
+
+CHAPTER VI. THE MODERN WEST                              95
+
+Reincarnation in the Modern Western World--The
+Revival of Interest and Its Cause--Theosophical
+Society--Madame Blavatsky--The Western School of
+Yogi Philosophy: Its Fundamental Teachings--The
+Spiritists, and Their Doctrine--The Teachings of
+the "Elect Few" in Their Secret Societies--Is
+Earth a Hell?--Christian Reincarnationists and
+Their Beliefs.
+
+CHAPTER VII. BETWEEN AND BEYOND INCARNATIONS            117
+
+How Long Between Incarnations?--Necessity for
+Mental and Spiritual Digestion and
+Assimilation--The Advanced Teachings--Earth-bound
+Souls--Advanced Souls and Their Rest Period--Where
+Does the Soul Dwell Between Incarnations?--What
+Happens at Death--The Great Astral World and Its
+Planes and Sub-planes--Where the Soul Goes After
+Death and What It Does There--Rebirth and Its
+Laws--What is the Final State of the Soul?--The
+Message of the Illumined.
+
+CHAPTER VIII. THE JUSTICE OF REINCARNATION              134
+
+The Contrasting Theories of the Soul and Its
+Future Life--Doctrine of Reincarnation the Only
+Philosophical Theory that Reconciles Facts with
+Theory--The Law of Karma Automatic and Enforces
+Itself--Every One Their Own Judge and the Executor
+of Their Own Destiny--The Opinions of the World's
+Great Thinkers.
+
+CHAPTER IX. THE ARGUMENT FOR REINCARNATION              151
+
+Natural Laws Universal--If the Soul is Immortal,
+it Must Have Always Been So--A Mortal Thing Cannot
+be Made Immortal Any More Than Nothing Can be Made
+Something--Future Life Implies Past Life--Varient
+Experiences Necessary for the Soul's
+Education--Advancement Necessary to Enjoyment of
+the Soul's Higher States of Being--The True
+Teaching.
+
+CHAPTER X. THE PROOFS OF REINCARNATION                  169
+
+Actual Proofs of Personal Conscious Experience
+Demanded by Science--Such Proofs Possible and Have
+Occurred to Many of the Race--The Remembrance of
+the Details of Past Existence Common to the
+Race--Interesting Cases Given on Good
+Authority--Messages from the Past.
+
+CHAPTER XI. ARGUMENTS AGAINST REINCARNATION             192
+
+Why Reincarnation is Opposed by Some--The Answers
+to the Objections--The Proof of the Existence of
+the Soul--Is Reincarnation Un-Christian and
+Derived from Pagan and Heathen Sources?
+
+CHAPTER XII. THE LAW OF KARMA                           222
+
+What Karma Means--Does Karma Punish or is it but
+the Workings of a Natural Law?--The Various Kinds
+of Karma--The Advanced Mystical Doctrine--The End
+is Absolute Good--There is No Devil but Fear and
+Unfaith.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE EARLY RACES.
+
+
+By "Reincarnation" we mean the repeated incarnation, or embodiment in
+flesh, of the soul or immaterial part of man's nature. The term
+"Metempsychosis" is frequently employed in the same sense, the
+definition of the latter term being: "The passage of the soul, as an
+immortal essence, at the death of the body, into another living body."
+The term "Transmigration of Souls" is sometimes employed, the term being
+used in the sense of "passing from one body into another." But the term
+"Transmigration" is often used in connection with the belief of certain
+undeveloped races who held that the soul of men sometimes passed into
+the bodies of the lower animals, as a punishment for their sins
+committed during the human life. But this belief is held in disrepute
+by the adherents of Reincarnation or Metempsychosis, and has no
+connection with their philosophy or beliefs, the ideas having sprung
+from an entirely different source, and having nothing in common.
+
+There are many forms of belief--many degrees of doctrine--regarding
+Reincarnation, as we shall see as we proceed, but there is a fundamental
+and basic principle underlying all of the various shades of opinion, and
+divisions of the schools. This fundamental belief may be expressed as
+the doctrine that there is in man an immaterial Something (called the
+soul, spirit, inner self, or many other names) which does not perish at
+the death or disintegration of the body, but which persists as an
+entity, and after a shorter or longer interval of rest reincarnates, or
+is re-born, into a new body--that of an unborn infant--from whence it
+proceeds to live a new life in the body, more or less unconscious of its
+past existences, but containing within itself the "essence" or results
+of its past lives, which experiences go to make up its new "character,"
+or "personality." It is usually held that the rebirth is governed by the
+law of attraction, under one name or another, and which law operates in
+accordance with strict justice, in the direction of attracting the
+reincarnating soul to a body, and conditions, in accordance with the
+tendencies of the past life, the parents also attracting to them a soul
+bound to them by some ties in the past, the law being universal,
+uniform, and equitable to all concerned in the matter. This is a general
+statement of the doctrine as it is generally held by the most
+intelligent of its adherents.
+
+E. D. Walker, a well-known English writer on the subject, gives the
+following beautiful idea of the general teachings: "Reincarnation
+teaches that the soul enters this life, not as a fresh creation, but
+after a long course of previous existences on this earth and elsewhere,
+in which it acquired its present inhering peculiarities, and that it is
+on the way to future transformations which the soul is now shaping. It
+claims that infancy brings to earth, not a blank scroll for the
+beginning of an earthly record, nor a mere cohesion of atomic forces
+into a brief personality, soon to dissolve again into the elements, but
+that it is inscribed with ancestral histories, some like the present
+scene, most of them unlike it and stretching back into the remotest
+past. These inscriptions are generally undecipherable, save as revealed
+in their moulding influence upon the new career; but like the invisible
+photographic images made by the sun of all it sees, when they are
+properly developed in the laboratory of consciousness they will be
+distinctly displayed. The current phase of life will also be stored away
+in the secret vaults of memory, for its unconscious effects upon the
+ensuing lives. All the qualities we now possess, in body, mind and soul,
+result from our use of ancient opportunities. We are indeed 'the heir of
+all the ages,' and are alone responsible for our inheritances. For these
+conditions accrue from distant causes engendered by our older selves,
+and the future flows by the divine law of cause and effect from the
+gathered momentum of our past impetuses. There is no favoritism in the
+universe, but all have the same everlasting facilities for growth. Those
+who are now elevated in worldly station may be sunk in humble
+surroundings in the future. Only the inner traits of the soul are
+permanent companions. The wealthy sluggard may be the beggar of the next
+life; and the industrious worker of the present is sowing the seeds of
+future greatness. Suffering bravely endured now will produce a treasure
+of patience and fortitude in another life; hardships will give rise to
+strength; self-denial must develop the will; tastes cultivated in this
+existence will somehow bear fruit in coming ones; and acquired energies
+will assert themselves whenever they can by the Law of Parsimony upon
+which the principles of physics are based. Vice versa, the unconscious
+habits, the uncontrollable impulses, the peculiar tendencies, the
+favorite pursuits, and the soul-stirring friendships of the present
+descend from far-reaching previous activities."
+
+The doctrine of Reincarnation--Metempsychosis--Rebirth--has always been
+held as truth by a large portion of the human race. Following the
+invariable law of cyclic changes--the swing of the pendulum of
+thought--at times it has apparently died out in parts of the world, only
+to be again succeeded by a new birth and interest among the descendants
+of the same people. It is a light impossible to extinguish, and although
+its flickering flame may seem to die out for a moment, the shifting of
+the mental winds again allows it to rekindle from the hidden spark, and
+lo! again it bursts into new life and vigor. The reawakened interest in
+the subject in the Western world, of which all keen observers have taken
+note, is but another instance of the operation of the Cyclic Law. It
+begins to look as if the occultists are right when they predict that
+before the dawn of another century the Western world will once more have
+embraced the doctrines of Rebirth--the old, discarded truth, once so
+dear to the race, will again be settled in popular favor, and again move
+toward the position of "orthodox" teaching, perhaps to be again
+crystallized by reason of its "orthodoxy" and again to lose favor and
+fade away, as the pendulum swings backward to the other extreme of
+thought.
+
+But the teaching of Reincarnation never has passed away altogether from
+the race--in some parts of the world the lamp has been kept burning
+brightly--nay, more, at no time in human history has there been a period
+in which the majority of the race has not accepted the doctrine of
+Rebirth, in some of its various forms. It was so one thousand years
+ago--two thousand--five thousand--and it is so to-day. In this Twentieth
+Century nearly if not quite two-thirds of the race hold firmly to the
+teaching, and the multitudes of Hindus and other Eastern peoples cling
+to it tenaciously. And, even outside of these people, there are to be
+found traces of the doctrine among other races in the East, and West. So
+Reincarnation is not a "forgotten truth," or "discarded doctrine," but
+one fully alive and vigorous, and one which is destined to play a very
+important part in the history of Western thought during the Twentieth
+Century.
+
+It is interesting to trace the history of the doctrine among the ancient
+peoples--away back into the dim recesses of the past. It is difficult to
+ascribe to any particular time, or any particular race, the credit of
+having "originated" Reincarnation. In spite of the decided opinions, and
+the differing theories of the various writers on this subject, who would
+give Egypt, or India, or the lost Atlantis, as the birthplace of the
+doctrine, we feel that such ideas are but attempts to attribute a
+universal intuitive belief to some favored part of the race. We do not
+believe that the doctrine of Reincarnation ever "originated" anywhere,
+as a new and distinct doctrine. We believe that it sprang into existence
+whenever and wherever man arrived at a stage of intellectual development
+sufficient to enable him to form a mental conception of a Something that
+lived after Death. No matter from what source this belief in a "ghost"
+originated, it must be admitted that it is found among all peoples, and
+is apparently an universal idea. And, running along with it in the
+primitive peoples, we find that there is, and always has been, an idea,
+more or less vague and indistinct, that somehow, someway, sometime, this
+"ghost" of the person returns to earthly existence and takes upon itself
+a new fleshly garment--a new body. Here, then, is where the idea of
+Reincarnation begins--everywhere, at a certain stage of human mental
+development. It runs parallel with the "ghost" idea, and seems bound up
+with that conception in nearly every case. When man evolves a little
+further, he begins to reason that if the "ghost" is immortal, and
+survives the death of the body, and returns to take upon itself a new
+body, then it must have lived before the last birth, and therefore must
+have a long chain of lives behind it. This is the second step. The third
+step is when man begins to reason that the next life is dependent upon
+something done or left undone in the present life. And upon these three
+fundamental ideas the doctrine of Reincarnation has been built. The
+occultists claim that in addition to this universal idea, which is more
+or less intuitive, the race has received more or less instruction, from
+time to time, from certain advanced souls which have passed on to higher
+planes of existence, and who are now called the Masters, Adepts,
+Teachers, Race Guides, etc., etc. But whatever may be the explanation,
+it remains a truth that man seems to have worked out for himself, in all
+times and in all places, first, an idea of a "ghost" which persists
+after the body dies; and second, that this "ghost" has lived before in
+other bodies, and will return again to take on a new body. There are
+various ideas regarding "heavens" and "hells," but underlying them all
+there persists this idea of re-birth in some of its phases.
+
+Soldi, the archaeologist, has published an interesting series of works,
+dealing with the beliefs of primitive peoples, who have passed from the
+scene of human action. He shows by the fragments of carving and
+sculpture which have survived them that there was an universal idea
+among them of the "ghost" which lived after the body died; and a
+corresponding idea that some day this "ghost" would return to the scene
+of its former activities. This belief sometimes took the form of a
+return into the former body, which idea led to the preservation of the
+body by processes of mummifying, etc., but as a rule this belief
+developed into the more advanced one of a re-birth in a new body.
+
+The earlier travelers in Africa have reported that here and there they
+found evidences and traces of what was to them "a strange belief" in the
+future return of the soul to a new body on earth. The early explorers of
+America found similar traditions and beliefs among the Red Indians,
+survivals of which exist even unto this day. It is related of a number
+of savage tribes, in different parts of the world, that they place the
+bodies of their dead children by the roadside, in order that their souls
+may be given a good chance to find new bodies by reason of the
+approaching of many traveling pregnant women who pass along the road. A
+number of these primitive people hold to the idea of a complex soul,
+composed of several parts, in which they resemble the Egyptians,
+Hindus, Chinese, and in fact all mystical and occult philosophies. The
+Figi Islanders are said to believe in a black soul and a white soul, the
+former of which remains with the buried body and disintegrates with it,
+while the white soul leaves the body and wanders as a "ghost," and
+afterward, tiring of the wandering, returns to life in a new body. The
+natives of Greenland are said to believe in an astral body, which leaves
+the body during sleep, but which perishes as the body disintegrates
+after death; and a second soul which leaves the body only at death, and
+which persists until it is reborn at a later time. In fact, the student
+finds that nearly all of the primitives races, and those semi-civilized,
+show traces of a belief in a complex soul, and a trace of doctrine of
+Reincarnation in some form. The human mind seems to work along the same
+lines, among the different races--unless one holds to the theory that
+all sprang from the same root-race, and that the various beliefs are
+survivals of some ancient fundamental doctrine--the facts are not
+disturbed in either case.
+
+In the last mentioned connection, we might mention that the traditions
+concerning Ancient Atlantis--the lost continent--all hold to the effect
+that her people believed strongly in Reincarnation, and to the ideas of
+the complex soul. As the survivors of Atlantis are believed to have been
+the ancestors of the Egyptians on the one hand, and of the Ancient
+Peruvians on the other--the two branches of survivors having maintained
+their original doctrines as modified by different environments--we might
+find here an explanation of the prevalence of the doctrine on both sides
+of the ocean. We mention this merely in passing, and as of general
+interest in the line of our subject.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE EGYPTIANS, CHALDEANS, DRUIDS, ETC.
+
+
+After considering the existence of the doctrines of Reincarnation among
+the primitive peoples, and its traditional existence among the vanished
+peoples of the past, we find ourselves irresistibly borne toward that
+ancient land of mystery--the home of the mystics and occultists of the
+past--the land of Isis--the home of the builders of the Pyramids--the
+people of the Sphinx. Whether these people were the direct descendants
+of the people of destroyed Atlantis, the home of the Ancient Wisdom--or
+whether they were a new people who had rediscovered the old
+doctrines--the fact remains that when tracing back any old occult or
+mystic doctrine we find ourselves gradually led toward the land of the
+Sphinx as the source of that hidden truth. The Sphinx is a fit emblem of
+that wonderful race--its sealed lips seem to invite the ultimate
+questions, and one feels that there may be a whispered answer wafted
+from those tightly closed lips toward the ear that is prepared to hear
+and receive it. And so, in our search for the origin of Reincarnation,
+we find ourselves once more confronting the Egyptian Sphinx as we have
+done so often before in our search after Truth.
+
+Notwithstanding its obvious prehistoric origin, many have claimed that
+Metempsychosis has its birthplace in old Egypt, on the banks of the
+Nile. India disputes this claim, holding that the Ganges, not the Nile,
+gave birth to the doctrine. Be that as it may, we shall treat the
+Egyptian conception at this place, among the ancient lands holding the
+doctrine, for in India it is not a thing of the past, but a doctrine
+which has its full flower at the present time, and which flower is
+sending forth its subtle odor to all parts of the civilized world. And
+so we shall defer our consideration of India's teachings until we reach
+the present stage of the history of Reincarnation. Herodotus, many
+centuries ago, said of the Egyptians that: "The Egyptians are the first
+who propounded the theory that the human soul is imperishable, and that
+where the body of any one dies it enters into some other body that may
+be ready to receive it; and that when it has gone the round of all
+created forms on land, in water, and in air, then it once more enters
+the human body born for it; and that this cycle of existence for the
+soul takes place in three thousand years."
+
+The doctrine of Reincarnation is discernible though hidden away amidst
+the mass of esoteric doctrine back of the exoteric teachings of the
+Egyptians, which latter were expounded to the common people, while the
+truth was reserved for the few who were ready for it. The inner circles
+of the Egyptian mystics believed in and understood the inner truths of
+Reincarnation, and although they guarded the esoteric teachings
+carefully, still fragments fell from the table and were greedily taken
+up by the masses, as we may see by an examination of the scraps of
+historical records which have been preserved, graven in the stone, and
+imprinted on the bricks. Not only did these people accept the doctrine
+of Reincarnation, but Egypt was really the home of the highest occult
+teachings. The doctrines and teachings regarding several "sheaths" or
+"bodies" of man, which are taught by occultists of all times and races,
+are believed to have been fully taught in their original purity on the
+banks of the Nile, and in the shadow of the Pyramids--yes, even before
+the days of the Pyramids. Their forty centuries of history saw many
+modifications of the philosophical and religious beliefs, but the
+fundamental doctrine of Reincarnation was held to during the entire
+period of history in Ancient Egypt, and was not discarded until the
+decadent descendants of the once mighty race were overwhelmed by
+stronger races, whose religions and beliefs superseded the vestiges of
+the Ancient Doctrine. The Egyptians held that there was "Ka," the divine
+spirit in man; "Ab," the intellect or will; "Hati," the vitality; "Tet,"
+the astral body; "Sahu," the etheric double; and "Xa," the physical body
+(some authorities forming a slightly different arrangement), which
+correspond to the various "bodies of man" as recognized by occultists
+to-day.
+
+The Ancient Chaldeans also taught the doctrine of Rebirth. The body of
+Persian and Chaldean mystics and occultists, known as "the Magi," who
+were masters of the Hidden Wisdom, held to the doctrine of Reincarnation
+as one of their fundamental truths. In fact, they managed to educate the
+masses of their people to a much higher point than the masses of the
+Egyptians, and, escaping the idolatrous tendencies of the Egyptian
+populace, they manifested a very high degree of pure philosophical,
+occult, and religious knowledge. The Magi taught that the soul was a
+complex being, and that certain portions of it perished, while certain
+other parts survived and passed on through a series of earth and
+"other-world" existences, until finally it attained such a degree of
+purity that it was relieved of the necessity for further incarnation,
+and thenceforth dwelt in the region of ineffable bliss--the region of
+light eternal. The teaching also held that just before entering into
+the state of bliss, the soul was able to review its previous
+incarnations, seeing distinctly the connection between them, and thus
+gaining a store of the wisdom of experience, which would aid it in its
+future work as a helper of future races which would appear on the face
+of the earth. The Magi taught that as all living things--nay, all things
+having existence, organic or inorganic--were but varying manifestations
+of the One Life and Being, therefore the highest knowledge implied a
+feeling of conscious brotherhood and relationship toward and with all.
+
+Even among the Chinese there was an esoteric teaching concerning
+Reincarnation, beneath the outer teaching of ages past. It may be
+discerned in the teachings of the early philosophers and seers of the
+race, notably in the work of Lao-Tze, the great Chinese sage and
+teacher. Lao-Tze, whose great work, the "Tao-Teh-King," is a classic,
+taught Reincarnation to his inner circle of students and adherents, at
+least so many authorities claim. He taught that there existed a
+fundamental principle called "Tao," which is held to have been identical
+with the "primordial reason," a manifestation of which was the "Teh," or
+the creative activity of the universe. From the union and action of the
+"Tao" and the "Teh" proceeded the universe, including the human soul,
+which he taught was composed of several parts, among them being the
+"huen," or spiritual principle; and the "phi," or semi-material vital
+principle, which together animate the body. Lao-Tze said: "To be
+ignorant that the true self is immortal, is to remain in a grievous
+state of error, and to experience many calamities by reason thereof.
+Know ye, that there is a part of man which is subtle and spiritual, and
+which is the heaven-bound portion of himself; that which has to do with
+flesh, bones, and body, belongs to the earth; earthly to earth--heavenly
+to heaven. Such is the Law." Some have held that Lao-Tze taught the
+immediate return of the "huen" to the "tao" after death, but from the
+writings of his early followers it may be seen that he really taught
+that the "huen" persisted in individual existence, throughout repeated
+incarnations, returning to the "tao" only when it had completed its
+round of experience-life. For instance, in the Si Haei, it is said that:
+"The vital essence is dispersed after death together with the body,
+bones and flesh; but the soul, or knowing principle of the self, is
+preserved and does not perish. There is no immediate absorption of the
+individuality into the Tao, for individuality persists, and manifests
+itself according to the Law." And Chuang-Tze said: "Death is but the
+commencement of a new life." It was also taught by the early Taoists,
+that the deeds, good and evil, of the present life would bear fruit in
+future existences; in addition to the orthodox heavens and hells, in
+which the Chinese believed, and of which they had a great variety
+adapted to the requirements of the various grades of saints and sinners,
+the minute details of which places being described with that attention
+to minor details and particulars peculiar to the Chinese mind. The
+teachings of a later date, that the soul of the ancestor abided in the
+hall of the ancestors, etc., were a corruption of the ancient teaching.
+Other Chinese teachers taught that the soul consists of three parts, the
+first being the "kuei," which had its seat in the belly, and which
+perished with the body; the second being the "ling," which had its seat
+in the heart or chest, and which persisted for some time after death,
+but which eventually disintegrated; and the third, or "huen," which had
+its seat in the brain, and which survived the disintegration of its
+companions, and then passed on to other existences.
+
+As strange as it may appear to many readers unfamiliar with the subject,
+the ancient Druids, particularly those dwelling in ancient Gaul, were
+familiar with the doctrine of Reincarnation, and believed in its tenets.
+These people, generally regarded as ancient barbarians, really possessed
+a philosophy of a high order, which merged into a mystic form of
+religion. Many of the Romans, upon their conquest of Gallia, were
+surprised at the degree and character of the philosophical knowledge
+possessed by the Druids, and many of them have left written records of
+the same, notably in the case of Aristotle, Cæsar, Lucan, and Valerius
+Maximus. The Christian teachers who succeeded them also bore witness to
+these facts, as may be seen by reference to the works of St. Clement,
+St. Cyril, and other of the early Christian Fathers. These ancient
+"barbarians" entertained some of the highest spiritual conceptions of
+life and immortality--the mind and the soul. Reynaud has written of
+them, basing his statements upon a careful study of the ancient beliefs
+of this race: "If Judea represents in the world, with a tenacity of its
+own the idea of a personal and absolute God; if Greece and Rome
+represent the idea of society, Gaul represents, just as particularly,
+the idea of immortality. Nothing characterized it better, as all the
+ancients admit. That mysterious folk was looked upon as the privileged
+possessor of the secrets of death, and its unwavering instinctive faith
+in the persistence of life never ceased to be a cause of astonishment,
+and sometimes of fear, in the eyes of the heathen." The Gauls possessed
+an occult philosophy, and a mystic religion, which were destroyed by the
+influences of the Roman Conquest.
+
+The philosophy of the Druids bore a remarkable resemblance to the Inner
+Doctrine of the Egyptians, and their successors, the Grecian Mystics.
+Traces of Hermeticism and Pythagoreanism are clearly discernible,
+although the connecting link that bound them together has been lost to
+history. Legends among the Druids connected their order with the ancient
+Aryan creeds and teachings, and there seems to have been a very close
+connection between these priests and those of Ancient Greece, for there
+are tales of offerings being sent to the temples of Greece from the
+priests of Gaul. And it is also related that on the island of Delphos
+there was once a Druidic tomb in the shape of a monument, believed to
+have been erected over the remains of Druid priestesses. Herodotus and
+others speak of a secret alliance between the priests of Greece and
+those of the Druids. Some of the ancient legends hold that Pythagoras
+was the instructor of the Druidic priests, and that Pythagoras himself
+was in close communication with the Brahmins of India, and the
+Hermetists of Egypt. Other legends have it that the Druids received
+their first instruction from Zamolais, who had been a slave and student
+of Pythagoras. At any rate, the correspondence between the two schools
+of philosophy is remarkable.
+
+Much of the Druidic teachings has been lost, and it is difficult to
+piece together the fragments. But enough is known to indicate the above
+mentioned relationship to the Pythagorean school, and of the firm hold
+of the doctrine of Reincarnation upon the Druids. The preserved
+fragments show that the Druids taught that there was in man an
+immaterial, spiritual part, called "Awen," which proceeded from an
+Universal Spiritual Principle of Life. They taught that this "Awen" had
+animated the lower forms of life, mineral, vegetable and animal, before
+incarnating as man. In those conditions it was entangled and imprisoned
+in the state of "abysmal circling," called "Anufu," from which it
+finally escaped and entered into the "circle of freedom," called
+"Abred," or human incarnation and beyond. This state of "Abred" includes
+life in the various human races on this and other planets, until finally
+there is a further liberation of the "Awen," which then passes on to the
+"Circle of Bliss," or "Gwynfid," where it abides for æons in a state of
+ecstatic being. But, beyond even this transcendent state, there is
+another, which is called the "Circle of the Infinite," or "Ceugant,"
+which is identical with the "Union with God" of the Persians and Greek
+Mystics, or the "Nirvana" of the Hindus. Rather an advanced form of
+philosophy for "barbarians," is it not? Particularly when contrasted
+with the crude mythology of the Roman conquerors!
+
+The Gauls were so advanced in the practical phases of occultism that
+they gave every condemned criminal a respite of five years, after
+sentence of death, before execution, in order that he might prepare
+himself for a future state by meditation, instruction and other
+preparation; and also to prevent ushering an unprepared and guilty soul
+into the plane of the departed--the advantages of which plan is apparent
+to every student of occultism who accepts the teaching regarding the
+astral planes.
+
+The reader will understand, of course, that the degree of advancement in
+spiritual and philosophical matters evidenced by the Gauls was due not
+to the fact that these people were generally so far advanced beyond
+their neighbors, but rather to the fact that they had been instructed by
+the Druid priests among them. Tradition has it that the original Druidic
+priests came to Gaul and other countries from some far-off land,
+probably from Egypt or Greece. We have spoken of the connection between
+their teachings and that of the Pythagoreans, and there was undoubtedly
+a strong bond of relationship between these priests and the occultists
+of other lands. The Druidic priests were well versed in astronomy and
+astrology, and the planets had an important part in the teachings. A
+portion of their ritual is said to have correspondences with the early
+Jewish rites and worship. Their favorite symbol--the mistletoe--was used
+as indicating re-birth, the mistletoe being the new life springing forth
+from the old one, typified by the oak. The Druids traveled into Ancient
+Britain and Ireland, and many traces of their religious rites may still
+be found there, not only in the shape of the stone places-of-worship,
+but also in many curious local customs among the peasantry. Many a bit
+of English folk-lore--many an odd Irish fancy concerning fairies and the
+like; symbols of good-luck; banshees and "the little-folk"--came
+honestly to these people from the days of the Druids. And from the same
+source came the many whispered tales among both races regarding the
+birth of children who seemed to have remembrances of former lives on
+earth, which memory faded away as they grew older. Among these people
+there is always an undercurrent of mystic ideas about souls "coming
+back" in some mysterious way not fully understood. It is the inheritance
+from the Druids.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE ROMANS AND GREEKS.
+
+
+One unfamiliar with the subject would naturally expect to find the
+Ancient Romans well advanced along the lines of philosophy, religion,
+and spiritual speculation, judging from the all-powerful influence
+exerted by them over the affairs of the whole known world. Particularly
+when one considers the relationship with and connection of Rome with
+ancient Greece, it would seem that the two peoples must have had much in
+common in the world of thought. But such is not the case. Although the
+exoteric religions of the Romans resembled that of the Greeks, from whom
+it was borrowed or inherited, there was little or no original thought
+along metaphysics, religion or philosophy among the Romans. This was
+probably due to the fact that the whole tendency of Rome was toward
+material advancement and attainment, little or no attention being given
+to matters concerning the soul, future life, etc. Some few of the
+philosophers of Rome advanced theories regarding the future state, but
+beyond a vague sort of ancestor worship the masses of the people took
+but little interest in the subject. Cicero, it is true, uttered words
+which indicate a belief in immortality, when he said in "Scipio's
+Dream": "Know that it is not thou, but thy body alone, which is mortal.
+The individual in his entirety resides in the soul, and not in the
+outward form. Learn, then, that thou art a god; thou, the immortal
+intelligence which gives movements to a perishable body, just as the
+eternal God animates an incorruptible body." Pliny the younger left
+writings which seem to indicate his belief in the reality of phantoms,
+and Ovid has written verses which would indicate his recognition of a
+part of man which survived the death of the body. But, on the whole,
+Roman philosophy treated immortality as a thing perchance existing, but
+not proven, and to be viewed rather as a poetical expression of a
+longing, rather than as an established, or at least a well grounded,
+principle of philosophical thought. But Lucretius and others of his time
+and country protested against the folly of belief in the survival of the
+soul held by the other nations. He said that: "The fear of eternal life
+should be banished from the universe; it disturbs the peace of mankind,
+for it prevents the enjoyment of any security or pleasure." And Virgil
+praised and commended the philosophical attitude which was able to see
+the real cause of things, and was therefore able to reject the unworthy
+fear of a world beyond and all fears arising from such belief. But even
+many of the Roman philosophers, while denying immortality, believed in
+supernatural powers and beings, and were very superstitious and
+childlike in many respects, so that their philosophy of non-survival was
+evidently rather the result of temperament and pursuit of material
+things than a height of philosophical reasoning or metaphysical thought.
+
+And so, the Romans stand apart from the majority of the ancient
+peoples, in so far as the belief in Reincarnation is concerned. While
+there were individual mystics and occultists among them, it still
+remains a fact that the majority of the people held no such belief, and
+in fact the masses had no clearly defined ideas regarding the survival
+of the soul. It is a strange exception to the general rule, and one that
+has occasioned much comment and attention among thinkers along these
+lines. There was a vague form of ancestor worship among the Romans, but
+even this was along the lines of collective survival of the ancestors,
+and was free from the ordinary metaphysical speculations and religious
+dogmas. Roughly stated, the Roman belief may be expressed by an idea of
+a less material, or more subtle, part of man which escaped
+disintegration after death, and which in some mysterious way passed on
+to combine with the ancestral soul which composed the collective
+ancestral deity of the family, the peace and pleasure of which were held
+as sacred duties on the part of the descendants, sacrifices and
+offerings being made toward this end. Nevertheless, here and there,
+among the Romans, were eminent thinkers who seemingly held a vague,
+tentative belief in some form of Reincarnation, as, for instance, Ovid,
+who says: "Nothing perishes, although everything changes here on earth;
+the souls come and go unendingly in visible forms; the animals which
+have acquired goodness will take upon them human form"; and Virgil says:
+"After death, the souls come to the Elysian fields, or to Tartarus, and
+there meet with the reward or punishment of their deeds during life.
+Later, on drinking of the waters of Lethe, which takes away all memory
+of the past, they return to earth." But it must be admitted that Rome
+was deficient in spiritual insight and beliefs, on the whole, her
+material successes having diverted her attention from the problems which
+had so engrossed the mind of her neighbor Greece, and her older sisters
+Persia, Chaldea, and Egypt.
+
+Among the Greeks, on the contrary, we find a marked degree of interest
+and speculation regarding the immortality of the soul, and much
+interest in the doctrines of Metempsychosis or Reincarnation. Although
+the great masses of the Grecian people were satisfied with their popular
+mythology and not disposed to question further, or to indulge in keen
+speculation on metaphysical subjects, still the intellectual portion of
+the race were most active in their search after truth, and their schools
+of philosophy, with their many followers and adherents, have left an
+indelible mark upon the thought of man unto this day. Next to the
+Hindus, the Greeks were the great philosophers of the human race. And
+the occultists and mystics among them were equal to those of Persia,
+India, Chaldea or Egypt. While the various theories regarding the soul
+were as the sands of the sea, so many were the teachers, schools and
+divisions of thought among these people--still the doctrine of
+Reincarnation played a very important part in their philosophy. The
+prevailing idea was that the worthy souls pass on to a state of bliss,
+without rebirth, while the less worthy pass the waters of the river of
+Lethe, quaffing of its waters of forgetfulness, and thus having the
+recollection of their earth-life, and of the period of punishment that
+they had undergone by reason of the same, obliterated and cleansed from
+their memories, when they pass on to re-birth. One of the old Orphic
+hymns reads as follows: "The wise love light and not darkness. When you
+travel the journey of Life, remember, always, the end of the journey.
+When souls return to the light, after their sojourn on earth, they wear
+upon their more subtle bodies, like searing, hideous scars, the marks of
+their earthly sins--these must be obliterated, and they go back to earth
+to be cleansed. But the pure, virtuous and strong proceed direct to the
+Sun of Dionysus." The teachings of the Egyptians left a deep impression
+upon the Grecian mind, and not only the common form of belief, but also
+the esoteric doctrines, were passed along to the newer people by the
+elder.
+
+Pythagoras was the great occult teacher of Greece, and his school and
+that of his followers accepted and taught the great doctrine of
+Reincarnation. Much of his teaching was reserved for the initiates of
+the mystic orders founded by himself and his followers, but still much
+of the doctrine was made public. Both Orpheus and Pythagoras, although
+several centuries separated them, were students at the fount of
+knowledge in Egypt, having traveled to that country in order to be
+initiated in the mystic orders of the ancient land, and returning they
+taught anew the old doctrine of Rebirth. The Pythagorean teaching
+resembles that of the Hindus and Egyptians, in so far as is concerned
+the nature of man--his several bodies or sheaths--and the survival of
+the higher part of his nature, while the lower part perishes. It was
+taught that after death this higher part of the soul passed on to a
+region of bliss, where it received knowledge and felt the beneficent
+influence of developed and advanced souls, thus becoming equipped for a
+new life, with incentives toward higher things. But, not having as yet
+reached the stage of development which will entitle it to dwell in the
+blissful regions for all eternity, it sooner or later reaches the limit
+of its term of probation, and then passes down toward another
+incarnation on earth--another step on the Path of Attainment.
+
+The teaching was, further, that the conditions, circumstances and
+environments of the new earth-life were determined by the actions,
+thoughts, and mental tendencies of the former life, and by the degree of
+development which the several previous earth-lives had manifested. In
+this respect the teaching agrees materially with the universal doctrine
+regarding Reincarnation and Karma. Pythagoras taught that the doctrine
+of Reincarnation accounted for the inequality observable in the lives of
+men on earth, giving a logical reason for the same, and establishing the
+fact of universal and ultimate justice, accountable for on no other
+grounds. He taught that although the material world was subject to the
+laws of destiny and fatality, yet there was another and higher state of
+being in which the soul would rise above the laws of the lower world.
+This higher state, he taught, had laws of its own, as yet unknown to
+man, which tended to work out the imperfect laws of the material world,
+establishing harmony, justice, and equality, to supply the apparent
+deficiencies manifested in the earth life.
+
+Following Pythagoras, Plato, the great Grecian philosopher, taught the
+old-new doctrine of Rebirth. He taught that the souls of the dead must
+return to earth, where, in new lives, they must wear out the old earth
+deeds, receiving benefits for the worthy ones, and penalties for the
+unworthy ones, the soul profiting by these repeated experiences, and
+rising step by step toward the divine. Plato taught that the
+reincarnated soul has flashes of remembrance of its former lives, and
+also instincts and intuitions gained by former experiences. He classed
+innate ideas among these inherited experiences of former lives. It has
+been well said that "everything can be found in Plato," and therefore
+one who seeks for the ancient Grecian ideas concerning Reincarnation,
+and the problems of the soul, may find that which he seeks in the
+writings of the old sage and philosopher. Plato was the past master of
+the inner teachings concerning the soul, and all who have followed him
+have drawn freely from his great store of wisdom. His influence on the
+early Christian church was enormous, and in many forms it continues even
+unto this day. Many of the early Christian fathers taught that Plato was
+really one of the many forerunners of Christ, who had prepared the pagan
+world for the coming of the Master.
+
+In "Phaedo," Plato describes the soul, and explains its immortality. He
+teaches that man has a material body which is subject to constant
+change, and subject to death and disintegration; and also an immaterial
+soul, unchangeable and indestructible, and akin to the divine. At death
+this soul was severed from its physical companion, and rose, purified,
+to the higher regions, where it rendered an account of itself, and had
+its future allotted to it. If it was found sufficiently untainted and
+unsullied by the mire of material life, it was considered fit to be
+admitted to the State of Bliss, which was described as Union with the
+Supreme Being, which latter is described as Spirit, eternal and
+omniscient. The base and very guilty souls undergo a period of
+punishment, or purgation, to the end that they may be purged and
+purified of the guilt, before being allowed to make another trial for
+perfection. The souls which were not sufficiently pure for the State of
+Bliss, nor yet so impure that they need the purging process, were
+returned to earth-life, there to take up new bodies, and endeavor to
+work out their salvation anew, to the end that they might in the future
+attain the Blissful State. Plato taught that in the Rebirth, the soul
+was generally unconscious of its previous lives, although it may have
+flashes of recollection. Besides this it has a form of intuition, and
+innate ideas, which was believed to be the result of the experiences
+gained in the past lives, and which knowledge had been stored up so as
+to benefit the soul in its reincarnated existence.
+
+Plato taught that the immaterial part of man--the soul--was a complex
+thing, being composed of a number of differing, though related,
+elements. Highest in the hierarchy of the soul elements he placed the
+Spirit, which, he taught, comprised consciousness, intelligence, will,
+choice between good and evil, etc., and which was absolutely
+indestructible and immortal, and which had its seat in the head. Then
+came two other parts of the soul, which survived the dissolution of the
+body, but which were only comparatively immortal, that is, they were
+subject to later dissolution and disintegration. Of these semi-material
+elements, one was the seat of the affections, passions, etc., and was
+located in the heart; while the other, which was the seat of the sensual
+and lower desires, passions, etc., was located in the liver. These two
+mentioned lower elements were regarded as not possessed of reason, but
+still having certain powers of sensation, perception, and will.
+
+The Neo-Platonists, who followed Plato, and who adapted his teachings to
+their many conflicting ideas, held firmly to the doctrine of
+Reincarnation. The writings of Plotinus, Porphyry, and the other
+Mystics, had much to say on this subject, and the teaching was much
+refined under their influence. The Jewish philosophers were affected by
+the influence of the Platonic thought, and the school of the Essenes,
+which held firmly to the idea of Rebirth, was a source from which
+Christianity received much of its early influence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE JEWS, ESSENES AND EARLY CHRISTIANS.
+
+
+The early Jewish people had an Inner Teaching which embraced certain
+ideas concerning Reincarnation, although the masses of the people knew
+nothing of the doctrine which was reserved for the inner circles of the
+few. There is much dispute concerning the early beliefs of the Jewish
+people regarding the immortality of the soul. The best authorities seem
+to agree that the early beliefs were very crude and indefinite,
+consisting principally of a general belief that after death the souls
+are gathered up together in a dark place, called Sheol, where they dwell
+in an unconscious sleep. It will be noted that the earlier books in the
+Old Testament have very little to say on this subject. Gradually,
+however, there may be noticed a dawning belief in certain states of the
+departed souls, and in this the Jews were undoubtedly influenced by the
+conceptions of the people of other lands with whom they came in contact.
+The sojourn in Egypt must have exerted an important influence on them,
+particularly the educated thinkers of the race, of which, however, there
+were but few, owing to the condition in which they were kept as bondsmen
+of the Egyptians. Moses, however, owing to his education and training
+among the Egyptian priests, must have been fully initiated in the
+Mysteries of that land, and the Jewish legends would indicate that he
+formed an Inner Circle of the priesthood of his people, after they
+escaped from Egypt, and doubtless instructed them fully in the occult
+doctrines, which, however, were too advanced and complicated for
+preaching to the mass of ignorant people of which the Jewish race of
+that time was composed. The lamp of learning among the Jews of that time
+was kept alight but by very few priests among them. There has always
+been much talk, and legend, concerning this Inner Teaching among the
+Jews. The Jewish Rabbis have had so much to say regarding it, and some
+of the Early Fathers of the Christian Church were of the opinion that
+such Secret Doctrine existed.
+
+Scholars have noted that in important passages in the Jewish Bible,
+three distinct terms are used in referring to the immaterial part, or
+"soul," of man. These terms are "Nichema," "Rouach," and "Nephesh,"
+respectively, and have been translated as "soul," "spirit" or "breath,"
+in several senses of these terms. Many good authorities have held that
+these three terms did not apply to one conception, but that on the
+contrary they referred to three distinct elements of the soul, akin to
+the conceptions of the Egyptians and other early peoples, who held to
+the trinity of the soul, as we have shown a little further back. Some
+Hebrew scholars hold that "Nichema" is the Ego, or Intelligent Spirit;
+"Rouach," the lower vehicle of the Ego; and "Nephesh," the Vital Force,
+Vitality, or Life.
+
+Students of the Kaballah, or Secret Writings of the Jews, find therein
+many references to the complex nature of the soul, and its future
+states, as well as undoubted teachings regarding Reincarnation, or
+Future Existence in the Body. The Kaballah was the book of the Jewish
+Mysteries, and was largely symbolical, so that to those unacquainted
+with the symbols employed, it read as if lacking sense or meaning. But
+those having the key, were able to read therefrom many bits of hidden
+doctrine. The Kaballah is said to be veiled in seven coverings--that is,
+its symbology is sevenfold, so that none but those having the inner keys
+may know the full truth contained therein, although even the first key
+will unlock many doors. The Zohar, another Secret Book of the Jews,
+although of much later origin than the Kaballah, also contains much of
+the Inner Teachings concerning the destiny of the soul. This book
+plainly recognizes and states the three-fold nature of the soul, above
+mentioned, and treats the Nichema, Rouach and Nephesh as distinct
+elements thereof. It also teaches that when the soul leaves the body it
+goes through a long and tedious purifying process, whereby the effect
+of its vices is worn off by means of a series of transmigrations and
+reincarnations, wherein it develops several perfections, etc. This idea
+of attaining perfection through repeated rebirths, instead of the
+rebirths being in the nature of punishment as taught by Plato, is also
+taught in the Kaballah, showing the agreement of the Jewish mind on this
+detail of the doctrine. The essence of the Kaballic teaching on this
+subject is that the souls undergo repeated rebirth, after long intervals
+of rest and purification, in entire forgetfulness of their previous
+existences, and for the purpose of advancement, unfoldment,
+purification, development, and attainment. The Zohar follows up this
+teaching strictly, although with amplifications. The following quotation
+from the Zohar is interesting, inasmuch as it shows the teaching on the
+subject in a few words. It reads as follows: "All souls are subject to
+the trials of transmigration; and men do not know which are the ways of
+the Most High in their regard. They do not know how many
+transformations and mysterious trials they must undergo; how many souls
+and spirits come to this world without returning to the palace of the
+divine king. The souls must re-enter the absolute substance whence they
+have emerged. But to accomplish this end they must develop all the
+perfections; the germ of which is planted in them; and if they have not
+fulfilled this condition during one life, they must commence another, a
+third, and so on, until they have acquired the condition which fits them
+for reunion with God."
+
+The mystic sect which sprung up among the Jewish people during the
+century preceding the birth of Christ, and which was in the height of
+its influence at the time of the Birth--the sect, cult, or order of The
+Essenes--was an important influence in the direction of spreading the
+truths of Reincarnation among the Jewish people. This order combined the
+earlier Egyptian Mysteries with the Mystic Doctrine of Pythagoras and
+the philosophy of Plato. It was closely connected with the Jewish
+Therapeutæ of Egypt, and was the leading mystic order of the time.
+Josephus, the eminent Jewish historian, writing of the Essenes, says:
+"The opinion obtains among them that bodies indeed are corrupted, and
+the matter of them not permanent, but that souls continue exempt from
+death forever; and that emanating from the most subtle ether they are
+unfolded in bodies as prisons to which they are drawn by some natural
+spell. But when loosed from the bonds of flesh, as if released from a
+long captivity, they rejoice and are borne upward." In the New
+International Encyclopedia (vol. vii, page 217) will be found an
+instructive article on "Essenes," in which it is stated that among the
+Essenes there was a certain "view entertained regarding the origin,
+present state, and future destiny of the soul, which was held to be
+pre-existent, being entrapped in the body as a prison," etc. And in the
+same article the following statement occurs: "It is an interesting
+question as to how much Christianity owes to Essenism. It would seem
+that there was room for definite contact between John the Baptist and
+this Brotherhood. His time of preparation was spent in the wilderness
+near the Dead Sea; his preaching of righteousness toward God, and
+justice toward one's fellow men, was in agreement with Essenism; while
+his insistence upon Baptism was in accordance with the Essenic emphasis
+on lustrations." In this very conservative statement is shown the
+intimate connection between the Essenes and Early Christianity, through
+John the Baptist. Some hold that Jesus had a still closer relationship
+to the Essenes and allied mystic orders, but we shall not insist upon
+this point, as it lies outside of the ordinary channels of historical
+information. There is no doubt, however, that the Essenes, who had such
+a strong influence on the early Christian Church, were closely allied to
+other mystic organizations with whom they agreed in fundamental
+doctrines, notably that of Reincarnation. And so we have brought the
+story down to the early Christian Church, at which point we will
+continue it. We have left the phase of the subject which pertains to
+India for separate consideration, for in India the doctrine has had its
+principal home in all ages, and the subject in that phase requires
+special treatment.
+
+That there was an Inner Doctrine in the early Christian Church seems to
+be well established, and that a part of that doctrine consisted in a
+teaching of Pre-existence of the Soul and some form of Rebirth or
+Reincarnation seems quite reasonable to those who have made a study of
+the subject. There is a constant reference to the "Mysteries" and "Inner
+Teachings" throughout the Epistles, particularly those of Paul, and the
+writings of the Early Christian Fathers are filled with references to
+the Secret Doctrines. In the earlier centuries of the Christian Era
+frequent references are found to have been made to "The Mysteries of
+Jesus," and that there was an Inner Circle of advanced Christians
+devoted to mysticism and little known doctrines there can be no doubt.
+Celsus attacked the early church, alleging that it was a secret
+organization which taught the Truth to the select few, while it passed
+on to the multitude only the crumbs of half-truth, and popular teachings
+veiling the Truth. Origen, a pupil of St. Clement, answered Celsus,
+stating that while it was true that there were Inner Teachings in the
+Christian Church, that were not revealed to the populace, still the
+Church in following that practice was but adhering to the established
+custom of all philosophies and religions, which gave the esoteric truths
+only to those who were ready to receive them, at the same time giving to
+the general mass of followers the exoteric or outer teachings, which
+were all they could understand or assimilate. Among other things, in
+this reply, Origen says: "That there should be certain doctrines, not
+made known to the multitude, which are divulged after the exoteric ones
+have been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but also
+of philosophic systems in which certain truths are exoteric and others
+esoteric. Some of the followers of Pythagoras were content with his
+'ipse dixit,' while others were taught in secret those doctrines which
+were not deemed fit to be communicated to profane and insufficiently
+prepared ears. Moreover, all the mysteries that are celebrated
+everywhere through Greece and barbarous countries, although held in
+secret, have no discredit thrown upon them, so that it is in vain he
+endeavors to calumniate the secret doctrines of Christianity, seeing
+that he does not correctly understand its nature." In this quotation it
+will be noticed that not only does Origen positively admit the existence
+of the Inner Teachings, but that he also mentions Pythagoras and his
+school, and also the other Mysteries of Greece, showing his acquaintance
+with them, and his comparison of them with the Christian Mysteries,
+which latter he would not have been likely to have done were their
+teachings repugnant to, and at utter variance with, those of his own
+church. In the same writing Origen says: "But on these subjects much,
+and that of a mystical kind, might be said, in keeping with which is the
+following: 'It is good to keep close to the secret of a king,' in order
+that the entrance of souls into bodies may not be thrown before the
+common understanding." Scores of like quotations might be cited.
+
+The writings of the Early Fathers of the Christian Church are filled
+with many allusions to the current inner doctrine of the pre-existence
+and rebirth of souls. Origen in particular has written at great length
+regarding these things. John the Baptist was generally accepted as the
+reincarnation of Elias, even by the populace, who regarded it as a
+miraculous occurrence, while the elect regarded it as merely another
+instance of rebirth under the law. The Gnostics, a mystic order and
+school in the early church, taught Reincarnation plainly and openly,
+bringing upon themselves much persecution at the hands of the more
+conservative. Others held to some form of the teaching, the disputes
+among them being principally regarding points of doctrine and detail,
+the main teachings being admitted. Origen taught that souls had fallen
+from a high estate and were working their way back toward their lost
+estate and glory, by means of repeated incarnations. Justin Martyr
+speaks of the soul inhabiting successive bodies, with loss of memory of
+past lives. For several centuries the early Church held within its bosom
+many earnest advocates of Reincarnation, and the teaching was recognized
+as vital even by those who combatted it.
+
+Lactinus, at the end of the third century, held that the idea of the
+soul's immortality implied its pre-existence. St. Augustine, in his
+"Confessions," makes use of these remarkable words: "Did I not live in
+another body before entering my mother's womb?" Which expression is all
+the more remarkable because Augustine opposed Origen in many points of
+doctrine, and because it was written as late as A. D. 415. The various
+Church Councils, however, frowned upon these outcroppings of the
+doctrine of Reincarnation, and the influence of those who rose to power
+in the church was directed against the "heresy." At several councils
+were the teachings rebuked, and condemned, until finally in A. D. 538,
+Justinian had a law passed which declared that: "Whoever shall support
+the mythical presentation of the pre-existence of the soul and the
+consequently wonderful opinion of its return, let him be Anathema."
+Speaking of the Jewish Kaballists, an authority states: "Like Origen and
+other church Fathers, the Kaballists used as their main argument in
+favor of the doctrine of metempsychosis, the justice of God."
+
+But the doctrine of Reincarnation among Christian races did not die at
+the orders and commands of the Christian Church Councils. Smouldering
+under the blanket of opposition and persecution, it kept alive until
+once more it could lift its flame toward Heaven. And even during its
+suppression the careful student may see little flickers of the
+flame--little wreathings of smoke--escaping here and there. Veiled in
+mystic phrasing, and trimmed with poetic figure, many allusions may be
+seen among the writings of the centuries. And during the past two
+hundred years the revival in the subject has been constant, until at the
+close of the Nineteenth Century, and the beginning of the Twentieth
+Century, we once more find the doctrine openly preached and taught to
+thousands of eager listeners and secretly held even by many orthodox
+Christians.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE HINDUS.
+
+
+While Reincarnation has been believed and taught in nearly every nation,
+and among all races, in former or present times, still we are justified
+in considering India as the natural Mother of the doctrine, inasmuch as
+it has found an especially favorable spiritual and mental environment in
+that land and among its people, the date of its birth there being lost
+in the cloudiness of ancient history, but the tree of the teaching being
+still in full flower and still bearing an abundance of fruit. As the
+Hindus proudly claim, while the present dominant race was still in the
+savage, cave-dwelling, stone-age stage of existence--and while even the
+ancient Jewish people were beginning to place the foundation stones of
+their religion, of which the present Christian religion is but an
+offshoot--the great Hindu religious teachers and philosophers had long
+since firmly established their philosophies and religions with the
+doctrine of Reincarnation and its accompanying teachings, which had been
+accepted as Truth by the great Aryan race in India. And, throughout
+forty centuries, or more, this race has held steadfastly to the original
+doctrine, until now the West is looking again to it for light on the
+great problems of human life and existence, and now, in the Twentieth
+Century, many careful thinkers consider that in the study and
+understanding of the great fundamental thoughts of the Vedas and the
+Upanishads, the West will find the only possible antidote to the virus
+of Materialism that is poisoning the veins of Western spiritual
+understanding.
+
+The idea of reincarnation is to be found in nearly all of the
+philosophies and religions of the race, at least in some period in their
+history--among all peoples and races--yet, in India do we find the
+doctrine in the fullest flower, not only in the past but in the present.
+From the earliest ages of the race in India, Reincarnation in some of
+its various forms has been the accepted doctrine, and today it is
+accepted by the entire Hindu people, with their many divisions and
+sub-races, with the exception of the Hindu Mohammedans. The teeming
+millions of India live and die in the full belief in Reincarnation, and
+to them it is accepted without a question as the only rational doctrine
+concerning the past, present and future of the soul. Nowhere on this
+planet is there to be found such an adherence to the idea of "soul"
+life--the thinking Hindu always regarding himself as a soul occupying a
+body, rather than as a body "having a soul," as so many of the Western
+people seem to regard themselves. And, to the Hindus, the present life
+is truly regarded as but one step on the stairway of life, and not as
+the only material life preceding an eternity of spiritual existence. To
+the Hindu mind, Eternity is here with us Now--we are in eternity as much
+this moment as we ever shall be--and the present life is but one of a
+number of fleeting moments in the eternal life.
+
+The early Hindus did not possess the complicated forms of religion now
+existing among them, with their various creeds, ceremonials, rituals,
+cults, schools, and denominations. On the contrary, their original form
+of religion was an advanced form of what some have called
+"Nature-Worship," but which was rather more than that which the Western
+mind usually means by the term. Their "Nature" was rather a "Spirit of
+Nature," or One Life, of which all existing forms are but varying
+manifestations. Even in this early stage of their religious development
+they held to a belief in reincarnation of the soul, from one form to
+another. While to them everything was but a manifestation of One Life,
+still the soul was a differentiated unit, emanated from the One Life,
+and destined to work its way back to Unity and Oneness with the Divine
+Life through many and varied incarnations, until finally it would be
+again merged with the One. From this early beginning arose the many and
+varied forms of religious philosophy known to the India of today; but
+clinging to all these modern forms is to be found the fundamental basis
+idea of reincarnation and final absorption with the One.
+
+Brahmanism came first, starting from the simple and working to the
+complex, a great priesthood gradually arising and surrounding the
+original simple religious philosophy with ceremonial, ritual and
+theological and metaphysical abstractions and speculation. Then arose
+Buddhism, which, in a measure, was a return to the primitive idea, but
+which in turn developed a new priesthood and religious organization. But
+the fundamental doctrine of Reincarnation permeated them all, and may be
+regarded as the great common centre of the Hindu religious thought and
+philosophy.
+
+The Hindu religious books are filled with references to the doctrine of
+Reincarnation. The Laws of Manu, one of the oldest existing pieces of
+Sanscrit writing, contains many mentions of it, and the Upanishads and
+Vedas contain countless reference to it. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna
+says to Arjuna: "Know thou, O Prince of Pandu, that there never was a
+time when I, nor thou, nor any of these princes of earth was not; nor
+shall there ever come a time, hereafter, when any of us shall cease to
+be. As the soul, wearing this material body, experienceth the stages of
+infancy, youth, manhood, and old age, even so shall it, in due time,
+pass on to another body, and in other incarnations shall it again live,
+and move and play its part. * * * These bodies, which act as enveloping
+coverings for the souls occupying them, are but finite things--things of
+the moment--and not the Real Man at all. They perish as all finite
+things perish--let them perish. He who in his ignorance thinketh: 'I
+slay' or 'I am slain,' babbleth like an infant lacking knowledge. Of a
+truth none can slay--none can be slain. Take unto thy inner mind this
+truth, O Prince! Verily, the Real Man--the Spirit of Man--is neither
+born, nor doth it die. Unborn, undying, ancient, perpetual and eternal,
+it hath endured, and will endure forever. The body may die; be slain; be
+destroyed completely--but he that hath occupied it remaineth unharmed.
+* * * As a man throweth away his old garments, replacing them with new
+and brighter ones, even so the Dweller of the body, having quitted its
+old mortal frame, entereth into others which are new and freshly
+prepared for it. * * * Many have been my births and rebirths, O
+Prince--and many also have been thine own. But between us lies this
+difference--I am conscious of all my many lives, but thou lackest
+remembrance of thine."
+
+In the Mahabarata is said: "Even as when he casteth off an old garment,
+man clothes himself in new raiment, even so the soul, casting off the
+wornout body, takes on a new body, avoids the fatal paths leading to
+hell, works for its salvation, and proceeds toward heaven."
+
+The Brhadaranyakopanishad, one of the old Hindu writings, contains the
+following: "As the caterpillar, getting to the end of the straw, takes
+itself away after finding a resting place in advance, so the soul
+leaving this body, and finding another place in advance, takes himself
+off from his original abode. As the goldsmith taking little by little
+of the gold expands it into a new form, so, indeed, does this soul,
+leaving this body, make a new and happy abode for himself."
+
+But to attempt to quote passages relating to incarnation from the Hindu
+books, would be akin to compiling a library of many volumes. The sacred
+writings of the East are filled with references to Reincarnation, and if
+the latter were eliminated it would be "like the play of Hamlet with
+Hamlet omitted."
+
+We cannot enter into a description of the various schools of Hindu
+religious thought and philosophy in this work, for to do so would be to
+expand this little volume in several of larger size, so extended is the
+subject. But underlying the many divisions and subdivisions of Hindu
+thought may be found the fundamental idea of an original emanation from,
+or manifestation of, One Divine Being, Power and Energy, into countless
+differentiated units, atoms, or egos, which units, embodying in matter,
+are unconscious of the spiritual nature, and take on a consciousness
+corresponding with the form in which they are embodied. Then follows a
+series of embodiments, or incarnations, from lower to higher, in which
+occurs an evolution or "unfoldment" of the nature of the soul, in which
+it rises to higher and higher planes of being, until finally, after æons
+of time, it enters in Union with the Divine Nirvana and
+Para-Nirvana--the state of Eternal Bliss.
+
+The great difference between the Hindu thought and the Grecian is that
+while the Greeks considered repeated life with joy as a means of greater
+and greater expression of life, the Hindus, on the contrary, regard life
+as but a period of travail and sorrow, the only light to be perceived
+being the expectation and hope of eventually emerging from the region of
+materiality, and illusion, and regaining true existence in the Spirit.
+The Hindus nearly all agree that this material life is occasioned by
+"avidya" or ignorance on the part of the soul of its own real nature and
+being, whereby it fails to recognize that this material life is "maya"
+or illusion. They hold that Wisdom consists in the soul recognizing its
+real nature, and perceiving the illusion of material life and things,
+and striving to liberate itself from the bondage of materiality and
+ignorance.
+
+The principal differences among the various Hindu schools of religion
+and philosophical thought arise from their differing views regarding the
+nature and constitution of the soul on the one hand, and the means of
+attaining liberation and freedom from material embodiment on the other.
+The doctrine of "Karma" of spiritual cause and effect, which we shall
+consider in another chapter, also runs along with all the varying Hindu
+conceptions, doctrines, and theories.
+
+Without considering the matter of differences of opinion between the
+various schools, concerning the nature and constitution of the soul, we
+may say that all the schools practically agree that the constitution of
+Man is a complex thing, comprising a number of sheaths, bodies,
+coverings, or elements, from the grosser to the more spiritual, the
+various sheaths being discarded as the soul advances on its way toward
+perfection. There are disputes between the various schools regarding
+terminology and the precise arrangement of these "principles," but the
+following classification will answer for the purpose of giving a general
+idea of the Hindu views on the subject, subject always to the
+conflicting claims of the various schools. The classification is as
+follows, passing from lower to higher:
+
+1. Physical or material body, or Rupa. 2. Vitality of Vital Force, or
+Prana-Jiva. 3. Astral Body, Etheric Double, or Linga Sharira. 4. Animal
+Soul, or Kama Rupa. 5. Human Soul, or Manas. 6. Spiritual Soul, or
+Buddhi. 7. Divine Spirit, or Atma.
+
+From the beginning, the tendency of the Hindu mind was in the direction
+of resolving the universe of forms, shapes, and change, back into some
+One Underlying Principle, from which all the phenomenal world
+emerged--some One Infinite Energy, from which all else emerged,
+emanated, or evolved. And the early Hindu mind busied itself actively
+with the solution of the problem of this One Being manifesting a
+Becoming into Many. Just as is the Western world of today actively
+engaged in solving many material problems, so was ancient India active
+in solving many spiritual problems--just as the modern West is straining
+every energy toward discovering the "How," so was ancient India
+straining every effort to discovering the "Why." And from that struggle
+of the mind of India there arose countless schools of religious and
+philosophical thought, many of which have passed away, but many of which
+persist today. The problem of the relationship of the human soul to the
+One Being, and the secondary problem of the life, present and future, of
+the individual soul, is a most vital one to all thinking Hindus today as
+in the forty centuries or more of its philosophical history. To the
+Hindu mind, all material research is of minor importance, the important
+Truth being to discover that "which when once known, all else is
+understood." But, as we have said, in spite of the numerous religions,
+schools, and phases of teaching, among the Hindus, the one fundamental
+conception of Reincarnation is never lost sight of, nor is it ever
+doubted in any of the forms of the philosophies or religions.
+
+Ignoring the subdivisions of Hindu philosophical thought, we may say
+that the Hindu philosophies may be divided into a few general classes,
+several of which we shall now hastily consider, that you may get a
+glimpse at the variety of Hindu speculative philosophy in its relation
+to the soul and its destiny. You will, of course, understand that we can
+do no more than mention the leading features of each class, as a careful
+consideration would require volumes for each particular school.
+
+We will first consider the philosophy of Kanada, generally known as the
+Vaisheshika Teaching, which inclines toward an Atomic Theory, akin to
+that formulated by the old Greek philosopher Democritus. According to
+this teaching the substance of the universe is composed of an infinite
+number of atoms, which are eternal, and which were not created by God,
+but which are co-eternal with Him. These atoms, combining and forming
+shapes, forms, etc., are the basis of the material universe. It is held,
+however, that the power or energy whereby these atoms combine and thus
+form matter, comes from God. This teaching holds that God is a Personal
+Being, possessing Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence. It is also
+held that there are two substances, or principles, higher, that the
+material energies or substance, namely, Manas, or Mind, and Atman, or
+Spirit. Manas or Mind is held to be something like a Mind-Stuff, from
+which all individual minds are built up--and which Mind-Stuff is held to
+be eternal. Atman, or Spirit, is held to be an eternal principle, from
+which the Selves or Souls are differentiated. The Atman, or Spirit, or
+Self, is regarded as much higher than Mind, which is its tool and
+instrument of expression. This philosophy teaches that through
+progression, by Reincarnation, the soul advances from lower to higher
+states, on its road to freedom and perfection.
+
+Another great school of Hindu philosophy is the philosophy of Kapila,
+generally known as the Sankhya system. This teaching opposes the Atomic
+Theory of the Vaisheshika system, and holds that the atoms are not
+indestructible nor eternal, but may be resolved back into a primal
+substance called Prakriti. Prakriti is held to be an universal, eternal
+energy or ethereal substance, something similar to certain Western
+scientific conceptions of an Universal Ether. From this eternal,
+universal energy, Kapila held that all the universe has been
+evolved--all material forms or manifestations of energy being but
+manifestations of Prakriti. But, the Sankhya system is not
+materialistic, as might be supposed at first glance, for side by side
+with Prakriti it offers the principle of Purusha, or Soul, or Spirit, of
+which all individual souls are atomic units--the Principle of Purusha
+being an Unity of Units, and not an Undivided One. The Purusha--that is,
+its units or Individual Souls--is regarded as eternal and immortal.
+Prakriti is devoid of mind, but is possessed of active vital energy,
+and is capable of producing forms and material manifestations by reason
+of its inherent energy, and laws, and thus produces what the Hindus call
+"Maya," or material illusion, which they hold to be devoid of reality,
+inasmuch as the forms are constantly changing and have no permanence.
+This philosophy holds that Prakriti, by means of the glamour of its
+manifestations of Maya, entices the individual souls, or Purushas, which
+when once in the centre of attraction of the Maya are drawn into the
+vortex of material existence, losing a knowledge of their real nature.
+But the souls never lose entirely the glimmer of the Light of the
+Spirit, and, consequently, soon begin to feel that they have made a
+mistake, and consequently begin to strive to escape the bondage of
+Prakriti and its Maya--but such escape is possible only through a
+gradual rising up from the depths of Maya, step by step, cycle by cycle,
+by a series of purification and cleansing of themselves, just as a fly
+cleanses itself of the sticky substance into which it has fallen. This
+escape is accomplished by Spiritual Unfoldment or Evolution, by means of
+Reincarnation--this Evolution not being a "growth," but rather an
+"unfoldment" or "unwrapping" of the soul from its confining sheaths, one
+by one.
+
+Another great school of Hindu philosophy is the philosophy of Patanjali,
+generally known as the Yoga Philosophy, but which differs from the Yogi
+Philosophy of the West, which is eclectic in nature. The Yoga Philosophy
+of Patanjali bears some resemblance to the Sankhya school of Kapila,
+inasmuch as it recognizes the teachings regarding Prakriti, from which
+universal energy the material universe has been evolved; and inasmuch as
+it also recognizes the countless individual Purushas, or souls, which
+are eternal and immortal, and which are entrapped in the Maya of
+Prakriti. But it then takes a position widely divergent from the Sankhya
+school, inasmuch as Patanjali's Yoga school holds that there also exists
+a Supreme Purusha, Spirit, Soul--or God--who is without form; infinite;
+eternal; and above all attributes and qualities common to man. In this
+respect, Patanjali differs from Kapila, and inclines rather toward
+agreement with Kanada, of the first mentioned school of the Vaisheshika
+system. All three philosophers, however, seem to generally agree in the
+main upon the Mind Principle, which they hold to be beneath Soul or
+Spirit, and to be in the nature of Mind-Stuff, which is of a
+semi-material nature--Kapila and Patanjali even going so far as to hold
+that it is a manifestation of Prakriti or the Universal Energy, rather
+than a distinct principle. They hold that the Purusha, or Spirit, not
+the Mind, is the Real Self, and the source of consciousness and the real
+intelligence. The practical teachings of the school of Patanjali is a
+system by which the Purusha may escape from and overcome the Prakriti,
+and thus gain emancipation, freedom, and a return to its natural and
+original purity and power. This school, of course, teaches
+Reincarnation, and Progression through Rebirth, in accordance with the
+principles mentioned above.
+
+Another great school of Hindu philosophy is that known as the Vedanta
+Philosophy, which many consider the most advanced of all the Hindu
+systems, and which is rapidly growing in popularity among the educated
+Hindus, and also among many very intelligent students of philosophical
+thought in the Western world. Its followers claim that the Vedanta
+Philosophy has reached the very highest point of philosophical thought,
+speculation and analysis possible to the human mind of today, and many
+Western students have claimed that it contains the highest conceptions
+found in any and all of the great World Philosophies. Be this as it may,
+it certainly contains much that is the most subtle, refined and keen in
+the field of philosophical speculative thought of the world, and while,
+as some claim, it may lack the "appeal to the religious emotions" that
+some other forms of thought possess, still it proves very attractive to
+those in whom intellectual development and effort have superseded the
+"emotional" side of philosophy or religion.
+
+The Vedanta System holds that the Ultimate Reality, or Actual Being, of
+the universe--the One Absolute Energy or Substance from which all the
+universe proceeds--is THAT which may be called The Absolute, which is
+eternal, infinite, indivisible, beyond attributes and qualities, and
+which is the source of intelligence. The Absolute is held to be One, not
+Many--Unique and Alone. It is identical with the Sanscrit "Brahman," and
+is held to be THAT which has been called "The Unknowable"; the "Father";
+the "Over-Soul"; the "Thing-in-Itself"--in short, it is THAT which men
+mean, and have always meant, when they wished to express the ABSOLUTE
+REALITY. The Vedantists hold that this Absolute Brahman is the essence
+of "Sat," or Absolute Existence; "Chit," or Absolute Intelligence; and
+"Ananda," or Absolute Bliss. Without attempting to enter into an
+analysis, or close exposition, of the Vedanta Philosophy, or so far as
+concerns the soul, and its destiny, we may say that it holds that there
+do not exist the countless eternal, immortal souls or Purushas of the
+Sankhya philosophy, but instead that the individual souls are but the
+countless "images or reflections" of the Absolute Being, or Brahman, and
+have their existence only by reason of the Real Existence of the One
+Only Being. Consequently, the Spirit within the soul of Man, and which
+is "the soul of his soul," is Divine. The Vedantists admit the existence
+of a "Logos," or Ishwara, the Lord of the Universe, who is, however, but
+a manifestation of Brahman--a Great Soul, as it were, and who presides
+over the evolution of Universes from the Prakriti, and who plays the
+part of the Demiurge of the old Grecian and Gnostic philosophies. The
+Vedantists admit the existence (relative) of Prakriti, or Universal
+Energy, but hold that it is not eternal, or real-in-itself, but is
+practically identical with Maya, and may be regarded as a form of the
+Creative Energy of the Absolute, Brahman. This Maya (which while
+strictly speaking is illusion inasmuch as it has no real existence or
+eternal quality) is the source of time, space, and causation, and of
+the phenomenal universe, with its countless forms, shapes, and
+appearances. The Vedantists teach that the Evolution of the Soul is
+accomplished by its escaping the folds of Maya, or Materiality, one by
+one, by means of Rebirths, until it manifests more and more of its
+Divine Nature; and thus it goes on, and on, from higher to still higher,
+until at last it enters into the Divine Being and attains Union with
+God, and is "One with the Father."
+
+Another great Hindu philosophy is the philosophy of Gautama, the Buddha,
+which is generally known as the Buddhistic Philosophy, or as Buddhism.
+It is difficult to give a clear idea of Buddhism in a concise form, for
+there are so many schools, sects, and divisions among this general
+school of philosophy, differing upon the minor points and details of
+doctrine, that it requires a lengthy consideration in order to clear
+away the disputed points. Speaking generally, however, it may be said
+that the Buddhists start with the idea or conception of an Unknowable
+Reality, back of and under all forms and activity of the phenomenal
+universe. Buddha refused to discuss the nature of this Reality,
+practically holding it to be Unknowable, and in the nature of an
+Absolute Nothing, rather than an Absolute Something in the sense of
+"Thingness" as we understand the term; that is to say, it is a No-Thing,
+rather than a Thing--consequently it is beyond thought, understanding,
+or even imagination--all that can be said is that it IS. Buddha refused
+to discuss or teach of the manner in which this Unknowable came to
+manifest upon the Relative Plane, for he held that Man's proper study
+was of the World of Things, and how to escape therefrom. In a vague way,
+however, Buddhism holds that in some way this Unknowable, or a part
+thereof, becomes entangled in Maya or Illusion, through Avidya or
+Ignorance, Law, Necessity, or perhaps something in the nature of a
+Mistake. And arising from this mistaken activity, all the pain and
+sorrow of the universe arises, for the Buddhist holds that the Universe
+is a "world of woe," from which the soul is trying to escape. Buddhism
+holds that the soul Reincarnates often, because of its desires and
+attractions, which if nursed and encouraged will lead it into lives
+without number. Consequently, to the Buddhist, Wisdom consists in
+acquiring a knowledge of the true state of affairs, just mentioned, and
+then upon that knowledge building up a new life in which desire and
+attraction for the material world shall be eliminated, to the end that
+the soul having "killed out desire" for material things--having cut off
+the dead branch of Illusion--is enabled to escape from Karma, and
+eventually be released from Rebirth, thence passing back into the great
+ocean of the Unknowable, or Nirvana, and ceasing to Be, so far as the
+phenomenal world is concerned, although of course it will exist in the
+Unknowable, which is Eternal. Many Western readers imagine the
+Buddhistic Nirvana to be an utter annihilation of existence and being,
+but the Hindu mind is far more subtle, and sees a vast difference
+between utter annihilation on the one hand, and extinction of
+personality on the other. That which appears Nothingness to the Western
+Mind, is seen as No-Thingness to the Oriental conception, and is
+considered more of a resumption of an original Real Existence, rather
+than an ending thereof.
+
+There is a great difference between the two great schools of Buddhism,
+the Northern and Southern, respectively, regarding the nature of the
+soul. The Northern school considers the soul as an entity,
+differentiated from the Unknowable in some mysterious way not explained
+by Buddha, and yet different from the individual Purusha of the Sankhya
+school, before mentioned. On the contrary, the Southern school does not
+regard the soul as a differentiated or distinct entity, but rather as a
+centre of phenomenal activity saturated or charged with the results of
+its deeds, and that therefore the Karma, or the Essence of Deeds, may be
+considered as the soul itself, rather than as something pertaining to
+it. The Northern school holds that the soul, accompanied by its Karma,
+reincarnates along the same lines as those taught by all the other
+Hindu schools of Reincarnation and Karma. But the Southern school, on
+the contrary, holds that it is not the soul-entity that re-incarnates
+(for there is no such entity), but that instead it is the Karma, or
+Essence of Deeds, that reincarnates from life to life, according to its
+attractions, desires, and merits or demerits. In the last mentioned view
+of the case, the rebirth is compared to the lighting of one lamp from
+the flame of another, rather than in the transferring of the oil from
+one lamp to another. But, really, these distinctions are quite
+metaphysical, and when refined by analysis become hair-splitting. It is
+said that the two schools of Buddhism are growing nearer together, and
+their differences reconciled. The orthodox Hindus claim that Buddhism is
+on the decline in India, being largely supplanted by the various forms
+of the Vedanta. On the other hand, Buddhism has spread to China, Japan
+and other countries, where it has taken on new forms, and has grown into
+a religion of ritualism, creeds, and ceremonialism, with an
+accompanying loss of the original philosophy and a corresponding
+increase of detail of teaching, doctrine and disciple and general
+"churchiness," including a belief in several thousand different kind of
+hells. But even in the degenerated forms, Buddhism still holds to
+Reincarnation as a fundamental doctrine.
+
+In this consideration of the philosophies of India, we do not consider
+it necessary to go into an explanation of the various forms of
+religions, or church divisions, among the Hindus. In India, Religion is
+an important matter, and there seems to be some form of religion adapted
+to each one of that country's teeming millions. From the grossest form
+of religious superstition, and crudest form of ceremony and worship, up
+to the most refined idealism and beautiful symbolisms, runs the gamut of
+the Hindu Religions. Many people are unable to conceive of an abstract,
+ideal Universal Being, such as the Brahman of the Hindu Philosophy, and
+consequently that Being has been personified as an Anthropomorphic
+Deity, and human attributes bestowed upon him to suit the popular fancy.
+In India, as in all other countries, the priesthood have given the
+people that which they asked for, and the result is that many forms of
+churchly ceremonialism, and forms of worship, maintain which are
+abhorrent and repulsive to Western ideas. But we of the West are not
+entirely free from this fault, as one may see if he examines some of the
+religious conceptions and ceremonies common among ignorant people in
+remote parts of our land. Certain conceptions, of an anthropomorphic
+Deity held by some of the more ignorant people of the Western world are
+but little advanced beyond the idea of the Devil; and the belief in a
+horned, cloven-hoofed, spiked-tail, red-colored, satyr-like, leering
+Devil, with his Hell of Eternal Fire and Brimstone, is not so uncommon
+as many imagine. It has not been so long since we were taught that "one
+of the chief pleasures of God and his angels, and the saved souls, will
+be the witnessing of the tortures of the damned in Hell, from the walls
+of Heaven." And the ceremonies of an old-time Southern negro
+camp-meeting were not specially elevating or ideal.
+
+Among the various forms of the religions of India we find some of the
+before mentioned forms of philosophy believed and taught among the
+educated people--often an eclectic policy of choosing and selecting
+being observed, a most liberal policy being observed, the liberty of
+choice and selection being freely accorded. But, there is always the
+belief in Reincarnation and Karma, no matter what the form of worship,
+or the name of the religion. There are two things that the Hindu mind
+always accepts as fundamental truth, needing no proof--axiomic, in fact.
+And these two are (1) The belief in a Soul that survives the death of
+the body--the Hindu mind seeming unable to differentiate between the
+consciousness of "I Am," and "I always Have Been, and always Shall
+Be"--the knowledge of the present existence being accepted as a proof of
+past and future existence; and (2) the doctrine of Reincarnation and
+Karma, which are accepted as fundamental and axiomic truths beyond the
+need of proof, and beyond doubt--as a writer has said: "The idea of
+Reincarnation has become so firmly fixed and rooted in the Hindu mind as
+a part of belief that it amounts to the dignity and force of a moral
+conviction." No matter what may be the theories regarding the nature of
+the universe--the character of the soul--or the conception concerning
+Deity or the Supreme Being--you will always find the differing sects,
+schools, and individuals accepting Reincarnation and Karma as they
+accept the fact that they themselves are existent, or that twice one
+makes two. Hindu Philosophy cannot be divorced from Reincarnation. To
+the Hindu the only escape from the doctrine of Reincarnation seems to be
+along the road of the Materialism of the West. From the above statement
+we may except the Hindu Mohammedans and the native Hindu Christians,
+partially, although careful observers say that even these do not escape
+entirely the current belief of their country, and secretly entertain a
+"mental reservation" in their heterodox creeds. So, you see, we are
+justified in considering India as the Mother Land of Reincarnation at
+the present time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE MODERN WEST.
+
+
+In the modern thought of the Western world, we find Reincarnation
+attracting much attention. The Western philosophies for the past hundred
+years have been approaching the subject with a new degree of attention
+and consideration, and during the past twenty years there has been a
+marvellous awakening of Western public interest in the doctrine. At the
+present time the American and European magazines contain poems and
+stories based upon Reincarnation, and many novels have been written
+around it, and plays even have been based upon the general doctrine, and
+have received marked attention on the part of the public. The idea seems
+to have caught the public fancy, and the people are eager to know more
+of it.
+
+This present revival of attention has been brought about largely by the
+renewed interest on the part of the Western world toward the general
+subject of occultism, mysticism, comparative religion, oriental
+philosophy, etc., in their many phases and forms. The World's Parliament
+of Religions, held at the World's Fair in Chicago, in 1893, did much to
+attract the attention of the American public to the subject of the
+Oriental Philosophies in which Reincarnation plays such a prominent
+part. But, perhaps, the prime factor in this reawakened Western interest
+in the subject is the work and teachings of the Theosophical Society,
+founded by Madame Blavatsky some thirty years ago, and which has since
+been continued by her followers and several successors. But, whatever
+may be the cause, the idea of Reincarnation seems destined to play an
+important part in the religious and philosophical thought of the West
+for some time to come. Signs of it appear on every side--the subject
+cannot be ignored by the modern student of religion and philosophy.
+Whether accepted or not, it must be recognized and examined.
+
+But the forms of the doctrine, or theory, regarding Reincarnation, vary
+almost as much in the Modern West as in the various Eastern countries at
+present, and in the past. We find all phases of the subject attracting
+attention and drawing followers to its support. Here we find the
+influence of the Hindu thought, principally through the medium or
+channel of Theosophy, or of the Yogi Philosophy--and there we find the
+influence of the Grecian or Egyptian philosophical conceptions
+manifesting principally through the medium of a number of occult orders
+and organizations, whose work is performed quietly and with little
+recognition on the part of the general public, the policy being to
+attract the "elect few" rather than the curious crowd--and again we find
+quite a number of persons in America and Europe, believing in
+Reincarnation because they are attracted by the philosophy of the
+Neo-Platonists, or the Gnostics of the Early Christian Church, and
+favoring Reincarnation as a proper part of the Christian Religion, and
+who while remaining in the bosom of the Church interpret the teachings
+by the light of the doctrine of Rebirth, as did many of the early
+Christians, as we have seen.
+
+The Theosophical conception and interpretation appeals to a great number
+of the Western Reincarnationists, by reason of its wide circulation and
+dissemination, as well as by the fact that it has formulated a detailed
+theory and doctrine, and besides claims the benefit of authoritative
+instruction on the doctrine from Adepts and Masters who have passed to a
+higher plane of existence. We think it proper to give in some little
+detail an account of the general teachings of Theosophy on this point,
+the reader being referred to the general Theosophical literature for
+more extended information regarding this special teaching.
+
+Theosophy teaches that the human soul is a composite entity, consisting
+of several principles, sheaths of vehicles, similar to those mentioned
+by us in our account of Hindu Reincarnation. The Theosophical books
+state these principles as follows: (1) The Body, or Rupa; (2) Vitality,
+or Prana-Jiva; (3) Astral Body, or Linga-Sharira; (4) Animal Soul, or
+Kama-Rupa; (5) Human Soul, Manas; (6) Spiritual Soul, or Buddhi; and (7)
+Spirit, or Atma. Of these seven principles, the last or higher Three,
+namely, the Atma, Buddhi, and Manas, compose the higher Trinity of the
+Soul--the part of man which persists; while the lower Four principles,
+namely, Rupa, Prana-Jiva, Linga-Sharira, and Kama-Rupa, respectively,
+are the lower principles, which perish after the passing out of the
+higher principles at death. At Death the higher principles, or Triad,
+lives on, while the lower principles of Quarternary dissolve and
+separate from each other and finally disintegrate, along the lines of a
+process resembling chemical action.
+
+Theosophy teaches that there is a great stream of Egos, or Monads, which
+originally emanated from a Source of Being, and which are pursuing a
+spiral journey around a chain of seven globes, including the earth,
+called the Planetary Chain. The Life Wave of Monads reaches Globe A,
+and goes through a series of evolutionary life on it, and then passes on
+to Globe B, and so on until Globe G is reached, when after a continued
+life there the Life Wave returns to Globe A, but not in a circle, but
+rather in a spiral, that is, on a higher plane of activity, and the
+round begins once more. There are seven Races to be lived through on
+each globe, many incarnations in each--each Race having seven sub-races,
+and each sub-race having seven branches. The progress of the Life Wave
+is illustrated by the symbol of a seven-coil spiral, sweeping with a
+wider curve at each coil, each coil, however, being divided into a minor
+seven-coil spiral, and so on. It is taught that the human soul is now on
+its fourth great round-visit to the Earth, and is in about the middle of
+the fifth Race of that round. The total number of incarnations necessary
+for each round is quite large, and the teaching is that none can escape
+them except by special merit and development. Between each incarnation
+there is a period of rest in the Heaven World, or Devachan, where the
+soul reaps the experiences of the past life, and prepares for the next
+step. The period of rest varies with the degree of attainment gained by
+the soul, the higher the degree the longer the rest. The average time
+between incarnations is estimated at about fifteen hundred years.
+Devachan is thus a kind of temporary Heaven, from whence the soul must
+again pass in time for a rebirth, according to its merits or demerits.
+Thus, accordingly, each soul has lived in a variety of bodies, even
+during the present round--having successively incarnated as a savage, a
+barbarian, a semi-civilized man, a native of India, Egypt, Chaldea,
+Rome, Greece, and many other lands, in different ages, filling all kinds
+of positions and places in life, tasting of poverty and riches, of
+pleasure and pain--all ever leading toward higher things. The doctrine
+enunciated by Theosophy is complicated and intricate, and we can do no
+more than to barely mention the same at this place.
+
+Another Western form of the Oriental Teachings, known as the "Yogi
+Philosophy," numbers quite a large number of earnest students in this
+country and in Europe, and has a large circle of influence, although it
+has never crystallized into an organization, the work being done quietly
+and the teachings spread by the sale of popular books on the subject
+issued at nominal prices. It is based on the Inner Teachings of the
+Hindu Philosophy and is Eclectic in nature, deriving its inspiration
+from the several great teachers, philosophies and schools, rather than
+implicitly following any one of them. Briefly stated this Western school
+of Yogi Philosophy teaches that the Universe is an emanation from, or
+mental creation of, the Absolute whose Creative Will flows out in an
+outpouring of mental energy, descending from a condition above Mind,
+downward through Mind, Physical Energy, and Matter, in a grand
+Involution or "infolding" of the divine energy into material forms and
+states. This Involution is followed by an Evolution, or unfoldment, the
+material forms advancing in the scale of evolution, accompanied by a
+corresponding Spiritual Evolution, or Unfoldment of the Individual
+Centres or Units of Being, created or emanated as above stated. The
+course of Evolution, or rather, that phase of it with which the present
+human race on earth is concerned, has now reached a point about midway
+in the scale of Spiritual Evolution, and the future will lead the race
+on, and on, to higher and still higher planes and states of being, on
+this earth and on other spheres, until it reaches a point
+incomprehensible to the mind of man of today, and then still on and on,
+until finally the souls will pass into the plane of the Absolute, there
+to exist in a state impossible of present comprehension, and
+transcending not only the understanding but also the imagination of the
+mind of man as we know him.
+
+The Yogi Philosophy teaches that the soul will reincarnate on earth
+until it is fitted to pass on to higher planes of being, and that many
+people are now entering into a stage which will terminate the
+unconscious reincarnation, and which enables them to incarnate
+consciously in the future without loss of memory. It teaches that
+instead of a retributive Karma, there is a Law of Spiritual Cause and
+Effect, operating largely along the lines of Desire and what has been
+called the "Law of Attraction," by which "like attracts like," in
+persons, environments, conditions, etc. As we have stated, the Yogi
+Philosophy follows closely the lines of certain phases of the Hindu
+philosophies from which it is derived, it being, however, rather an
+"eclectic" system rather than an exact reproduction of that branch of
+philosophy favored by certain schools of Hindus and known by a similar
+name, as mentioned in our chapter on "The Hindus"--that is to say,
+instead of accepting the teachings of any particular Hindu school in
+their entirety, the Western school of the Yogi Philosophy has adopted
+the policy of "Eclecticism," that is, a system following the policy of
+selection, choosing from several sources or systems, rather than a blind
+following of some particular school, cult or teacher.
+
+The Yogi Philosophy teaches that man is a seven-fold entity, consisting
+of the following principles, or divisions: 1. The Physical Body. 2. The
+Astral Body. 3. Prana, or Vital Force. 4. The Instinctive Mind. 5. The
+Intellect. 6. The Spiritual Mind. 7. Spirit. Of these, the first four
+principles belong to the lower part of the being, while the latter three
+are the higher principles which persist and Reincarnate. Man, however,
+is gradually evolving on to the plane of the Spiritual Mind, and will in
+time pass beyond the plane of Intellect, which he will then class along
+with Instinct as a lower form of mentality, he then using his Intuition
+habitually and ordinarily, just as the intelligent man now uses his
+Intellect, and the ignorant man his Instinct-Intellect, and the animal
+its Instinct alone. In many points the Yogi Philosophy resembles the
+Vedanta, and in others it agrees with Theosophy, although it departs
+from the latter in some of the details of doctrine regarding the process
+of Reincarnation, and particularly in its conception of the meaning and
+operation of the Law of Karma.
+
+There are many persons in the West who hold firmly to Reincarnation, to
+whom the Hindu conceptions, even in the Western form of their
+presentation, do not appeal, and who naturally incline toward the Greek
+conception and form of the doctrine. A large number of these people are
+generally classed among the "Spiritualists," although strictly speaking
+they do not fit into that classification, for they hold that the
+so-called "Spirit World" is not a place of permanent abode, but rather a
+resting place between incarnations. These people prefer the name
+"Spiritists," for they hold that man is essentially a spiritual
+being--that the Spirit is the Real Man--and that that which we call Man
+is but a temporary stage in the development and evolution of the
+individual Spirit. The Spiritists hold that the individual Spirit
+emanated from the Great Spirit of the Universe (called by one name or
+another) at some distant period in the past, and has risen to its
+present state of Man, through and by a series of repeated incarnations,
+first in the form of the lowly forms of life, and then through the
+higher forms of animal life, until now it has reached the stage of human
+life, from whence it will pass on, and on, to higher and still higher
+planes--to forms and states as much higher than the human state than man
+is above the earthworm. The Spiritists hold that man will reincarnate in
+earthly human bodies, only until the Spirit learns its lessons and
+develops sufficiently to pass on to the next plane higher. They hold
+that the planets and the countless fixed stars or suns, are but stages
+of abode for the evolving Spirit, and that beyond the Universe as we
+know it there are millions of others--in fact, that the number of
+Universes is infinite. The keynote of this doctrine may be stated as
+"Eternal Progression" toward the Divine Spirit. The Spirits do not
+insist upon any particular theory regarding the constitution of the
+soul--some of them speak merely of "soul and body," while others hold to
+the seven-fold being--the general idea being that this is unimportant,
+as the essential Spirit is after all the Real Self, and it matters
+little about the number or names of its temporary garments or vehicles
+of expression.
+
+Still another class of Reincarnationists in the Western World incline
+rather more toward the Grecian and Egyptian forms of the doctrine, than
+the Hindu--the ideas of the Neo-Platonists which had such a powerful
+effect upon the early Christian Church, or rather among the "elect few"
+among the early Fathers of the Church, seeming to have sprung into
+renewed activity among this class. These people, as we have said in the
+beginning of this chapter, are rather inclined to group themselves into
+small organizations or secret orders, rather than to form popular cults.
+They follow the examples of the ancients in this respect, preferring the
+"few elect" to the curious general public who merely wish to "taste or
+nibble" at the Truth. Many of these organizations are not known to the
+public, as they studiously avoid publicity or advertisement, and trust
+to the Law of Attraction to "bring their own to them--and them to their
+own." The teachings of this class vary in interpretation, and as many of
+them maintain secrecy by pledges or oaths, it is not possible to give
+their teachings in detail.
+
+But, generally speaking, they base their doctrines on the general
+principle that Man's present condition is due to the "Descent of
+Spirit," in the nature of "The Fall of Man," occurring some time in the
+far distant past. They hold that Man was originally "Spirit Pure and
+Free," from which blissful state he was enticed by the glamour of
+Material Life, and he accordingly fell from his higher state, lower and
+lower until he was sunken deep into the mire of Matter. From this lowly
+state he then began to work up, or evolve, having in the dim recesses of
+his soul a glimmer of remembrance of his former state, which dim light
+is constantly urging him on and on, toward his former estate, in spite
+of his frequent stumbling into the mire in his attempts to rise above
+it. This teaching holds to a theory and doctrine very similar to that of
+the "Spiritists" just mentioned, except that while the latter, in common
+with the majority of Reincarnationists, hold that the evolution of the
+Soul is in the direction of advancement and greater expression, similar
+to the growth of a child, these "secret order" people hold forcibly and
+earnestly to the idea that the evolution is merely a "Returning of the
+Prodigal" to his "Father's Mansion"--the parable of the Prodigal Son,
+and that of the Expulsion from Eden, being held as veiled allegories of
+their teaching.
+
+In the above view, the present state of existence--this Earthly Life--is
+one of a series of Hells, in the great Hell of Matter, from which Man is
+creeping up slowly but surely. According to this idea, the Earth is but
+midway in the scale, there being depths of Materiality almost impossible
+of belief, and on the other hand, heights of heavenly bliss equally
+incapable of understanding. This is about all that we can say regarding
+this form of the doctrine, without violating certain confidences that
+have been reposed in us. We fear that we have said too much as it is,
+but inasmuch as one would have to be able to "read between the lines" to
+understand fully, we trust that those who have favored us with these
+confidences will pardon us.
+
+There is still another class of believers in Reincarnation, of which
+even the general public is not fully aware, for this class does not have
+much to say regarding its beliefs. I allude to those in the ranks of the
+orthodox Christian Church, who have outgrown the ordinary doctrines, and
+who, while adhering firmly to the fundamental Christian Doctrines, and
+while clinging closely to the Teachings of Jesus the Christ, still find
+in the idea of Rebirth a doctrine that appeals to their souls and minds
+as closer to their "highest conceptions of immortality" than the
+ordinary teachings of "the resurrection of the body," or the vague
+doctrines that are taking its place. These Christian Reincarnationists
+find nothing in the doctrine of Reincarnation antagonistic to their
+Faith, and nothing in their Faith antagonistic to the doctrine of
+Reincarnation. They do not use the term Reincarnation usually, but
+prefer the term "Rebirth" as more closely expressing their thought;
+besides which the former term has a suggestion of "pagan and heathen"
+origin which is distasteful to them. These people are inclined toward
+Rebirth for the reason that it "gives the soul Another Chance to Redeem
+Itself"--other chances to perfect itself to enter the Heavenly Realms.
+They do not hold to an idea of endless reincarnation, or even of
+continued earthly incarnation for all, their idea being that the soul
+that is prepared to enter heaven passes on there at once, having learned
+enough and earned enough merit in the few lives it has lived on
+earth--while the unprepared, undeveloped, and unfit, are bound to come
+back and back again until they have attained Perfection sufficient to
+enable them to advance to the Heaven World.
+
+A large number of the Christian Reincarnationists, if I may call them by
+that name, hold that Heaven is a place or state of Eternal Progression,
+rather than a fixed state or place--that there is no standing still in
+Heaven or Earth--that "In my Father's House are Many Mansions." To the
+majority, this idea of Progression in the Higher Planes seems to be a
+natural accompaniment to the Spiritual Progression that leads to the
+Higher Planes, or Heaven. At any rate, the two ideas seem always to have
+run together in the human mind when the general subject has been under
+consideration, whether in past time or present; whether among Christians
+or "pagans and heathen." There seems to be an intuitive recognition of
+the connection of the two ideas. And on the other hand, there seems to
+be a close connection between the several views of "special creation" of
+the soul before both--the single earth-life--and the eternity of reward
+or punishment in a state or place lacking progression or change. Human
+thought on the subject seems to divide itself into two distinct and
+opposing groups.
+
+There are quite a number of Christian preachers, and members of orthodox
+churches, who are taking an earnest interest in this doctrine of
+Rebirth, and Eternal Progression here and hereafter. It is being
+considered by many whose church associates do not suspect them of being
+other than strictly orthodox in their views. Some day there will be a
+"breaking out" of this idea in the churches, when the believers in the
+doctrine grow in numbers and influence. It will not surprise careful
+observers to see the Church once more accepting the doctrine of Rebirth
+and reinstating the doctrine of Pre-existence--returning to two of its
+original truths, long since discarded by order of the Councils. Prof.
+Bowen has said: "It seems to me that a firm and well-grounded faith in
+the doctrine of Christian Metempsychosis might help to regenerate the
+world. For it would be a faith not hedged round with many of the
+difficulties and objections which beset other forms of doctrine, and it
+offers distinct and pungent motives for trying to lead a more Christian
+life, and for loving and helping our brother-man." And as James Freeman
+Clarke has said: "It would be curious if we should find science and
+philosophy taking up again the old theory of metempsychosis, remodelling
+it to suit our present modes of religious and scientific thought, and
+launching it again on the wide ocean of human belief. But stranger
+things have happened in the history of human opinion."
+
+So, as we have said, there is a great variety of shades of belief in the
+Western world regarding Reincarnation today, and the student will have
+no difficulty in finding just the shade of opinion best suited to his
+taste, temperament and training or experience. Vary as they do in
+detail, and theory, there is still the same fundamental and basic truth
+of the One Source--the One Life--and Reincarnation, reaching ever toward
+perfection and divinity. It seems impossible to disguise the doctrine so
+as to change its basic qualities--it will always show its original
+shape. And, so it is with the varying opinions of the Western thought
+regarding it--the various cults advocating some form of its
+doctrine--the original doctrine may be learned and understood in spite
+of the fanciful dressings bestowed upon it. "The Truth is One--Men call
+it by many names."
+
+It may be of interest to Western readers to mention that some of the
+teachers of Occultism and Reincarnation hold that the present revival
+of interest on the subject in the Western world is due to the fact that
+in Europe and America, more particularly the latter, there is occurring
+a reincarnating of the souls of many persons who lived from fifteen
+hundred to two thousand years ago, and who were then believers in the
+doctrine. According to this view, those who are now attracted toward the
+Hindu forms of the doctrine formerly lived as natives of India; those
+who favor the Grecian idea, lived in Ancient Greece; others favor the
+Egyptian idea, from similar reasons; while the revival of Neo-Platonism,
+Gnosticism and general Mysticism, among the present-day Christians is
+accounted for by the fact that the early Christians are now
+reincarnating in the Western world, having been reborn as Christians
+according to the Law of Karmic Attraction. In this manner the advocates
+of the doctrine offer the present revival as another proof of their
+teachings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+BETWEEN AND BEYOND INCARNATIONS.
+
+
+One of the first questions usually asked by students of the subject of
+Reincarnation is: "Where does the soul dwell between incarnations; does
+it incarnate immediately after death; and what is its final abode or
+state?" This question, or questions, have been asked from the beginning,
+and probably will be asked so long as the human mind dwells upon the
+subject. And many are the answers that have been given to the
+questioners by the teachers and "authorities" upon the subject. Let us
+consider some of the leading and more "authoritative" answers.
+
+In the first place, let us consider that phase of the question which
+asks: "Does the soul incarnate immediately after death?" Some of the
+earlier Reincarnationists believed and taught that the soul
+reincarnated shortly after death, the short period between incarnations
+being used by the soul in adjusting itself, striking a balance of
+character, and preparing for a new birth. Others held that there was a
+period of waiting and rest between incarnations, in which the soul
+'mentally digested' the experiences of the last life just completed, and
+then considered and meditated over the mistakes it had made, and
+determined to rectify the mistakes in the next life--it being held that
+when the soul was relieved of the necessities of material existence, it
+could think more clearly of the moral nature of its acts, and would be
+able to realize the spiritual side of itself more distinctly, in
+addition to having the benefit of the spiritual perspective occasioned
+by its distance from the active scenes of life, and thus being able to
+better gauge the respective "worth-whileness" of the things of material
+life.
+
+At the present time, the most advanced students of the subject hold that
+the average period of rest between incarnations is about fifteen hundred
+years, the less advanced souls hastening back to earth in a very short
+time, the more advanced preferring a long period of rest, meditation and
+preparation for a new life. It is held that the soul of a gross,
+material, animal-like person will incarnate very shortly after death,
+the period of rest and meditation being very short, for the reason that
+there is very little about which such a soul could meditate, as all of
+its attractions and desires are connected with material life. Many souls
+are so "earth-bound" that they rush back at once into material
+embodiment if the conditions for rebirth are favorable, and they are
+generally favorable for there seems to be always an abundant supply of
+new bodies suitable for such souls in the families of people of the same
+character and nature, which afford congenial opportunities for such a
+soul to reincarnate. Other souls which have progressed a little further
+along the path of attainment, have cultivated the higher part of
+themselves somewhat, and enjoy to a greater extent the period of
+meditation and spiritual life afforded them. And so, as the scale
+advances--as the attraction for material life grows less, the period of
+purely spiritual existence between incarnations grows longer, and it is
+said that the souls of persons who are highly developed spiritually
+sometimes dwell in the state of rest for ten thousand years or more,
+unless they voluntarily return sooner in order to take part in the work
+of uplifting the world. It must be remembered, in this connection, that
+the best teaching is to the effect that the advanced souls are rapidly
+unfolding into the state in which they are enabled to preserve
+consciousness in future births, instead of losing it as is the usual
+case, and thus they take a conscious part in the selection of the
+conditions for rebirth, which is wisely denied persons of a more
+material nature and less spiritual development.
+
+The next phase of the question: "Where does the soul dwell between
+incarnations?" is one still more difficult of answer, owing to the
+various shades of opinion on the subject. Still there is a fundamental
+agreement between the different schools, and we shall try to give you
+the essence or cream of the thought on the subject. In the first place,
+all occultists set aside any idea of there being a "place" in which the
+souls dwell--the existence of "states" or "planes of existence" being
+deemed sufficient for the purpose. It is held that there are many planes
+of existence in any and every portion of space, which planes
+interpenetrate each other, so that entities dwelling on one plane
+usually are not conscious of the presence of those on another plane.
+Thus, an inhabitant of a high plane of being, in which the vibrations of
+substance are much higher than that which we occupy, would be able to
+pass through our material world without the slightest knowledge of its
+existence, just as the "X rays" pass through the most solid object, or
+as light passes through the air. It is held that there are many planes
+of existence much higher than the one we occupy, and upon which the
+disembodied souls dwell. There are many details regarding these planes,
+taught by the different schools of occultism, or spiritualism, but we
+have neither the time nor space to consider them at length, and must
+content ourselves with mentioning but a few leading or typical beliefs
+or teachings on the subject.
+
+The Theosophists teach that just when the soul leaves the body, there
+occurs a process of psychic photography in which the past life, in all
+of its details, is indelibly imprinted on the inner substance of the
+soul, thus preserving a record independent of the brain, the latter
+being left behind in the physical body. Then the Astral Body, or Etheric
+Double, detaches itself from the body, from which the Vital Force, or
+Prana-Jiva also departs at the same time, the Astral Body enfolding also
+the four other principles, and together the Five Surviving Principles
+pass on to the plane of Kama Loka, or the Astral Plane of Desire. Kama
+Loka is that part of the Astral Plane nearest to the material plane, and
+is very closely connected with the latter. If the soul is filled with
+hot and earnest desire for earth life, it may proceed no further, but
+may hasten back to material embodiment, as we said a moment ago. But if
+the soul has higher aspirations, and has developed the higher part of
+itself, it presses on further, in which case the Astral Body, and the
+Animal Soul which is the seat of the passions and grosser desires,
+disintegrate, and thus release the Triad, or three-fold higher nature of
+the soul, namely the higher human soul, the spiritual soul, and the
+spirit--or as some term them, the intellect, the spiritual mind, and the
+spirit. The Triad then passes on to what is known as the plane of
+Devachan, where it rests divested of the lower parts of its nature, and
+in a state of bliss and in a condition in which it may make great
+progress by reason of meditation, reflection, etc. Kama Loka has been
+compared to the Purgatory of the Catholics, which it resembles in more
+ways than one, according to the Theosophists. Devachan is sometimes
+called the Heaven World by Theosophists, the word meaning "the state or
+plane of the gods."
+
+Theosophy teaches that the Soul Triad dwells in Devachan "for a period
+proportionate to the merit of the being," and from whence in the proper
+time "the being is drawn down again to be reborn in the world of
+mortals." The Law of Karma which rules the earth-life of man, and which
+regulates the details of his rebirth, is said to operate on the
+Devachnic Plane as well, thus deciding the time of his abode on that
+plane, and the time when the soul shall proceed to rebirth. The state of
+existence in Devachan is described at length in the Theosophical
+writings, but is too complex for full consideration here. Briefly
+stated, it may be said that it is taught that the life on Devachan is in
+the nature of a Dream of the Best that is In Us--that is, a condition in
+which the highest that is in us is given a chance for expression and
+growth, and development. The state of the soul in Devachan is said to be
+one of Bliss, the degree depending upon the degree of spiritual
+development of the soul, as the Bliss is of an entirely spiritual
+nature. It may be compared to a state of people listening to some
+beautiful music--the greater the musical development of the person, the
+greater will be his degree of enjoyment. It is also taught that just as
+the soul leaves Devachan to be reincarnated, it is given a glimpse of
+its past lives, and its present character, that it may realize the
+Karmic relations between the cause and effect, to the end that its new
+life may be improved upon--then it sinks into a state of unconsciousness
+and passes on to rebirth.
+
+The Western school of the Yogi Philosophy gives an idea of the state
+between incarnations, somewhat eclectic in its origin, agreeing with the
+Theosophical teaching in some respects, and differing from it in others.
+Let us take a hasty glance at it. In the first place it does not use the
+terms "Kama Loca" and "Devachan" respectively, but instead treats the
+whole series of planes as the great "Astral World" containing many
+planes, divisions, and subdivisions--many sub-planes, and divisions of
+the same. The teaching is that the soul passes out of the body, leaving
+behind its physical form, together with its Prana or Vital Energy, and
+taking with it the Astral Body, the Instructive Mind, and the higher
+principles. The "last vision" of the past life, in which the events of
+that life are impressed upon the soul just as it leaves the body, is
+held to be a fact--the soul sees the past life as a whole, and in all of
+its minutest details at the moment of death, and it is urged that the
+dying person should be left undisturbed in his last moments for this
+reason, and that the soul may become calm and peaceful when starting on
+its journey. On one of the Astral Planes the soul gradually discards its
+Astral Body and its Instinctive Mind, but retains its higher vehicles or
+sheaths. But it is taught that this discarding of the lower sheaths
+occurs after the soul has passed into a "soul-slumber" on a sub-plane of
+the Astral World, from which it awakens to find itself clothed only in
+its higher mental and spiritual garments of being, and free from the
+grosser coverings and burdens. The teachings say: "When the soul has
+cast off the confining sheaths, and has reached the state for which it
+is prepared, it passes to the plane in the Astral World for which it is
+fitted, and to which it is drawn by the Law of Attraction. The planes of
+the Astral World interpenetrate, and souls dwelling on one plane are not
+conscious of those dwelling on another, nor can they pass from one plane
+to another, with this exception--that those dwelling on a higher plane
+are able to see (if they so desire) the planes below them in the order
+of development, and are also able to visit these lower planes if they so
+desire. But those on the lower planes are not able to either see or
+visit the planes above them--not that there is a 'watchman at the gate'
+to prevent them, but for the same reason that a fish is not able to pass
+from the water to the plane of air above that water." The same teachings
+tell us that the souls on the higher planes often visit friends and
+relatives on the lower, so that there is always the opportunity for
+loved ones, relatives and friends meeting in this way; and also many
+souls on the higher planes pass to the lower planes in order to instruct
+and advise those dwelling on the latter, the result that in some cases
+there may be a progression from a lower to a higher plane of the Astral
+World by promotion earned by this instruction. Regarding Rebirth, from
+the Astral World, the teachings say:
+
+"But sooner or later, the souls feel a desire to gain new experiences,
+and to manifest in earth-life some of the advancement which has come to
+them since 'death,' and for these reasons, and from the attraction of
+desires which have been smoldering there, not lived out or cast off, or,
+possibly influenced by the fact that some loved soul, on a lower plane,
+is ready to incarnate and wishing to be incarnated at the same time in
+order to be with it (which is also a desire) the souls fall into the
+current sweeping toward rebirth, and the selection of proper parents and
+advantageous circumstances and surrounding, and in consequence again
+fall into a soul-slumber, gradually, and so when their time comes they
+'die' to the plane upon which they have been existing and are 'born'
+into a new physical life and body. A soul does not fully awaken from its
+sleep immediately at birth, but exists in a dream-like state during the
+days of infancy, its gradual awakening being evidenced by the growing
+intelligence of the babe, the brain of the child keeping pace with the
+demands made upon it. In some cases the awakening is premature, and we
+see cases of prodigies, child-genius, etc., but such cases are more or
+less abnormal, and unhealthy. Occasionally the dreaming soul in the
+child half-wakes, and startles us by some profound observation, or
+mature remark or conduct."
+
+The third phase of the question: "What is the final state or abode of
+the soul?" is one that reaches to the very center or heart of
+philosophical and religious thought and teaching. Each philosophy and
+religion has its own explanation, or interpretation of the Truth, and it
+is not for us to attempt to select one teaching from the many in this
+work. The reader will find many references to these various explanations
+and teachings as he reads the several chapters of this book, and he may
+use his own discrimination and judgment in selecting that which appeals
+to him the most strongly. But he will notice that there is a fundamental
+agreement between all of the teachings and beliefs--the principle that
+the movement of the soul is ever upward and onward, and that there is no
+standing still in spiritual development and unfoldment. Whether the
+end--if end there be--is the reaching of a state of Bliss in the
+presence of the Divine One--or whether the weary soul finds rest "in the
+Bosom of the Father," by what has been called "Union with God"--the
+vital point for the evolving soul is that there is "a better day
+coming"--a haven of rest around the turn of the road. And whatever may
+be the details of the Truth, the fact remains that whatever state awaits
+the soul finally, it must be Good, and in accordance with Divine Wisdom
+and Ultimate Justice and Universal Love.
+
+The majority of occultists look forward to an end in the sense of being
+absorbed in the Divine Being, not in the sense of annihilation, but in
+the sense of reaching a consciousness "of the Whole in the Whole"--this
+is the true meaning of "Nirvana." But whether this be true, or whether
+there is a place of final rest in the highest spiritual realms other
+than in the sense of absorption in the Divine, or whether there is a
+state of Eternal Progression from plane to plane, from realm to realm,
+on and on forever Godward, and more and more God-like--the End must be
+Good, and there is nothing to Fear, for "the Power that rules Here,
+rules There, and Everywhere. And remember this, ye seekers after
+ultimate truths--the highest authorities inform us that even the few
+stages or planes just ahead of us in the journey are so far beyond our
+present powers of conception, that they are practically unknowable to
+us--this being so, it will be seen that states very much nearer to us
+than the End must be utterly beyond the powers not only of our
+understanding but also of our imagination, even when strained to its
+utmost. This being so, why should we attempt to speculate about The End?
+Instead, why not say with Newman:
+
+   "I do not ask to see the distant scene.
+   One step enough for me--
+   Lead Thou me on!"
+
+It is said that when Thoreau was dying, a friend leaned over and taking
+him by the hand, said: "Henry, you are so near to the border now, can
+you see anything on the other side?" And the dying Thoreau replied: "One
+world at a time, Parker!" And this seems to be the great lesson of
+Life--One Plane at a Time! But though the Veil of Isis is impossible of
+being lifted entirely, still there is a Something that enables one to
+see at least dimly the features of the Goddess behind the veil. And that
+Something is that Intelligent Faith that "knows," although it is unable
+to explain even to itself. And the voice of that Something Within
+informs him who has that Faith: All Is Well, Brother! For beyond planes,
+and states, and universes, and time, and space, and name, and form, and
+Things--there must be THAT which transcends them all, and from which
+they all proceed. Though we may not know what THAT is--the fact that It
+must exist--that It IS, is a sufficient guarantee that the LAW is in
+constant operation on all planes, from the lowest to the highest, and
+that THE COSMOS IS GOVERNED BY LAW! And this being so, not even an atom
+may be destroyed, nor misplaced, nor suffer Injustice; and all will
+attain the End rightly, and know the "Sat-chit-ananda" of the
+Hindus--the Being-Wisdom-Bliss Absolute that all philosophies and
+religions agree upon is the Final State of the Blessed. And to the
+occultist All are Blessed, even to the last soul in the scale of life.
+And over all the tumult and strife of Life there is always that
+Something--THAT--silently brooding, and watching, and waiting--the Life,
+Light, and Love of the All. Such is the message of the Illumined of all
+ages, races, and lands. Is it not worthy of our attention and
+consideration?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE JUSTICE OF REINCARNATION.
+
+
+There are three views entertained by men who believe in the existence of
+the soul--there are many shades of belief and opinion on the subject,
+but they may be divided into three classes. These three views,
+respectively, are as follows: (1) That the soul is specially created by
+the Supreme Power at the time of conception, or birth, and that its
+position on earth, its circumstances, its degree of intelligence, etc.,
+are fixed arbitrarily by that power, for some inscrutable reason of its
+own; (2) That the soul was pre-existent, that is, that it existed before
+conception and birth, in some higher state not understood by us, from
+whence it was thrust into human form and birth, its position on earth,
+its circumstances, its degree of intelligence, etc., being determined by
+causes unknown to us; (3) That the soul is one of countless others
+which emanated from the Source of Being at some period in the past, and
+which souls were equal in power, intelligence, opportunity, etc., and
+which worked its way up by spiritual evolution from lowly forms of
+expression and life to its present state, from whence it is destined to
+move on and on, to higher and still higher forms and states of
+existence, until in the end, after millions of æons of existence in the
+highest planes of expressed life it will again return to the Source of
+Being from which it emanated, and becomes "one with the Father," not in
+a state of annihilated consciousness, but in a condition of universal
+consciousness with All. This view holds that the present condition of
+each soul is due to its own progress, development, advancement,
+unfoldment, or the lack of the same--the soul being its own Fate and
+Destiny--the enforcer of the Law upon itself, under the Law of Karma.
+
+Considering the first named view, namely that the soul is newly created,
+and that its condition has been arbitrarily fixed by the Divine Power,
+the student free from prejudice or fear finds it difficult to escape the
+conclusion that under this plan of creation there is lacking a
+manifestation of Divine Justice. Even admitting the inability of the
+finite mind to fully grasp infinite principles, man is still forced to
+the realization of the manifest inequality and injustice of the relative
+positions of human beings on earth, providing that the same is thrust
+arbitrarily upon them; and it would seem that no amount of future reward
+could possibly equalize or explain these conditions. Unless there be
+"something back of it all," it would certainly seem that Injustice was
+manifested. Of course, many argue that the idea of Justice has nothing
+to do with the universal processes, but all who think of a Divine Being,
+filled with Love, and Justice, are compelled to think that such
+qualities must manifest themselves in the creations of such a Being.
+And, if there be nothing "back of it all," then the candid observer must
+confess that the scheme of Justice manifested is most faulty according
+even to the human imperfect idea of Justice.
+
+As Figuier, a French writer said about forty years ago: "If there are a
+few men well organized, of good constitution and robust health, how many
+are infirm, idiotic, deaf-mute, blind from birth, maimed, foolish and
+insane? My brother is handsome and well-shaped: I am ugly, weakly,
+rickety, and a hunchback. Yet we are sons of the same mother. Some are
+born into opulence, others into the most dreadful want. Why am I not a
+prince and a great lord, instead of a poor pilgrim on the earth,
+ungrateful and rebellious? Why was I born in Europe and at Paris,
+whereby civilization and art life is rendered supportable and easy,
+instead of seeing the light under the burning skies of the tropics,
+where, dressed out in a beastly muzzle, a skin black and oily, and locks
+of wool, I should have been exposed to the double torments of a deadly
+climate and a barbarous society? Why is not a wretched African negro in
+my place in Paris, in conditions of comfort? We have, either of us,
+done nothing to entitle us to our assigned places: we have invited
+neither this favor nor that disgrace. Why is the unequal distribution of
+the terrible evils that fall upon some men, and spare others? How have
+those deserved the partiality of fortune, who live in happy lands, while
+many of their brethren suffer and weep in other parts of the world?"
+
+Figuier continues: "Some men are endowed with all benefits of mind;
+others, on the contrary, are devoid of intelligence, penetration and
+memory. They stumble at every step in their rough life-paths. Their
+limited intelligence and their imperfect faculties expose them to all
+possible mortifications and disasters. They can succeed in nothing, and
+Fate seems to have chosen them for the constant objects of its most
+deadly blows. There are beings who, from the moment of their birth to
+the hour of their death, utter only cries of suffering and despair. What
+crime have they committed? Why are they here on earth? They have not
+petitioned to be here; and if they could, they would have begged that
+this fatal cup might be taken from their lips. They are here in spite of
+themselves, against their will. God would be unjust and wicked if he
+imposed so miserable an existence upon beings who have done nothing to
+incur it, and have not asked for it. But God is not unjust or wicked:
+the opposite qualities belong to his perfect essence. Therefore the
+presence of man on such or such parts of the earth, and the unequal
+distribution of evil on our globe, must remain unexplained. If you know
+a doctrine, a philosophy, or a religion that solves these difficulties,
+I will destroy this book, and confess myself vanquished."
+
+The orthodox theology answers Figuier's question by the argument that
+"in our finite understanding, we cannot pretend to understand God's
+plans, purposes and designs, nor to criticize his form of justice." It
+holds that we must look beyond that mortal life for the evidence of
+God's love, and not attempt to judge it according to what we see here on
+earth of men's miseries and inequalities. It holds that the suffering
+and misery come to us as an inheritance from Adam, and as a result of
+the sins of our first parents; but that if we are "good" it will all be
+evened up and recompensed in the next world. Of course the extremists
+who hold to Predestination have held that some were happy and some
+miserable, simply because God in the exercise of His will had elected
+and predestined them to those conditions, but it would scarcely be fair
+to quote this as the position of current theology, because the tendency
+of modern theological thought is away from that conception. We mention
+it merely as showing what some have thought of the subject. Others have
+sought refuge in the idea that we suffer for the sins of our parents,
+according to the old doctrine that "the sins of the parents shall be
+visited upon the children," but even this is not in accordance with
+man's highest idea of justice and love.
+
+Passing on to the second view, namely that the soul was pre-existent,
+that is, existed in some higher state not understood by us, from whence
+it was thrust into human form, etc., we note that the questions as to
+the cause of inequality, misery, etc., considered a moment ago, are
+still actively with us--this view does not straighten out the question
+at all. For whether the soul was pre-existent in a higher state, or
+whether it was freshly created, the fact remains that as souls they must
+be equal in the sense of being made by the same process, and from the
+same material, and that up to the point of their embodiment they had not
+sinned or merited any reward or punishment, nor had they earned anything
+one way or another. And yet, according to the theory, these equally
+innocent and inexperienced souls are born, some being thrust into the
+bodies of children to be born in environments conducive to advancement,
+development, etc., and gifted with natural advantages, while others are
+thrust into bodies of children to be born into the most wretched
+environments and surroundings, and devoid of many natural
+advantages--not to speak of the crippled, deformed, and pain-ridden ones
+in all walks of life. There is no more explanation of the problem in
+this view than there was in the first mentioned one.
+
+Passing on to the third view, namely, that the soul is one of countless
+others which emanated from the Source of Being æons ago, equal in power,
+opportunities, etc., and which individual soul has worked its way up to
+its present position through many rebirths and lives, in which it has
+gained many experiences and lessons, which determine its present
+condition, and which in turn will profit by the experiences and lessons
+of the present life by which the next stage of its life will be
+determined--we find what many have considered to be the only logical and
+possible explanation of the problem of life's inequalities, providing
+there is an "answer" at all, and that there is any such thing as a
+"soul," and a loving, just God. Figuier, the French writer, from whom we
+quoted that remarkable passage breathing the pessimism of the old view
+of life, a few moments ago, admitted that in rebirth was to be found a
+just explanation of the matter. He says: "If, on the contrary, we admit
+the plurality of human existences and reincarnation--that is, the
+passage of the same soul through several bodies--all this is made
+wonderfully clear. Our presence on such or such a part of the earth is
+no longer the effect of a caprice of Fate, or the result of chance; it
+is merely a station in the long journey that we make through the world.
+Before our birth, we have already lived, and this life is the sequel and
+result of previous ones. We have a soul that we must purify, improve and
+ennoble during our stay upon earth; or having already completed an
+imperfect and wicked life, we are compelled to begin a new one, and thus
+strive to rise to the level of those who have passed on to higher
+planes."
+
+The advocates of Reincarnation point out that the idea of Justice is
+fully carried out in that view of life, inasmuch as what we are is
+determined by what we have been; and what we shall be is determined by
+what we are now; and that we are constantly urged on by the pressure of
+the unfolding spirit, and attracted upward by the Divine One. Under this
+conception there is no such thing as Chance--all is according to Law.
+As an ancient Grecian philosopher once said: "Without the doctrine of
+metempsychosis, it is not possible to justify the ways of God," and many
+other philosophers and theologians have followed him in this thought. If
+we enjoy, we have earned it; if we suffer, we have earned it; in both
+cases through our own endeavors and efforts, and not by "chance," nor by
+reason of the merits or demerits of our forefathers, nor because of
+"predestination" nor "election" to that fate. If this be true, then one
+is given the understanding to stoically bear the pains and miseries of
+this life without cursing Fate or imputing injustice to the Divine. And
+likewise he is given an incentive toward making the best of his
+opportunities now, in order to pass on to higher and more satisfactory
+conditions in future lives. Reincarnationists claim that rewards and
+punishments are properly awarded only on the plane in which the deed,
+good or bad, was committed, "else their nature is changed, their effects
+impaired, and their collateral bearings lost." A writer on the subject
+has pointed out this fact in the following words: "Physical outrage has
+to be checked by the infliction of physical pain, and not merely by the
+arousing of internal regret. Honest lives find appropriate consequence
+in visible honor. But one career is too short for the precise balancing
+of accounts, and many are needed that every good or evil done in each
+may be requited on the earth where it took place." In reference to this
+mention of rewards and penalties, we would say that very many advanced
+Reincarnationists do not regard the conditions of life as "rewards and
+punishments," but, on the contrary, look upon them as forming part of
+the Lessons in the Kindergarten of Life, to be learned and profited by
+in future lives. We shall speak of this further in our consideration of
+the question of "Karma"--the difference is vital, and should be closely
+observed in considering the subject.
+
+Before we pass from the consideration of the question of Justice, as
+exemplified by Reincarnation, we would call your attention to the
+difference in the views of life and its rewards and punishments held by
+the orthodox theologians and the Reincarnationists, respectively. On the
+one hand, the orthodox theologians hold that for the deeds, good or
+evil, performed by a man during his short lifetime of a few years, and
+then performed under conditions arbitrarily imposed upon him at birth by
+his Creator, man is rewarded or punished by an eternity of happiness or
+misery--heaven or hell. Perhaps the man has lived but one or two years
+of reasonable understanding--or full three-score and ten--and has
+violated certain moral, ethical or even religious laws, perhaps only to
+the extent of refusing to believe something that his reason absolutely
+refused to accept--for this he is doomed to an everlasting sojourn in a
+place of pain, misery or punishment, or a state equivalent thereto. Or,
+on the other hand, he has done the things that he ought to have done,
+and left undone the things that he ought not to have done--even though
+this doing and not-doing was made very easy for him by reason of his
+environment and surroundings--and to crown his beautiful life he had
+accepted the orthodox creeds and beliefs of his fathers, as a matter of
+course--then this man is rewarded by an eternity of bliss, happiness and
+joy--without end. Try to think of what ETERNITY means--think of the æons
+upon æons of time, on and on, and on, forever--and the poor sinner is
+suffering exquisite torture all that time, and in all time to come,
+without limit, respite, without mercy! And all the same time, the "good"
+man is enjoying his blissful state, without limit, or end, or satiety!
+And the time of probation, during which the two worked out their future
+fate, was as a grain of sand as compared with the countless universes in
+space in all eternity--a relation which reduces the span of man's
+lifetime to almost absolutely NOTHING, mathematically considered. Think
+of this--is this Justice?
+
+And on the other hand, from the point of view of the Reincarnationist,
+is not the measure of cause and effect more equitably adjusted, even if
+we regard it as a matter of "reward and punishment"--a crude view by
+the way--when we see that every infraction of the law is followed by a
+corresponding effect, and an adherence to the law by a proportionate
+effect. Does not the "punishment fit the crime" better in this case--the
+rewards also. And looking at it from a reasonable point of view, devoid
+from theological bias, which plan seems to be the best exemplification
+of Justice and Natural Law, not to speak of the higher Divine Justice
+and Cosmic Law? Of course, we are not urging these ideas as "proofs" of
+Reincarnation, for strictly speaking "proof" must lie outside of
+speculation of "what ought to be"--proof belongs to the region of "what
+is" and "facts in experience." But, nevertheless, while one is
+considering the matter, it should be viewed from every possible aspect,
+in order to see "how it works out."
+
+It is also urged along the lines of the Justice of Reincarnation, as
+opposed to the injustice of the contrary doctrine, that there are many
+cases of little infants who have only a few days, or minutes, of this
+life, before they pass out of the body in death. According to the
+anti-reincarnation doctrine, these little souls have been freshly
+created, and placed into physical bodies, and then without having had to
+taste of the experiences of life, are ushered into the higher planes,
+there to pass an eternal existence--while other souls have to live out
+their long lives of earth in order to reach the same higher states, and
+then, according to the prevailing doctrine, even then they may have
+earned eternal punishment instead of eternal bliss. According to this
+idea the happiest fate would be for all to die as infants (providing we
+were baptized, some good souls would add), and the death of an infant
+should be the occasion for the greatest rejoicing on the part of those
+who love it. But in spite of the doctrine, human nature does not so act.
+According to the doctrine of Reincarnation, the little babe's soul was
+but pursuing the same path as the rest of the race--it had its past, as
+well as its future, according to Law and Justice. While, if the ordinary
+view be correct, no one would begrudge the infant its happy fate, still
+one would have good cause for complaint as the Inequality and Injustice
+of others having to live out long lives of pain, discomfort and misery,
+for no cause, instead of being at once translated into a higher life as
+was the infant. If the ordinary view be true, then why the need of
+earth-life at all--why not create a soul and then place it in the
+heavenly realms at once; if it is possible and proper in some cases, why
+not in all; if the experience is not indispensable, then why impose it
+on certain souls, when all are freshly created and equal in merit and
+deserts? If earthly life has any virtue, then the infant's soul is
+robbed of its right. If earthly life has no virtue, the adult souls are
+forced to live a useless existence on earth, running the risk of
+damnation if they fail, while the infant souls escape this. Is this
+equality of opportunity and experience, or Justice? There would seem to
+be something wrong with either the facts, or the theory. Test the
+problem with the doctrine of Reincarnation, and see how it works out!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE ARGUMENT FOR REINCARNATION.
+
+
+In addition to the consideration of Justice, there are many other
+advantages claimed by the advocates of Reincarnation which are worthy of
+the careful consideration of students of the problem of the soul. We
+shall give to each of these principal points a brief consideration in
+this chapter, that you may acquaint yourself with the several points of
+the argument.
+
+It is argued that the principle of analogy renders it more reasonable to
+believe that the present life of the soul is but one link in a great
+chain of existences, which chain stretches far back into the past on one
+side, and far out into the future on the other, than to suppose that it
+has been specially created for this petty term of a few years of earth
+life, and then projected for weal or woe into an eternity of spiritual
+existence. It is argued that the principle of Evolution on the Physical
+Plane points to an analogy of Evolution of the Spiritual Plane. It is
+reasoned that just as birth on the next plane of life follows death on
+the present one, so analogy would indicate that a death on past planes
+preceded birth on this, and so on. It is argued that every form of life
+that we know of has arisen from lower forms, which in turn arose from
+still lower forms, and so on; and that following the same analogy the
+soul has risen from lower to higher, and will mount on to still higher
+forms and planes. It is argued that "special creation" is unknown in the
+universe, and that it is far more reasonable to apply the principle of
+evolution to the soul than to consider it as an exception and violation
+of the universal law.
+
+It is also claimed by some thinkers that the idea of future-existence
+presupposes past-existence, for everything that is "begun" must "end"
+some time, and therefore if we are to suppose that the soul is to
+continue its existence in the future, we must think of it as having an
+existence in the past--being eternal at both ends of the earth-life, as
+it were. Opponents of the idea of immortality are fond of arguing that
+there was no more reason for supposing that a soul would continue to
+exist after the death of the body, than there was for supposing that it
+had existed previously. A well-known man once was asked the question:
+"What becomes of a man's soul after death?" when he evaded the question
+by answering: "It goes back to where it came from." And to many this
+idea has seemed sufficient to make them doubt the idea of immortality.
+The ancient Greek philosophers felt it logically necessary for them to
+assert the eternal pre-existence of the soul in order to justify their
+claim of future existence for it. They argued that if the soul is
+immortal, it must have always existed, for an immortal thing could not
+have been created--if it was not immortal by nature, it could never be
+made so, and if it was immortal by nature, then it had always existed.
+The argument usually employed is this: A thing is either mortal or
+immortal, one or the other; if it is mortal it has been born and must
+die; if it is immortal, it cannot have been born, neither can it die;
+mortality means subject to life and death--immortality means immunity
+from both. The Greeks devoted much time and care to this argument, and
+attached great importance to it. They reasoned that nothing that
+possessed Reality could have emerged from nothingness, nor could it pass
+into nothingness. If it were Real it was Eternal; if it was not Eternal
+it was not Real, and would pass away even as it was born. They also
+claimed that the sense of immortality possessed by the Ego, was an
+indication of its having experienced life in the past, as well as
+anticipating life in the future--there is a sense of "oldness" pervading
+every thought of the soul regarding its own nature. It is claimed as an
+illogical assumption to hold that back of the present there extends an
+eternity of non-existence for the soul, while ahead of it there extends
+an eternity of being--it is held that it is far more logical to regard
+the present life as merely a single point in an eternity of existence.
+
+It is argued, further, that Reincarnation fits in with the known
+scientific principle of conservation of energy--that is, that no energy
+is ever created or is lost, but that all energy is but a form of the
+universal energy, which flows on from form to form, from manifestation
+to manifestation, ever the same, and yet manifesting in myriad
+forms--never born, never dying, but always moving on, and on, and on to
+new manifestations. Therefore it is thought that it is reasonable to
+suppose that the soul follows the same law of re-embodiment, rising
+higher and higher, throughout time, until finally it re-enters the
+Universal Spirit from which it emerged, and in which it will continue to
+exist, as it existed before it emerged for the cycle of manifestation.
+It is also argued that Reincarnation brings Life within the Law of Cause
+and Effect, just as is everything else in the universe. The law of
+re-birth, according to the causes generated during past lives, would
+bring the existence of the soul within and in harmony with natural
+laws, instead of without and contrary to them.
+
+It is further argued that the feeling of "original sin" of which so many
+people assert a consciousness, may be explained better by the theory of
+Reincarnation than by any theological doctrine. The orthodox doctrine is
+that "original sin" was something inherited from Adam by reason of our
+forefather's transgression, but this jars upon the thought of today, as
+well it might, for what has the "soul" to do with Adam--it did not
+descend from him, or from aught else but the Source of Being--there is
+no line of descent for souls, though there may be for bodies. What has
+Adam to do with your soul, if it came fresh from the mint of the Maker,
+pure and unsullied--how could his sin taint your new soul? Theology here
+asserts either arrant nonsense, or else grave injustice. But if for
+"Adam" we substitute our past existences and the thoughts and deeds
+thereof, we may understand that feeling of conscious recognition of past
+wrong-doing and remorse, which so many testify to, though they be
+reasonably free from the same in the present life. The butterfly dimly
+remembers its worm state, and although it now soars, it feels the slime
+of the mud in which it once crawled.
+
+It is also argued that in one life the soul would fail to acquire the
+varied experience which is necessary to form a well rounded mentality of
+understanding. Dwarfed by its limited experience in the narrow sphere
+occupied by many human beings, it would be far from acquiring the
+knowledge which would seem to be necessary for a developed and advanced
+soul. Besides this there would be as great an inequality on the part of
+souls after death, as there is before death--some would pass into the
+future state as ignorant beings, while others would possess a full
+nature of understanding. As a leading authority has said: "A perfected
+man must have experienced every type of earthly relation and duty, every
+phase of desire, affection and passion, every form of temptation and
+every variety of conflict. No one life can possibly furnish the
+material for more than a minute section of such experience." Along this
+same line it is urged that the soul's development must come largely from
+contact and relationship with other souls, in a variety of phases and
+forms. It must experience pain and happiness, love, pity, failure,
+success--it must know the discipline of sympathy, toleration, patience,
+energy, fortitude, foresight, gratitude, pity, benevolence, and love in
+all of its phases. This, it is urged, is possible only through repeated
+incarnations, as the span of one life is too small and its limit too
+narrow to embrace but a small fraction of the necessary experiences of
+the soul on its journey toward development and attainment. One must feel
+the sorrows and joys of all forms of life before "understanding" may
+come. Narrowness, lack of tolerance, prejudice, and similar forms of
+undeveloped consciousness must be wiped out by the broad understanding
+and sympathy that come only from experience.
+
+It is argued that only by repeated incarnations the soul is able to
+realize the futility of the search for happiness and satisfaction in
+material things. One, while dissatisfied and disappointed at his own
+condition, is apt to imagine that in some other earthly condition he
+would find satisfaction and happiness now denied him, and dying carries
+with him the subsconcious desire to enjoy those conditions, which desire
+attracts him back to earth-life in search of those conditions. So long
+as the soul desires anything that earth can offer, it is earth-bound and
+drawn back into the vortex. But after repeated incarnations the soul
+learns well its lesson that only in itself may be found happiness--and
+that only when it learns its real nature, source, and destiny--and then
+it passes on to higher planes. As an authority says: "In time, the soul
+sees that a spiritual being cannot be nourished on inferior food, and
+that any joy short of union with the Divine must be illusionary."
+
+It is also argued that but few people, as we see them in earth-life,
+have realized the existence of a higher part of their being, and still
+fewer have asserted the supremacy of the higher, and subordinated the
+lower part of the self to that higher. Were they to pass on to a final
+state of being after death, they would carry with them all of their
+lower propensities and attributes, and would be utterly incapable of
+manifesting the spiritual part of their nature which alone would be
+satisfied and happy in the spiritual realms. Therefore, it needs
+repeated lives in order to evolve from the lower conditions and to
+develop and unfold the higher.
+
+Touching upon the question of unextinguished desire, mentioned a moment
+ago, the following quotation from a writer on the subject, gives clearly
+and briefly the Reincarnationist argument regarding this point. The
+writer says: "Desire for other forms of earthly experience can only be
+extinguished by undergoing them. It is obvious that any one of us, if
+now translated to the unseen world, would feel regret that he had not
+tasted existence in some other situation or surroundings. He would wish
+to have known what it was to possess wealth and rank, or beauty, or to
+live in a different race or climate, or to see more of the world and
+society. No spiritual ascent could progress while earthly longings were
+dragging back the soul, and so it frees itself from them by successively
+securing them and dropping them. When the round of such knowledge has
+been traversed, regret for ignorance has died out." This idea of
+"Living-Out and Out-Living" is urged by a number of writers and thinkers
+on the subject. J. Wm. Lloyd says, in his "Dawn Thought," on this
+subject: "You rise and overcome simply by the natural process of living
+fully and thus outliving, as a child its milk-teeth, a serpent his
+slough. Living and Outliving, that expresses it. Until you have learned
+the one lesson fully you are never ready for a new one." The same
+writer, in the same book, also says: "By sin, shame, joy, virtue and
+sorrow, action and reaction, attraction and repulsion, the soul, like a
+barbed arrow, ever goes on. It cannot go back, or return through the
+valves of its coming. But this must not be understood to be fulfilled in
+one and every earth-visit. It is true only of the whole circle-voyage
+of the soul. In one earth-trip, one 'life,' as we say, it may be that
+there would nothing be but a standing still or a turning back, nothing
+but sin. But the whole course of all is on." But there is the danger of
+a misunderstanding of this doctrine, and some have misinterpreted it,
+and read it to advise a plunging into all kinds of sinful experience in
+order to "live-out and out-live," which idea is wrong, and cannot be
+entertained by any true student of the subjects, however much it may be
+used by those who wish to avail themselves of an excuse for material
+dissipation. Mabel Collins, in her notes to "Light on the Path," says on
+this subject: "Seek it by testing all experience, and remember that,
+when I say this, I do not say, 'Yield to the seduction of sense, in
+order to know it.' Before you have become an occultist, you may do this,
+but not afterwards. When you have chosen and entered the path, you
+cannot yield to these seductions without shame. Yet you can experience
+them without horror; can weigh, observe and test them, and wait with
+the patience of confidence for the hour when they shall affect you no
+longer. But do not condemn a man that yields; stretch out your hand to
+him as a brother pilgrim whose feet have become heavy with mire.
+Remember, O disciple! that great though the gulf may be between the good
+man and the sinner, it is greater between the good man and the man who
+has attained knowledge; it is immeasurable between the good man and the
+one on the threshold of divinity. Therefore, be wary, lest too soon you
+fancy yourself a thing apart from the mass." And again, the same writer
+says: "Before you can attain knowledge you must have passed through all
+places, foul and clean alike. Therefore, remember that the soiled
+garment you shrink from touching may have been yours yesterday, may be
+yours tomorrow. And if you turn with horror from it when it is flung
+upon your shoulders, it will cling the more closely to you. The
+self-righteous man makes for himself a bed of mire. Abstain because it
+is right to abstain, not that yourself shall be kept clean."
+
+It is also argued that Reincarnation is necessary in order to give the
+evolving races a chance to perfect themselves--that is, not through
+their physical descendants, which would not affect the souls of those
+living in the bodies of the races to-day, but by perfection and growth
+of the souls themselves. It is pointed out that to usher a savage or
+barbarian to the spiritual planes after death, no matter how true to his
+duty and "his lights" the soul had been, would be to work an absurd
+translation. Such a soul would not be fitted for the higher spiritual
+planes, and would be most unhappy and miserable there. It will be seen
+that Reincarnationists make quite a distinction between "goodness" and
+"advancement"--while they recognize and urge the former, they regard it
+as only one side of the question, the other being "spiritual growth and
+unfoldment." It will be seen that Reincarnation provides for a Spiritual
+Evolution with all of its advantages, as well as a material evolution
+such as science holds to be correct.
+
+Concluding this chapter, let us quote once more from the authority on
+the subject before mentioned, who writes anonymously in the pamphlet
+from which the quotation is taken. He says: "Nature does nothing by
+leaps. She does not, in this case, introduce into a region of spirit and
+spiritual life a being who has known little else than matter and
+material life, with small comprehension even of that. To do so would be
+analogous to transferring suddenly a ploughboy into a company of
+metaphysicians. The pursuit of any topic implies some preliminary
+acquaintance with its nature, aims, and mental requirements; and the
+more elevated the topic, the more copious the preparation for it. It is
+inevitable that a being who has before him an eternity of progress
+through zones of knowledge and spiritual experience ever nearing the
+Central Sun, should be fitted for it through long acquisition of the
+faculties which alone can deal with it. Their delicacy, their vigor,
+their penetrativeness, their unlikeness to those called for on the
+material plane, show the contrast of the earth-life to the spirit-life.
+And they show, too, the inconceivability of a sudden transition from one
+to the other, of a policy unknown in any other department of Nature's
+workings, of a break in the law of uplifting through Evolution. A man,
+before he can become a 'god,' must first become a perfect man; and he
+can become a perfect man neither in seventy years of life on earth, nor
+in any number of years of life from which human conditions are absent.
+* * * Re-birth and re-life must go on till their purposes are
+accomplished. If, indeed, we were mere victims of an evolutionary law,
+helpless atoms on which the machinery of Nature pitilessly played, the
+prospect of a succession of incarnations, no one of which gave
+satisfaction, might drive us to mad despair. But we have thrust on us no
+such cheerless exposition. We are shown that Reincarnations are the law
+for man, because they are the conditions of his progress, which is also
+a law, but he may mould them and better them and lessen them. He cannot
+rid himself of the machinery, but neither should wish to. Endowed with
+the power to guide it for the best, prompted with the motive to use that
+power, he may harmonize both his aspirations and his efforts with the
+system that expressed the infinite wisdom of the supreme, and through
+the journey from the temporal to the eternal tread the way with steady
+feet, braced with the consciousness that he is one of an innumerable
+multitude, and with the certainty that he and they alike, if they so
+will it, may attain finally to that sphere where birth and death are but
+memories of the past."
+
+In this chapter we have given you a number of the arguments favorable to
+the doctrine of Reincarnation, from a number of sources. Some of these
+arguments do not specially appeal to us, personally, for the reason that
+they are rather more theological than scientific, but we have included
+them that the argument may appear as generally presented, and because we
+feel that in a work of this kind we must not omit an argument which is
+used by many of the best authorities, simply because it may not appeal
+to our particular temperament or habit of thought. To some, the
+theological argument may appeal more strongly than would the scientific,
+and it very properly is given here. The proper way to present any
+subject is to give it in its many aspects, and as it may appear from
+varied viewpoints.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE PROOFS OF REINCARNATION.
+
+
+To many minds the "proof" of a doctrine is its reasonableness and its
+adaptability as an answer to existing problems. And, accordingly, to
+such, the many arguments advanced in favor of the doctrine, of which we
+have given a few in the preceding chapters, together with the almost
+universal acceptance of the fundamental ideas on the part of the race,
+in at least some period of its development, would be considered as a
+very good "proof" of the doctrine, at least so far as it might be
+considered as the "most available working theory" of the soul's
+existence, past and future, and as better meeting the requirements of a
+doctrine or theory than any other idea advanced by metaphysical,
+theological, or philosophical thinkers.
+
+But to the scientific mind, or the minds of those who demand something
+in the nature of actual experience of facts, no amount of reasonable
+abstract theorizing and speculation is acceptable even in the way of a
+"working hypothesis," unless based upon some tangible "facts" or
+knowledge gained through human experience. While people possessing such
+minds will usually admit freely that the doctrine of Reincarnation is
+more logical than the opposing theories, and that it fits better the
+requirements of the case, still they will maintain that all theories
+regarding the soul must be based upon premises that cannot be
+established by actual experience in human consciousness. They hold that
+in absence of proof in experience--actual "facts"--these premises are
+not established, and that all structures of reasoning based upon them
+must partake of their insecurity. These people are like the slangy "man
+from Missouri" who "wants to be shown"--nay, more, they are like the
+companion of the above man--the Man from Texas, who not only says:
+"You've got to show me," but who also demands that the thing be "placed
+in my hand." And, after all, one has no right to criticize these
+people--they are but manifesting the scientific spirit of the age which
+demands facts as a basis for theories, rather than theories that need
+facts to prove them. And, unless Reincarnation is able to satisfy the
+demands of this class of thinkers, the advocates of the doctrine need
+not complain if the scientific mind dismisses the doctrine as "not
+proven."
+
+After all, the best proof along the above mentioned lines--in fact,
+about the only possible strict proof--is the fragmentary recollections
+of former lives, which many people possess at times--these recollections
+often flashing across the mind, bringing with it a conviction that the
+place or thing "has been experienced before." Nearly every person has
+had glimpses of something that appeared to be a recollection from the
+past life of the individual. We see places that we have never known, and
+they seem perfectly familiar; we meet strangers, and we are convinced
+that we have known them in the past; we read an old book and feel that
+we have seen it before, often so much so that we can anticipate the
+story or argument of the writer; we hear some strange philosophical
+doctrine, and we recognize it as an old friend. Many people have had
+this experience in the matter of Occultism--in the very matter of the
+doctrine of Reincarnation itself--when they first heard it, although it
+struck them as strange and unusual, yet they felt an inner conviction
+that it was an old story to them--that they "had heard it all before."
+These experiences are by far too common to be dismissed as mere fancy or
+coincidence. Nearly every living person has had some experience along
+this line.
+
+A recent writer along the lines of Oriental Philosophy has said
+regarding this common experience of the race: "Many people have had
+'peculiar experiences' that are accountable only upon the hypothesis of
+Metempsychosis. Who has not experienced the consciousness of having felt
+the thing before--having thought it some time in the dim past? Who has
+not witnessed new scenes that appear old, very old? Who has not met
+persons for the first time, whose presence awakened memories of a past
+lying far back in the misty ages of long ago? Who has not been seized at
+times with the consciousness of a mighty 'oldness' of soul? Who has not
+heard music, often entirely new compositions, which somehow awakened
+memories of similar strains, scenes, places, faces, voices, lands,
+associations, and events, sounding dimly on the strings of memory as the
+breezes of the harmony floats over them? Who has not gazed at some old
+painting, or piece of statuary, with the sense of having seen it all
+before? Who has not lived through events which brought with them a
+certainty of being merely a repetition of some shadowy occurrences away
+back in lives lived long ago? Who has not felt the influence of the
+mountain, the sea, the desert, coming to them when they are far from
+such scenes--coming so vividly as to cause the actual scene of the
+present to fade into comparative unreality? Who has not had these
+experiences?"
+
+We have been informed by Hindus well advanced in the occult theory and
+practice that it is quite a common thing for people of their country to
+awaken to an almost complete recollection of their former lives; in some
+cases they have related details of former lives that have been fully
+verified by investigation in parts of the land very remote from their
+present residence. In one case, a Hindu sage related to us an instance
+where a poor Hindu, who had worked steadily in the village in which he
+had been born, without leaving it, ever since his childhood days. This
+man one day cried out that he had awakened to a recollection of having
+been a man of such and such a village, in a province hundreds of miles
+from his home. Some wealthy people became interested in the matter, and
+after having taken down his statements in writing, and after careful
+examination and questioning, they took him to the town in question. Upon
+entering the village the man seemed dazed, and cried out: "Everything is
+changed--it is the same and yet not the same!" Finally, however, he
+began to recognize some of the old landmarks of the place, and to call
+the places and roads by their names. Then, coming to a familiar corner,
+he cried: "Down there is my old home," and, rushing down the road for
+several hundred yards, he finally stopped before the ruins of an old
+cottage, and burst into tears, saying that the roof of his home had
+fallen in, and the walls were crumbling to pieces. Inquiry among the
+oldest men of the place brought to light the fact that when these aged
+men were boys, the house had been occupied by an old man, bearing the
+same name first mentioned by the Hindu as having been his own in his
+previous life. Other facts about the former location of places in the
+village were verified by the old men. Finally, while walking around the
+ruins, the man said: "There should be a pot of silver buried there--I
+hid it there when I lived here." The people rapidly uncovered the ground
+indicated, and brought to light an old pot containing a few pieces of
+silver coin of a date corresponding to the lifetime of the former
+occupant of the house. Our informant told us that he had personal
+knowledge of a number of similar cases, none of which, however, were
+quite as complete in detail as the one mentioned. He also informed us
+that he himself, and a number of his acquaintances who had attained
+certain degrees of occult unfoldment, were fully aware of their past
+lives for several incarnations back.
+
+Another instance came under our personal observation, in which an
+American who had never been to India, when taken into a room in which a
+Hindu priest who was visiting America had erected a shrine or altar
+before which he performed his religious services, readily recognized the
+arrangement of the details of worship, ritual, ceremony, etc., and was
+conscious of having seen, or at least dreamed of seeing, a similar
+shrine at some time in the past, and as having had some connection with
+the same. The Hindu priest, upon hearing the American's remarks, stated
+that his knowledge of the details of the shrine, as then expressed,
+indicated a knowledge possible only to one who had served at a Hindu
+altar in some capacity.
+
+We know of another case in which an acquaintance, a prominent attorney
+in the West, told us that when undergoing his initiation in the Masonic
+order he had a full recollection of having undergone the same before,
+and he actually anticipated each successive step. This knowledge,
+however, ceased after he had passed beyond the first three degrees which
+took him to the place where he was a full Master Mason, the higher
+degrees being entirely new to him, and having been apparently not
+experienced before. This man was not a believer in any doctrine of
+Reincarnation, and related the incident merely as "one of those things
+that no man can explain."
+
+We know of another case, in which a student of Hindu Philosophy and
+Oriental Occultism found that he could anticipate each step of the
+teaching and doctrine, and each bit of knowledge gained by him seemed
+merely a recollection of something known long since. So true was this
+that he was able to supply the "missing links" of the teaching, where
+he had not access to the proper sources of information at the time, and
+in each case he afterward found that he had stated the same correctly.
+And this included many points of the Inner Teachings not generally
+taught to the general public, but reserved for the few. Subsequent
+contact with native Hindu teachers brought to light the fact that he had
+already unraveled many tangled skeins of doctrine deemed possible only
+to the "elect."
+
+Many of these recollections of the past come as if they were memories of
+something experienced in dreams, but sometimes after the loose end of
+the thought is firmly grasped and mentally drawn out, other bits of
+recollection will follow. Sir Walter Scott wrote in his diary in 1828:
+"I was strangely haunted by what I would call the sense of
+pre-existence, viz., a confused idea that nothing that passed was said
+for the first time; that the same topics had been discussed, and the
+same persons had stated the same opinions on them." William Home, an
+English writer, was instantly converted from materialism to a belief in
+a spiritual existence by an incident that occurred to him in a part of
+London utterly strange to him. He entered a waiting room, and to his
+surprise everything seemed familiar to him. As he says: "I seemed to
+recognize every object. I said to myself, what is this? I have never
+been here before, and yet I have seen all this, and if so, there is a
+very peculiar knot in that shutter." He then crossed the room, and
+opened the shutter, and after examination he saw the identical peculiar
+knot that he had felt sure was there. Pythagoras is said to have
+distinctly remembered a number of his previous incarnations, and at one
+time pointed out a shield in a Grecian temple as having been carried by
+him in a previous incarnation at the siege of Troy. A well-known ancient
+Hindu sage is said to have transcribed a lost sacred book of doctrine
+from memory of its study in a previous life. Children often talk
+strangely of former lives, which ideas, however, are generally
+frightened out of them by reproof on the part of parents, and often
+punishment for untruthfulness and romancing. As they grow older these
+memories fade away.
+
+People traveling in strange places often experience emotion when viewing
+some particular scene, and memory seems to painfully struggle to bring
+into the field of consciousness the former connection between the scene
+and the individual. Many persons have testified to these occurrences,
+many of them being matter-of-fact, unimaginative people, who had never
+even heard of the doctrine of Reincarnation. Charles Dickens, in one of
+his books of foreign travel, tells of a bridge in Italy which produced a
+peculiar effect upon him. He says: "If I had been murdered there in some
+former life, I could not have seemed to remember the place more
+thoroughly, or with more emphatic chilling of the blood; and the real
+remembrance of it acquired in that minute is so strengthened by the
+imaginary recollection that I hardly think I could forget it." Another
+recorded instance is that of a person entering a foreign library for the
+first time. Passing to the department of ancient books, he said that he
+had a dim idea that a certain rare book was to be found on such a shelf,
+in such a corner, describing at the same time certain peculiarities of
+the volume. A search failed to discover the volume in the stated place,
+but investigation showed that it was in another place in the library,
+and an old assistant stated that a generation back it had been moved
+from its former place (as stated by the visitor), where it had been
+previously located for very many years. An examination of the volume
+showed a perfect correspondence in every detail with the description of
+the strange visitor.
+
+And so the story proceeds. Reference to the many works written on the
+subject of the future life of the soul will supply many more instances
+of the glimpses of recollection of past incarnations. But why spread
+these instances over more pages? The experience of other people, while
+of scientific interest and value as affording a basis for a theory or
+doctrine, will never supply the experience that the close and rigid
+investigator demands. Only his own experiences will satisfy him--and
+perhaps not even those, for he may consider them delusions. These
+experiences of others have their principal value as corroborative proofs
+of one's own experiences, and thus serve to prove that the individual
+experience was not abnormal, unusual, or a delusion. To those who have
+not had these glimpses of recollection, the only proof that can be
+offered is the usual arguments in favor of the doctrine, and the account
+of the experiences of others--this may satisfy, and may not. But to
+those who have had these glimpses--particularly in a marked
+degree--there will come a feeling of certainty and conviction that in
+some cases is as real as the certainty and conviction of the present
+existence, and which will be proof against all argument to the contrary.
+To such people the knowledge of previous existences is as much a matter
+of consciousness as the fact of the existence of last year--yesterday--a
+moment ago--or even the present moment, which slips away while we
+attempt to consider it. And those who have this consciousness of past
+lives, even though the details may be vague, intuitively accept the
+teachings regarding the future lives of the soul. The soul that
+recognizes its "oldness" also feels its certainty of survival--not as a
+mere matter of faith, but as an item of consciousness, the boundaries of
+time being transcended.
+
+But there are other arguments advanced in favor of Reincarnation, which
+its advocates consider so strong as to entitle them to be classed as
+"proofs." Among these may be mentioned the difference in tastes,
+talents, predispositions, etc., noticeable among children and adults,
+and which can scarcely be attributed to heredity. This same idea carries
+one to the consideration of the question of "youthful genius,"
+"prodigies," etc.
+
+It is a part of this argument to assume that if all souls were freshly
+created, by the same Creator, and from the same material, they would
+resemble each other very closely, and in fact would be practically
+identical. And, it is urged, the fact that every child is different in
+tastes, temperament, qualities, nature, etc., independent of heredity
+and environment, then it must follow that the difference must be sought
+for further back. Children of the same parents differ very materially in
+nature, disposition, etc.; in fact, strangers are often more alike than
+children of the same parents, born within a few years of each other, and
+reared in the same environment. Those having much experience with young
+babies know that each infant has its own nature and disposition, and in
+which it differs from every other infant, although they may be classed
+into groups, of course. The infant a few hours born shows a gentleness,
+or a lack of it--a yielding or a struggle, a disposition to adjust
+itself, or a stubbornness, etc. And as the child grows, these traits
+show more plainly, and the nature of the individual asserts itself,
+subject, of course, to a moulding and shaping, but always asserting its
+original character in some way.
+
+Not only in the matter of disposition but in the matter of tastes,
+tendencies, moral inclinations, etc., do the children differ. Some like
+this, and dislike that, and the reverse; some are attracted toward this
+and repelled by that, and the reverse; some are kind while others are
+cruel; some manifest an innate sense of refinement, while others show
+coarseness and lack of delicate feeling. This among children of the same
+family, remember. And, when the child enters school, we find this one
+takes to mathematics as the duck does to water, while its brother
+loathes the subject; the anti-arithmetic child may excel in history or
+geography, or else grammar, which is the despair of others. Some are at
+once attracted to music, and others to drawing, while both of these
+branches are most distasteful to others. And it will be noticed that in
+the studies to which the child is attracted, it seems to learn almost
+without effort, as if it were merely re-learning some favorite study,
+momentarily forgotten. And in the case of the disliked study, every step
+is attended with toil. In some cases the child seems to learn every
+branch with the minimum effort, and with practically no effort; while in
+other cases the child has to plod wearily over every branch, as if
+breaking entirely new ground. And this continues into after life, when
+the adult finds this thing or that thing into which he naturally fits as
+if it were made for him, the knowledge concerning it coming to him like
+the lesson of yesterday.
+
+We know of a case in which a man had proved a failure in everything he
+had undertaken up to the age of forty, when his father-in-law, in
+disgust, placed him at the head of an enterprise which he had had to
+"take over" for a bad debt. The "failure" immediately took the keenest
+interest in the work, and in a month knew more about it than many men
+who had been in the concern for years. His mind found itself perfectly
+at home, and he made improvement after improvement rapidly, and with
+uniform success. He had found his work, and in a few years stepped to
+the front rank in the country in that particular line of business.
+"Blessed is he that hath found his work." Reincarnationists would hold
+that that man had found his work in a line similar in its mental
+demands with that of his former life or lives--not necessarily identical
+in details, but similar in its mental requirement. Instances of this
+thing are to be seen all around us. Heredity does not seem to account
+for it--nor does environment answer the requirements. Some other factor
+is there--is it Reincarnation?
+
+Allied to this phenomena is that of "youthful genius"--in fact, genius
+of any age, for that matter, for genius itself seems to be out of the
+category of the ordinary cause of heredity and environment, and to have
+its roots in some deeper, richer soil. It is a well-known fact that now
+and then a child is born which at a very early age shows an acquaintance
+with certain arts, or other branches of mental work, which is usually
+looked for only from those of advanced years, and after years of
+training. In many cases these children are born of parents and
+grandparents deficient in the particular branches of knowledge evidenced
+by the child. Babes scarcely able to sit on the piano stool, or to hold
+the violin, have begun to play in a way that certainly indicated
+previous knowledge and technique, often composing original productions
+in an amazing manner. Other young children have begun to draw and design
+without any instruction whatever. Others have shown wonderful
+mathematical ability, there being several cases on record where such
+children have performed feats in mathematics impossible to advanced
+adults teaching the same lines. What are the cause of these phenomena?
+Is it Reincarnation?
+
+As Figuier said, years ago: "We hear it said every day that one child
+has a mathematical, another a musical, another an artistic turn. In
+others we notice savage, violent, even criminal instincts. After the
+first years of life these dispositions break out. When these natural
+aptitudes are pushed beyond the usual limit, we find famous examples
+that history has cherished, and that we love to recall. There is Pascal,
+mastering at the age of twelve years the greater part of Plane Geometry
+without any instruction, and not a figment of Calculus, drawing on the
+floor of his chamber all the figures in the first book of Euclid,
+estimating accurately the mathematical relations of them all--that is,
+reconstructing for himself a part of descriptive Geometry; the herdsman
+Mangia Melo, manipulating figures, when five years old, as rapidly as a
+calculating machine; Mozart, executing a sonata on the pianoforte with
+four-years-old fingers, and composing an opera at the age of eight;
+Theresa Milanollo, playing the violin at four years, with such eminent
+skill that Baillot said she must have played it before she was born;
+Rembrandt, drawing with masterly power before he could read." The same
+authority says, in reference to the fact that some of these prodigies do
+not become famous in their after years, and that their genius often
+seems to flicker out, leaving them as ordinary children: "That is easily
+understood. They come on earth with remarkable powers acquired in an
+anterior existence, but they have done nothing to develop their
+aptitudes; they have remained all their lives at the very point where
+they were at the moment of their birth. The real man of genius is he
+who cultivates and improves incessantly the great natural aptitudes that
+he brought into the world."
+
+There is an interesting field for study, thought and investigation,
+along the lines of the early development of traits, tendencies, and
+thought in young children. Here evidently will be found the answer to
+many problems that have perplexed the race. It is true that heredity and
+environment plays an important part, but nevertheless, there seems to be
+another element working in the case, which science must have to reckon
+with in making up its final conclusions. Is that "something" connected
+with the "soul" rather than the mind of the child? Is that "something"
+that which men call Metempsychosis--Re-Birth--Reincarnation?
+
+Along the same lines, or thought, lie the great questions of instinctive
+Like and Dislike--Loves and Hates--that we find among people meeting as
+strangers. From whence come those strange, unaccountable attractions and
+repulsions that many feel when meeting certain strangers, who could
+never have occasioned such feelings in the present life, and which
+heredity does not account for? Is it merely an absurd, irrational, fancy
+or feeling; is it the result of natures inharmonious and discordant; is
+it remnants of inherited ancestral feelings toward similar individuals
+hated, loved or feared; is it a telepathic sensing of certain elements
+in the other; or is it a manifestation of the feelings experienced in a
+past existence? Is this phenomena to be included in the Proofs of
+Reincarnation? Many people think that in Reincarnation the only answer
+may be found.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+ARGUMENTS AGAINST REINCARNATION
+
+
+The honest consideration of any subject necessitates the examination of
+"the other side of the case," as well as the affirmative side. We have
+given much space to the presentation and consideration of the arguments
+advanced by those convinced of the truth of Reincarnation, and before
+closing our work we think it well to give at least a little glimpse of
+"the other side" as it is presented by the opponents of the doctrine,
+together with the reply to the same usually made by the
+Reincarnationists.
+
+The first adverse argument usually presented is that the advocates of
+Reincarnation have not established the existence of a "soul" which may
+reincarnate; nor have they proven its nature, if it does exist. The
+natural reply to this is that the doctrine of Reincarnation is not
+called upon to establish the proof of the existence of a "soul," as the
+idea of existence of the soul practically is universal, and, therefore,
+"axiomic"--that is, it is a truth that may be considered as an "axiom,"
+or self-evident truth, worthy of being assumed as a principle, necessary
+to thought on the subject, a proposition which it is necessary to take
+for granted, an established principle of thought on the subject.
+Strictly speaking, perhaps the fact of the existence of the soul is
+incapable of material proof, except to those who accept the fact of
+proven "spirit return," either in the shape of unmistakable
+manifestation of the disincarnate soul by materialization, or by equally
+unmistakable manifestation in the shape of communications of some sort
+from such discarnate soul. Science does not admit that there are any
+real "proofs" of the existence of a "soul" which persists after the
+death of the body--but all religious, and at least the older
+philosophical thought, generally agrees that the existence of such a
+soul is a self-evident fact, needing no proofs. Many regard the
+statement of Descartes: "I think, therefore I am," as a logical proof
+of the existence of an immaterial soul, and others hold that the
+self-consciousness of every human being is sufficient proof that the
+Ego, or "I," is a something immaterial, ruling the material body which
+it inhabits. And so the Reincarnationists claim that this demand upon
+them for proof of the existence of the soul is not a fair one, because
+such discussion belongs to the more general field of thought; that they
+are justified in starting with the idea that the soul does exist, as an
+axiomic truth; and that their real task is to establish, not that the
+soul exists, but that it reincarnates after the death of the body. As
+Figuier says, "The difficulty is not to prove that there is a spiritual
+principle in us that resists death, for to question the existence of
+this principle we must doubt thought. The true problem is to ascertain
+if the spiritual and immortal principle within us is going to live again
+after death, in ourselves or somebody else. The question is, Will the
+immortal soul be born again in the same individual, physically
+transformed--into the same person?" As to the other objection, that the
+Reincarnationists have not proven the nature of the soul, to which many
+of the advocates of the doctrine feel it necessary to reply at great
+length and with much subtle reasoning, we feel that the objection is not
+well taken. So far as Reincarnation is concerned, if it be taken as an
+axiom that the soul really exists, that is sufficient as a beginning for
+the argument in favor of the doctrine, and the proof or disproof of any
+special theory regarding the nature of the soul is outside of the main
+question, so we shall not consider it here. It is possible to think of
+the soul as a reincarnating entity, whether it be a monad, duad, triad,
+or septenary being.
+
+The second objection usually made is that Reincarnation cannot be true,
+else we would remember the incidents of our past lives, clearly and
+distinctly, the fact that the majority of persons have no such
+recollection, being held to be a disproof of the doctrine. The reply to
+this objection is (1) that it is not true that people do not remember
+the events of their past lives, the instances quoted by us, and similar
+ones happening to others, together with the fact that nearly every one
+remembers something of the past, showing that the objection is not
+correctly stated. And (2) that the fact that we have but a very cloudy
+and imperfect recollection is not an objection at all, for have we a
+clear recollection of the events of our infancy and childhood in this
+life? Have we a clear recollection of the events of twenty years ago,
+outside of a few scattered instances, of which the majority are only
+recalled when some associated fact is mentioned? Are not the great
+majority of the events of our present life completely forgotten? How
+many can recall the events of the youthful life? Old companions and
+friends are completely forgotten or only recalled after much thought and
+assistance in the way of suggested associations. Then again, do we not
+witness a complete forgetfulness in cases of very old people who relapse
+into a state of "second childhood," and who then live entirely in the
+present, the past having vanished for them. There are cases of people
+having grown old, and while retaining their reasoning faculties, were as
+children, so far as the past was concerned. A well-known writer, when in
+this state, was wont to read the books that he had written, enjoying
+them very much and not dreaming that he was their author. Professor
+Knight says of this matter: "Memory of the details of the past is
+absolutely impossible."
+
+"The power of the conservative faculty, though relatively great, is
+extremely limited. We forget the larger portion of experience soon after
+we have passed through it, and we should be able to recall the
+particulars of our past years, filling all the missing links of
+consciousness since we entered on the present life, before we were in a
+position to remember our ante-natal experience. Birth must necessarily
+be preceded by crossing the river of oblivion, while the capacity for
+fresh acquisition survives, and the garnered wealth of old experience
+determines the amount and characters of the new." Loss of memory is not
+loss of being--or even loss of individuality or character.
+
+In this connection, we must mention the various instances of Double
+Personality, or Lost Personality, noted in the recent books on
+Psychology. There are a number of well authenticated cases in which
+people, from severe mental strain, overwork, etc., have lost the thread
+of Personality and forgotten even their own names and who have taken up
+life anew under new circumstances, which they would continue until
+something would occur to bring about a restoration of memory, when the
+past in all of its details would come back in a flash. The annals of the
+English Society for Psychical Research contain quite a number of such
+cases, which are recognized as typical. Now, would one be justified in
+asserting that such a person, while living in the secondary personality
+and consequently in entire ignorance of his past life, had really
+experienced no previous life? The same "I" was there--the same Ego--and
+yet, the personality was entirely different! Is it not perfectly fair
+and reasonable to consider these cases as similar to the absence of
+memory in cases of Reincarnation?
+
+Let the reader lay down this book, and then endeavor to remember what
+happened in his twelfth year. He will not remember more than one or two,
+or a half dozen, events in that year--perhaps not one, in the absence of
+a diary, or perhaps even with the aid of one. The majority of the
+happenings of the three hundred and sixty-five days of that year are as
+a blank--as if they never had happened, so far as the memory is
+concerned. And yet, the same "I," or Ego, persists, and the person's
+character has certainly been affected and influenced by the experiences
+and lessons of that year. Perhaps in that year, the person may have
+acquired certain knowledge that he uses in his everyday life. And so, in
+this case, as with Reincarnation, the "essence" of the experiences are
+preserved, while the details are forgotten. For that is the
+Reincarnationist contention. As a matter of fact, advanced occultists,
+and other Reincarnationists, claim that nothing is really forgotten, but
+that every event is stored away in some of the recesses of the mind,
+below the level of consciousness--which idea agrees with that of modern
+psychologists. And Reincarnationists claim that when man unfolds
+sufficiently on some higher plane, he will have a full recollection of
+his past experiences in all of his incarnations. Some Reincarnationists
+claim that as the soul passes from the body all the events of that
+particular life pass rapidly before its mind, in review, before the
+waters of Lethe, or oblivion, causes forgetfulness.
+
+Closely allied to the last mentioned argument against Reincarnation is
+the one that as the memory of the past life is absent, or nearly so, the
+new personality is practically a new soul, instead of the old one
+reincarnated, and that it is unreasonable and unjust to have it enjoy or
+suffer by reasons of its experiences and acts in the previous life. We
+think that the answers to the last mentioned objection are answers to
+this one also. The "I," Ego, or Individuality, being the same, it
+matters not if the details of the old Personality be forgotten. You are
+the same "I" that lived fifty years ago in the same body--or even ten
+years ago--and you are enjoying certain things, or suffering from
+certain things, done or left undone at the previous time, although you
+have forgotten the incidents. The impress of the thing is on your
+Character, and you are today largely what you are by reason of what you
+have been in past years, though those years are forgotten by you. This
+you will readily admit, and yet the argument of the Reincarnationists is
+merely an extension of the same idea. As Figuier says: "The soul, in
+spite of its journeys, in the midst of its incarnations and divers
+metamorphoses remains always identical with itself; only at each
+metempsychosis, each metamorphosis of the external being, improving and
+purifying itself, growing in power and intellectual grasp."
+
+Another argument against Reincarnation is that it is not necessary, for
+the reason that Heredity accounts for all of the facts claimed as
+corroborative of Reincarnation. Answering this the advocates of the
+doctrine insist that Heredity does not account for all the facts,
+inasmuch as children are born with marked talents and genius, while
+none of their family for generations back have displayed any such
+tendencies. They also claim that if Heredity were the only factor in the
+case, there would be no advance in the races, as the children would be
+precisely like their ancestors, no variety or improvement being
+possible. But it must be remembered that Reincarnationists do not deny
+certain effects of Heredity, particularly along physical lines, and to
+an extent along mental lines, in the way of perpetuating "tendencies,"
+which, however, are and may be overcome by the individuality of the
+child. Moreover, the doctrine holds that one of the laws of Rebirth is
+that the reincarnating soul is attracted to parents harmonious to
+itself, and likely to afford the environments and association desirable
+to the soul. So in this way the characteristics likely to be transmitted
+to the offspring are those which are sought for and desired by the
+reincarnating soul. The law of Rebirth is held to be as exact and
+certain as the laws of mathematics or chemistry, the parents, as well
+as the child, forming the combination which brings forth the rebirth.
+Rebirth is held to be above the mere wish of the reincarnating soul--it
+is in accordance with an invariable natural law, which has Justice and
+Advancement as its basis.
+
+Another argument against Reincarnation is that it holds that human souls
+are reborn as animals, in some cases. This objection we shall not
+discuss, for the reason that the advanced ideas of Reincarnation
+expressly forbid any such interpretation, and distinctly deny its
+legitimate place in the doctrine. Among some of the primitive people
+this idea of transmigration in the bodies of animals has been held, but
+never among advanced occultists, or the leaders in philosophical thought
+favoring Reincarnation. Reincarnation teaches the Evolution of the soul
+from lowly forms to higher, but never the Devolution or going back into
+animal forms. A study of the doctrine of Reincarnation will dispel this
+erroneous idea from the mind of an intelligent person.
+
+Another favorite argument is that it is repulsive to the mind and soul
+of the average person. Analysis of this objection will show that what is
+repugnant to the person is usually the fear that he will be born again
+without a memory of the present, which seems like a loss of the self. A
+moment's consideration will show that this objection is ill founded. No
+one objects to the idea of living in the same body for, say, ten years
+or twenty years more, in health. But at the end of that ten or twenty
+years he will be practically a different person, by reason of the new
+experiences he has undergone. Persons change very much in twenty years,
+and yet they are the same individuals--the same "I" is there with them.
+And at the end of the twenty years they will have forgotten the majority
+of the events of the present year, but they do not object to that. When
+one realizes that the Individual, or "I," is the Real Self instead of
+the Personality, or the "John Smith, grocer, aged 36," part of
+them--then will they cease to fear the loss of the personality of the
+day or year. They will know that the "I" is the "Self"--the same
+yesterday, today and tomorrow. Be the doctrine of Reincarnation true or
+false, the fact remains that so long as YOU exist, it will be the same
+"I" in you that you will know that "I am." It will always be "I
+AM--HERE--NOW," with you, be it this moment, or a hundred years, or a
+million years hence. YOU can never be SOMEONE ELSE, no matter what form
+you wear, nor by what name you are known, nor what personality you may
+be acting through, nor in what place you may have your abode, nor on
+what plane of existence you may be. You will always be YOURSELF--and, as
+we have just said, it will always be "I AM--HERE--NOW" with You. The
+body, and even the Personality, are things akin to garments which you
+wear and take off without affecting your Real Self.
+
+Then we must note another objection often made by people in discussing
+Reincarnation. They say, "But I do not WANT to come back!" To this the
+Reincarnationists answer that, if one has reached a stage in which he
+really has no desire for anything that the earth can offer him, then
+such a soul will not likely have to reincarnate again on earth, for it
+has passed beyond the need of earthly experiences, and has worn out its
+earth Karma. But they hold that but few people really have reached this
+stage. What one really means is that he does not want any more of
+Earth--life similar to that which he has been undergoing. But if he
+thought that he could have certain things--riches, position, fame,
+beauty, influence, and the rest of it, he would be perfectly willing to
+"come back." Or else he might be so bound by links of Karma, acting by
+reason of Love or Hate, Attachment or Repulsion, or by duties
+unperformed, or moral debts unpaid, that he might be brought back to
+work out the old problems until he had solved them. But even this is
+explained by those Reincarnationists who hold to the idea of Desire as
+the great motive power of Karma, and who hold that if one has risen
+above all earthly desire or dislike, that soul is freed from the
+attraction of earth-life, and is prepared to go on higher at once, or
+else wait in realms of bliss until the race is ready to pass on,
+according to the various theories held by the various advocates of the
+doctrine. A little self-examination will show one whether he is free
+from all desire to "come back," or not. But, after all, if there is
+Ultimate Justice in the plan, working ever and ever for our good and
+advancements, as the Reincarnationists claim--then it must follow that
+each of us is in just the best place for his own good at the present
+moment, and will always be in a like advantageous position and
+condition. And if that be so, then there is no cause for complaint or
+objection on our part, and our sole concern should be in the words of
+the Persian sage, to "So live, that that which must come and will come,
+may come well," living on one day at a time, doing the best you know
+how, living always in the belief that "it is well with us now and
+evermore," and that "the Power which has us in charge Here will have us
+in charge There." There is a good philosophy for Living and Dying. And,
+this being true, though you may have to "come back," you will not have
+to "go back," or fall behind in the Scale of Advancement or Spiritual
+Evolution--for it must always be Onward and Upward on the Ladder of
+Life! Such is the Law!
+
+Another objection very often urged against the doctrine of Reincarnation
+is that "it is un-Christian, and derived from pagan and heathen sources,
+and is not in accord with the highest conceptions of the immortality of
+the soul." Answering this objection, it may be said that, insofar as
+Reincarnation is not a generally accepted doctrine in the orthodox
+Christian Churches of today, it may be said to be non-Christian (rather
+than un-Christian), but when it is seen that Pre-existence and Rebirth
+was held as Truth by many of the Early Fathers of the Church, and that
+the doctrine was finally condemned by the dominant majority in Church
+Councils only by means of the most severe methods and the exercise of
+the most arbitrary authority, it may be seen that in the opinion of many
+of the most eminent early authorities there was nothing "un-Christian"
+about it, but that it was a proper doctrine of the Church. The doctrine
+was simply "voted down," just as were many important doctrines revered
+by some of the great minds of the early church, in some cases the
+decision being made by a majority of one vote. And, again, there have
+been many bright minds in the Christian Church who persisted in the
+belief that the doctrine was far more consistent with the Inner
+Teachings of Christianity than the prevailing conception, and based upon
+quite as good authority.
+
+So far as the charge that it is "derived from pagan and heathen sources"
+is concerned, it must be answered that certainly the doctrine was
+accepted by the "pagan and heathen" world centuries before the dawn of
+Christianity, but, for that matter, so was the doctrine regarding the
+soul's future generally accepted by orthodox Christianity--in fact,
+nearly every doctrine or theory regarding the survival of the soul was
+"derived from pagan and heathen sources." The "pagan and heathen" mind
+had thought long and earnestly upon this great problem, and the field of
+thought had been pretty well covered before the advent of Christianity.
+In fact, Christianity added no new doctrine--invented no new theory--and
+is far from being clear and explicit in its teachings on the subject,
+the result being that the early Christians were divided among themselves
+on the matter, different sects and schools favoring different doctrines,
+each and all of which had been "derived from pagan and heathen sources."
+If all the doctrines regarding the immortality of the soul are to be
+judged by the test of their having been, or not been, "derived from
+pagan and heathen sources," then the entire body of doctrine and thought
+on the subject must be thrown out of the Christian mind, which must then
+endeavor to create or invent an entirely new doctrine which has never
+been thought of by a "pagan or heathen"--a very difficult task, by the
+way, considering the activity of the pagan and heathen mind in that
+respect. It must be remembered that there is no authoritative teaching
+on this subject--none coming direct from Jesus. The Christian Doctrines
+on the subject come from the Theologians, and represent simply the views
+of the "majority" of some Church Council--or of the most powerful
+faction.
+
+While the objection that Reincarnation "is not in accord with the
+highest conceptions of the immortality of the soul" is one that must
+depend almost entirely upon the personal bias or opinion of the
+individual as to what constitutes "the highest conceptions," still a
+comparison of the conceptions is not out of the way at this place. Do
+you know what was the doctrine favored by the dominant majority in the
+Church Councils, and for which Pre-Existence and Re-Birth finally was
+discarded? Do you know the dogma of the Church and the belief of masses
+of the orthodox Christians of the early centuries? Well, it was this:
+That at the death of the body, the person passes into a state of "coma,"
+or unconsciousness, in which state he rests today, awaiting the sound of
+the trumpet of the great Day of Judgment, when the dead shall be raised
+and the righteous given eternal life IN THEIR FORMER BODIES, while the
+wicked in their bodies may pass into eternal torment. That is the
+doctrine. You doubt it? Then look over the authorities and examine even
+the current creeds of today, many of which state practically the same
+thing. This belief passed into one of the Christian Creed, in the words:
+"I believe in the Resurrection of the Body."
+
+The great masses of Christians today, in general thought on the subject,
+speak as if the accepted doctrine of the Church was that the soul passed
+to Judgment, and then eternal soul life in Heaven or Hell immediately
+after the death of the body, thus ignoring the dogmas of the Church
+Councils regarding the future Day of Judgment and the Resurrection of
+the Body at that time. A little questioning of the religious teachers,
+and a little examination of religious history, and the creeds and
+doctrines of their respective churches, would astonish many good church
+members who have been fondly thinking of their beloved ones, who have
+passed on, as even now dwelling in Heaven as blessed angels. They would
+be astonished to find that the "angels" of the churches are not the
+souls of the good people who have been judged and awarded heavenly joys,
+but, rather, a body of supernatural beings who never inhabited the
+flesh; and that instead of their loved ones now enjoying the heavenly
+realms, the dogmas hold that they are now in a state of "coma" or
+unconsciousness, awaiting the great Day of Judgment, when their bodies
+will be resurrected and life everlasting given them. Those who are
+interested in the matter, and who may doubt the above statement, are
+invited to examine the records for themselves. The doctrine of the
+Resurrection of the Body, which is of undoubted "pagan and heathen"
+origin, was a favorite theological dogma of the Church in the first
+thousand years of its existence, and for many centuries after, and it
+still occupies a most important place in the church doctrines today,
+although it is not so often publicly preached or taught.
+
+David Kay says: "The great distinguishing doctrine of Christianity is
+not the Immortality of the Soul, but the Resurrection of the Body. That
+the soul of man is immortal was a common belief among the Ancients, from
+whom it found its way at an early period into the Christian Church, but
+the most influential of the early Fathers were strenuously opposed to
+it, holding that the human soul was not essentially immortal, but only,
+like the body, capable of immortality." Vinet says: "The union of the
+soul and body appears to me essential and indissoluble. Man without a
+body is, in my opinion, man no longer; and God has thought and willed
+him embodied, and not otherwise. According to passages in the
+Scriptures, we can not doubt that the body, or a body, is essential to
+human personality and to the very idea of man."
+
+John Milton said: "That the spirit of man should be separate from the
+body, so as to have a perfect and intelligent existence independent of
+it, is nowhere said in Scripture, and the doctrine is evidently at
+variance both with nature and reason." Masson, commenting on Milton's
+conception, says: "Milton's conception is that at the last gasp of
+breath the whole man dies, soul and body together, and that not until
+the Resurrection, when the body is revived, does the soul live again,
+does the man or woman live again, in any sense or way, whether for
+happiness or misery.... Are the souls of the millions on millions of
+human beings who have died since Adam, are those souls ready either with
+God and the angels in Heaven, or down in the diabolic world waiting to
+be rejoined to their bodies on the Resurrection Day? They are not, says
+Milton; but soul and bodies together, he says, are dead alike, sleeping
+alike, defunct alike, till that day comes." And many Christian
+theologians have held firmly to this doctrine, as may be seen by
+reference to any standard encyclopedia, or work on theology. Coleridge
+said: "Some of the most influential of the early Christian writers were
+materialists, not as holding the soul to be the mere result of bodily
+organization, but as holding the soul itself to be material--corporeal.
+It appears that in those days the vulgar held the soul to be
+incorporeal, according to the views of Plato and others, but that the
+orthodox Christian divines looked upon this as an impious, unscriptural
+opinion." Dr. R. S. Candlish said: "You live again in the body--in the
+very body, as to all essential properties, and to all practical intents
+and purposes in which you live now. I am to live not a ghost, a spectre,
+a spirit, I am to live then, as I live now, in the body." Dr. Arnold
+says: "I think that the Christian doctrine of the Resurrection meets the
+materialists so far as this--that it does imply that a body or an
+organization of some sort is necessary to the full development of man's
+nature."
+
+Rev. R. J. Campbell, the eminent English clergyman, in his recent work
+entitled, "The New Theology," says, speaking of the popular evangelical
+views: "But they are even more chaotic on the subject of death and
+whatever follows death. It does not seem to be generally recognized that
+Christian thought has never been really clear concerning the
+Resurrection, especially in relation to future judgment. One view has
+been that the deceased saint lies sleeping in the grave until the
+archangel's trumpet shall sound and bid all mankind awake for the great
+assize. Anyone who reads the New Testament without prejudice will see
+that this was Paul's earlier view, although later on he changed it for
+another. There is a good deal of our current, every-day religious
+phaseology which presumes it still--'Father, in thy gracious keeping,
+leave we now thy servant sleeping.' But alongside this view, another
+which is a flagrant contradiction of it has come down to us, namely,
+that immediately after death the soul goes straight to Heaven or Hell,
+as the case may be, without waiting for the archangel's trumpet and the
+grand assize. On the whole, this is the dominant theory of the situation
+in the Protestant circles, and is much less reasonable than the Catholic
+doctrine of purgatory, however much the latter may have been abused. But
+under this view, what is the exact significance of the Judgment Day and
+the Physical Resurrection? One might think they might be accounted
+superfluous. What is the good of tormenting a soul in Hell for ages, and
+then whirling it back to the body in order to rise again and receive a
+solemn public condemnation? Better leave it in the Inferno and save
+trouble, especially as the solemn trial is meaningless, seeing that a
+part of the sentence has already been undergone and that there is no
+hope that any portion of it will ever be remitted. Truly the tender
+mercies with which the theologians have credited the Almighty are cruel
+indeed!"
+
+But, by the irony of progress, the orthodox churches are gradually
+coming around to the one much-despised Platonic conception of the
+naturally Immortal Immaterial Soul--the "pagan and heathen" idea, so
+much at variance with the opposing doctrine of the Resurrection of the
+Body, which doctrine really did not teach the "immortality of the soul"
+at all. As Prof. Nathaniel Schmidt says, in an article in a standard
+encyclopedia: "The doctrine of the natural immortality of the human
+soul became so important a part of Christian thought that the
+resurrection naturally lost its vital significance, and it has
+practically held no place in the great systems of philosophy elaborated
+by the Christian thinkers of modern times." But still, the letter of the
+old doctrine persists on the books of the church and in its creeds,
+although opposed to the enlightened spirit now manifesting in the
+churches which is moving more and more toward the "pagan and heathen"
+conception of a naturally Immaterial and Immortal Soul, rather than in a
+Resurrection of the Body and an eternal life therein.
+
+It is scarcely worth while here to contrast the two doctrines--the
+Immortal Immaterial Soul on the one hand, and the Immortal Body on the
+other. The latter conception is so primitively crude, and so foreign to
+modern thought, that it scarcely needs an argument against it. The
+thought of the necessity of the soul for a material body--the same old
+material body that it once cast off like a worn out garment--a body
+perhaps worn by disease, crippled by "accident" or "the slipping of the
+hand of the Potter"--a body similar to those we see around us every
+day--the Immortal Soul needing such a garment in order to exist! Better
+accept plain Materialism, and say that there is no soul and that the
+body perishes and all else with it, than such a gross doctrine which is
+simply a materialistic Immortality. So far as this doctrine being "the
+highest conception of the Immortality of the Soul," as contrasted with
+the "pagan and heathen" doctrine of Reincarnation--it is not a
+"conception of the Immortality of the Soul" at all, but a flat
+contradiction of it. It is a doctrine of the "Immortality of the Body,"
+which bears plain marks of a very lowly "pagan and heathen" origin. And
+as to the "later" Christian conception, it may be seen that there is
+nothing in the idea of Re-birth which is inconsistent therewith--in
+fact, the two ideas naturally blend into each other.
+
+In the above discussion our whole intent has been to answer the argument
+against Reincarnation which charges that the latter is "derived from
+pagan and heathen sources, and is not in accord with the highest
+conceptions of the immortality of the soul." And in order to do this we
+have found it necessary to examine the opposing theological dogmas as we
+find them, and to show that they do not come up to the claims of being
+"the highest conception," etc. We think that the strongest point against
+the dogmas may be found in the claims of their advocates. That the
+Church is now growing away from them only proves their unfitness as "the
+highest conception." And Reincarnationists hold that as the Church grows
+in favor of the Immaterial Immortal Soul, so will it find itself
+inclining toward the companion-doctrine of Pre-existence and Re-birth,
+in some of its varied forms, probably that of the Early Fathers of the
+Church, such as Origen and his followers--that the Church will again
+claim its own.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE LAW OF KARMA.
+
+
+"Karma" is a term in general use among the Hindus, and the Western
+believers in Reincarnation, the meaning of which is susceptible of
+various shades of definition and interpretation. It is most important to
+all students of the subject of Reincarnation, for it is the companion
+doctrine--the twin-truth--to the doctrine of Metempsychosis. Strictly
+speaking, "Karma" is the Law of Cause and Effect as applied to the life
+of the soul--the law whereby it reaps the results of its own sowing, or
+suffers the reaction from its own action. To the majority of
+Reincarnationists, however, it has a larger meaning, and is used in the
+sense of the Law of Justice, or the Law of Reward and Punishment,
+operating along the lines of personal experience, personal life, and
+personal character.
+
+Many authorities hold that the original idea of Karma was that of a
+great natural law operating along exact lines, as do the laws of
+mathematics and chemistry, bringing forth the exact effect from every
+cause, and being, above all, questions of good or evil, reward or
+punishment, morality or immorality, etc., and acting as a great natural
+force above all such questions of human conduct. To those who still
+adhere to this conception, Karma is like the Law of Gravitation, which
+operates without regard to persons, morals or questions of good and
+evil, just as does any other great natural law. In this view the only
+"right" or "wrong" would be the effect of an action--that is, whether it
+was conducive to one's welfare and that of the race, or the reverse. In
+this view, if a child places its hand on a hot stove, the action is
+"wrong," because it brings pain and unhappiness, although the act is
+neither moral or immoral. And another action is "right" because it
+brings happiness, well-being and satisfaction, present and future,
+although the act was neither moral nor immoral. In this view there can
+be neither reward nor punishment, in the common acceptation of the term,
+although in another sense there is a reward for such "right" doing, and
+a punishment for such "wrong" doing, as the child with the burnt hand
+may testify to.
+
+In this sense of the term, some of the older schools of Reincarnation
+accepted Karma as determining the Re-Birth, along the lines of Desire
+and Attraction, holding that the souls' character would attract it to
+re-birth along the lines of its strongest desires, and in such
+environment as would give it the greatest opportunity to work out those
+desires into action, taking the pains and pleasures of experience
+arising from such action, and thus moulding a new, or fuller character,
+which would create new Karma, which would determine the future birth,
+etc., and so on, and on. Those holding to this view believed that in
+this way the soul would learn its lesson, with many a crack over the
+knuckles, and with the pain of many an experience that would tend to
+turn it into the road most conducive to spiritual happiness and
+well-being; and lead it away from the road of material desires and
+pleasures, because the repeated experiences had shown that no true
+spiritual well-being was to be obtained therefrom. In other words, the
+soul, in its spiritual childhood, was just like a little child in the
+physical world, learning by experience that some things worked for its
+"good" and others for "bad." This view naturally carried with it the
+idea that true ethics would show that whatever tended toward the
+advancement of the soul was "good," and whatever retarded its
+advancement was "bad," in spite of any arbitrary standard of right or
+wrong erected by man during the ages, and which standard has constantly
+changed from time to time, is changing now, and always will change.
+
+But the Hindu mind, especially, soon enlarged upon this original idea of
+Karma, and the priests of India soon had the idea of Karma working as a
+great rewarder of "good," and a great punisher of "evil." Corresponding
+to the rewards and punishments in the future life, as taught by
+Christian preachers, the Hindu priests held over the sinner the terrors
+of Karma; and the rewards promised the good people from the same source
+served to spur on the worshiper to actions in accordance with the ethics
+of the particular church preaching the doctrine. It was taught that the
+man's future state, in the next incarnation, and perhaps for many
+others, depended upon his state of "goodness," in accordance with the
+laws of the church and priestly teaching--surely as powerful an argument
+and as terrifying a threat as the orthodox "bribe of heaven, and threat
+of hell" of the Western world. The effect of this teaching is seen among
+the masses of the but slightly educated Hindu classes of today, who are
+very desirous of acquiring "merit" by performing some "good" deed, such
+as bestowing alms upon the wandering religious mendicant; making
+contributions to the temples, etc., as well as performing the acts of
+ordinary good will toward men; and who are as equally anxious to avoid
+acquiring "demerit" from the lack of proper observances, and the
+performance of improper actions. While the general effect of this may be
+in the direction of holding the ignorant masses in the ethical road most
+conducive to the public weal, it also has a tendency to foster
+credulity, superstition and imposition, just as do similar teachings in
+any land, time, under the cover of any religion. There is a strong
+family resemblance between these teachings among all the religions, and
+there are many men who hold that this "crack of the theological whip" is
+most necessary for the keeping of the masses of the people in the strait
+road of morality, they being held incapable of the practice of "doing
+good for good's sake, and avoiding evil because it is evil." We shall
+not discuss this question--decide it for yourself.
+
+One of the strongest applications of the above mentioned form of the
+doctrine in India is the teaching that the caste of the man in his next
+incarnation will be determined by his degree of "good conduct" in the
+present life--and that his present caste has been determined by his
+conduct in his previous lives. No one who has not studied the
+importance of "caste" in India can begin to understand how powerful a
+lever this teaching is upon the people of India. From the exalted
+Brahman caste, the priestly caste--down to the Sudra caste of unskilled
+laborers, or even still further down to the Pariahs or outcasts, the
+caste lines are strongly marked; the higher caste person deeming it the
+greatest disgrace to be touched by one of an inferior caste, or to eat
+food prepared by a lower-caste person, and so on in every act of daily
+life. The only comparison possible to the American mind is the attitude
+of the old-time Southerner toward the lowest class of negroes, and even
+in this case the prejudice does not extend so far as in the case of the
+Hindus, for the Southerner will eat food cooked by a negro servant, and
+will permit the latter to shave him, act as his valet, etc., something
+at which the high-caste Hindu would be horrified on the part of one
+below him in caste. This being understood, it is easy to see how careful
+a high-caste Hindu would be to avoid performing actions which might rob
+him of his caste in his next life, and how powerful an incentive it is
+to a low-caste Hindu to strive for birth in a higher caste after many
+incarnations. To people holding such a view, birth in a low caste is the
+mark of crime and evil action performed in a previous life, and the
+low-born is accordingly felt to be worthy of no respect. We understand,
+from Hindu acquaintances, that this idea is gradually being dispelled in
+India, and an era of common human brotherhood and common interest is
+beginning to manifest itself.
+
+In the Western world, the Reincarnationists, without doubt, have been
+greatly affected by the prevailing orthodox Hindu conception of Karma,
+rather than by the Grecian and general occult conception. Although there
+are many who regard Karma as rather a moulder of character, and
+consequently a prime factor in the re-birth, rather than as a dispenser
+of rewards and punishments--still, there are many who, discarding the
+orthodox Devil of their former faith, have found a worthy substitute
+for him in their conception of Karma, and manifest the same terror and
+fear of the new devil as of the old one--and his name may be summed up
+as FEAR, in both cases.
+
+Theosophists have discussed the matter of Karma very thoroughly, and
+their leading authorities have written much about it, its various
+interpretations showing in the shades of opinion among the writers.
+Generally speaking, however, it may be said that they have bridged over
+the chasm between the "natural law" idea and that of "the moral law,"
+with its rewards and punishments, by an interpretation which places one
+foot on each conception, holding that there is truth in each. Of course,
+justice requires the reference of that student to the Theosophical
+writings themselves, for a detailed understanding of their views, but we
+feel that a brief summary of their general interpretation would be in
+order at this place.
+
+One of their leading authorities states that the Law of Karma is
+automatic in action, and that there is no possible escape from it. He
+likewise holds that Absolute Justice is manifested in its operations,
+the idea of mercy or wrath being absent from it; and that, consequently,
+every debt must be paid in full, to the last penny, and that there is no
+vicarious atonement or exceptions made in answer to supplications to a
+higher source. But he particularly states that this action of the law
+must not be confused with ordinary reward and punishment for "good deed
+or bad," but that the law acts just as does any other law of Nature,
+just as if we put our hand in the fire we shall be burned as a natural
+consequence, and not as a punishment. In his statement of this view he
+says: "We hold that sorrow and suffering flow from sin just precisely in
+that way, under the direct working of natural law. It may be said,
+perhaps, that, obviously, the good man does not always reap his reward
+of good results, nor does the wicked man always suffer. Not always
+immediately; not always within our ken; but assuredly, eventually and
+inexorably." The writer then goes on to define his conception of Good
+and Evil. He says: "We shall see more clearly that this must be so if
+we define exactly what we mean by good and evil. Our religious brothers
+would tell us that that was good which was in accordance with God's
+will, and that that was evil which was in opposition to it. The
+scientific man would say that that was good which helped evolution, and
+whatever hindered it was evil. Those two men are in reality saying
+exactly the same thing; for God's will for man is evolution, and when
+that is clearly realized all conflict between religion and science is at
+once ended. Anything, therefore, which is against evolution of humanity
+as a whole is against the Divine will. We see at once that when a man
+struggles to gain anything for himself at the expense of others he is
+distinctly doing evil, and it is evil because it is against the interest
+of the whole. Therefore the only true gain is that which is a gain for
+the race as a whole, and the man who gains something without cost or
+wrong to anyone is raising the whole race somewhat in the process. He is
+moving in the direction of evolution, while the other man is moving
+against it."
+
+The same writer then gives the list of the three kinds of Karma,
+according to the Hindu teachings, namely: "1. There is the Samchita, or
+'piled up' Karma--the whole mass that still remains behind the man not
+yet worked out--the entire unpaid balance of the debit and credit
+account; 2. There is the Prarabdha, or 'beginning' Karma--the amount
+apportioned to the man at the commencement of each life--his destiny for
+that life, as it were; 3. There is the Kriomana Karma, that which we are
+now, by our actions in this present life, making for the future." He
+further states: "That second type, the Prarabdha Karma, is the only
+destiny which can be said to exist for man. That is what an astrologer
+might foretell for us--that we have apportioned to us so much good or
+evil fortune--so much the result of the good and evil actions of our
+past lives which will react on us in this. But we should remember always
+that this result of previous action can never compel us to action in
+the present. It may put us under conditions in which it will be
+difficult to avoid an act, but it can never compel us to commit it. The
+man of ordinary development would probably yield to the circumstances
+and commit the act; but he may assert his free will, rise superior to
+the circumstances, and gain a victory and a step in evolution. So with a
+good action, no man is forced into that either, but an opportunity is
+given to him. If he takes it certain results will follow--not
+necessarily a happy or a wealthy life next time, but certainly a life of
+wider opportunity. That seems to be one of the things that are quite
+certain--that the man who has done well in this life has always the
+opportunity of doing still better in the next. This is nature's reward
+for good work--the opportunity to do more work. Of course, wealth is a
+great opportunity, so the reward often comes in that form, but the
+essence of the reward is the opportunity and not the pleasure which may
+be supposed to accompany the wealth." Another Theosophical writer says
+further on the subject of Karma: "Just as all these phases of Karma
+have sway over the individual man, so they similarly operate upon races,
+nations and families. Each race has its karma as a whole. If it be good,
+that race goes forward; if bad, it goes out--annihilated as a
+race--though the souls concerned take up their karma in other races and
+bodies. Nations cannot escape their national karma, and any nation that
+has acted in a wicked manner must suffer some day, be it soon or late."
+The same writer sums up the idea of individual unhappiness in any life,
+as follows: "(a) It is punishment for evil done in past lives; or (b) it
+is discipline taken up by the Ego for the purpose of eliminating defects
+or acquiring fortitude and sympathy. When defects are eliminated it is
+like removing the obstruction in an irrigating canal which then lets the
+water flow on. Happiness is explained in the same way--the result of
+prior lives of goodness."
+
+The general idea of a number of writers on the subject of Karma is that
+"as ye sow, so shall ye reap," brought down to a wonderful detail of
+arrangement, and effect flowing from causes. This conception, carried to
+its logical conclusion, would insist that every single bit of pain and
+unhappiness in this life is the result of some bad deed done either in
+the present life or in the past, and every bit of happiness, joy or
+pleasure, the result of some good action performed either in the present
+or past life. This conception of Karma affords us the most intricate,
+complex and detailed idea of reward for good, and punishment for evil
+(even when called "the operation of natural law") possible to the mind
+of man. In its entirety, and carried to its last refinement of
+interpretation and analysis, it has a tendency to bewilder and terrify,
+for the chance of escape from its entangling machinery seems so slight.
+But still, the same authorities inform us that every soul will surmount
+these obstacles, and everyone will Attain--so there is no need to be
+frightened, even if you accept the interpretation of doctrine in its
+completeness.
+
+But there are some thinkers who carry this idea of retributive Karma to
+such an extreme that they hold that every instance of physical pain,
+disease, deformity, poverty, ill fortune, etc., that we see among
+people, is the inevitable result of some moral wrong or crime committed
+by that person in some past life, and that therefore every instance of
+poverty, want or physical suffering is the just result of some moral
+offense. Some of the extremists have gone so far as to hesitate at
+relieving poverty, physical pain and suffering in others, lest by so
+doing they might possibly be "interfering with Karma"--as if any great
+Law could be "interfered with." While we, generally, have refrained from
+insisting upon our personal preference of interpretation in this work,
+we cannot refrain from so doing in this instance. We consider that such
+an interpretation of the Law of Karma is forced and unnatural, and
+results from the seeming natural tendency of the human mind to build up
+devils for itself--and hells of one kind or another. Robbed of their
+Devil, many people would attribute to their God certain devilish
+qualities, in order that they may not be robbed of the satisfaction of
+smugly thinking of the "just punishment" of others. And, if they have
+also discarded the idea of a Personal God, their demand for a Devil
+causes them to attribute certain devilish qualities to Natural Law. They
+are bound to find their Devil somewhere--the primitive demand for the
+Vengeful Spirit must manifest itself in one form or another.
+
+These people confound the action of Cause and Effect on the Material and
+Physical Plane, with Cause and Effect on the Spiritual Plane, whereas
+all true occultists teach that the Cause operating on one plane
+manifests effects upon the same plane. In this connection, we would call
+your attention to the instance in the New Testament (John IX., 2), in
+which Jesus was asked regarding the cause of the affliction of the man
+who was BORN BLIND. "And his disciples asked him, saying, 'Master, who
+did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?'" The
+question being asked in order that Jesus might determine between the two
+prevailing theories: (1) That the blindness was caused according to the
+operation of the law of Moses, which held that the sins of the parents
+were visited on the children unto the third and fourth generation; or
+(2) that it was caused according to the Law of Karma, along the lines of
+reincarnation, and because of some sin which the man had committed in
+some past incarnation (for no other interpretation of the passage is
+possible, and it shows the prevalence of the idea of Reincarnation among
+the people of that time). But Jesus promptly brushed away these two
+crude, primitive conceptions and interpretations, and in the light of
+his superior spiritual knowledge answered: "Neither hath this man
+sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be manifest in
+him," the explanation of the term "the works of God" being that Jesus
+meant thereby the operation of the Laws of Nature imposed by
+God--something above punishment for "sins," and which operated according
+to invariable physical laws and which affected the just and the unjust
+alike, just as do any natural laws. It is now known that many infants
+are rendered blind by negligence of certain precautions at birth--this
+may have been a case of that kind. We consider any attempt to attribute
+physical infirmities to "sin" unconnected with the physical trouble to
+be a reversion to primitive theological dogmas, and smacking strongly of
+the "devil idea" of theology, of which we have spoken. And Poverty
+results from economic conditions, and not as punishment for "Sin." Nor
+is Wealth the reward of Virtue--far from it.
+
+But before leaving this phase of the subject we would like to say that
+many careful thinkers have been able to discern certain spiritual
+benefits that have arisen from physical suffering, or poverty, and that
+the sufferers often manifest a high degree of spiritual development and
+growth, seemingly by reason of their pain. Not only this, but the divine
+faculties of pity, help, and true sympathy, are brought out in others,
+by reason thereof. We think that this view of the matter is far more
+along the lines of true spirituality than that of want and disease as
+"the punishment of sins committed in past lives." Even the human idea
+of Justice revolts at this kind of "punishment," and, in fact, the
+highest human justice and human law eliminates the idea of "punishment"
+altogether, so far as reprisal or revenge is concerned, the penalty
+being regarded merely as a deterrent of others, and a warning to the
+criminal against further infractions of the law, and as a reformatory
+agent--this at least is the theory of Human Law--no matter how
+imperfectly it works out in practice--and we cannot think of Divine Law
+being less just and equitable, less merciful and loving. The "eye for
+eye, tooth for tooth" conception of human justice has been out-lived by
+the race in its evolution.
+
+After considering the above mentioned extreme ideas of "punishments,"
+through the Law of Karma, we ask you to consider the following lines
+written by a writer having great insight, and published in a leading
+magazine several years ago. The idea of "The Kindergarten of God"
+therein expressed, we think, is far nearer in accordance with the
+highest Occult Teachings, than the other idea of "Divine Wrath" and
+punishment for sin, along the lines of a misinterpretation of the Law of
+Karma, worthy of the worshipers of some ancient Devil-God. Read this
+little quotation carefully, and then determine which of the two views
+seems to fit in better with your highest spiritual conceptions:
+
+"A boy went to school. He was very little. All that he knew he had drawn
+in with his mother's milk. His teacher (who was God) placed him in the
+lowest class, and gave him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt not kill.
+Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing. Thou shalt not steal. So the
+man did not kill; but he was cruel, and he stole. At the end of the day
+(when his beard was gray--when the night was come), his teacher (who was
+God) said: Thou hast learned not to kill. But the other lessons thou
+hast not learned. Come back tomorrow.
+
+"On the morrow he came back, a little boy. And his teacher (who was God)
+put him in a class a little higher, and gave him these lessons to learn:
+Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing. Thou shalt not steal. Thou
+shalt not cheat. So the man did no hurt to any living thing; but he
+stole and he cheated. And at the end of the day (when his beard was
+gray--when the night was come), his teacher (who was God) said: Thou
+hast learned to be merciful. But the other lessons thou hast not
+learned. Come back tomorrow.
+
+"Again, on the morrow, he came back, a little boy. And his teacher (who
+was God) put him in a class yet a little higher, and gave him these
+lessons to learn: Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not cheat. Thou shalt
+not covet. So the man did not steal; but he cheated, and he coveted. And
+at the end of the day (when his beard was gray--when the night was
+come), his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned not to steal.
+But the other lessons thou hast not learned. Come back, my child,
+tomorrow.
+
+"This is what I have read in the faces of men and women, in the book of
+the world, and in the scroll of the heavens, which is writ with
+stars."--_Berry Benson, in The Century Magazine, May, 1894._
+
+But there is still another view of Karma held by some Western thinkers,
+who received it from the Greek mystics and occultists, who in turn are
+thought to have received it from ancient Egypt. These people hold that
+the Law of Karma has naught to do with Man's theories of ethics, or
+religious dogmas or creeds, but has as the basis of its operations only
+Universal and Cosmic Principles of Action, applicable to the atom as
+well as Man--to the beings above Man as well. And that these universal
+principles of action have to do with the evolution of all things in
+Nature, according to well established laws. And that the evolving soul
+is continually striving to find the path along the lines of evolution,
+being urged to by the unfolding spirit within it--and that that "path"
+is always along the lines of least spiritual friction, and therefore
+along the lines of the least ultimate spiritual pain. And that,
+accordingly, Spiritual Pain is an indication to the evolving thing that
+it is on the wrong path, and that it must find a better way
+onward--which message it heeds by reason of the pain, and accordingly
+seeks out for itself a better way, and one that will bring less
+spiritual pain and greater ultimate spiritual satisfaction.
+
+This teaching holds that all material things are a source of more or
+less pain to the growing and evolving soul, which tends to urge it along
+the line of the least spiritual resistence--the least spiritual
+friction. It may be that the soul does not recognize the direction of
+the urge, and insist in tasting this material pleasure (so-thought) and
+then that--only to find that neither satisfy--that both are Dead Sea
+Fruit--that both have the thorn attached to the flower--that all bring
+pain, satiety and disgust--the consequence being that the tired and
+wearied soul, when rested by the Lethal slumber, and then re-born has a
+horror and distaste for the things which disgusted it in its previous
+life, and is therefore urged toward opposite things. If the soul has not
+been satiated--has not yet been pricked by the hidden thorn--it wishes
+to go on further in the dream of material pleasure, and so it does,
+until it learns its lesson. Finally, perceiving the folly and
+worthlessness of materiality, it emerges from its cocoon and, spreading
+out its newly found wings, takes its flight for higher planes of action
+and being--and so on, and on, and on, forever.
+
+Under this view people are not punished "for" their sins, but "by"
+them--and "Sin" is seen to be merely a "mistake," not a crime. And Pain
+arises not as a punishment for something done wrongly, but as a warning
+sign of "hands off"; and consequently Pain is something by which we may
+mount to higher things--to Something Better--and not a punishment. And
+this idea holds, also, that on the physical plane physical law governs,
+and physical effects follow physical causes; likewise on the mental
+plane; likewise on the Spiritual Plane. And, therefore, it is absurd to
+suppose that one suffers physical pain as a punishment for some moral
+offense committed on another plane. On the contrary, however, this idea
+holds that from the physical pain which was occasioned by the operation
+of physical law alone one may develop higher spiritual states by reason
+of a better understanding of the nature of pain in oneself and others.
+And this idea refuses to recognize material pleasures or profits as a
+reward for spiritual or moral actions.
+
+On the whole this last mentioned conception of Karma refuses to use the
+terms "reward and punishment," or even to entertain those ideas, but
+instead sees in everything the working out of a great Cosmic Plan
+whereby everything rises from lower to higher, and still higher. To it
+Karma is but one phase of the great LAW operating in all planes and
+forms of Life and the Universe. To it the idea that "THE UNIVERSE IS
+GOVERNED BY LAW" is an axiom. And while to it ULTIMATE JUSTICE is also
+axiomic, it sees not in the operation of penalties and reward--merits
+and demerits--the proof of that Ultimate Justice; it looks for it and
+finds it in the conception and realizing that ALL WORKS FOR GOOD--that
+Everything is tending upward--that everything is justified and just,
+because the END is ABSOLUTE GOOD, and that every tiny working of the
+great cosmic machinery is turning in the right direction and to that
+end. Consequently, each of us is just where he should be at the present
+time--and our condition is exactly the very best to bring us to that
+Divine Consummation and End. And to such thinkers, indeed, there is no
+Devil but Fear and Unfaith, and all other devils are illusions, whether
+they be called Beelzebub, Mortal-Mind, or Karma, if they produce Fear
+and Unfaith in the All-Good. And such thinkers feel that the way to live
+according to the Higher Light, and without fear of a Malevolent Karma,
+is to feel one's relationship with the Universal Good, and then to "Live
+One Day at a time--Doing the Best you Know How--and Be Kind"--knowing
+that in the All-Good you live and move and have your being, and that
+outside of that All-Good you cannot stray, for there is no
+outside--knowing that THAT which brought you Here will be with you
+There--that Death is but a phase of Life--and above all that THERE IS
+NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF--and that ALL IS WELL with God; with the
+Universe; and with YOU!
+
+FINIS.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT
+
+
+THE HINDU-YOGI
+
+Science of Breath
+
+A Complete Manual of the Oriental Philosophy of Physical, Mental,
+Psychic, and Spiritual Development by the Intelligent Control of the
+Breath.
+
+By YOGI RAMACHARAKA
+
+
+Synopsis:--Chapter I. The Hindu Yogis--Something About Their Teachings.
+Chapter II. "Breath is Life"--Teachings of the Orient and Occident
+Compared. Chapter III. The Exoteric Theory of Breath. Chapter IV. The
+Esoteric Theory of Breath--Prana. Chapter V. The Nervous System--Yogi
+Teachings Concerning the Solar Plexus--The Solar Plexus a Store-House of
+Prana. Chapter VI. How to Breathe--Oriental Methods. Chapter VII. Four
+Methods of Respiration as Classified by the Yogis--The Yogi Complete
+Breath. Chapter VIII. How to Acquire the Yogi Complete Breath. Chapter
+IX. Physiological Effect of the Complete Breath. Chapter X. Yogi
+Lore--The Yogi Cleansing Breath--The Yogi Nerve Vitalizing Breath--The
+Yogi Vocal Breath. Chapter XI. Seven Yogi Developing Exercises. Chapter
+XII. Chapter XIII. Vibration and Yogi Rhythmic Breathing--How to
+Ascertain the Heart Beat Unit Used by the Yogis as the Basis of Rhythmic
+Breathing. Chapter XIV. Phenomena of Psychic Breathing--Directions for
+Yogi Psychic Breathing--Prana Distributing--Inhibiting
+Pain--Self-Healing--Healing Others--Distant Healing. Chapter XV. More
+Phenomena of Yogi Psychic Breathing--Thought Projection--Forming an
+Aura--Recharging Yourself--Recharging Others--Charging Water--Acquiring
+Mental Qualities--Controlling the Emotions--Transmutation of
+Reproductive Energy--Brain Stimulating--The Grand Yogi Psychic Breath.
+Chapter XVI. Yogi Spiritual Breathing--Soul Consciousness--How
+Unfolded--The Universal Consciousness--How the Yogi Attain This
+Consciousness--General Directions.
+
+75 Pages.
+
+Price, Paper $0.53 Postpaid; Cloth $0.75 Postpaid.
+
+  I received the copy of "Science Breath" promptly and I am
+  very much pleased with it. The simple, clear, logical manner
+  in which it is written will certainly be appreciated and
+  will enhance its usefulness. Please send me another
+  copy.--H. W. A., Pittsburg, Pa.
+
+
+
+
+The Hindu-Yogi System of
+Practical Water Cure
+
+By YOGI RAMACHARAKA
+
+Chapter I. The Hindu-Yogi Water Cure--An Important Branch of Hatha
+Yoga--The Underlying Principle--Prana in the Water--How slow Water Loses
+Prana--How Water May be Pranaized. Chapter II. Nature's Great
+Remedy--Water the Basis of Life--The Important Part Played by Water in
+the Psychological Mechanism of the System--What Water Does, and Why.
+Chapter III. Water Drinking--Why Man Needs Water--How Much Water He
+Needs--What He Suffers from Neglecting the Normal Amount of Fluids--An
+Important Secret--Surprising Facts. Chapter IV. The Stomach and
+Intestines--A Plain, Practical, Scientific Description of the Organs of
+Assimilation and Elimination--Something that Everyone Should Know to be
+Healthy. Chapter V. The Obstructed Sewer--A Scientific Statement
+Regarding the Great Sewer of the System, Which When Clogged, Obstructed
+and Choked with Waste-Matter, Causes Disease and Weakness. Chapter VI.
+The Internal Bath--The Scientific Method of Keeping Clean the Great
+Sewer of the System--A Simple Method of Internal Cleanliness, and
+Resulting Health. Chapter VII. The Skin--A Plain Scientific Description
+of the Skin, and the Part it Plays in Health and Disease--Something that
+Everyone Should Know, but Few Realize. Chapter VIII. Scientific
+Bathing--Scientific Methods of Bathing--The Cleansing Bath--The
+Non-Drying Bath--The Hot Bath--The Cold Bath--Hardening Baths--Private
+Information. Chapter X. Pack Treatments--The Wet Sheet Pack, and How to
+Apply It--The Half Pack--The Sweat Pack--Endosmose and
+Exosmose--Hydropathy in a Nut Shell. Chapter X. Other Valuable
+Methods--Fomentations, or Hot Steam Applications--Water Bandages and
+Compresses--Hot Water Compresses, and Cold Water Bandages--Special
+Applications--Sexual Vitality Treatments--Special Applications, etc.
+
+This book has just been published, although Yogi Ramacharaka wrote it
+some time ago.
+
+
+
+
+THE KYBALION
+
+A STUDY OF
+
+The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient
+Egypt and Greece
+
+BY THREE INITIATES
+
+"The lips of Wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding."
+
+This new book is bound to attract the earnest attention of all students
+of the Secret Doctrines of the East. Perhaps the better way to describe
+this work is to give you the following words from its authors:
+
+"From old Egypt have come the fundamental esoteric and occult teachings
+which have so strongly influenced the philosophies of all races, nations
+and peoples, for several thousand years. Egypt, the home of the Pyramids
+and the Sphinx, was the birthplace of the Hidden Wisdom and Mystic
+Teachings. From her Secret Doctrine all nations have borrowed. India,
+Persia, Chaldea, Medea, China, Japan, Assyria, ancient Greece and Rome,
+and other ancient countries partook liberally at the feast of knowledge
+which the Hierophants and Masters of the Land of Isis so freely provided
+for those who came prepared to partake of the great store of Mystic and
+Occult Lore which the master-minds of that ancient land had gathered
+together. In ancient Egypt dwelt the great adepts and Masters who have
+never been surpassed, and who seldom have been equaled during the
+centuries that have taken their processional flight since the days of
+the Great Hermes. In Egypt was located the Great Lodge of Lodges of the
+Mystics. At the doors of her Temples entered the Neophytes who
+afterward, as Hierophants, Adepts, and Masters, traveled to the four
+corners of the earth, carrying with them the precious knowledge which
+they were ready, anxious, and willing to pass on to those who were ready
+to receive the same. All students of the Occult recognize the debt that
+they owe to these venerable Masters of that ancient land."
+
+
+THE KYBALION
+
+The Hermetic Teachings are to be found in all lands, among all
+religions, but never identified with any particular country, nor with
+any particular religious sect. This because of the warning of the
+ancient teachers against allowing the Secret Doctrine to become
+crystallized into a creed. The wisdom of this caution is apparent to all
+students of history. The ancient occultism of India and Persia a
+degenerated, and was largely lost, owing to the fact that the teachers
+became priests, and so mixed theology with the philosophy, the result
+being that much of the occultism of India and Persia has been lost
+amidst the mass of religious superstition, cults, creeds and "gods." So
+it was with Ancient Greece and Rome. So it was with the Hermetic
+Teachings of the Gnostics and Early Christians, which were lost at the
+time of Constantine, whose iron hand smothered philosophy with the
+blanket of theology.
+
+
+THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY
+
+"But there were always a few faithful souls who kept alive the flame,
+tending it carefully, and not allowing its light to become extinguished.
+And thanks to these staunch hearts, and fearless minds, we have the
+truth still with us. But it is not found in books, to any great extent.
+It has been passed along from Master to Student; from Initiative to
+Heirophant; from lip to ear. When it was written down at all, its
+meaning was veiled in terms of alchemy and astrology, so that only those
+possessing the key could read it aright. This was made necessary in
+order to avoid the persecutions of the theologians of the Middle Ages,
+who fought the Secret Doctrine with fire and sword; stake, gibbet and
+cross. Even to this day there will be found but few reliable books on
+the Hermetic Philosophy. Although there are countless references to it
+in many books written on various phases of Occultism. And yet, the
+Hermetic Philosophy is the only Master Key which will open all the doors
+of the Occult Teachings!
+
+
+ABOUT THE BOOK
+
+"In this book we invite you to examine into the Hermetic Teachings as
+set forth in THE KYBALION. We therein give you many of the maxims and
+precepts of THE KYBALION, accompanied by explanations and illustrations
+which we deem likely to render the teachings more easily comprehended by
+the modern student, particularly as the original text is purposely
+veiled in obscure terms. The trust that the many students to whom we now
+offer this little work will derive as much benefit from the study of its
+pages as have the many who have gone on before, treading the same Path
+to Mastery throughout the centuries that have passed since the times of
+HERMES TRISMEGISTUS--the Master of Masters--the Great-great. According
+to the Teachings, this book will attract the attention of such as are
+prepared to receive its Teaching. And, likewise, when the pupil is ready
+to receive the truth, then will this book come to him, or her, and not
+before. Such is The Law. The Hermetic Principle of Cause and Effect, in
+its aspect of The Law of Attraction, will bring lips and ear
+together--pupil and book in company. 'The Principles of Truth are Seven;
+he who knows these, understandingly, possesses the Magic Key before
+whose touch all the Doors of the Temple fly open.'--The Kybalion.
+
+THE THREE INITIATES."
+
+Bound in Blue Silk Cloth, Lettered in Gold, 223 Pages.
+
+Price $1.08 Postpaid.
+
+
+
+
+Yoga Lessons
+
+FOR DEVELOPING SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS
+
+By SWAMIE A. P. MUKERJI OF INDIA
+
+Associate Editor Kalpaka Magazine Price $1.20 net.
+
+Yoga is a subject which has enthralled the attention of the world from
+time out of mind. No one has hitherto done justice to such a grand
+system, though there have been, now and then, innumerable attempts.
+
+The present author, my esteemed friend, Swamie Mukerji, a Yogi who comes
+out of a successive generation of Yogis, is able and proper instrument
+to handle the subject. He, in these lessons, prepares the layman for an
+understanding of the Yoga and through a series of wise and masterful
+sayings, impresses on the mind of the reader the necessity for rising
+above materialism, nay, solves the very problem "What am I?"
+
+Every line is pregnant with mature thoughts and rivets on his attention,
+and makes him think, think, think.
+
+This is not a work for which an introduction, briefly setting forth the
+contents, could be written. I can but ask you to read, digest and
+improve.
+
+DR. T. R. SANJIVI, Ph. D., President
+The Latent Light Culture
+Tennevelley, India.
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE
+
+BY
+
+THE YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY
+
+Chicago, Illinois
+
+
+                                                        Price,
+                                                      Postpaid.
+
+Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy, and Oriental
+  Occultism. By Ramacharaka. Bound in green silk
+  cloth                                                 $1.10
+
+Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy, and Oriental
+  Occultism. By Ramacharaka. Bound in brown silk
+  cloth                                                  1.10
+
+Raja Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Bound in brown silk
+  cloth                                                  1.10
+
+Gnana Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Bound in blue silk cloth     1.10
+
+Psychic Healing. By Ramacharaka. Bound in maroon silk
+  cloth                                                  1.10
+
+Hatha Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Bound in yellow silk cloth   1.10
+
+Science of Breath. By Ramacharaka. Bound in paper, 53c;
+  cloth                                                   .75
+
+Light on the Path and Illumined Way. By M. C. Cloth       .44
+
+A Treatise on the Light on the Path. By M. C. Paper       .10
+
+A Visit to a Gnani. By Edward Carpenter. Paper            .28
+
+Jesus: The Last Great Initiate. By Edouard Schure.
+  Silk cloth                                              .80
+
+Krishna and Orpheus. By Edouard Schure. Silk cloth        .80
+
+Bhavagad Gita. By Ramacharaka                             .80
+
+The Spirit of the Upanishads                              .55
+
+Mystery of Being                                          .50
+
+Karma. Occult Novel. By A. P. Sinnett. Cloth              .60
+
+Practical Mind Reading. By W. W. Atkinson. Cloth          .50
+
+Practical Psychomancy and Crystal Gazing. By W.
+  W. Atkinson. Cloth                                      .50
+
+Mental Influence. By W. W. Atkinson. Cloth                .50
+
+Mystic Christianity. By Ramacharaka. Pamphlet Edition,
+  $1.12; ready in book form, Sept 1, '08                 1.10
+
+Kybalion. By Three Initiates. Cloth                      1.08
+
+Inner Consciousness. By W. W. Atkinson                    .50
+
+Secret of Success. By W. W. Atkinson                      .50
+
+The Philosophies and Religions of India, by Ramacharaka.
+  Cloth                                                  1.12
+
+
+COMPLETE CATALOG ON APPLICATION.
+
+We will be pleased to send descriptive circulars to anyone that you
+think would be interested.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+"Bhavagad Gita" in the list of books published by The Yogi Publication
+Society is a misprint for "Bhagavad Gita."
+
+"Ronach" in the Table of Contents, Chapter IV, is a misprint for
+"Roauch."
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REINCARNATION AND THE LAW OF KARMA***
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+<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Reincarnation and the Law of Karma, by
+William Walker Atkinson</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Reincarnation and the Law of Karma</p>
+<p>       A Study of the Old-New World-Doctrine of Rebirth, and Spiritual Cause and Effect</p>
+<p>Author: William Walker Atkinson</p>
+<p>Release Date: August 19, 2008  [eBook #26364]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REINCARNATION AND THE LAW OF KARMA***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Turgut Dincer,<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>REINCARNATION</h1>
+
+<h3>AND</h3>
+
+<h1>THE LAW OF KARMA</h1>
+
+<h4>A STUDY OF</h4>
+
+<h3>THE OLD-NEW WORLD-DOCTRINE OF<br />
+REBIRTH, AND SPIRITUAL<br />
+CAUSE AND EFFECT</h3>
+
+<h3><small>BY</small><br />
+WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h4><small>PUBLISHED AND SOLD BY</small><br />
+YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY<br />
+<small>MASONIC TEMPLE, CHICAGO, ILL.</small><br />
+<small class="two">LONDON AGENTS</small><br />
+L.N. FOWLER &amp; CO., 7 <span class="smcap">Imperial Arcade,
+Ludgate Circus. E.C.</span></h4>
+
+<h4>(Reincarnation and the Law of Karma)<br />
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1908, by</span><br />
+YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY<br />
+<i>All Rights Reserved</i><br />
+</h4>
+
+<div class="center">
+<p><span class="smcap">Notice.</span>&mdash;This book is protected
+by Copyright and simultaneous publication in Great Britain, France,
+Germany, Russia and other countries. All foreign rights
+reserved.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg
+3]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>TABLE OF CONTENTS</h3>
+
+<table width="100%" summary="TOC" border="0">
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="right">PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER I. <span class="smcap">The Early
+Races</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">What is Reincarnation?&mdash;Transmigration of
+Souls&mdash;The Something That Persists After Death&mdash;The Soul
+Not a Fresh Creation, but a Traveler on a Long Journey.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER&nbsp;II. <span class="smcap">The
+Egyptians, Chaldeans, Druids, etc</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">The Egyptian Idea of the Soul&mdash;Forty
+Centuries of Occult History&mdash;The Inner Teachings of
+Egypt&mdash;The Ancient Chinese Teachings and Doctrine&mdash;The
+Ancient Druids and Their Teachings.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">the Romans and
+Greeks</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">The Reasons of Rome's Backwardness in Spiritual
+Knowledge&mdash;Why the Greeks were Advanced&mdash;Pythagoras;
+Orpheus; Plato&mdash;The Various Grecian Teachings Regarding the
+Soul and Its Future Life&mdash;Plato's Wonderful Teachings and
+Philosophy.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">The Jews,
+Essenes, and Early Christians</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">The Inner Teachings of the Jewish Priests&mdash;The
+Jewish Rabbins and Their Secret Doctrines&mdash;The
+Kaballah, the Zahar, Nichema; Ronach; and
+Nephesh&mdash;A Mysterious Brotherhood&mdash;The Christian
+Inner Doctrine&mdash;The Mysteries of Jesus.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">The
+Hindus</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">India the Mother of Reincarnation, Past and
+Present&mdash;The Aryan Teachings&mdash;The History of the Belief
+Among the Hindus&mdash;Fundamental Hindu Philosophy.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">The Modern
+West</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">Reincarnation in the Modern Western
+World&mdash;The Revival of Interest and Its
+Cause&mdash;Theosophical Society&mdash;Madame Blavatsky&mdash;The
+Western School of Yogi Philosophy: Its Fundamental
+Teachings&mdash;The Spiritists, and Their Doctrine&mdash;The
+Teachings of the "Elect Few" in Their Secret Societies&mdash;Is
+Earth a Hell?&mdash;Christian Reincarnationists and Their
+Beliefs.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">Between and
+Beyond Incarnations</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">How Long Between Incarnations?&mdash;Necessity
+for Mental and Spiritual Digestion and Assimilation&mdash;The
+Advanced Teachings&mdash;Earth-bound Souls&mdash;Advanced Souls and
+Their Rest Period&mdash;Where Does the Soul Dwell Between
+Incarnations?&mdash;What Happens at Death&mdash;The Great Astral
+World and Its Planes and Sub-planes&mdash;Where the Soul Goes After
+Death and What It Does There&mdash;Rebirth and Its Laws&mdash;What
+is the Final State of the Soul?&mdash;The Message of the
+Illumined.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">The Justice of
+Reincarnation</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">The Contrasting Theories of the Soul and Its
+Future Life&mdash;Doctrine of Reincarnation the Only Philosophical
+Theory that Reconciles Facts with Theory&mdash;The Law of Karma
+Automatic and Enforces Itself&mdash;Every One Their Own Judge and
+the Executor of Their Own Destiny&mdash;The Opinions of the World's
+Great Thinkers.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">The Argument for
+Reincarnation</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">Natural Laws Universal&mdash;If the Soul is
+Immortal, it Must Have Always Been So&mdash;A Mortal Thing Cannot
+be Made Immortal Any More Than Nothing Can be Made
+Something&mdash;Future Life Implies Past Life&mdash;Varient
+Experiences <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg
+5]</a></span>Necessary for the Soul's Education&mdash;Advancement
+Necessary to Enjoyment of the Soul's Higher States of
+Being&mdash;The True Teaching.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">The Proofs of
+Reincarnation</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">Actual Proofs of Personal Conscious Experience
+Demanded by Science&mdash;Such Proofs Possible and Have Occurred to
+Many of the Race&mdash;The Remembrance of the Details of Past
+Existence Common to the Race&mdash;Interesting Cases Given on Good
+Authority&mdash;Messages from the Past.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">arguments Against
+Reincarnation</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">Why Reincarnation is Opposed by Some&mdash;The
+Answers to the Objections&mdash;The Proof of the Existence of the
+Soul&mdash;Is Reincarnation Un-Christian and Derived from Pagan and
+Heathen Sources?</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">the Law of
+Karma</span></p>
+</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">What Karma Means&mdash;Does Karma Punish or is
+it but the Workings of a Natural Law?&mdash;The Various Kinds of
+Karma&mdash;The Advanced Mystical Doctrine&mdash;The End is
+Absolute Good&mdash;There is No Devil but Fear and Unfaith.</td>
+<td class="right">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg
+6]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg
+7]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">The Early
+Races.</span></div>
+
+<p>By "Reincarnation" we mean the repeated incarnation, or
+embodiment in flesh, of the soul or immaterial part of man's
+nature. The term "Metempsychosis" is frequently employed in the
+same sense, the definition of the latter term being: "The passage
+of the soul, as an immortal essence, at the death of the body, into
+another living body." The term "Transmigration of Souls" is
+sometimes employed, the term being used in the sense of "passing
+from one body into another." But the term "Transmigration" is often
+used in connection with the belief of certain undeveloped races who
+held that the soul of men sometimes passed into the bodies of the
+lower animals, as a punishment for their sins committed during the
+human life. But this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id=
+"Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> belief is held in disrepute by the
+adherents of Reincarnation or Metempsychosis, and has no connection
+with their philosophy or beliefs, the ideas having sprung from an
+entirely different source, and having nothing in common.</p>
+
+<p>There are many forms of belief&mdash;many degrees of
+doctrine&mdash;regarding Reincarnation, as we shall see as we
+proceed, but there is a fundamental and basic principle underlying
+all of the various shades of opinion, and divisions of the schools.
+This fundamental belief may be expressed as the doctrine that there
+is in man an immaterial Something (called the soul, spirit, inner
+self, or many other names) which does not perish at the death or
+disintegration of the body, but which persists as an entity, and
+after a shorter or longer interval of rest reincarnates, or is
+re-born, into a new body&mdash;that of an unborn infant&mdash;from
+whence it proceeds to live a new life in the body, more or less
+unconscious of its past existences, but containing within itself
+the "essence" or results of its past lives, which experiences go to
+make up its new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id=
+"Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> "character," or "personality." It is
+usually held that the rebirth is governed by the law of attraction,
+under one name or another, and which law operates in accordance
+with strict justice, in the direction of attracting the
+reincarnating soul to a body, and conditions, in accordance with
+the tendencies of the past life, the parents also attracting to
+them a soul bound to them by some ties in the past, the law being
+universal, uniform, and equitable to all concerned in the matter.
+This is a general statement of the doctrine as it is generally held
+by the most intelligent of its adherents.</p>
+
+<p>E. D. Walker, a well-known English writer on the subject, gives
+the following beautiful idea of the general teachings:
+"Reincarnation teaches that the soul enters this life, not as a
+fresh creation, but after a long course of previous existences on
+this earth and elsewhere, in which it acquired its present inhering
+peculiarities, and that it is on the way to future transformations
+which the soul is now shaping. It claims that infancy brings to
+earth, not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg
+10]</a></span> a blank scroll for the beginning of an earthly
+record, nor a mere cohesion of atomic forces into a brief
+personality, soon to dissolve again into the elements, but that it
+is inscribed with ancestral histories, some like the present scene,
+most of them unlike it and stretching back into the remotest past.
+These inscriptions are generally undecipherable, save as revealed
+in their moulding influence upon the new career; but like the
+invisible photographic images made by the sun of all it sees, when
+they are properly developed in the laboratory of consciousness they
+will be distinctly displayed. The current phase of life will also
+be stored away in the secret vaults of memory, for its unconscious
+effects upon the ensuing lives. All the qualities we now possess,
+in body, mind and soul, result from our use of ancient
+opportunities. We are indeed 'the heir of all the ages,' and are
+alone responsible for our inheritances. For these conditions accrue
+from distant causes engendered by our older selves, and the future
+flows by the divine law of cause and effect from the<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
+gathered momentum of our past impetuses. There is no favoritism in
+the universe, but all have the same everlasting facilities for
+growth. Those who are now elevated in worldly station may be sunk
+in humble surroundings in the future. Only the inner traits of the
+soul are permanent companions. The wealthy sluggard may be the
+beggar of the next life; and the industrious worker of the present
+is sowing the seeds of future greatness. Suffering bravely endured
+now will produce a treasure of patience and fortitude in another
+life; hardships will give rise to strength; self-denial must
+develop the will; tastes cultivated in this existence will somehow
+bear fruit in coming ones; and acquired energies will assert
+themselves whenever they can by the Law of Parsimony upon which the
+principles of physics are based. Vice versa, the unconscious
+habits, the uncontrollable impulses, the peculiar tendencies, the
+favorite pursuits, and the soul-stirring friendships of the present
+descend from far-reaching previous activities."</p>
+
+<p>The doctrine of Reincarnation&mdash;<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg
+12]</a></span>Metempsychosis&mdash;Rebirth&mdash;has always been
+held as truth by a large portion of the human race. Following the
+invariable law of cyclic changes&mdash;the swing of the pendulum of
+thought&mdash;at times it has apparently died out in parts of the
+world, only to be again succeeded by a new birth and interest among
+the descendants of the same people. It is a light impossible to
+extinguish, and although its flickering flame may seem to die out
+for a moment, the shifting of the mental winds again allows it to
+rekindle from the hidden spark, and lo! again it bursts into new
+life and vigor. The reawakened interest in the subject in the
+Western world, of which all keen observers have taken note, is but
+another instance of the operation of the Cyclic Law. It begins to
+look as if the occultists are right when they predict that before
+the dawn of another century the Western world will once more have
+embraced the doctrines of Rebirth&mdash;the old, discarded truth,
+once so dear to the race, will again be settled in popular favor,
+and again move toward the position of "orthodox" teaching,
+perhaps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg
+13]</a></span> to be again crystallized by reason of its
+"orthodoxy" and again to lose favor and fade away, as the pendulum
+swings backward to the other extreme of thought.</p>
+
+<p>But the teaching of Reincarnation never has passed away
+altogether from the race&mdash;in some parts of the world the lamp
+has been kept burning brightly&mdash;nay, more, at no time in human
+history has there been a period in which the majority of the race
+has not accepted the doctrine of Rebirth, in some of its various
+forms. It was so one thousand years ago&mdash;two
+thousand&mdash;five thousand&mdash;and it is so to-day. In this
+Twentieth Century nearly if not quite two-thirds of the race hold
+firmly to the teaching, and the multitudes of Hindus and other
+Eastern peoples cling to it tenaciously. And, even outside of these
+people, there are to be found traces of the doctrine among other
+races in the East, and West. So Reincarnation is not a "forgotten
+truth," or "discarded doctrine," but one fully alive and vigorous,
+and one which is destined to play a very important part<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> in the
+history of Western thought during the Twentieth Century.</p>
+
+<p>It is interesting to trace the history of the doctrine among the
+ancient peoples&mdash;away back into the dim recesses of the past.
+It is difficult to ascribe to any particular time, or any
+particular race, the credit of having "originated" Reincarnation.
+In spite of the decided opinions, and the differing theories of the
+various writers on this subject, who would give Egypt, or India, or
+the lost Atlantis, as the birthplace of the doctrine, we feel that
+such ideas are but attempts to attribute a universal intuitive
+belief to some favored part of the race. We do not believe that the
+doctrine of Reincarnation ever "originated" anywhere, as a new and
+distinct doctrine. We believe that it sprang into existence
+whenever and wherever man arrived at a stage of intellectual
+development sufficient to enable him to form a mental conception of
+a Something that lived after Death. No matter from what source this
+belief in a "ghost" originated, it must be admitted that it is
+found among all peo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id=
+"Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>ples, and is apparently an universal
+idea. And, running along with it in the primitive peoples, we find
+that there is, and always has been, an idea, more or less vague and
+indistinct, that somehow, someway, sometime, this "ghost" of the
+person returns to earthly existence and takes upon itself a new
+fleshly garment&mdash;a new body. Here, then, is where the idea of
+Reincarnation begins&mdash;everywhere, at a certain stage of human
+mental development. It runs parallel with the "ghost" idea, and
+seems bound up with that conception in nearly every case. When man
+evolves a little further, he begins to reason that if the "ghost"
+is immortal, and survives the death of the body, and returns to
+take upon itself a new body, then it must have lived before the
+last birth, and therefore must have a long chain of lives behind
+it. This is the second step. The third step is when man begins to
+reason that the next life is dependent upon something done or left
+undone in the present life. And upon these three fundamental ideas
+the doctrine of Reincarnation has been built. The occultists claim
+that in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg
+16]</a></span> addition to this universal idea, which is more or
+less intuitive, the race has received more or less instruction,
+from time to time, from certain advanced souls which have passed on
+to higher planes of existence, and who are now called the Masters,
+Adepts, Teachers, Race Guides, etc., etc. But whatever may be the
+explanation, it remains a truth that man seems to have worked out
+for himself, in all times and in all places, first, an idea of a
+"ghost" which persists after the body dies; and second, that this
+"ghost" has lived before in other bodies, and will return again to
+take on a new body. There are various ideas regarding "heavens" and
+"hells," but underlying them all there persists this idea of
+re-birth in some of its phases.</p>
+
+<p>Soldi, the archaeologist, has published an interesting series of
+works, dealing with the beliefs of primitive peoples, who have
+passed from the scene of human action. He shows by the fragments of
+carving and sculpture which have survived them that there was an
+universal idea among them of the "ghost" which lived after the
+body<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg
+17]</a></span> died; and a corresponding idea that some day this
+"ghost" would return to the scene of its former activities. This
+belief sometimes took the form of a return into the former body,
+which idea led to the preservation of the body by processes of
+mummifying, etc., but as a rule this belief developed into the more
+advanced one of a re-birth in a new body.</p>
+
+<p>The earlier travelers in Africa have reported that here and
+there they found evidences and traces of what was to them "a
+strange belief" in the future return of the soul to a new body on
+earth. The early explorers of America found similar traditions and
+beliefs among the Red Indians, survivals of which exist even unto
+this day. It is related of a number of savage tribes, in different
+parts of the world, that they place the bodies of their dead
+children by the roadside, in order that their souls may be given a
+good chance to find new bodies by reason of the approaching of many
+traveling pregnant women who pass along the road. A number of these
+primitive people hold to the idea of a complex soul, com<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg
+18]</a></span>posed of several parts, in which they resemble the
+Egyptians, Hindus, Chinese, and in fact all mystical and occult
+philosophies. The Figi Islanders are said to believe in a black
+soul and a white soul, the former of which remains with the buried
+body and disintegrates with it, while the white soul leaves the
+body and wanders as a "ghost," and afterward, tiring of the
+wandering, returns to life in a new body. The natives of Greenland
+are said to believe in an astral body, which leaves the body during
+sleep, but which perishes as the body disintegrates after death;
+and a second soul which leaves the body only at death, and which
+persists until it is reborn at a later time. In fact, the student
+finds that nearly all of the primitives races, and those
+semi-civilized, show traces of a belief in a complex soul, and a
+trace of doctrine of Reincarnation in some form. The human mind
+seems to work along the same lines, among the different
+races&mdash;unless one holds to the theory that all sprang from the
+same root-race, and that the various beliefs are survivals of some
+ancient fundamental doc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id=
+"Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>trine&mdash;the facts are not disturbed
+in either case.</p>
+
+<p>In the last mentioned connection, we might mention that the
+traditions concerning Ancient Atlantis&mdash;the lost
+continent&mdash;all hold to the effect that her people believed
+strongly in Reincarnation, and to the ideas of the complex soul. As
+the survivors of Atlantis are believed to have been the ancestors
+of the Egyptians on the one hand, and of the Ancient Peruvians on
+the other&mdash;the two branches of survivors having maintained
+their original doctrines as modified by different
+environments&mdash;we might find here an explanation of the
+prevalence of the doctrine on both sides of the ocean. We mention
+this merely in passing, and as of general interest in the line of
+our subject.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg
+20]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">The Egyptians, Chaldeans,
+Druids, Etc.</span></div>
+
+<p>After considering the existence of the doctrines of
+Reincarnation among the primitive peoples, and its traditional
+existence among the vanished peoples of the past, we find ourselves
+irresistibly borne toward that ancient land of mystery&mdash;the
+home of the mystics and occultists of the past&mdash;the land of
+Isis&mdash;the home of the builders of the Pyramids&mdash;the
+people of the Sphinx. Whether these people were the direct
+descendants of the people of destroyed Atlantis, the home of the
+Ancient Wisdom&mdash;or whether they were a new people who had
+rediscovered the old doctrines&mdash;the fact remains that when
+tracing back any old occult or mystic doctrine we find ourselves
+gradually led toward the land of the Sphinx as the source of that
+hidden truth. The Sphinx is a fit emblem of that wonderful
+race&mdash;its sealed lips seem to invite<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> the ultimate
+questions, and one feels that there may be a whispered answer
+wafted from those tightly closed lips toward the ear that is
+prepared to hear and receive it. And so, in our search for the
+origin of Reincarnation, we find ourselves once more confronting
+the Egyptian Sphinx as we have done so often before in our search
+after Truth.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding its obvious prehistoric origin, many have
+claimed that Metempsychosis has its birthplace in old Egypt, on the
+banks of the Nile. India disputes this claim, holding that the
+Ganges, not the Nile, gave birth to the doctrine. Be that as it
+may, we shall treat the Egyptian conception at this place, among
+the ancient lands holding the doctrine, for in India it is not a
+thing of the past, but a doctrine which has its full flower at the
+present time, and which flower is sending forth its subtle odor to
+all parts of the civilized world. And so we shall defer our
+consideration of India's teachings until we reach the present stage
+of the history of Reincarnation. Herodotus, many centuries ago,
+said of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg
+22]</a></span> Egyptians that: "The Egyptians are the first who
+propounded the theory that the human soul is imperishable, and that
+where the body of any one dies it enters into some other body that
+may be ready to receive it; and that when it has gone the round of
+all created forms on land, in water, and in air, then it once more
+enters the human body born for it; and that this cycle of existence
+for the soul takes place in three thousand years."</p>
+
+<p>The doctrine of Reincarnation is discernible though hidden away
+amidst the mass of esoteric doctrine back of the exoteric teachings
+of the Egyptians, which latter were expounded to the common people,
+while the truth was reserved for the few who were ready for it. The
+inner circles of the Egyptian mystics believed in and understood
+the inner truths of Reincarnation, and although they guarded the
+esoteric teachings carefully, still fragments fell from the table
+and were greedily taken up by the masses, as we may see by an
+examination of the scraps of historical records which have been
+preserved, graven in the stone, and imprinted<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> on the
+bricks. Not only did these people accept the doctrine of
+Reincarnation, but Egypt was really the home of the highest occult
+teachings. The doctrines and teachings regarding several "sheaths"
+or "bodies" of man, which are taught by occultists of all times and
+races, are believed to have been fully taught in their original
+purity on the banks of the Nile, and in the shadow of the
+Pyramids&mdash;yes, even before the days of the Pyramids. Their
+forty centuries of history saw many modifications of the
+philosophical and religious beliefs, but the fundamental doctrine
+of Reincarnation was held to during the entire period of history in
+Ancient Egypt, and was not discarded until the decadent descendants
+of the once mighty race were overwhelmed by stronger races, whose
+religions and beliefs superseded the vestiges of the Ancient
+Doctrine. The Egyptians held that there was "Ka," the divine spirit
+in man; "Ab," the intellect or will; "Hati," the vitality; "Tet,"
+the astral body; "Sahu," the etheric double; and "Xa," the physical
+body (some authori<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id=
+"Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>ties forming a slightly different
+arrangement), which correspond to the various "bodies of man" as
+recognized by occultists to-day.</p>
+
+<p>The Ancient Chaldeans also taught the doctrine of Rebirth. The
+body of Persian and Chaldean mystics and occultists, known as "the
+Magi," who were masters of the Hidden Wisdom, held to the doctrine
+of Reincarnation as one of their fundamental truths. In fact, they
+managed to educate the masses of their people to a much higher
+point than the masses of the Egyptians, and, escaping the
+idolatrous tendencies of the Egyptian populace, they manifested a
+very high degree of pure philosophical, occult, and religious
+knowledge. The Magi taught that the soul was a complex being, and
+that certain portions of it perished, while certain other parts
+survived and passed on through a series of earth and "other-world"
+existences, until finally it attained such a degree of purity that
+it was relieved of the necessity for further incarnation, and
+thenceforth dwelt in the region of ineffable bliss&mdash;the region
+of light eter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id=
+"Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>nal. The teaching also held that just
+before entering into the state of bliss, the soul was able to
+review its previous incarnations, seeing distinctly the connection
+between them, and thus gaining a store of the wisdom of experience,
+which would aid it in its future work as a helper of future races
+which would appear on the face of the earth. The Magi taught that
+as all living things&mdash;nay, all things having existence,
+organic or inorganic&mdash;were but varying manifestations of the
+One Life and Being, therefore the highest knowledge implied a
+feeling of conscious brotherhood and relationship toward and with
+all.</p>
+
+<p>Even among the Chinese there was an esoteric teaching concerning
+Reincarnation, beneath the outer teaching of ages past. It may be
+discerned in the teachings of the early philosophers and seers of
+the race, notably in the work of Lao-Tze, the great Chinese sage
+and teacher. Lao-Tze, whose great work, the "Tao-Teh-King," is a
+classic, taught Reincarnation to his inner circle of students and
+adherents, at least so many authorities claim. He taught<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
+that there existed a fundamental principle called "Tao," which is
+held to have been identical with the "primordial reason," a
+manifestation of which was the "Teh," or the creative activity of
+the universe. From the union and action of the "Tao" and the "Teh"
+proceeded the universe, including the human soul, which he taught
+was composed of several parts, among them being the "huen," or
+spiritual principle; and the "phi," or semi-material vital
+principle, which together animate the body. Lao-Tze said: "To be
+ignorant that the true self is immortal, is to remain in a grievous
+state of error, and to experience many calamities by reason
+thereof. Know ye, that there is a part of man which is subtle and
+spiritual, and which is the heaven-bound portion of himself; that
+which has to do with flesh, bones, and body, belongs to the earth;
+earthly to earth&mdash;heavenly to heaven. Such is the Law." Some
+have held that Lao-Tze taught the immediate return of the "huen" to
+the "tao" after death, but from the writings of his early followers
+it may be seen that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id=
+"Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> he really taught that the "huen"
+persisted in individual existence, throughout repeated
+incarnations, returning to the "tao" only when it had completed its
+round of experience-life. For instance, in the Si Haei, it is said
+that: "The vital essence is dispersed after death together with the
+body, bones and flesh; but the soul, or knowing principle of the
+self, is preserved and does not perish. There is no immediate
+absorption of the individuality into the Tao, for individuality
+persists, and manifests itself according to the Law." And
+Chuang-Tze said: "Death is but the commencement of a new life." It
+was also taught by the early Taoists, that the deeds, good and
+evil, of the present life would bear fruit in future existences; in
+addition to the orthodox heavens and hells, in which the Chinese
+believed, and of which they had a great variety adapted to the
+requirements of the various grades of saints and sinners, the
+minute details of which places being described with that attention
+to minor details and particulars peculiar to the Chinese mind. The
+teachings of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id=
+"Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> later date, that the soul of the
+ancestor abided in the hall of the ancestors, etc., were a
+corruption of the ancient teaching. Other Chinese teachers taught
+that the soul consists of three parts, the first being the "kuei,"
+which had its seat in the belly, and which perished with the body;
+the second being the "ling," which had its seat in the heart or
+chest, and which persisted for some time after death, but which
+eventually disintegrated; and the third, or "huen," which had its
+seat in the brain, and which survived the disintegration of its
+companions, and then passed on to other existences.</p>
+
+<p>As strange as it may appear to many readers unfamiliar with the
+subject, the ancient Druids, particularly those dwelling in ancient
+Gaul, were familiar with the doctrine of Reincarnation, and
+believed in its tenets. These people, generally regarded as ancient
+barbarians, really possessed a philosophy of a high order, which
+merged into a mystic form of religion. Many of the Romans, upon
+their conquest of Gallia, were surprised at the degree and<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
+character of the philosophical knowledge possessed by the Druids,
+and many of them have left written records of the same, notably in
+the case of Aristotle, C&aelig;sar, Lucan, and Valerius Maximus.
+The Christian teachers who succeeded them also bore witness to
+these facts, as may be seen by reference to the works of St.
+Clement, St. Cyril, and other of the early Christian Fathers. These
+ancient "barbarians" entertained some of the highest spiritual
+conceptions of life and immortality&mdash;the mind and the soul.
+Reynaud has written of them, basing his statements upon a careful
+study of the ancient beliefs of this race: "If Judea represents in
+the world, with a tenacity of its own the idea of a personal and
+absolute God; if Greece and Rome represent the idea of society,
+Gaul represents, just as particularly, the idea of immortality.
+Nothing characterized it better, as all the ancients admit. That
+mysterious folk was looked upon as the privileged possessor of the
+secrets of death, and its unwavering instinctive faith in the
+persistence of life never ceased to be a<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> cause of
+astonishment, and sometimes of fear, in the eyes of the heathen."
+The Gauls possessed an occult philosophy, and a mystic religion,
+which were destroyed by the influences of the Roman Conquest.</p>
+
+<p>The philosophy of the Druids bore a remarkable resemblance to
+the Inner Doctrine of the Egyptians, and their successors, the
+Grecian Mystics. Traces of Hermeticism and Pythagoreanism are
+clearly discernible, although the connecting link that bound them
+together has been lost to history. Legends among the Druids
+connected their order with the ancient Aryan creeds and teachings,
+and there seems to have been a very close connection between these
+priests and those of Ancient Greece, for there are tales of
+offerings being sent to the temples of Greece from the priests of
+Gaul. And it is also related that on the island of Delphos there
+was once a Druidic tomb in the shape of a monument, believed to
+have been erected over the remains of Druid priestesses. Herodotus
+and others speak of a secret alliance between the priests of Greece
+and those of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id=
+"Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> Druids. Some of the ancient legends
+hold that Pythagoras was the instructor of the Druidic priests, and
+that Pythagoras himself was in close communication with the
+Brahmins of India, and the Hermetists of Egypt. Other legends have
+it that the Druids received their first instruction from Zamolais,
+who had been a slave and student of Pythagoras. At any rate, the
+correspondence between the two schools of philosophy is
+remarkable.</p>
+
+<p>Much of the Druidic teachings has been lost, and it is difficult
+to piece together the fragments. But enough is known to indicate
+the above mentioned relationship to the Pythagorean school, and of
+the firm hold of the doctrine of Reincarnation upon the Druids. The
+preserved fragments show that the Druids taught that there was in
+man an immaterial, spiritual part, called "Awen," which proceeded
+from an Universal Spiritual Principle of Life. They taught that
+this "Awen" had animated the lower forms of life, mineral,
+vegetable and animal, before incarnating as man. In those
+conditions it was entangled and im<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>prisoned in the state of
+"abysmal circling," called "Anufu," from which it finally escaped
+and entered into the "circle of freedom," called "Abred," or human
+incarnation and beyond. This state of "Abred" includes life in the
+various human races on this and other planets, until finally there
+is a further liberation of the "Awen," which then passes on to the
+"Circle of Bliss," or "Gwynfid," where it abides for &aelig;ons in
+a state of ecstatic being. But, beyond even this transcendent
+state, there is another, which is called the "Circle of the
+Infinite," or "Ceugant," which is identical with the "Union with
+God" of the Persians and Greek Mystics, or the "Nirvana" of the
+Hindus. Rather an advanced form of philosophy for "barbarians," is
+it not? Particularly when contrasted with the crude mythology of
+the Roman conquerors!</p>
+
+<p>The Gauls were so advanced in the practical phases of occultism
+that they gave every condemned criminal a respite of five years,
+after sentence of death, before execution, in order that he might
+prepare him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg
+33]</a></span>self for a future state by meditation, instruction
+and other preparation; and also to prevent ushering an unprepared
+and guilty soul into the plane of the departed&mdash;the advantages
+of which plan is apparent to every student of occultism who accepts
+the teaching regarding the astral planes.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will understand, of course, that the degree of
+advancement in spiritual and philosophical matters evidenced by the
+Gauls was due not to the fact that these people were generally so
+far advanced beyond their neighbors, but rather to the fact that
+they had been instructed by the Druid priests among them. Tradition
+has it that the original Druidic priests came to Gaul and other
+countries from some far-off land, probably from Egypt or Greece. We
+have spoken of the connection between their teachings and that of
+the Pythagoreans, and there was undoubtedly a strong bond of
+relationship between these priests and the occultists of other
+lands. The Druidic priests were well versed in astronomy and
+astrology, and the planets had an important part in the teachings.
+A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg
+34]</a></span> portion of their ritual is said to have
+correspondences with the early Jewish rites and worship. Their
+favorite symbol&mdash;the mistletoe&mdash;was used as indicating
+re-birth, the mistletoe being the new life springing forth from the
+old one, typified by the oak. The Druids traveled into Ancient
+Britain and Ireland, and many traces of their religious rites may
+still be found there, not only in the shape of the stone
+places-of-worship, but also in many curious local customs among the
+peasantry. Many a bit of English folk-lore&mdash;many an odd Irish
+fancy concerning fairies and the like; symbols of good-luck;
+banshees and "the little-folk"&mdash;came honestly to these people
+from the days of the Druids. And from the same source came the many
+whispered tales among both races regarding the birth of children
+who seemed to have remembrances of former lives on earth, which
+memory faded away as they grew older. Among these people there is
+always an undercurrent of mystic ideas about souls "coming back" in
+some mysterious way not fully understood. It is the inheritance
+from the Druids.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg
+35]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">The Romans and
+Greeks.</span></div>
+
+<p>One unfamiliar with the subject would naturally expect to find
+the Ancient Romans well advanced along the lines of philosophy,
+religion, and spiritual speculation, judging from the all-powerful
+influence exerted by them over the affairs of the whole known
+world. Particularly when one considers the relationship with and
+connection of Rome with ancient Greece, it would seem that the two
+peoples must have had much in common in the world of thought. But
+such is not the case. Although the exoteric religions of the Romans
+resembled that of the Greeks, from whom it was borrowed or
+inherited, there was little or no original thought along
+metaphysics, religion or philosophy among the Romans. This was
+probably due to the fact that the whole tendency of Rome was toward
+material ad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg
+36]</a></span>vancement and attainment, little or no attention
+being given to matters concerning the soul, future life, etc. Some
+few of the philosophers of Rome advanced theories regarding the
+future state, but beyond a vague sort of ancestor worship the
+masses of the people took but little interest in the subject.
+Cicero, it is true, uttered words which indicate a belief in
+immortality, when he said in "Scipio's Dream": "Know that it is not
+thou, but thy body alone, which is mortal. The individual in his
+entirety resides in the soul, and not in the outward form. Learn,
+then, that thou art a god; thou, the immortal intelligence which
+gives movements to a perishable body, just as the eternal God
+animates an incorruptible body." Pliny the younger left writings
+which seem to indicate his belief in the reality of phantoms, and
+Ovid has written verses which would indicate his recognition of a
+part of man which survived the death of the body. But, on the
+whole, Roman philosophy treated immortality as a thing perchance
+existing, but not proven, and to be viewed rather as a poetical
+ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg
+37]</a></span>pression of a longing, rather than as an established,
+or at least a well grounded, principle of philosophical thought.
+But Lucretius and others of his time and country protested against
+the folly of belief in the survival of the soul held by the other
+nations. He said that: "The fear of eternal life should be banished
+from the universe; it disturbs the peace of mankind, for it
+prevents the enjoyment of any security or pleasure." And Virgil
+praised and commended the philosophical attitude which was able to
+see the real cause of things, and was therefore able to reject the
+unworthy fear of a world beyond and all fears arising from such
+belief. But even many of the Roman philosophers, while denying
+immortality, believed in supernatural powers and beings, and were
+very superstitious and childlike in many respects, so that their
+philosophy of non-survival was evidently rather the result of
+temperament and pursuit of material things than a height of
+philosophical reasoning or metaphysical thought.</p>
+
+<p>And so, the Romans stand apart from<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> the majority of the
+ancient peoples, in so far as the belief in Reincarnation is
+concerned. While there were individual mystics and occultists among
+them, it still remains a fact that the majority of the people held
+no such belief, and in fact the masses had no clearly defined ideas
+regarding the survival of the soul. It is a strange exception to
+the general rule, and one that has occasioned much comment and
+attention among thinkers along these lines. There was a vague form
+of ancestor worship among the Romans, but even this was along the
+lines of collective survival of the ancestors, and was free from
+the ordinary metaphysical speculations and religious dogmas.
+Roughly stated, the Roman belief may be expressed by an idea of a
+less material, or more subtle, part of man which escaped
+disintegration after death, and which in some mysterious way passed
+on to combine with the ancestral soul which composed the collective
+ancestral deity of the family, the peace and pleasure of which were
+held as sacred duties on the part of the descendants, sacri<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg
+39]</a></span>fices and offerings being made toward this end.
+Nevertheless, here and there, among the Romans, were eminent
+thinkers who seemingly held a vague, tentative belief in some form
+of Reincarnation, as, for instance, Ovid, who says: "Nothing
+perishes, although everything changes here on earth; the souls come
+and go unendingly in visible forms; the animals which have acquired
+goodness will take upon them human form"; and Virgil says: "After
+death, the souls come to the Elysian fields, or to Tartarus, and
+there meet with the reward or punishment of their deeds during
+life. Later, on drinking of the waters of Lethe, which takes away
+all memory of the past, they return to earth." But it must be
+admitted that Rome was deficient in spiritual insight and beliefs,
+on the whole, her material successes having diverted her attention
+from the problems which had so engrossed the mind of her neighbor
+Greece, and her older sisters Persia, Chaldea, and Egypt.</p>
+
+<p>Among the Greeks, on the contrary, we find a marked degree of
+interest and spec<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id=
+"Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>ulation regarding the immortality of
+the soul, and much interest in the doctrines of Metempsychosis or
+Reincarnation. Although the great masses of the Grecian people were
+satisfied with their popular mythology and not disposed to question
+further, or to indulge in keen speculation on metaphysical
+subjects, still the intellectual portion of the race were most
+active in their search after truth, and their schools of
+philosophy, with their many followers and adherents, have left an
+indelible mark upon the thought of man unto this day. Next to the
+Hindus, the Greeks were the great philosophers of the human race.
+And the occultists and mystics among them were equal to those of
+Persia, India, Chaldea or Egypt. While the various theories
+regarding the soul were as the sands of the sea, so many were the
+teachers, schools and divisions of thought among these
+people&mdash;still the doctrine of Reincarnation played a very
+important part in their philosophy. The prevailing idea was that
+the worthy souls pass on to a state of bliss, without rebirth,
+while the less worthy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id=
+"Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> pass the waters of the river of Lethe,
+quaffing of its waters of forgetfulness, and thus having the
+recollection of their earth-life, and of the period of punishment
+that they had undergone by reason of the same, obliterated and
+cleansed from their memories, when they pass on to re-birth. One of
+the old Orphic hymns reads as follows: "The wise love light and not
+darkness. When you travel the journey of Life, remember, always,
+the end of the journey. When souls return to the light, after their
+sojourn on earth, they wear upon their more subtle bodies, like
+searing, hideous scars, the marks of their earthly sins&mdash;these
+must be obliterated, and they go back to earth to be cleansed. But
+the pure, virtuous and strong proceed direct to the Sun of
+Dionysus." The teachings of the Egyptians left a deep impression
+upon the Grecian mind, and not only the common form of belief, but
+also the esoteric doctrines, were passed along to the newer people
+by the elder.</p>
+
+<p>Pythagoras was the great occult teacher of Greece, and his
+school and that of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id=
+"Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> followers accepted and taught the
+great doctrine of Reincarnation. Much of his teaching was reserved
+for the initiates of the mystic orders founded by himself and his
+followers, but still much of the doctrine was made public. Both
+Orpheus and Pythagoras, although several centuries separated them,
+were students at the fount of knowledge in Egypt, having traveled
+to that country in order to be initiated in the mystic orders of
+the ancient land, and returning they taught anew the old doctrine
+of Rebirth. The Pythagorean teaching resembles that of the Hindus
+and Egyptians, in so far as is concerned the nature of
+man&mdash;his several bodies or sheaths&mdash;and the survival of
+the higher part of his nature, while the lower part perishes. It
+was taught that after death this higher part of the soul passed on
+to a region of bliss, where it received knowledge and felt the
+beneficent influence of developed and advanced souls, thus becoming
+equipped for a new life, with incentives toward higher things. But,
+not having as yet reached the stage of development which<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+will entitle it to dwell in the blissful regions for all eternity,
+it sooner or later reaches the limit of its term of probation, and
+then passes down toward another incarnation on earth&mdash;another
+step on the Path of Attainment.</p>
+
+<p>The teaching was, further, that the conditions, circumstances
+and environments of the new earth-life were determined by the
+actions, thoughts, and mental tendencies of the former life, and by
+the degree of development which the several previous earth-lives
+had manifested. In this respect the teaching agrees materially with
+the universal doctrine regarding Reincarnation and Karma.
+Pythagoras taught that the doctrine of Reincarnation accounted for
+the inequality observable in the lives of men on earth, giving a
+logical reason for the same, and establishing the fact of universal
+and ultimate justice, accountable for on no other grounds. He
+taught that although the material world was subject to the laws of
+destiny and fatality, yet there was another and higher state of
+being in which the soul would<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> rise above the laws of
+the lower world. This higher state, he taught, had laws of its own,
+as yet unknown to man, which tended to work out the imperfect laws
+of the material world, establishing harmony, justice, and equality,
+to supply the apparent deficiencies manifested in the earth
+life.</p>
+
+<p>Following Pythagoras, Plato, the great Grecian philosopher,
+taught the old-new doctrine of Rebirth. He taught that the souls of
+the dead must return to earth, where, in new lives, they must wear
+out the old earth deeds, receiving benefits for the worthy ones,
+and penalties for the unworthy ones, the soul profiting by these
+repeated experiences, and rising step by step toward the divine.
+Plato taught that the reincarnated soul has flashes of remembrance
+of its former lives, and also instincts and intuitions gained by
+former experiences. He classed innate ideas among these inherited
+experiences of former lives. It has been well said that "everything
+can be found in Plato," and therefore one who seeks for the ancient
+Grecian ideas concerning Reincarnation, and the problems of<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
+the soul, may find that which he seeks in the writings of the old
+sage and philosopher. Plato was the past master of the inner
+teachings concerning the soul, and all who have followed him have
+drawn freely from his great store of wisdom. His influence on the
+early Christian church was enormous, and in many forms it continues
+even unto this day. Many of the early Christian fathers taught that
+Plato was really one of the many forerunners of Christ, who had
+prepared the pagan world for the coming of the Master.</p>
+
+<p>In "Phaedo," Plato describes the soul, and explains its
+immortality. He teaches that man has a material body which is
+subject to constant change, and subject to death and
+disintegration; and also an immaterial soul, unchangeable and
+indestructible, and akin to the divine. At death this soul was
+severed from its physical companion, and rose, purified, to the
+higher regions, where it rendered an account of itself, and had its
+future allotted to it. If it was found sufficiently untainted and
+unsullied by the mire of material life,<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> it was considered
+fit to be admitted to the State of Bliss, which was described as
+Union with the Supreme Being, which latter is described as Spirit,
+eternal and omniscient. The base and very guilty souls undergo a
+period of punishment, or purgation, to the end that they may be
+purged and purified of the guilt, before being allowed to make
+another trial for perfection. The souls which were not sufficiently
+pure for the State of Bliss, nor yet so impure that they need the
+purging process, were returned to earth-life, there to take up new
+bodies, and endeavor to work out their salvation anew, to the end
+that they might in the future attain the Blissful State. Plato
+taught that in the Rebirth, the soul was generally unconscious of
+its previous lives, although it may have flashes of recollection.
+Besides this it has a form of intuition, and innate ideas, which
+was believed to be the result of the experiences gained in the past
+lives, and which knowledge had been stored up so as to benefit the
+soul in its reincarnated existence.</p>
+
+<p>Plato taught that the immaterial part of<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> man&mdash;the
+soul&mdash;was a complex thing, being composed of a number of
+differing, though related, elements. Highest in the hierarchy of
+the soul elements he placed the Spirit, which, he taught, comprised
+consciousness, intelligence, will, choice between good and evil,
+etc., and which was absolutely indestructible and immortal, and
+which had its seat in the head. Then came two other parts of the
+soul, which survived the dissolution of the body, but which were
+only comparatively immortal, that is, they were subject to later
+dissolution and disintegration. Of these semi-material elements,
+one was the seat of the affections, passions, etc., and was located
+in the heart; while the other, which was the seat of the sensual
+and lower desires, passions, etc., was located in the liver. These
+two mentioned lower elements were regarded as not possessed of
+reason, but still having certain powers of sensation, perception,
+and will.</p>
+
+<p>The Neo-Platonists, who followed Plato, and who adapted his
+teachings to their many conflicting ideas, held firmly to the
+doctrine of Reincarnation. The writings of<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> Plotinus, Porphyry,
+and the other Mystics, had much to say on this subject, and the
+teaching was much refined under their influence. The Jewish
+philosophers were affected by the influence of the Platonic
+thought, and the school of the Essenes, which held firmly to the
+idea of Rebirth, was a source from which Christianity received much
+of its early influence.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg
+49]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">The Jews, Essenes and Early
+Christians.</span></div>
+
+<p>The early Jewish people had an Inner Teaching which embraced
+certain ideas concerning Reincarnation, although the masses of the
+people knew nothing of the doctrine which was reserved for the
+inner circles of the few. There is much dispute concerning the
+early beliefs of the Jewish people regarding the immortality of the
+soul. The best authorities seem to agree that the early beliefs
+were very crude and indefinite, consisting principally of a general
+belief that after death the souls are gathered up together in a
+dark place, called Sheol, where they dwell in an unconscious sleep.
+It will be noted that the earlier books in the Old Testament have
+very little to say on this subject. Gradually, however, there may
+be noticed a dawning belief in certain states of the departed
+souls, and in this the Jews<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50"
+id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> were undoubtedly influenced by the
+conceptions of the people of other lands with whom they came in
+contact. The sojourn in Egypt must have exerted an important
+influence on them, particularly the educated thinkers of the race,
+of which, however, there were but few, owing to the condition in
+which they were kept as bondsmen of the Egyptians. Moses, however,
+owing to his education and training among the Egyptian priests,
+must have been fully initiated in the Mysteries of that land, and
+the Jewish legends would indicate that he formed an Inner Circle of
+the priesthood of his people, after they escaped from Egypt, and
+doubtless instructed them fully in the occult doctrines, which,
+however, were too advanced and complicated for preaching to the
+mass of ignorant people of which the Jewish race of that time was
+composed. The lamp of learning among the Jews of that time was kept
+alight but by very few priests among them. There has always been
+much talk, and legend, concerning this Inner Teaching among the
+Jews. The Jewish Rabbis have had so<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> much to say regarding it,
+and some of the Early Fathers of the Christian Church were of the
+opinion that such Secret Doctrine existed.</p>
+
+<p>Scholars have noted that in important passages in the Jewish
+Bible, three distinct terms are used in referring to the immaterial
+part, or "soul," of man. These terms are "Nichema," "Rouach," and
+"Nephesh," respectively, and have been translated as "soul,"
+"spirit" or "breath," in several senses of these terms. Many good
+authorities have held that these three terms did not apply to one
+conception, but that on the contrary they referred to three
+distinct elements of the soul, akin to the conceptions of the
+Egyptians and other early peoples, who held to the trinity of the
+soul, as we have shown a little further back. Some Hebrew scholars
+hold that "Nichema" is the Ego, or Intelligent Spirit; "Rouach,"
+the lower vehicle of the Ego; and "Nephesh," the Vital Force,
+Vitality, or Life.</p>
+
+<p>Students of the Kaballah, or Secret Writings of the Jews, find
+therein many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id=
+"Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> references to the complex nature of
+the soul, and its future states, as well as undoubted teachings
+regarding Reincarnation, or Future Existence in the Body. The
+Kaballah was the book of the Jewish Mysteries, and was largely
+symbolical, so that to those unacquainted with the symbols
+employed, it read as if lacking sense or meaning. But those having
+the key, were able to read therefrom many bits of hidden doctrine.
+The Kaballah is said to be veiled in seven coverings&mdash;that is,
+its symbology is sevenfold, so that none but those having the inner
+keys may know the full truth contained therein, although even the
+first key will unlock many doors. The Zohar, another Secret Book of
+the Jews, although of much later origin than the Kaballah, also
+contains much of the Inner Teachings concerning the destiny of the
+soul. This book plainly recognizes and states the three-fold nature
+of the soul, above mentioned, and treats the Nichema, Rouach and
+Nephesh as distinct elements thereof. It also teaches that when the
+soul leaves the body it goes through a long<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> and tedious
+purifying process, whereby the effect of its vices is worn off by
+means of a series of transmigrations and reincarnations, wherein it
+develops several perfections, etc. This idea of attaining
+perfection through repeated rebirths, instead of the rebirths being
+in the nature of punishment as taught by Plato, is also taught in
+the Kaballah, showing the agreement of the Jewish mind on this
+detail of the doctrine. The essence of the Kaballic teaching on
+this subject is that the souls undergo repeated rebirth, after long
+intervals of rest and purification, in entire forgetfulness of
+their previous existences, and for the purpose of advancement,
+unfoldment, purification, development, and attainment. The Zohar
+follows up this teaching strictly, although with amplifications.
+The following quotation from the Zohar is interesting, inasmuch as
+it shows the teaching on the subject in a few words. It reads as
+follows: "All souls are subject to the trials of transmigration;
+and men do not know which are the ways of the Most High in their
+regard. They do not know how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54"
+id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> many transformations and mysterious
+trials they must undergo; how many souls and spirits come to this
+world without returning to the palace of the divine king. The souls
+must re-enter the absolute substance whence they have emerged. But
+to accomplish this end they must develop all the perfections; the
+germ of which is planted in them; and if they have not fulfilled
+this condition during one life, they must commence another, a
+third, and so on, until they have acquired the condition which fits
+them for reunion with God."</p>
+
+<p>The mystic sect which sprung up among the Jewish people during
+the century preceding the birth of Christ, and which was in the
+height of its influence at the time of the Birth&mdash;the sect,
+cult, or order of The Essenes&mdash;was an important influence in
+the direction of spreading the truths of Reincarnation among the
+Jewish people. This order combined the earlier Egyptian Mysteries
+with the Mystic Doctrine of Pythagoras and the philosophy of Plato.
+It was closely connected with the Jewish Therapeut&aelig; of Egypt,
+and was the leading<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id=
+"Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> mystic order of the time. Josephus,
+the eminent Jewish historian, writing of the Essenes, says: "The
+opinion obtains among them that bodies indeed are corrupted, and
+the matter of them not permanent, but that souls continue exempt
+from death forever; and that emanating from the most subtle ether
+they are unfolded in bodies as prisons to which they are drawn by
+some natural spell. But when loosed from the bonds of flesh, as if
+released from a long captivity, they rejoice and are borne upward."
+In the New International Encyclopedia (vol. vii, page 217) will be
+found an instructive article on "Essenes," in which it is stated
+that among the Essenes there was a certain "view entertained
+regarding the origin, present state, and future destiny of the
+soul, which was held to be pre-existent, being entrapped in the
+body as a prison," etc. And in the same article the following
+statement occurs: "It is an interesting question as to how much
+Christianity owes to Essenism. It would seem that there was room
+for definite contact between John<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> the Baptist and this
+Brotherhood. His time of preparation was spent in the wilderness
+near the Dead Sea; his preaching of righteousness toward God, and
+justice toward one's fellow men, was in agreement with Essenism;
+while his insistence upon Baptism was in accordance with the
+Essenic emphasis on lustrations." In this very conservative
+statement is shown the intimate connection between the Essenes and
+Early Christianity, through John the Baptist. Some hold that Jesus
+had a still closer relationship to the Essenes and allied mystic
+orders, but we shall not insist upon this point, as it lies outside
+of the ordinary channels of historical information. There is no
+doubt, however, that the Essenes, who had such a strong influence
+on the early Christian Church, were closely allied to other mystic
+organizations with whom they agreed in fundamental doctrines,
+notably that of Reincarnation. And so we have brought the story
+down to the early Christian Church, at which point we will continue
+it. We have left the phase of the subject which pertains to<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+India for separate consideration, for in India the doctrine has had
+its principal home in all ages, and the subject in that phase
+requires special treatment.</p>
+
+<p>That there was an Inner Doctrine in the early Christian Church
+seems to be well established, and that a part of that doctrine
+consisted in a teaching of Pre-existence of the Soul and some form
+of Rebirth or Reincarnation seems quite reasonable to those who
+have made a study of the subject. There is a constant reference to
+the "Mysteries" and "Inner Teachings" throughout the Epistles,
+particularly those of Paul, and the writings of the Early Christian
+Fathers are filled with references to the Secret Doctrines. In the
+earlier centuries of the Christian Era frequent references are
+found to have been made to "The Mysteries of Jesus," and that there
+was an Inner Circle of advanced Christians devoted to mysticism and
+little known doctrines there can be no doubt. Celsus attacked the
+early church, alleging that it was a secret organization which
+taught the Truth to the select few, while it<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> passed
+on to the multitude only the crumbs of half-truth, and popular
+teachings veiling the Truth. Origen, a pupil of St. Clement,
+answered Celsus, stating that while it was true that there were
+Inner Teachings in the Christian Church, that were not revealed to
+the populace, still the Church in following that practice was but
+adhering to the established custom of all philosophies and
+religions, which gave the esoteric truths only to those who were
+ready to receive them, at the same time giving to the general mass
+of followers the exoteric or outer teachings, which were all they
+could understand or assimilate. Among other things, in this reply,
+Origen says: "That there should be certain doctrines, not made
+known to the multitude, which are divulged after the exoteric ones
+have been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but
+also of philosophic systems in which certain truths are exoteric
+and others esoteric. Some of the followers of Pythagoras were
+content with his 'ipse dixit,' while others were taught in secret
+those doctrines which were not<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> deemed fit to be
+communicated to profane and insufficiently prepared ears. Moreover,
+all the mysteries that are celebrated everywhere through Greece and
+barbarous countries, although held in secret, have no discredit
+thrown upon them, so that it is in vain he endeavors to calumniate
+the secret doctrines of Christianity, seeing that he does not
+correctly understand its nature." In this quotation it will be
+noticed that not only does Origen positively admit the existence of
+the Inner Teachings, but that he also mentions Pythagoras and his
+school, and also the other Mysteries of Greece, showing his
+acquaintance with them, and his comparison of them with the
+Christian Mysteries, which latter he would not have been likely to
+have done were their teachings repugnant to, and at utter variance
+with, those of his own church. In the same writing Origen says:
+"But on these subjects much, and that of a mystical kind, might be
+said, in keeping with which is the following: 'It is good to keep
+close to the secret of a king,' in order that the entrance of souls
+into bodies may not be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id=
+"Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> thrown before the common
+understanding." Scores of like quotations might be cited.</p>
+
+<p>The writings of the Early Fathers of the Christian Church are
+filled with many allusions to the current inner doctrine of the
+pre-existence and rebirth of souls. Origen in particular has
+written at great length regarding these things. John the Baptist
+was generally accepted as the reincarnation of Elias, even by the
+populace, who regarded it as a miraculous occurrence, while the
+elect regarded it as merely another instance of rebirth under the
+law. The Gnostics, a mystic order and school in the early church,
+taught Reincarnation plainly and openly, bringing upon themselves
+much persecution at the hands of the more conservative. Others held
+to some form of the teaching, the disputes among them being
+principally regarding points of doctrine and detail, the main
+teachings being admitted. Origen taught that souls had fallen from
+a high estate and were working their way back toward their lost
+estate and glory, by means of<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> repeated incarnations.
+Justin Martyr speaks of the soul inhabiting successive bodies, with
+loss of memory of past lives. For several centuries the early
+Church held within its bosom many earnest advocates of
+Reincarnation, and the teaching was recognized as vital even by
+those who combatted it.</p>
+
+<p>Lactinus, at the end of the third century, held that the idea of
+the soul's immortality implied its pre-existence. St. Augustine, in
+his "Confessions," makes use of these remarkable words: "Did I not
+live in another body before entering my mother's womb?" Which
+expression is all the more remarkable because Augustine opposed
+Origen in many points of doctrine, and because it was written as
+late as A. D. 415. The various Church Councils, however, frowned
+upon these outcroppings of the doctrine of Reincarnation, and the
+influence of those who rose to power in the church was directed
+against the "heresy." At several councils were the teachings
+rebuked, and condemned, until finally in A. D. 538, Justinian had a
+law passed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg
+62]</a></span> which declared that: "Whoever shall support the
+mythical presentation of the pre-existence of the soul and the
+consequently wonderful opinion of its return, let him be Anathema."
+Speaking of the Jewish Kaballists, an authority states: "Like
+Origen and other church Fathers, the Kaballists used as their main
+argument in favor of the doctrine of metempsychosis, the justice of
+God."</p>
+
+<p>But the doctrine of Reincarnation among Christian races did not
+die at the orders and commands of the Christian Church Councils.
+Smouldering under the blanket of opposition and persecution, it
+kept alive until once more it could lift its flame toward Heaven.
+And even during its suppression the careful student may see little
+flickers of the flame&mdash;little wreathings of
+smoke&mdash;escaping here and there. Veiled in mystic phrasing, and
+trimmed with poetic figure, many allusions may be seen among the
+writings of the centuries. And during the past two hundred years
+the revival in the subject has been constant, until at the close of
+the Nineteenth Century, and the begin<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>ning of the Twentieth
+Century, we once more find the doctrine openly preached and taught
+to thousands of eager listeners and secretly held even by many
+orthodox Christians.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg
+64]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Hindus.</span></p>
+
+<p>While Reincarnation has been believed and taught in nearly every
+nation, and among all races, in former or present times, still we
+are justified in considering India as the natural Mother of the
+doctrine, inasmuch as it has found an especially favorable
+spiritual and mental environment in that land and among its people,
+the date of its birth there being lost in the cloudiness of ancient
+history, but the tree of the teaching being still in full flower
+and still bearing an abundance of fruit. As the Hindus proudly
+claim, while the present dominant race was still in the savage,
+cave-dwelling, stone-age stage of existence&mdash;and while even
+the ancient Jewish people were beginning to place the foundation
+stones of their religion, of which the present Christian religion
+is but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg
+65]</a></span> an offshoot&mdash;the great Hindu religious teachers
+and philosophers had long since firmly established their
+philosophies and religions with the doctrine of Reincarnation and
+its accompanying teachings, which had been accepted as Truth by the
+great Aryan race in India. And, throughout forty centuries, or
+more, this race has held steadfastly to the original doctrine,
+until now the West is looking again to it for light on the great
+problems of human life and existence, and now, in the Twentieth
+Century, many careful thinkers consider that in the study and
+understanding of the great fundamental thoughts of the Vedas and
+the Upanishads, the West will find the only possible antidote to
+the virus of Materialism that is poisoning the veins of Western
+spiritual understanding.</p>
+
+<p>The idea of reincarnation is to be found in nearly all of the
+philosophies and religions of the race, at least in some period in
+their history&mdash;among all peoples and races&mdash;yet, in India
+do we find the doctrine in the fullest flower, not only in the past
+but in the present. From the earliest ages<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> of the race in
+India, Reincarnation in some of its various forms has been the
+accepted doctrine, and today it is accepted by the entire Hindu
+people, with their many divisions and sub-races, with the exception
+of the Hindu Mohammedans. The teeming millions of India live and
+die in the full belief in Reincarnation, and to them it is accepted
+without a question as the only rational doctrine concerning the
+past, present and future of the soul. Nowhere on this planet is
+there to be found such an adherence to the idea of "soul"
+life&mdash;the thinking Hindu always regarding himself as a soul
+occupying a body, rather than as a body "having a soul," as so many
+of the Western people seem to regard themselves. And, to the
+Hindus, the present life is truly regarded as but one step on the
+stairway of life, and not as the only material life preceding an
+eternity of spiritual existence. To the Hindu mind, Eternity is
+here with us Now&mdash;we are in eternity as much this moment as we
+ever shall be&mdash;and the present life is but one of a number of
+fleeting moments in the eternal life.<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The early Hindus did not possess the complicated forms of
+religion now existing among them, with their various creeds,
+ceremonials, rituals, cults, schools, and denominations. On the
+contrary, their original form of religion was an advanced form of
+what some have called "Nature-Worship," but which was rather more
+than that which the Western mind usually means by the term. Their
+"Nature" was rather a "Spirit of Nature," or One Life, of which all
+existing forms are but varying manifestations. Even in this early
+stage of their religious development they held to a belief in
+reincarnation of the soul, from one form to another. While to them
+everything was but a manifestation of One Life, still the soul was
+a differentiated unit, emanated from the One Life, and destined to
+work its way back to Unity and Oneness with the Divine Life through
+many and varied incarnations, until finally it would be again
+merged with the One. From this early beginning arose the many and
+varied forms of religious philosophy known to the India of today;
+but clinging to all these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68"
+id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> modern forms is to be found the
+fundamental basis idea of reincarnation and final absorption with
+the One.</p>
+
+<p>Brahmanism came first, starting from the simple and working to
+the complex, a great priesthood gradually arising and surrounding
+the original simple religious philosophy with ceremonial, ritual
+and theological and metaphysical abstractions and speculation. Then
+arose Buddhism, which, in a measure, was a return to the primitive
+idea, but which in turn developed a new priesthood and religious
+organization. But the fundamental doctrine of Reincarnation
+permeated them all, and may be regarded as the great common centre
+of the Hindu religious thought and philosophy.</p>
+
+<p>The Hindu religious books are filled with references to the
+doctrine of Reincarnation. The Laws of Manu, one of the oldest
+existing pieces of Sanscrit writing, contains many mentions of it,
+and the Upanishads and Vedas contain countless reference to it. In
+the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna: "Know thou, O<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
+Prince of Pandu, that there never was a time when I, nor thou, nor
+any of these princes of earth was not; nor shall there ever come a
+time, hereafter, when any of us shall cease to be. As the soul,
+wearing this material body, experienceth the stages of infancy,
+youth, manhood, and old age, even so shall it, in due time, pass on
+to another body, and in other incarnations shall it again live, and
+move and play its part. * * * These bodies, which act as enveloping
+coverings for the souls occupying them, are but finite
+things&mdash;things of the moment&mdash;and not the Real Man at
+all. They perish as all finite things perish&mdash;let them perish.
+He who in his ignorance thinketh: 'I slay' or 'I am slain,'
+babbleth like an infant lacking knowledge. Of a truth none can
+slay&mdash;none can be slain. Take unto thy inner mind this truth,
+O Prince! Verily, the Real Man&mdash;the Spirit of Man&mdash;is
+neither born, nor doth it die. Unborn, undying, ancient, perpetual
+and eternal, it hath endured, and will endure forever. The body may
+die; be slain; be destroyed completely&mdash;but he<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> that
+hath occupied it remaineth unharmed. * * * As a man throweth away
+his old garments, replacing them with new and brighter ones, even
+so the Dweller of the body, having quitted its old mortal frame,
+entereth into others which are new and freshly prepared for it. * *
+* Many have been my births and rebirths, O Prince&mdash;and many
+also have been thine own. But between us lies this
+difference&mdash;I am conscious of all my many lives, but thou
+lackest remembrance of thine."</p>
+
+<p>In the Mahabarata is said: "Even as when he casteth off an old
+garment, man clothes himself in new raiment, even so the soul,
+casting off the wornout body, takes on a new body, avoids the fatal
+paths leading to hell, works for its salvation, and proceeds toward
+heaven."</p>
+
+<p>The Brhadaranyakopanishad, one of the old Hindu writings,
+contains the following: "As the caterpillar, getting to the end of
+the straw, takes itself away after finding a resting place in
+advance, so the soul leaving this body, and finding another place
+in advance, takes himself off from his<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> original abode. As
+the goldsmith taking little by little of the gold expands it into a
+new form, so, indeed, does this soul, leaving this body, make a new
+and happy abode for himself."</p>
+
+<p>But to attempt to quote passages relating to incarnation from
+the Hindu books, would be akin to compiling a library of many
+volumes. The sacred writings of the East are filled with references
+to Reincarnation, and if the latter were eliminated it would be
+"like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet omitted."</p>
+
+<p>We cannot enter into a description of the various schools of
+Hindu religious thought and philosophy in this work, for to do so
+would be to expand this little volume in several of larger size, so
+extended is the subject. But underlying the many divisions and
+subdivisions of Hindu thought may be found the fundamental idea of
+an original emanation from, or manifestation of, One Divine Being,
+Power and Energy, into countless differentiated units, atoms, or
+egos, which units, embodying in matter, are unconscious of the
+spirit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg
+72]</a></span>ual nature, and take on a consciousness corresponding
+with the form in which they are embodied. Then follows a series of
+embodiments, or incarnations, from lower to higher, in which occurs
+an evolution or "unfoldment" of the nature of the soul, in which it
+rises to higher and higher planes of being, until finally, after
+&aelig;ons of time, it enters in Union with the Divine Nirvana and
+Para-Nirvana&mdash;the state of Eternal Bliss.</p>
+
+<p>The great difference between the Hindu thought and the Grecian
+is that while the Greeks considered repeated life with joy as a
+means of greater and greater expression of life, the Hindus, on the
+contrary, regard life as but a period of travail and sorrow, the
+only light to be perceived being the expectation and hope of
+eventually emerging from the region of materiality, and illusion,
+and regaining true existence in the Spirit. The Hindus nearly all
+agree that this material life is occasioned by "avidya" or
+ignorance on the part of the soul of its own real nature and being,
+whereby it fails to recognize that this ma<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>terial life is "maya"
+or illusion. They hold that Wisdom consists in the soul recognizing
+its real nature, and perceiving the illusion of material life and
+things, and striving to liberate itself from the bondage of
+materiality and ignorance.</p>
+
+<p>The principal differences among the various Hindu schools of
+religion and philosophical thought arise from their differing views
+regarding the nature and constitution of the soul on the one hand,
+and the means of attaining liberation and freedom from material
+embodiment on the other. The doctrine of "Karma" of spiritual cause
+and effect, which we shall consider in another chapter, also runs
+along with all the varying Hindu conceptions, doctrines, and
+theories.</p>
+
+<p>Without considering the matter of differences of opinion between
+the various schools, concerning the nature and constitution of the
+soul, we may say that all the schools practically agree that the
+constitution of Man is a complex thing, comprising a number of
+sheaths, bodies, coverings, or elements, from the grosser to<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
+the more spiritual, the various sheaths being discarded as the soul
+advances on its way toward perfection. There are disputes between
+the various schools regarding terminology and the precise
+arrangement of these "principles," but the following classification
+will answer for the purpose of giving a general idea of the Hindu
+views on the subject, subject always to the conflicting claims of
+the various schools. The classification is as follows, passing from
+lower to higher:</p>
+
+<p>1. Physical or material body, or Rupa. 2. Vitality of Vital
+Force, or Prana-Jiva. 3. Astral Body, Etheric Double, or Linga
+Sharira. 4. Animal Soul, or Kama Rupa. 5. Human Soul, or Manas. 6.
+Spiritual Soul, or Buddhi. 7. Divine Spirit, or Atma.</p>
+
+<p>From the beginning, the tendency of the Hindu mind was in the
+direction of resolving the universe of forms, shapes, and change,
+back into some One Underlying Principle, from which all the
+phenomenal world emerged&mdash;some One Infinite Energy, from which
+all else emerged, emanated, or<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> evolved. And the early
+Hindu mind busied itself actively with the solution of the problem
+of this One Being manifesting a Becoming into Many. Just as is the
+Western world of today actively engaged in solving many material
+problems, so was ancient India active in solving many spiritual
+problems&mdash;just as the modern West is straining every energy
+toward discovering the "How," so was ancient India straining every
+effort to discovering the "Why." And from that struggle of the mind
+of India there arose countless schools of religious and
+philosophical thought, many of which have passed away, but many of
+which persist today. The problem of the relationship of the human
+soul to the One Being, and the secondary problem of the life,
+present and future, of the individual soul, is a most vital one to
+all thinking Hindus today as in the forty centuries or more of its
+philosophical history. To the Hindu mind, all material research is
+of minor importance, the important Truth being to discover that
+"which when once known, all else is understood." But, as<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>
+we have said, in spite of the numerous religions, schools, and
+phases of teaching, among the Hindus, the one fundamental
+conception of Reincarnation is never lost sight of, nor is it ever
+doubted in any of the forms of the philosophies or religions.</p>
+
+<p>Ignoring the subdivisions of Hindu philosophical thought, we may
+say that the Hindu philosophies may be divided into a few general
+classes, several of which we shall now hastily consider, that you
+may get a glimpse at the variety of Hindu speculative philosophy in
+its relation to the soul and its destiny. You will, of course,
+understand that we can do no more than mention the leading features
+of each class, as a careful consideration would require volumes for
+each particular school.</p>
+
+<p>We will first consider the philosophy of Kanada, generally known
+as the Vaisheshika Teaching, which inclines toward an Atomic
+Theory, akin to that formulated by the old Greek philosopher
+Democritus. According to this teaching the substance of the
+universe is composed of an infinite number of atoms, which are
+eternal, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id=
+"Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> which were not created by God, but
+which are co-eternal with Him. These atoms, combining and forming
+shapes, forms, etc., are the basis of the material universe. It is
+held, however, that the power or energy whereby these atoms combine
+and thus form matter, comes from God. This teaching holds that God
+is a Personal Being, possessing Omnipotence, Omniscience, and
+Omnipresence. It is also held that there are two substances, or
+principles, higher, that the material energies or substance,
+namely, Manas, or Mind, and Atman, or Spirit. Manas or Mind is held
+to be something like a Mind-Stuff, from which all individual minds
+are built up&mdash;and which Mind-Stuff is held to be eternal.
+Atman, or Spirit, is held to be an eternal principle, from which
+the Selves or Souls are differentiated. The Atman, or Spirit, or
+Self, is regarded as much higher than Mind, which is its tool and
+instrument of expression. This philosophy teaches that through
+progression, by Reincarnation, the soul advances from lower to
+higher states, on its road to freedom and perfection.<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Another great school of Hindu philosophy is the philosophy of
+Kapila, generally known as the Sankhya system. This teaching
+opposes the Atomic Theory of the Vaisheshika system, and holds that
+the atoms are not indestructible nor eternal, but may be resolved
+back into a primal substance called Prakriti. Prakriti is held to
+be an universal, eternal energy or ethereal substance, something
+similar to certain Western scientific conceptions of an Universal
+Ether. From this eternal, universal energy, Kapila held that all
+the universe has been evolved&mdash;all material forms or
+manifestations of energy being but manifestations of Prakriti. But,
+the Sankhya system is not materialistic, as might be supposed at
+first glance, for side by side with Prakriti it offers the
+principle of Purusha, or Soul, or Spirit, of which all individual
+souls are atomic units&mdash;the Principle of Purusha being an
+Unity of Units, and not an Undivided One. The Purusha&mdash;that
+is, its units or Individual Souls&mdash;is regarded as eternal and
+immortal. Prakriti is devoid of mind, but is pos<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>sessed
+of active vital energy, and is capable of producing forms and
+material manifestations by reason of its inherent energy, and laws,
+and thus produces what the Hindus call "Maya," or material
+illusion, which they hold to be devoid of reality, inasmuch as the
+forms are constantly changing and have no permanence. This
+philosophy holds that Prakriti, by means of the glamour of its
+manifestations of Maya, entices the individual souls, or Purushas,
+which when once in the centre of attraction of the Maya are drawn
+into the vortex of material existence, losing a knowledge of their
+real nature. But the souls never lose entirely the glimmer of the
+Light of the Spirit, and, consequently, soon begin to feel that
+they have made a mistake, and consequently begin to strive to
+escape the bondage of Prakriti and its Maya&mdash;but such escape
+is possible only through a gradual rising up from the depths of
+Maya, step by step, cycle by cycle, by a series of purification and
+cleansing of themselves, just as a fly cleanses itself of the
+sticky substance into which it<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> has fallen. This escape
+is accomplished by Spiritual Unfoldment or Evolution, by means of
+Reincarnation&mdash;this Evolution not being a "growth," but rather
+an "unfoldment" or "unwrapping" of the soul from its confining
+sheaths, one by one.</p>
+
+<p>Another great school of Hindu philosophy is the philosophy of
+Patanjali, generally known as the Yoga Philosophy, but which
+differs from the Yogi Philosophy of the West, which is eclectic in
+nature. The Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali bears some resemblance to
+the Sankhya school of Kapila, inasmuch as it recognizes the
+teachings regarding Prakriti, from which universal energy the
+material universe has been evolved; and inasmuch as it also
+recognizes the countless individual Purushas, or souls, which are
+eternal and immortal, and which are entrapped in the Maya of
+Prakriti. But it then takes a position widely divergent from the
+Sankhya school, inasmuch as Patanjali's Yoga school holds that
+there also exists a Supreme Purusha, Spirit, Soul&mdash;or
+God&mdash;who is without form; infinite; eternal; and above all
+at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg
+81]</a></span>tributes and qualities common to man. In this
+respect, Patanjali differs from Kapila, and inclines rather toward
+agreement with Kanada, of the first mentioned school of the
+Vaisheshika system. All three philosophers, however, seem to
+generally agree in the main upon the Mind Principle, which they
+hold to be beneath Soul or Spirit, and to be in the nature of
+Mind-Stuff, which is of a semi-material nature&mdash;Kapila and
+Patanjali even going so far as to hold that it is a manifestation
+of Prakriti or the Universal Energy, rather than a distinct
+principle. They hold that the Purusha, or Spirit, not the Mind, is
+the Real Self, and the source of consciousness and the real
+intelligence. The practical teachings of the school of Patanjali is
+a system by which the Purusha may escape from and overcome the
+Prakriti, and thus gain emancipation, freedom, and a return to its
+natural and original purity and power. This school, of course,
+teaches Reincarnation, and Progression through Rebirth, in
+accordance with the principles mentioned above.<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Another great school of Hindu philosophy is that known as the
+Vedanta Philosophy, which many consider the most advanced of all
+the Hindu systems, and which is rapidly growing in popularity among
+the educated Hindus, and also among many very intelligent students
+of philosophical thought in the Western world. Its followers claim
+that the Vedanta Philosophy has reached the very highest point of
+philosophical thought, speculation and analysis possible to the
+human mind of today, and many Western students have claimed that it
+contains the highest conceptions found in any and all of the great
+World Philosophies. Be this as it may, it certainly contains much
+that is the most subtle, refined and keen in the field of
+philosophical speculative thought of the world, and while, as some
+claim, it may lack the "appeal to the religious emotions" that some
+other forms of thought possess, still it proves very attractive to
+those in whom intellectual development and effort have superseded
+the "emotional" side of philosophy or religion.<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Vedanta System holds that the Ultimate Reality, or Actual
+Being, of the universe&mdash;the One Absolute Energy or Substance
+from which all the universe proceeds&mdash;is THAT which may be
+called The Absolute, which is eternal, infinite, indivisible,
+beyond attributes and qualities, and which is the source of
+intelligence. The Absolute is held to be One, not Many&mdash;Unique
+and Alone. It is identical with the Sanscrit "Brahman," and is held
+to be THAT which has been called "The Unknowable"; the "Father";
+the "Over-Soul"; the "Thing-in-Itself"&mdash;in short, it is THAT
+which men mean, and have always meant, when they wished to express
+the ABSOLUTE REALITY. The Vedantists hold that this Absolute
+Brahman is the essence of "Sat," or Absolute Existence; "Chit," or
+Absolute Intelligence; and "Ananda," or Absolute Bliss. Without
+attempting to enter into an analysis, or close exposition, of the
+Vedanta Philosophy, or so far as concerns the soul, and its
+destiny, we may say that it holds that there do not exist the
+countless eter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id=
+"Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>nal, immortal souls or Purushas of the
+Sankhya philosophy, but instead that the individual souls are but
+the countless "images or reflections" of the Absolute Being, or
+Brahman, and have their existence only by reason of the Real
+Existence of the One Only Being. Consequently, the Spirit within
+the soul of Man, and which is "the soul of his soul," is Divine.
+The Vedantists admit the existence of a "Logos," or Ishwara, the
+Lord of the Universe, who is, however, but a manifestation of
+Brahman&mdash;a Great Soul, as it were, and who presides over the
+evolution of Universes from the Prakriti, and who plays the part of
+the Demiurge of the old Grecian and Gnostic philosophies. The
+Vedantists admit the existence (relative) of Prakriti, or Universal
+Energy, but hold that it is not eternal, or real-in-itself, but is
+practically identical with Maya, and may be regarded as a form of
+the Creative Energy of the Absolute, Brahman. This Maya (which
+while strictly speaking is illusion inasmuch as it has no real
+existence or eternal quality) is the source of time, space,<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
+and causation, and of the phenomenal universe, with its countless
+forms, shapes, and appearances. The Vedantists teach that the
+Evolution of the Soul is accomplished by its escaping the folds of
+Maya, or Materiality, one by one, by means of Rebirths, until it
+manifests more and more of its Divine Nature; and thus it goes on,
+and on, from higher to still higher, until at last it enters into
+the Divine Being and attains Union with God, and is "One with the
+Father."</p>
+
+<p>Another great Hindu philosophy is the philosophy of Gautama, the
+Buddha, which is generally known as the Buddhistic Philosophy, or
+as Buddhism. It is difficult to give a clear idea of Buddhism in a
+concise form, for there are so many schools, sects, and divisions
+among this general school of philosophy, differing upon the minor
+points and details of doctrine, that it requires a lengthy
+consideration in order to clear away the disputed points. Speaking
+generally, however, it may be said that the Buddhists start with
+the idea or conception of an Unknowable Reality, back of and<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+under all forms and activity of the phenomenal universe. Buddha
+refused to discuss the nature of this Reality, practically holding
+it to be Unknowable, and in the nature of an Absolute Nothing,
+rather than an Absolute Something in the sense of "Thingness" as we
+understand the term; that is to say, it is a No-Thing, rather than
+a Thing&mdash;consequently it is beyond thought, understanding, or
+even imagination&mdash;all that can be said is that it IS. Buddha
+refused to discuss or teach of the manner in which this Unknowable
+came to manifest upon the Relative Plane, for he held that Man's
+proper study was of the World of Things, and how to escape
+therefrom. In a vague way, however, Buddhism holds that in some way
+this Unknowable, or a part thereof, becomes entangled in Maya or
+Illusion, through Avidya or Ignorance, Law, Necessity, or perhaps
+something in the nature of a Mistake. And arising from this
+mistaken activity, all the pain and sorrow of the universe arises,
+for the Buddhist holds that the Universe is a "world of woe,"
+from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg
+87]</a></span> which the soul is trying to escape. Buddhism holds
+that the soul Reincarnates often, because of its desires and
+attractions, which if nursed and encouraged will lead it into lives
+without number. Consequently, to the Buddhist, Wisdom consists in
+acquiring a knowledge of the true state of affairs, just mentioned,
+and then upon that knowledge building up a new life in which desire
+and attraction for the material world shall be eliminated, to the
+end that the soul having "killed out desire" for material
+things&mdash;having cut off the dead branch of Illusion&mdash;is
+enabled to escape from Karma, and eventually be released from
+Rebirth, thence passing back into the great ocean of the
+Unknowable, or Nirvana, and ceasing to Be, so far as the phenomenal
+world is concerned, although of course it will exist in the
+Unknowable, which is Eternal. Many Western readers imagine the
+Buddhistic Nirvana to be an utter annihilation of existence and
+being, but the Hindu mind is far more subtle, and sees a vast
+difference between utter annihilation on the one hand,<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> and
+extinction of personality on the other. That which appears
+Nothingness to the Western Mind, is seen as No-Thingness to the
+Oriental conception, and is considered more of a resumption of an
+original Real Existence, rather than an ending thereof.</p>
+
+<p>There is a great difference between the two great schools of
+Buddhism, the Northern and Southern, respectively, regarding the
+nature of the soul. The Northern school considers the soul as an
+entity, differentiated from the Unknowable in some mysterious way
+not explained by Buddha, and yet different from the individual
+Purusha of the Sankhya school, before mentioned. On the contrary,
+the Southern school does not regard the soul as a differentiated or
+distinct entity, but rather as a centre of phenomenal activity
+saturated or charged with the results of its deeds, and that
+therefore the Karma, or the Essence of Deeds, may be considered as
+the soul itself, rather than as something pertaining to it. The
+Northern school holds that the soul, accompanied by its Karma,
+reincarnates along the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89"
+id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> lines as those taught by all the
+other Hindu schools of Reincarnation and Karma. But the Southern
+school, on the contrary, holds that it is not the soul-entity that
+re-incarnates (for there is no such entity), but that instead it is
+the Karma, or Essence of Deeds, that reincarnates from life to
+life, according to its attractions, desires, and merits or
+demerits. In the last mentioned view of the case, the rebirth is
+compared to the lighting of one lamp from the flame of another,
+rather than in the transferring of the oil from one lamp to
+another. But, really, these distinctions are quite metaphysical,
+and when refined by analysis become hair-splitting. It is said that
+the two schools of Buddhism are growing nearer together, and their
+differences reconciled. The orthodox Hindus claim that Buddhism is
+on the decline in India, being largely supplanted by the various
+forms of the Vedanta. On the other hand, Buddhism has spread to
+China, Japan and other countries, where it has taken on new forms,
+and has grown into a religion of ritualism, creeds, and
+ceremonialism, with an accom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90"
+id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>panying loss of the original
+philosophy and a corresponding increase of detail of teaching,
+doctrine and disciple and general "churchiness," including a belief
+in several thousand different kind of hells. But even in the
+degenerated forms, Buddhism still holds to Reincarnation as a
+fundamental doctrine.</p>
+
+<p>In this consideration of the philosophies of India, we do not
+consider it necessary to go into an explanation of the various
+forms of religions, or church divisions, among the Hindus. In
+India, Religion is an important matter, and there seems to be some
+form of religion adapted to each one of that country's teeming
+millions. From the grossest form of religious superstition, and
+crudest form of ceremony and worship, up to the most refined
+idealism and beautiful symbolisms, runs the gamut of the Hindu
+Religions. Many people are unable to conceive of an abstract, ideal
+Universal Being, such as the Brahman of the Hindu Philosophy, and
+consequently that Being has been personified as an An<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg
+91]</a></span>thropomorphic Deity, and human attributes bestowed
+upon him to suit the popular fancy. In India, as in all other
+countries, the priesthood have given the people that which they
+asked for, and the result is that many forms of churchly
+ceremonialism, and forms of worship, maintain which are abhorrent
+and repulsive to Western ideas. But we of the West are not entirely
+free from this fault, as one may see if he examines some of the
+religious conceptions and ceremonies common among ignorant people
+in remote parts of our land. Certain conceptions, of an
+anthropomorphic Deity held by some of the more ignorant people of
+the Western world are but little advanced beyond the idea of the
+Devil; and the belief in a horned, cloven-hoofed, spiked-tail,
+red-colored, satyr-like, leering Devil, with his Hell of Eternal
+Fire and Brimstone, is not so uncommon as many imagine. It has not
+been so long since we were taught that "one of the chief pleasures
+of God and his angels, and the saved souls, will be the witnessing
+of the tortures of the damned in<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> Hell, from the walls of
+Heaven." And the ceremonies of an old-time Southern negro
+camp-meeting were not specially elevating or ideal.</p>
+
+<p>Among the various forms of the religions of India we find some
+of the before mentioned forms of philosophy believed and taught
+among the educated people&mdash;often an eclectic policy of
+choosing and selecting being observed, a most liberal policy being
+observed, the liberty of choice and selection being freely
+accorded. But, there is always the belief in Reincarnation and
+Karma, no matter what the form of worship, or the name of the
+religion. There are two things that the Hindu mind always accepts
+as fundamental truth, needing no proof&mdash;axiomic, in fact. And
+these two are (1) The belief in a Soul that survives the death of
+the body&mdash;the Hindu mind seeming unable to differentiate
+between the consciousness of "I Am," and "I always Have Been, and
+always Shall Be"&mdash;the knowledge of the present existence being
+accepted as a proof of past and fu<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>ture existence; and (2)
+the doctrine of Reincarnation and Karma, which are accepted as
+fundamental and axiomic truths beyond the need of proof, and beyond
+doubt&mdash;as a writer has said: "The idea of Reincarnation has
+become so firmly fixed and rooted in the Hindu mind as a part of
+belief that it amounts to the dignity and force of a moral
+conviction." No matter what may be the theories regarding the
+nature of the universe&mdash;the character of the soul&mdash;or the
+conception concerning Deity or the Supreme Being&mdash;you will
+always find the differing sects, schools, and individuals accepting
+Reincarnation and Karma as they accept the fact that they
+themselves are existent, or that twice one makes two. Hindu
+Philosophy cannot be divorced from Reincarnation. To the Hindu the
+only escape from the doctrine of Reincarnation seems to be along
+the road of the Materialism of the West. From the above statement
+we may except the Hindu Mohammedans and the native Hindu
+Christians, partially, although care<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>ful observers say that
+even these do not escape entirely the current belief of their
+country, and secretly entertain a "mental reservation" in their
+heterodox creeds. So, you see, we are justified in considering
+India as the Mother Land of Reincarnation at the present time.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg
+95]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The Modern West.</span></p>
+
+<p>In the modern thought of the Western world, we find
+Reincarnation attracting much attention. The Western philosophies
+for the past hundred years have been approaching the subject with a
+new degree of attention and consideration, and during the past
+twenty years there has been a marvellous awakening of Western
+public interest in the doctrine. At the present time the American
+and European magazines contain poems and stories based upon
+Reincarnation, and many novels have been written around it, and
+plays even have been based upon the general doctrine, and have
+received marked attention on the part of the public. The idea seems
+to have caught the public fancy, and the people are eager to know
+more of it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg
+96]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This present revival of attention has been brought about largely
+by the renewed interest on the part of the Western world toward the
+general subject of occultism, mysticism, comparative religion,
+oriental philosophy, etc., in their many phases and forms. The
+World's Parliament of Religions, held at the World's Fair in
+Chicago, in 1893, did much to attract the attention of the American
+public to the subject of the Oriental Philosophies in which
+Reincarnation plays such a prominent part. But, perhaps, the prime
+factor in this reawakened Western interest in the subject is the
+work and teachings of the Theosophical Society, founded by Madame
+Blavatsky some thirty years ago, and which has since been continued
+by her followers and several successors. But, whatever may be the
+cause, the idea of Reincarnation seems destined to play an
+important part in the religious and philosophical thought of the
+West for some time to come. Signs of it appear on every
+side&mdash;the subject cannot be ignored by the modern student of
+religion and philosophy. Whether<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> accepted or not, it must
+be recognized and examined.</p>
+
+<p>But the forms of the doctrine, or theory, regarding
+Reincarnation, vary almost as much in the Modern West as in the
+various Eastern countries at present, and in the past. We find all
+phases of the subject attracting attention and drawing followers to
+its support. Here we find the influence of the Hindu thought,
+principally through the medium or channel of Theosophy, or of the
+Yogi Philosophy&mdash;and there we find the influence of the
+Grecian or Egyptian philosophical conceptions manifesting
+principally through the medium of a number of occult orders and
+organizations, whose work is performed quietly and with little
+recognition on the part of the general public, the policy being to
+attract the "elect few" rather than the curious crowd&mdash;and
+again we find quite a number of persons in America and Europe,
+believing in Reincarnation because they are attracted by the
+philosophy of the Neo-Platonists, or the Gnostics of the Early
+Christian Church, and favoring Reincarnation as a<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> proper
+part of the Christian Religion, and who while remaining in the
+bosom of the Church interpret the teachings by the light of the
+doctrine of Rebirth, as did many of the early Christians, as we
+have seen.</p>
+
+<p>The Theosophical conception and interpretation appeals to a
+great number of the Western Reincarnationists, by reason of its
+wide circulation and dissemination, as well as by the fact that it
+has formulated a detailed theory and doctrine, and besides claims
+the benefit of authoritative instruction on the doctrine from
+Adepts and Masters who have passed to a higher plane of existence.
+We think it proper to give in some little detail an account of the
+general teachings of Theosophy on this point, the reader being
+referred to the general Theosophical literature for more extended
+information regarding this special teaching.</p>
+
+<p>Theosophy teaches that the human soul is a composite entity,
+consisting of several principles, sheaths of vehicles, similar to
+those mentioned by us in our account of Hindu Reincarnation. The
+Theosophical books state these principles as follows:<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> (1) The
+Body, or Rupa; (2) Vitality, or Prana-Jiva; (3) Astral Body, or
+Linga-Sharira; (4) Animal Soul, or Kama-Rupa; (5) Human Soul,
+Manas; (6) Spiritual Soul, or Buddhi; and (7) Spirit, or Atma. Of
+these seven principles, the last or higher Three, namely, the Atma,
+Buddhi, and Manas, compose the higher Trinity of the Soul&mdash;the
+part of man which persists; while the lower Four principles,
+namely, Rupa, Prana-Jiva, Linga-Sharira, and Kama-Rupa,
+respectively, are the lower principles, which perish after the
+passing out of the higher principles at death. At Death the higher
+principles, or Triad, lives on, while the lower principles of
+Quarternary dissolve and separate from each other and finally
+disintegrate, along the lines of a process resembling chemical
+action.</p>
+
+<p>Theosophy teaches that there is a great stream of Egos, or
+Monads, which originally emanated from a Source of Being, and which
+are pursuing a spiral journey around a chain of seven globes,
+including the earth, called the Planetary Chain. The Life Wave of
+Monads reaches Globe A,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id=
+"Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> and goes through a series of
+evolutionary life on it, and then passes on to Globe B, and so on
+until Globe G is reached, when after a continued life there the
+Life Wave returns to Globe A, but not in a circle, but rather in a
+spiral, that is, on a higher plane of activity, and the round
+begins once more. There are seven Races to be lived through on each
+globe, many incarnations in each&mdash;each Race having seven
+sub-races, and each sub-race having seven branches. The progress of
+the Life Wave is illustrated by the symbol of a seven-coil spiral,
+sweeping with a wider curve at each coil, each coil, however, being
+divided into a minor seven-coil spiral, and so on. It is taught
+that the human soul is now on its fourth great round-visit to the
+Earth, and is in about the middle of the fifth Race of that round.
+The total number of incarnations necessary for each round is quite
+large, and the teaching is that none can escape them except by
+special merit and development. Between each incarnation there is a
+period of rest in the Heaven World, or Devachan, where the soul
+reaps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg
+101]</a></span> the experiences of the past life, and prepares for
+the next step. The period of rest varies with the degree of
+attainment gained by the soul, the higher the degree the longer the
+rest. The average time between incarnations is estimated at about
+fifteen hundred years. Devachan is thus a kind of temporary Heaven,
+from whence the soul must again pass in time for a rebirth,
+according to its merits or demerits. Thus, accordingly, each soul
+has lived in a variety of bodies, even during the present
+round&mdash;having successively incarnated as a savage, a
+barbarian, a semi-civilized man, a native of India, Egypt, Chaldea,
+Rome, Greece, and many other lands, in different ages, filling all
+kinds of positions and places in life, tasting of poverty and
+riches, of pleasure and pain&mdash;all ever leading toward higher
+things. The doctrine enunciated by Theosophy is complicated and
+intricate, and we can do no more than to barely mention the same at
+this place.</p>
+
+<p>Another Western form of the Oriental Teachings, known as the
+"Yogi Philosophy," numbers quite a large number of<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+earnest students in this country and in Europe, and has a large
+circle of influence, although it has never crystallized into an
+organization, the work being done quietly and the teachings spread
+by the sale of popular books on the subject issued at nominal
+prices. It is based on the Inner Teachings of the Hindu Philosophy
+and is Eclectic in nature, deriving its inspiration from the
+several great teachers, philosophies and schools, rather than
+implicitly following any one of them. Briefly stated this Western
+school of Yogi Philosophy teaches that the Universe is an emanation
+from, or mental creation of, the Absolute whose Creative Will flows
+out in an outpouring of mental energy, descending from a condition
+above Mind, downward through Mind, Physical Energy, and Matter, in
+a grand Involution or "infolding" of the divine energy into
+material forms and states. This Involution is followed by an
+Evolution, or unfoldment, the material forms advancing in the scale
+of evolution, accompanied by a corresponding Spiritual Evolution,
+or Unfoldment of the Individual<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> Centres or Units of
+Being, created or emanated as above stated. The course of
+Evolution, or rather, that phase of it with which the present human
+race on earth is concerned, has now reached a point about midway in
+the scale of Spiritual Evolution, and the future will lead the race
+on, and on, to higher and still higher planes and states of being,
+on this earth and on other spheres, until it reaches a point
+incomprehensible to the mind of man of today, and then still on and
+on, until finally the souls will pass into the plane of the
+Absolute, there to exist in a state impossible of present
+comprehension, and transcending not only the understanding but also
+the imagination of the mind of man as we know him.</p>
+
+<p>The Yogi Philosophy teaches that the soul will reincarnate on
+earth until it is fitted to pass on to higher planes of being, and
+that many people are now entering into a stage which will terminate
+the unconscious reincarnation, and which enables them to incarnate
+consciously in the future without loss of memory. It teaches that
+instead of a retributive Karma, there is a<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> Law of Spiritual
+Cause and Effect, operating largely along the lines of Desire and
+what has been called the "Law of Attraction," by which "like
+attracts like," in persons, environments, conditions, etc. As we
+have stated, the Yogi Philosophy follows closely the lines of
+certain phases of the Hindu philosophies from which it is derived,
+it being, however, rather an "eclectic" system rather than an exact
+reproduction of that branch of philosophy favored by certain
+schools of Hindus and known by a similar name, as mentioned in our
+chapter on "The Hindus"&mdash;that is to say, instead of accepting
+the teachings of any particular Hindu school in their entirety, the
+Western school of the Yogi Philosophy has adopted the policy of
+"Eclecticism," that is, a system following the policy of selection,
+choosing from several sources or systems, rather than a blind
+following of some particular school, cult or teacher.</p>
+
+<p>The Yogi Philosophy teaches that man is a seven-fold entity,
+consisting of the following principles, or divisions: 1. The
+Physical Body. 2. The Astral Body. 3.<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> Prana, or Vital Force.
+4. The Instinctive Mind. 5. The Intellect. 6. The Spiritual Mind.
+7. Spirit. Of these, the first four principles belong to the lower
+part of the being, while the latter three are the higher principles
+which persist and Reincarnate. Man, however, is gradually evolving
+on to the plane of the Spiritual Mind, and will in time pass beyond
+the plane of Intellect, which he will then class along with
+Instinct as a lower form of mentality, he then using his Intuition
+habitually and ordinarily, just as the intelligent man now uses his
+Intellect, and the ignorant man his Instinct-Intellect, and the
+animal its Instinct alone. In many points the Yogi Philosophy
+resembles the Vedanta, and in others it agrees with Theosophy,
+although it departs from the latter in some of the details of
+doctrine regarding the process of Reincarnation, and particularly
+in its conception of the meaning and operation of the Law of
+Karma.</p>
+
+<p>There are many persons in the West who hold firmly to
+Reincarnation, to whom the Hindu conceptions, even in the West<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg
+106]</a></span>ern form of their presentation, do not appeal, and
+who naturally incline toward the Greek conception and form of the
+doctrine. A large number of these people are generally classed
+among the "Spiritualists," although strictly speaking they do not
+fit into that classification, for they hold that the so-called
+"Spirit World" is not a place of permanent abode, but rather a
+resting place between incarnations. These people prefer the name
+"Spiritists," for they hold that man is essentially a spiritual
+being&mdash;that the Spirit is the Real Man&mdash;and that that
+which we call Man is but a temporary stage in the development and
+evolution of the individual Spirit. The Spiritists hold that the
+individual Spirit emanated from the Great Spirit of the Universe
+(called by one name or another) at some distant period in the past,
+and has risen to its present state of Man, through and by a series
+of repeated incarnations, first in the form of the lowly forms of
+life, and then through the higher forms of animal life, until now
+it has reached the stage of human life, from whence it will pass
+on, and on,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id=
+"Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> to higher and still higher
+planes&mdash;to forms and states as much higher than the human
+state than man is above the earthworm. The Spiritists hold that man
+will reincarnate in earthly human bodies, only until the Spirit
+learns its lessons and develops sufficiently to pass on to the next
+plane higher. They hold that the planets and the countless fixed
+stars or suns, are but stages of abode for the evolving Spirit, and
+that beyond the Universe as we know it there are millions of
+others&mdash;in fact, that the number of Universes is infinite. The
+keynote of this doctrine may be stated as "Eternal Progression"
+toward the Divine Spirit. The Spirits do not insist upon any
+particular theory regarding the constitution of the soul&mdash;some
+of them speak merely of "soul and body," while others hold to the
+seven-fold being&mdash;the general idea being that this is
+unimportant, as the essential Spirit is after all the Real Self,
+and it matters little about the number or names of its temporary
+garments or vehicles of expression.</p>
+
+<p>Still another class of Reincarnationists<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> in the Western
+World incline rather more toward the Grecian and Egyptian forms of
+the doctrine, than the Hindu&mdash;the ideas of the Neo-Platonists
+which had such a powerful effect upon the early Christian Church,
+or rather among the "elect few" among the early Fathers of the
+Church, seeming to have sprung into renewed activity among this
+class. These people, as we have said in the beginning of this
+chapter, are rather inclined to group themselves into small
+organizations or secret orders, rather than to form popular cults.
+They follow the examples of the ancients in this respect,
+preferring the "few elect" to the curious general public who merely
+wish to "taste or nibble" at the Truth. Many of these organizations
+are not known to the public, as they studiously avoid publicity or
+advertisement, and trust to the Law of Attraction to "bring their
+own to them&mdash;and them to their own." The teachings of this
+class vary in interpretation, and as many of them maintain secrecy
+by pledges or oaths, it is not possible to give their teachings in
+detail.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg
+109]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But, generally speaking, they base their doctrines on the
+general principle that Man's present condition is due to the
+"Descent of Spirit," in the nature of "The Fall of Man," occurring
+some time in the far distant past. They hold that Man was
+originally "Spirit Pure and Free," from which blissful state he was
+enticed by the glamour of Material Life, and he accordingly fell
+from his higher state, lower and lower until he was sunken deep
+into the mire of Matter. From this lowly state he then began to
+work up, or evolve, having in the dim recesses of his soul a
+glimmer of remembrance of his former state, which dim light is
+constantly urging him on and on, toward his former estate, in spite
+of his frequent stumbling into the mire in his attempts to rise
+above it. This teaching holds to a theory and doctrine very similar
+to that of the "Spiritists" just mentioned, except that while the
+latter, in common with the majority of Reincarnationists, hold that
+the evolution of the Soul is in the direction of advancement and
+greater expression, similar to the<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> growth of a child,
+these "secret order" people hold forcibly and earnestly to the idea
+that the evolution is merely a "Returning of the Prodigal" to his
+"Father's Mansion"&mdash;the parable of the Prodigal Son, and that
+of the Expulsion from Eden, being held as veiled allegories of
+their teaching.</p>
+
+<p>In the above view, the present state of existence&mdash;this
+Earthly Life&mdash;is one of a series of Hells, in the great Hell
+of Matter, from which Man is creeping up slowly but surely.
+According to this idea, the Earth is but midway in the scale, there
+being depths of Materiality almost impossible of belief, and on the
+other hand, heights of heavenly bliss equally incapable of
+understanding. This is about all that we can say regarding this
+form of the doctrine, without violating certain confidences that
+have been reposed in us. We fear that we have said too much as it
+is, but inasmuch as one would have to be able to "read between the
+lines" to understand fully, we trust that those who have favored us
+with these confidences will pardon us.<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There is still another class of believers in Reincarnation, of
+which even the general public is not fully aware, for this class
+does not have much to say regarding its beliefs. I allude to those
+in the ranks of the orthodox Christian Church, who have outgrown
+the ordinary doctrines, and who, while adhering firmly to the
+fundamental Christian Doctrines, and while clinging closely to the
+Teachings of Jesus the Christ, still find in the idea of Rebirth a
+doctrine that appeals to their souls and minds as closer to their
+"highest conceptions of immortality" than the ordinary teachings of
+"the resurrection of the body," or the vague doctrines that are
+taking its place. These Christian Reincarnationists find nothing in
+the doctrine of Reincarnation antagonistic to their Faith, and
+nothing in their Faith antagonistic to the doctrine of
+Reincarnation. They do not use the term Reincarnation usually, but
+prefer the term "Rebirth" as more closely expressing their thought;
+besides which the former term has a suggestion of "pagan and
+heathen" origin which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id=
+"Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> is distasteful to them. These people
+are inclined toward Rebirth for the reason that it "gives the soul
+Another Chance to Redeem Itself"&mdash;other chances to perfect
+itself to enter the Heavenly Realms. They do not hold to an idea of
+endless reincarnation, or even of continued earthly incarnation for
+all, their idea being that the soul that is prepared to enter
+heaven passes on there at once, having learned enough and earned
+enough merit in the few lives it has lived on earth&mdash;while the
+unprepared, undeveloped, and unfit, are bound to come back and back
+again until they have attained Perfection sufficient to enable them
+to advance to the Heaven World.</p>
+
+<p>A large number of the Christian Reincarnationists, if I may call
+them by that name, hold that Heaven is a place or state of Eternal
+Progression, rather than a fixed state or place&mdash;that there is
+no standing still in Heaven or Earth&mdash;that "In my Father's
+House are Many Mansions." To the majority, this idea of Progression
+in the Higher Planes seems to be a natural accompaniment to the
+Spiritual Progres<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id=
+"Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>sion that leads to the Higher Planes,
+or Heaven. At any rate, the two ideas seem always to have run
+together in the human mind when the general subject has been under
+consideration, whether in past time or present; whether among
+Christians or "pagans and heathen." There seems to be an intuitive
+recognition of the connection of the two ideas. And on the other
+hand, there seems to be a close connection between the several
+views of "special creation" of the soul before both&mdash;the
+single earth-life&mdash;and the eternity of reward or punishment in
+a state or place lacking progression or change. Human thought on
+the subject seems to divide itself into two distinct and opposing
+groups.</p>
+
+<p>There are quite a number of Christian preachers, and members of
+orthodox churches, who are taking an earnest interest in this
+doctrine of Rebirth, and Eternal Progression here and hereafter. It
+is being considered by many whose church associates do not suspect
+them of being other than strictly orthodox in their views. Some day
+there will be a "break<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id=
+"Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>ing out" of this idea in the
+churches, when the believers in the doctrine grow in numbers and
+influence. It will not surprise careful observers to see the Church
+once more accepting the doctrine of Rebirth and reinstating the
+doctrine of Pre-existence&mdash;returning to two of its original
+truths, long since discarded by order of the Councils. Prof. Bowen
+has said: "It seems to me that a firm and well-grounded faith in
+the doctrine of Christian Metempsychosis might help to regenerate
+the world. For it would be a faith not hedged round with many of
+the difficulties and objections which beset other forms of
+doctrine, and it offers distinct and pungent motives for trying to
+lead a more Christian life, and for loving and helping our
+brother-man." And as James Freeman Clarke has said: "It would be
+curious if we should find science and philosophy taking up again
+the old theory of metempsychosis, remodelling it to suit our
+present modes of religious and scientific thought, and launching it
+again on the wide ocean of human<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> belief. But stranger
+things have happened in the history of human opinion."</p>
+
+<p>So, as we have said, there is a great variety of shades of
+belief in the Western world regarding Reincarnation today, and the
+student will have no difficulty in finding just the shade of
+opinion best suited to his taste, temperament and training or
+experience. Vary as they do in detail, and theory, there is still
+the same fundamental and basic truth of the One Source&mdash;the
+One Life&mdash;and Reincarnation, reaching ever toward perfection
+and divinity. It seems impossible to disguise the doctrine so as to
+change its basic qualities&mdash;it will always show its original
+shape. And, so it is with the varying opinions of the Western
+thought regarding it&mdash;the various cults advocating some form
+of its doctrine&mdash;the original doctrine may be learned and
+understood in spite of the fanciful dressings bestowed upon it.
+"The Truth is One&mdash;Men call it by many names."</p>
+
+<p>It may be of interest to Western readers to mention that some of
+the teachers of Occultism and Reincarnation hold that the<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg
+116]</a></span> present revival of interest on the subject in the
+Western world is due to the fact that in Europe and America, more
+particularly the latter, there is occurring a reincarnating of the
+souls of many persons who lived from fifteen hundred to two
+thousand years ago, and who were then believers in the doctrine.
+According to this view, those who are now attracted toward the
+Hindu forms of the doctrine formerly lived as natives of India;
+those who favor the Grecian idea, lived in Ancient Greece; others
+favor the Egyptian idea, from similar reasons; while the revival of
+Neo-Platonism, Gnosticism and general Mysticism, among the
+present-day Christians is accounted for by the fact that the early
+Christians are now reincarnating in the Western world, having been
+reborn as Christians according to the Law of Karmic Attraction. In
+this manner the advocates of the doctrine offer the present revival
+as another proof of their teachings.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg
+117]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Between and Beyond
+Incarnations.</span></div>
+
+<p>One of the first questions usually asked by students of the
+subject of Reincarnation is: "Where does the soul dwell between
+incarnations; does it incarnate immediately after death; and what
+is its final abode or state?" This question, or questions, have
+been asked from the beginning, and probably will be asked so long
+as the human mind dwells upon the subject. And many are the answers
+that have been given to the questioners by the teachers and
+"authorities" upon the subject. Let us consider some of the leading
+and more "authoritative" answers.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, let us consider that phase of the question
+which asks: "Does the soul incarnate immediately after death?" Some
+of the earlier Reincarnationists believed and taught that the
+soul<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg
+118]</a></span> reincarnated shortly after death, the short period
+between incarnations being used by the soul in adjusting itself,
+striking a balance of character, and preparing for a new birth.
+Others held that there was a period of waiting and rest between
+incarnations, in which the soul 'mentally digested' the experiences
+of the last life just completed, and then considered and meditated
+over the mistakes it had made, and determined to rectify the
+mistakes in the next life&mdash;it being held that when the soul
+was relieved of the necessities of material existence, it could
+think more clearly of the moral nature of its acts, and would be
+able to realize the spiritual side of itself more distinctly, in
+addition to having the benefit of the spiritual perspective
+occasioned by its distance from the active scenes of life, and thus
+being able to better gauge the respective "worth-whileness" of the
+things of material life.</p>
+
+<p>At the present time, the most advanced students of the subject
+hold that the average period of rest between incarnations is about
+fifteen hundred years, the less ad<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>vanced souls hastening
+back to earth in a very short time, the more advanced preferring a
+long period of rest, meditation and preparation for a new life. It
+is held that the soul of a gross, material, animal-like person will
+incarnate very shortly after death, the period of rest and
+meditation being very short, for the reason that there is very
+little about which such a soul could meditate, as all of its
+attractions and desires are connected with material life. Many
+souls are so "earth-bound" that they rush back at once into
+material embodiment if the conditions for rebirth are favorable,
+and they are generally favorable for there seems to be always an
+abundant supply of new bodies suitable for such souls in the
+families of people of the same character and nature, which afford
+congenial opportunities for such a soul to reincarnate. Other souls
+which have progressed a little further along the path of
+attainment, have cultivated the higher part of themselves somewhat,
+and enjoy to a greater extent the period of meditation and
+spiritual life afforded them. And so,<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> as the scale
+advances&mdash;as the attraction for material life grows less, the
+period of purely spiritual existence between incarnations grows
+longer, and it is said that the souls of persons who are highly
+developed spiritually sometimes dwell in the state of rest for ten
+thousand years or more, unless they voluntarily return sooner in
+order to take part in the work of uplifting the world. It must be
+remembered, in this connection, that the best teaching is to the
+effect that the advanced souls are rapidly unfolding into the state
+in which they are enabled to preserve consciousness in future
+births, instead of losing it as is the usual case, and thus they
+take a conscious part in the selection of the conditions for
+rebirth, which is wisely denied persons of a more material nature
+and less spiritual development.</p>
+
+<p>The next phase of the question: "Where does the soul dwell
+between incarnations?" is one still more difficult of answer, owing
+to the various shades of opinion on the subject. Still there is a
+fundamental agreement between the different schools,<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> and
+we shall try to give you the essence or cream of the thought on the
+subject. In the first place, all occultists set aside any idea of
+there being a "place" in which the souls dwell&mdash;the existence
+of "states" or "planes of existence" being deemed sufficient for
+the purpose. It is held that there are many planes of existence in
+any and every portion of space, which planes interpenetrate each
+other, so that entities dwelling on one plane usually are not
+conscious of the presence of those on another plane. Thus, an
+inhabitant of a high plane of being, in which the vibrations of
+substance are much higher than that which we occupy, would be able
+to pass through our material world without the slightest knowledge
+of its existence, just as the "X rays" pass through the most solid
+object, or as light passes through the air. It is held that there
+are many planes of existence much higher than the one we occupy,
+and upon which the disembodied souls dwell. There are many details
+regarding these planes, taught by the different schools of
+occultism, or spiritualism, but<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> we have neither the
+time nor space to consider them at length, and must content
+ourselves with mentioning but a few leading or typical beliefs or
+teachings on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>The Theosophists teach that just when the soul leaves the body,
+there occurs a process of psychic photography in which the past
+life, in all of its details, is indelibly imprinted on the inner
+substance of the soul, thus preserving a record independent of the
+brain, the latter being left behind in the physical body. Then the
+Astral Body, or Etheric Double, detaches itself from the body, from
+which the Vital Force, or Prana-Jiva also departs at the same time,
+the Astral Body enfolding also the four other principles, and
+together the Five Surviving Principles pass on to the plane of Kama
+Loka, or the Astral Plane of Desire. Kama Loka is that part of the
+Astral Plane nearest to the material plane, and is very closely
+connected with the latter. If the soul is filled with hot and
+earnest desire for earth life, it may proceed no further, but may
+hasten back to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id=
+"Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> material embodiment, as we said a
+moment ago. But if the soul has higher aspirations, and has
+developed the higher part of itself, it presses on further, in
+which case the Astral Body, and the Animal Soul which is the seat
+of the passions and grosser desires, disintegrate, and thus release
+the Triad, or three-fold higher nature of the soul, namely the
+higher human soul, the spiritual soul, and the spirit&mdash;or as
+some term them, the intellect, the spiritual mind, and the spirit.
+The Triad then passes on to what is known as the plane of Devachan,
+where it rests divested of the lower parts of its nature, and in a
+state of bliss and in a condition in which it may make great
+progress by reason of meditation, reflection, etc. Kama Loka has
+been compared to the Purgatory of the Catholics, which it resembles
+in more ways than one, according to the Theosophists. Devachan is
+sometimes called the Heaven World by Theosophists, the word meaning
+"the state or plane of the gods."</p>
+
+<p>Theosophy teaches that the Soul Triad dwells in Devachan "for a
+period propor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id=
+"Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>tionate to the merit of the being,"
+and from whence in the proper time "the being is drawn down again
+to be reborn in the world of mortals." The Law of Karma which rules
+the earth-life of man, and which regulates the details of his
+rebirth, is said to operate on the Devachnic Plane as well, thus
+deciding the time of his abode on that plane, and the time when the
+soul shall proceed to rebirth. The state of existence in Devachan
+is described at length in the Theosophical writings, but is too
+complex for full consideration here. Briefly stated, it may be said
+that it is taught that the life on Devachan is in the nature of a
+Dream of the Best that is In Us&mdash;that is, a condition in which
+the highest that is in us is given a chance for expression and
+growth, and development. The state of the soul in Devachan is said
+to be one of Bliss, the degree depending upon the degree of
+spiritual development of the soul, as the Bliss is of an entirely
+spiritual nature. It may be compared to a state of people listening
+to some beautiful music&mdash;the greater the musical develop<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg
+125]</a></span>ment of the person, the greater will be his degree
+of enjoyment. It is also taught that just as the soul leaves
+Devachan to be reincarnated, it is given a glimpse of its past
+lives, and its present character, that it may realize the Karmic
+relations between the cause and effect, to the end that its new
+life may be improved upon&mdash;then it sinks into a state of
+unconsciousness and passes on to rebirth.</p>
+
+<p>The Western school of the Yogi Philosophy gives an idea of the
+state between incarnations, somewhat eclectic in its origin,
+agreeing with the Theosophical teaching in some respects, and
+differing from it in others. Let us take a hasty glance at it. In
+the first place it does not use the terms "Kama Loca" and
+"Devachan" respectively, but instead treats the whole series of
+planes as the great "Astral World" containing many planes,
+divisions, and subdivisions&mdash;many sub-planes, and divisions of
+the same. The teaching is that the soul passes out of the body,
+leaving behind its physical form, together with its Prana or Vital
+Energy, and taking with it the Astral<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> Body, the Instructive
+Mind, and the higher principles. The "last vision" of the past
+life, in which the events of that life are impressed upon the soul
+just as it leaves the body, is held to be a fact&mdash;the soul
+sees the past life as a whole, and in all of its minutest details
+at the moment of death, and it is urged that the dying person
+should be left undisturbed in his last moments for this reason, and
+that the soul may become calm and peaceful when starting on its
+journey. On one of the Astral Planes the soul gradually discards
+its Astral Body and its Instinctive Mind, but retains its higher
+vehicles or sheaths. But it is taught that this discarding of the
+lower sheaths occurs after the soul has passed into a
+"soul-slumber" on a sub-plane of the Astral World, from which it
+awakens to find itself clothed only in its higher mental and
+spiritual garments of being, and free from the grosser coverings
+and burdens. The teachings say: "When the soul has cast off the
+confining sheaths, and has reached the state for which it is
+prepared, it passes to the plane in the As<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>tral World for
+which it is fitted, and to which it is drawn by the Law of
+Attraction. The planes of the Astral World interpenetrate, and
+souls dwelling on one plane are not conscious of those dwelling on
+another, nor can they pass from one plane to another, with this
+exception&mdash;that those dwelling on a higher plane are able to
+see (if they so desire) the planes below them in the order of
+development, and are also able to visit these lower planes if they
+so desire. But those on the lower planes are not able to either see
+or visit the planes above them&mdash;not that there is a 'watchman
+at the gate' to prevent them, but for the same reason that a fish
+is not able to pass from the water to the plane of air above that
+water." The same teachings tell us that the souls on the higher
+planes often visit friends and relatives on the lower, so that
+there is always the opportunity for loved ones, relatives and
+friends meeting in this way; and also many souls on the higher
+planes pass to the lower planes in order to instruct and advise
+those dwelling on the latter, the result that in<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> some
+cases there may be a progression from a lower to a higher plane of
+the Astral World by promotion earned by this instruction. Regarding
+Rebirth, from the Astral World, the teachings say:</p>
+
+<p>"But sooner or later, the souls feel a desire to gain new
+experiences, and to manifest in earth-life some of the advancement
+which has come to them since 'death,' and for these reasons, and
+from the attraction of desires which have been smoldering there,
+not lived out or cast off, or, possibly influenced by the fact that
+some loved soul, on a lower plane, is ready to incarnate and
+wishing to be incarnated at the same time in order to be with it
+(which is also a desire) the souls fall into the current sweeping
+toward rebirth, and the selection of proper parents and
+advantageous circumstances and surrounding, and in consequence
+again fall into a soul-slumber, gradually, and so when their time
+comes they 'die' to the plane upon which they have been existing
+and are 'born' into a new physical life and body. A soul does not
+fully awaken from its sleep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129"
+id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> immediately at birth, but exists
+in a dream-like state during the days of infancy, its gradual
+awakening being evidenced by the growing intelligence of the babe,
+the brain of the child keeping pace with the demands made upon it.
+In some cases the awakening is premature, and we see cases of
+prodigies, child-genius, etc., but such cases are more or less
+abnormal, and unhealthy. Occasionally the dreaming soul in the
+child half-wakes, and startles us by some profound observation, or
+mature remark or conduct."</p>
+
+<p>The third phase of the question: "What is the final state or
+abode of the soul?" is one that reaches to the very center or heart
+of philosophical and religious thought and teaching. Each
+philosophy and religion has its own explanation, or interpretation
+of the Truth, and it is not for us to attempt to select one
+teaching from the many in this work. The reader will find many
+references to these various explanations and teachings as he reads
+the several chapters of this book, and he may use his own
+discrimination and judgment in selecting that<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+which appeals to him the most strongly. But he will notice that
+there is a fundamental agreement between all of the teachings and
+beliefs&mdash;the principle that the movement of the soul is ever
+upward and onward, and that there is no standing still in spiritual
+development and unfoldment. Whether the end&mdash;if end there
+be&mdash;is the reaching of a state of Bliss in the presence of the
+Divine One&mdash;or whether the weary soul finds rest "in the Bosom
+of the Father," by what has been called "Union with God"&mdash;the
+vital point for the evolving soul is that there is "a better day
+coming"&mdash;a haven of rest around the turn of the road. And
+whatever may be the details of the Truth, the fact remains that
+whatever state awaits the soul finally, it must be Good, and in
+accordance with Divine Wisdom and Ultimate Justice and Universal
+Love.</p>
+
+<p>The majority of occultists look forward to an end in the sense
+of being absorbed in the Divine Being, not in the sense of
+annihilation, but in the sense of reaching a consciousness "of the
+Whole in the Whole"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id=
+"Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>&mdash;this is the true meaning of
+"Nirvana." But whether this be true, or whether there is a place of
+final rest in the highest spiritual realms other than in the sense
+of absorption in the Divine, or whether there is a state of Eternal
+Progression from plane to plane, from realm to realm, on and on
+forever Godward, and more and more God-like&mdash;the End must be
+Good, and there is nothing to Fear, for "the Power that rules Here,
+rules There, and Everywhere. And remember this, ye seekers after
+ultimate truths&mdash;the highest authorities inform us that even
+the few stages or planes just ahead of us in the journey are so far
+beyond our present powers of conception, that they are practically
+unknowable to us&mdash;this being so, it will be seen that states
+very much nearer to us than the End must be utterly beyond the
+powers not only of our understanding but also of our imagination,
+even when strained to its utmost. This being so, why should we
+attempt to speculate about The End? Instead, why not say with
+Newman:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg
+132]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza"><span class="i0">"I do not ask to see the
+distant scene.</span> <span class="i1">One step enough for
+me&mdash;</span> <span class="i1">Lead Thou me on!"</span></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is said that when Thoreau was dying, a friend leaned over and
+taking him by the hand, said: "Henry, you are so near to the border
+now, can you see anything on the other side?" And the dying Thoreau
+replied: "One world at a time, Parker!" And this seems to be the
+great lesson of Life&mdash;One Plane at a Time! But though the Veil
+of Isis is impossible of being lifted entirely, still there is a
+Something that enables one to see at least dimly the features of
+the Goddess behind the veil. And that Something is that Intelligent
+Faith that "knows," although it is unable to explain even to
+itself. And the voice of that Something Within informs him who has
+that Faith: All Is Well, Brother! For beyond planes, and states,
+and universes, and time, and space, and name, and form, and
+Things&mdash;there must be THAT which transcends them all, and from
+which they all proceed. Though we may not know<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> what
+THAT is&mdash;the fact that It must exist&mdash;that It IS, is a
+sufficient guarantee that the LAW is in constant operation on all
+planes, from the lowest to the highest, and that THE COSMOS IS
+GOVERNED BY LAW! And this being so, not even an atom may be
+destroyed, nor misplaced, nor suffer Injustice; and all will attain
+the End rightly, and know the "Sat-chit-ananda" of the
+Hindus&mdash;the Being-Wisdom-Bliss Absolute that all philosophies
+and religions agree upon is the Final State of the Blessed. And to
+the occultist All are Blessed, even to the last soul in the scale
+of life. And over all the tumult and strife of Life there is always
+that Something&mdash;THAT&mdash;silently brooding, and watching,
+and waiting&mdash;the Life, Light, and Love of the All. Such is the
+message of the Illumined of all ages, races, and lands. Is it not
+worthy of our attention and consideration?</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg
+134]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">The Justice of
+Reincarnation</span>.</div>
+
+<p>There are three views entertained by men who believe in the
+existence of the soul&mdash;there are many shades of belief and
+opinion on the subject, but they may be divided into three classes.
+These three views, respectively, are as follows: (1) That the soul
+is specially created by the Supreme Power at the time of
+conception, or birth, and that its position on earth, its
+circumstances, its degree of intelligence, etc., are fixed
+arbitrarily by that power, for some inscrutable reason of its own;
+(2) That the soul was pre-existent, that is, that it existed before
+conception and birth, in some higher state not understood by us,
+from whence it was thrust into human form and birth, its position
+on earth, its circumstances, its degree of intelligence, etc.,
+being determined by causes unknown<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> to us; (3) That the
+soul is one of countless others which emanated from the Source of
+Being at some period in the past, and which souls were equal in
+power, intelligence, opportunity, etc., and which worked its way up
+by spiritual evolution from lowly forms of expression and life to
+its present state, from whence it is destined to move on and on, to
+higher and still higher forms and states of existence, until in the
+end, after millions of &aelig;ons of existence in the highest
+planes of expressed life it will again return to the Source of
+Being from which it emanated, and becomes "one with the Father,"
+not in a state of annihilated consciousness, but in a condition of
+universal consciousness with All. This view holds that the present
+condition of each soul is due to its own progress, development,
+advancement, unfoldment, or the lack of the same&mdash;the soul
+being its own Fate and Destiny&mdash;the enforcer of the Law upon
+itself, under the Law of Karma.</p>
+
+<p>Considering the first named view, namely that the soul is newly
+created, and that its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id=
+"Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> condition has been arbitrarily fixed
+by the Divine Power, the student free from prejudice or fear finds
+it difficult to escape the conclusion that under this plan of
+creation there is lacking a manifestation of Divine Justice. Even
+admitting the inability of the finite mind to fully grasp infinite
+principles, man is still forced to the realization of the manifest
+inequality and injustice of the relative positions of human beings
+on earth, providing that the same is thrust arbitrarily upon them;
+and it would seem that no amount of future reward could possibly
+equalize or explain these conditions. Unless there be "something
+back of it all," it would certainly seem that Injustice was
+manifested. Of course, many argue that the idea of Justice has
+nothing to do with the universal processes, but all who think of a
+Divine Being, filled with Love, and Justice, are compelled to think
+that such qualities must manifest themselves in the creations of
+such a Being. And, if there be nothing "back of it all," then the
+candid observer must confess that the scheme of Justice manifested
+is most faulty ac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id=
+"Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>cording even to the human imperfect
+idea of Justice.</p>
+
+<p>As Figuier, a French writer said about forty years ago: "If
+there are a few men well organized, of good constitution and robust
+health, how many are infirm, idiotic, deaf-mute, blind from birth,
+maimed, foolish and insane? My brother is handsome and well-shaped:
+I am ugly, weakly, rickety, and a hunchback. Yet we are sons of the
+same mother. Some are born into opulence, others into the most
+dreadful want. Why am I not a prince and a great lord, instead of a
+poor pilgrim on the earth, ungrateful and rebellious? Why was I
+born in Europe and at Paris, whereby civilization and art life is
+rendered supportable and easy, instead of seeing the light under
+the burning skies of the tropics, where, dressed out in a beastly
+muzzle, a skin black and oily, and locks of wool, I should have
+been exposed to the double torments of a deadly climate and a
+barbarous society? Why is not a wretched African negro in my place
+in Paris, in conditions of comfort? We have, either of us,
+done<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg
+138]</a></span> nothing to entitle us to our assigned places: we
+have invited neither this favor nor that disgrace. Why is the
+unequal distribution of the terrible evils that fall upon some men,
+and spare others? How have those deserved the partiality of
+fortune, who live in happy lands, while many of their brethren
+suffer and weep in other parts of the world?"</p>
+
+<p>Figuier continues: "Some men are endowed with all benefits of
+mind; others, on the contrary, are devoid of intelligence,
+penetration and memory. They stumble at every step in their rough
+life-paths. Their limited intelligence and their imperfect
+faculties expose them to all possible mortifications and disasters.
+They can succeed in nothing, and Fate seems to have chosen them for
+the constant objects of its most deadly blows. There are beings
+who, from the moment of their birth to the hour of their death,
+utter only cries of suffering and despair. What crime have they
+committed? Why are they here on earth? They have not petitioned to
+be here; and if they could, they would have begged that<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> this
+fatal cup might be taken from their lips. They are here in spite of
+themselves, against their will. God would be unjust and wicked if
+he imposed so miserable an existence upon beings who have done
+nothing to incur it, and have not asked for it. But God is not
+unjust or wicked: the opposite qualities belong to his perfect
+essence. Therefore the presence of man on such or such parts of the
+earth, and the unequal distribution of evil on our globe, must
+remain unexplained. If you know a doctrine, a philosophy, or a
+religion that solves these difficulties, I will destroy this book,
+and confess myself vanquished."</p>
+
+<p>The orthodox theology answers Figuier's question by the argument
+that "in our finite understanding, we cannot pretend to understand
+God's plans, purposes and designs, nor to criticize his form of
+justice." It holds that we must look beyond that mortal life for
+the evidence of God's love, and not attempt to judge it according
+to what we see here on earth of men's miseries and inequalities. It
+holds that the suffering and misery come to us as an in<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg
+140]</a></span>heritance from Adam, and as a result of the sins of
+our first parents; but that if we are "good" it will all be evened
+up and recompensed in the next world. Of course the extremists who
+hold to Predestination have held that some were happy and some
+miserable, simply because God in the exercise of His will had
+elected and predestined them to those conditions, but it would
+scarcely be fair to quote this as the position of current theology,
+because the tendency of modern theological thought is away from
+that conception. We mention it merely as showing what some have
+thought of the subject. Others have sought refuge in the idea that
+we suffer for the sins of our parents, according to the old
+doctrine that "the sins of the parents shall be visited upon the
+children," but even this is not in accordance with man's highest
+idea of justice and love.</p>
+
+<p>Passing on to the second view, namely that the soul was
+pre-existent, that is, existed in some higher state not understood
+by us, from whence it was thrust into human form, etc., we note
+that the questions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id=
+"Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> as to the cause of inequality,
+misery, etc., considered a moment ago, are still actively with
+us&mdash;this view does not straighten out the question at all. For
+whether the soul was pre-existent in a higher state, or whether it
+was freshly created, the fact remains that as souls they must be
+equal in the sense of being made by the same process, and from the
+same material, and that up to the point of their embodiment they
+had not sinned or merited any reward or punishment, nor had they
+earned anything one way or another. And yet, according to the
+theory, these equally innocent and inexperienced souls are born,
+some being thrust into the bodies of children to be born in
+environments conducive to advancement, development, etc., and
+gifted with natural advantages, while others are thrust into bodies
+of children to be born into the most wretched environments and
+surroundings, and devoid of many natural advantages&mdash;not to
+speak of the crippled, deformed, and pain-ridden ones in all walks
+of life. There is no more explanation of the problem in this view
+than there was in the first mentioned one.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg
+142]</a></span>Passing on to the third view, namely, that the soul
+is one of countless others which emanated from the Source of Being
+&aelig;ons ago, equal in power, opportunities, etc., and which
+individual soul has worked its way up to its present position
+through many rebirths and lives, in which it has gained many
+experiences and lessons, which determine its present condition, and
+which in turn will profit by the experiences and lessons of the
+present life by which the next stage of its life will be
+determined&mdash;we find what many have considered to be the only
+logical and possible explanation of the problem of life's
+inequalities, providing there is an "answer" at all, and that there
+is any such thing as a "soul," and a loving, just God. Figuier, the
+French writer, from whom we quoted that remarkable passage
+breathing the pessimism of the old view of life, a few moments ago,
+admitted that in rebirth was to be found a just explanation of the
+matter. He says: "If, on the contrary, we admit the plurality of
+human existences and reincarnation&mdash;that is, the passage
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg
+143]</a></span> the same soul through several bodies&mdash;all this
+is made wonderfully clear. Our presence on such or such a part of
+the earth is no longer the effect of a caprice of Fate, or the
+result of chance; it is merely a station in the long journey that
+we make through the world. Before our birth, we have already lived,
+and this life is the sequel and result of previous ones. We have a
+soul that we must purify, improve and ennoble during our stay upon
+earth; or having already completed an imperfect and wicked life, we
+are compelled to begin a new one, and thus strive to rise to the
+level of those who have passed on to higher planes."</p>
+
+<p>The advocates of Reincarnation point out that the idea of
+Justice is fully carried out in that view of life, inasmuch as what
+we are is determined by what we have been; and what we shall be is
+determined by what we are now; and that we are constantly urged on
+by the pressure of the unfolding spirit, and attracted upward by
+the Divine One. Under this conception there is no such thing as
+Chance&mdash;all is ac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id=
+"Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>cording to Law. As an ancient Grecian
+philosopher once said: "Without the doctrine of metempsychosis, it
+is not possible to justify the ways of God," and many other
+philosophers and theologians have followed him in this thought. If
+we enjoy, we have earned it; if we suffer, we have earned it; in
+both cases through our own endeavors and efforts, and not by
+"chance," nor by reason of the merits or demerits of our
+forefathers, nor because of "predestination" nor "election" to that
+fate. If this be true, then one is given the understanding to
+stoically bear the pains and miseries of this life without cursing
+Fate or imputing injustice to the Divine. And likewise he is given
+an incentive toward making the best of his opportunities now, in
+order to pass on to higher and more satisfactory conditions in
+future lives. Reincarnationists claim that rewards and punishments
+are properly awarded only on the plane in which the deed, good or
+bad, was committed, "else their nature is changed, their effects
+impaired, and their collateral bearings lost."<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> A
+writer on the subject has pointed out this fact in the following
+words: "Physical outrage has to be checked by the infliction of
+physical pain, and not merely by the arousing of internal regret.
+Honest lives find appropriate consequence in visible honor. But one
+career is too short for the precise balancing of accounts, and many
+are needed that every good or evil done in each may be requited on
+the earth where it took place." In reference to this mention of
+rewards and penalties, we would say that very many advanced
+Reincarnationists do not regard the conditions of life as "rewards
+and punishments," but, on the contrary, look upon them as forming
+part of the Lessons in the Kindergarten of Life, to be learned and
+profited by in future lives. We shall speak of this further in our
+consideration of the question of "Karma"&mdash;the difference is
+vital, and should be closely observed in considering the
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>Before we pass from the consideration of the question of
+Justice, as exemplified by Reincarnation, we would call your
+at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg
+146]</a></span>tention to the difference in the views of life and
+its rewards and punishments held by the orthodox theologians and
+the Reincarnationists, respectively. On the one hand, the orthodox
+theologians hold that for the deeds, good or evil, performed by a
+man during his short lifetime of a few years, and then performed
+under conditions arbitrarily imposed upon him at birth by his
+Creator, man is rewarded or punished by an eternity of happiness or
+misery&mdash;heaven or hell. Perhaps the man has lived but one or
+two years of reasonable understanding&mdash;or full three-score and
+ten&mdash;and has violated certain moral, ethical or even religious
+laws, perhaps only to the extent of refusing to believe something
+that his reason absolutely refused to accept&mdash;for this he is
+doomed to an everlasting sojourn in a place of pain, misery or
+punishment, or a state equivalent thereto. Or, on the other hand,
+he has done the things that he ought to have done, and left undone
+the things that he ought not to have done&mdash;even though this
+doing and not-doing was made very easy for him by reason of
+his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg
+147]</a></span> environment and surroundings&mdash;and to crown his
+beautiful life he had accepted the orthodox creeds and beliefs of
+his fathers, as a matter of course&mdash;then this man is rewarded
+by an eternity of bliss, happiness and joy&mdash;without end. Try
+to think of what ETERNITY means&mdash;think of the &aelig;ons upon
+&aelig;ons of time, on and on, and on, forever&mdash;and the poor
+sinner is suffering exquisite torture all that time, and in all
+time to come, without limit, respite, without mercy! And all the
+same time, the "good" man is enjoying his blissful state, without
+limit, or end, or satiety! And the time of probation, during which
+the two worked out their future fate, was as a grain of sand as
+compared with the countless universes in space in all
+eternity&mdash;a relation which reduces the span of man's lifetime
+to almost absolutely NOTHING, mathematically considered. Think of
+this&mdash;is this Justice?</p>
+
+<p>And on the other hand, from the point of view of the
+Reincarnationist, is not the measure of cause and effect more
+equitably adjusted, even if we regard it as a matter<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> of
+"reward and punishment"&mdash;a crude view by the way&mdash;when we
+see that every infraction of the law is followed by a corresponding
+effect, and an adherence to the law by a proportionate effect. Does
+not the "punishment fit the crime" better in this case&mdash;the
+rewards also. And looking at it from a reasonable point of view,
+devoid from theological bias, which plan seems to be the best
+exemplification of Justice and Natural Law, not to speak of the
+higher Divine Justice and Cosmic Law? Of course, we are not urging
+these ideas as "proofs" of Reincarnation, for strictly speaking
+"proof" must lie outside of speculation of "what ought to
+be"&mdash;proof belongs to the region of "what is" and "facts in
+experience." But, nevertheless, while one is considering the
+matter, it should be viewed from every possible aspect, in order to
+see "how it works out."</p>
+
+<p>It is also urged along the lines of the Justice of
+Reincarnation, as opposed to the injustice of the contrary
+doctrine, that there are many cases of little infants who have only
+a few days, or minutes, of this<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> life, before they pass
+out of the body in death. According to the anti-reincarnation
+doctrine, these little souls have been freshly created, and placed
+into physical bodies, and then without having had to taste of the
+experiences of life, are ushered into the higher planes, there to
+pass an eternal existence&mdash;while other souls have to live out
+their long lives of earth in order to reach the same higher states,
+and then, according to the prevailing doctrine, even then they may
+have earned eternal punishment instead of eternal bliss. According
+to this idea the happiest fate would be for all to die as infants
+(providing we were baptized, some good souls would add), and the
+death of an infant should be the occasion for the greatest
+rejoicing on the part of those who love it. But in spite of the
+doctrine, human nature does not so act. According to the doctrine
+of Reincarnation, the little babe's soul was but pursuing the same
+path as the rest of the race&mdash;it had its past, as well as its
+future, according to Law and Justice. While, if the ordinary view
+be correct, no one would begrudge the<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> infant its happy fate,
+still one would have good cause for complaint as the Inequality and
+Injustice of others having to live out long lives of pain,
+discomfort and misery, for no cause, instead of being at once
+translated into a higher life as was the infant. If the ordinary
+view be true, then why the need of earth-life at all&mdash;why not
+create a soul and then place it in the heavenly realms at once; if
+it is possible and proper in some cases, why not in all; if the
+experience is not indispensable, then why impose it on certain
+souls, when all are freshly created and equal in merit and deserts?
+If earthly life has any virtue, then the infant's soul is robbed of
+its right. If earthly life has no virtue, the adult souls are
+forced to live a useless existence on earth, running the risk of
+damnation if they fail, while the infant souls escape this. Is this
+equality of opportunity and experience, or Justice? There would
+seem to be something wrong with either the facts, or the theory.
+Test the problem with the doctrine of Reincarnation, and see how it
+works out!</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg
+151]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">The Argument for
+Reincarnation.</span></div>
+
+<p>In addition to the consideration of Justice, there are many
+other advantages claimed by the advocates of Reincarnation which
+are worthy of the careful consideration of students of the problem
+of the soul. We shall give to each of these principal points a
+brief consideration in this chapter, that you may acquaint yourself
+with the several points of the argument.</p>
+
+<p>It is argued that the principle of analogy renders it more
+reasonable to believe that the present life of the soul is but one
+link in a great chain of existences, which chain stretches far back
+into the past on one side, and far out into the future on the
+other, than to suppose that it has been specially created for this
+petty term of a few years of earth life, and then projected for
+weal or woe into an eternity of spiritual exist<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>ence.
+It is argued that the principle of Evolution on the Physical Plane
+points to an analogy of Evolution of the Spiritual Plane. It is
+reasoned that just as birth on the next plane of life follows death
+on the present one, so analogy would indicate that a death on past
+planes preceded birth on this, and so on. It is argued that every
+form of life that we know of has arisen from lower forms, which in
+turn arose from still lower forms, and so on; and that following
+the same analogy the soul has risen from lower to higher, and will
+mount on to still higher forms and planes. It is argued that
+"special creation" is unknown in the universe, and that it is far
+more reasonable to apply the principle of evolution to the soul
+than to consider it as an exception and violation of the universal
+law.</p>
+
+<p>It is also claimed by some thinkers that the idea of
+future-existence presupposes past-existence, for everything that is
+"begun" must "end" some time, and therefore if we are to suppose
+that the soul is to continue its existence in the future, we must
+think of it as having an existence in<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> the past&mdash;being
+eternal at both ends of the earth-life, as it were. Opponents of
+the idea of immortality are fond of arguing that there was no more
+reason for supposing that a soul would continue to exist after the
+death of the body, than there was for supposing that it had existed
+previously. A well-known man once was asked the question: "What
+becomes of a man's soul after death?" when he evaded the question
+by answering: "It goes back to where it came from." And to many
+this idea has seemed sufficient to make them doubt the idea of
+immortality. The ancient Greek philosophers felt it logically
+necessary for them to assert the eternal pre-existence of the soul
+in order to justify their claim of future existence for it. They
+argued that if the soul is immortal, it must have always existed,
+for an immortal thing could not have been created&mdash;if it was
+not immortal by nature, it could never be made so, and if it was
+immortal by nature, then it had always existed. The argument
+usually employed is this: A thing is either mortal or immortal, one
+or the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg
+154]</a></span> other; if it is mortal it has been born and must
+die; if it is immortal, it cannot have been born, neither can it
+die; mortality means subject to life and death&mdash;immortality
+means immunity from both. The Greeks devoted much time and care to
+this argument, and attached great importance to it. They reasoned
+that nothing that possessed Reality could have emerged from
+nothingness, nor could it pass into nothingness. If it were Real it
+was Eternal; if it was not Eternal it was not Real, and would pass
+away even as it was born. They also claimed that the sense of
+immortality possessed by the Ego, was an indication of its having
+experienced life in the past, as well as anticipating life in the
+future&mdash;there is a sense of "oldness" pervading every thought
+of the soul regarding its own nature. It is claimed as an illogical
+assumption to hold that back of the present there extends an
+eternity of non-existence for the soul, while ahead of it there
+extends an eternity of being&mdash;it is held that it is far more
+logical to regard the present<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> life as merely a
+single point in an eternity of existence.</p>
+
+<p>It is argued, further, that Reincarnation fits in with the known
+scientific principle of conservation of energy&mdash;that is, that
+no energy is ever created or is lost, but that all energy is but a
+form of the universal energy, which flows on from form to form,
+from manifestation to manifestation, ever the same, and yet
+manifesting in myriad forms&mdash;never born, never dying, but
+always moving on, and on, and on to new manifestations. Therefore
+it is thought that it is reasonable to suppose that the soul
+follows the same law of re-embodiment, rising higher and higher,
+throughout time, until finally it re-enters the Universal Spirit
+from which it emerged, and in which it will continue to exist, as
+it existed before it emerged for the cycle of manifestation. It is
+also argued that Reincarnation brings Life within the Law of Cause
+and Effect, just as is everything else in the universe. The law of
+re-birth, according to the causes generated during past lives,
+would bring the existence of the<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> soul within and in
+harmony with natural laws, instead of without and contrary to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>It is further argued that the feeling of "original sin" of which
+so many people assert a consciousness, may be explained better by
+the theory of Reincarnation than by any theological doctrine. The
+orthodox doctrine is that "original sin" was something inherited
+from Adam by reason of our forefather's transgression, but this
+jars upon the thought of today, as well it might, for what has the
+"soul" to do with Adam&mdash;it did not descend from him, or from
+aught else but the Source of Being&mdash;there is no line of
+descent for souls, though there may be for bodies. What has Adam to
+do with your soul, if it came fresh from the mint of the Maker,
+pure and unsullied&mdash;how could his sin taint your new soul?
+Theology here asserts either arrant nonsense, or else grave
+injustice. But if for "Adam" we substitute our past existences and
+the thoughts and deeds thereof, we may understand that feeling of
+conscious recognition of past wrong-doing and re<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg
+157]</a></span>morse, which so many testify to, though they be
+reasonably free from the same in the present life. The butterfly
+dimly remembers its worm state, and although it now soars, it feels
+the slime of the mud in which it once crawled.</p>
+
+<p>It is also argued that in one life the soul would fail to
+acquire the varied experience which is necessary to form a well
+rounded mentality of understanding. Dwarfed by its limited
+experience in the narrow sphere occupied by many human beings, it
+would be far from acquiring the knowledge which would seem to be
+necessary for a developed and advanced soul. Besides this there
+would be as great an inequality on the part of souls after death,
+as there is before death&mdash;some would pass into the future
+state as ignorant beings, while others would possess a full nature
+of understanding. As a leading authority has said: "A perfected man
+must have experienced every type of earthly relation and duty,
+every phase of desire, affection and passion, every form of
+temptation and every variety of conflict. No one life can
+possibly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg
+158]</a></span> furnish the material for more than a minute section
+of such experience." Along this same line it is urged that the
+soul's development must come largely from contact and relationship
+with other souls, in a variety of phases and forms. It must
+experience pain and happiness, love, pity, failure,
+success&mdash;it must know the discipline of sympathy, toleration,
+patience, energy, fortitude, foresight, gratitude, pity,
+benevolence, and love in all of its phases. This, it is urged, is
+possible only through repeated incarnations, as the span of one
+life is too small and its limit too narrow to embrace but a small
+fraction of the necessary experiences of the soul on its journey
+toward development and attainment. One must feel the sorrows and
+joys of all forms of life before "understanding" may come.
+Narrowness, lack of tolerance, prejudice, and similar forms of
+undeveloped consciousness must be wiped out by the broad
+understanding and sympathy that come only from experience.</p>
+
+<p>It is argued that only by repeated incarnations the soul is able
+to realize the futil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id=
+"Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>ity of the search for happiness and
+satisfaction in material things. One, while dissatisfied and
+disappointed at his own condition, is apt to imagine that in some
+other earthly condition he would find satisfaction and happiness
+now denied him, and dying carries with him the subsconcious desire
+to enjoy those conditions, which desire attracts him back to
+earth-life in search of those conditions. So long as the soul
+desires anything that earth can offer, it is earth-bound and drawn
+back into the vortex. But after repeated incarnations the soul
+learns well its lesson that only in itself may be found
+happiness&mdash;and that only when it learns its real nature,
+source, and destiny&mdash;and then it passes on to higher planes.
+As an authority says: "In time, the soul sees that a spiritual
+being cannot be nourished on inferior food, and that any joy short
+of union with the Divine must be illusionary."</p>
+
+<p>It is also argued that but few people, as we see them in
+earth-life, have realized the existence of a higher part of their
+being, and still fewer have asserted the<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> supremacy of the
+higher, and subordinated the lower part of the self to that higher.
+Were they to pass on to a final state of being after death, they
+would carry with them all of their lower propensities and
+attributes, and would be utterly incapable of manifesting the
+spiritual part of their nature which alone would be satisfied and
+happy in the spiritual realms. Therefore, it needs repeated lives
+in order to evolve from the lower conditions and to develop and
+unfold the higher.</p>
+
+<p>Touching upon the question of unextinguished desire, mentioned a
+moment ago, the following quotation from a writer on the subject,
+gives clearly and briefly the Reincarnationist argument regarding
+this point. The writer says: "Desire for other forms of earthly
+experience can only be extinguished by undergoing them. It is
+obvious that any one of us, if now translated to the unseen world,
+would feel regret that he had not tasted existence in some other
+situation or surroundings. He would wish to have known what it was
+to possess wealth and rank, or beauty, or to<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> live
+in a different race or climate, or to see more of the world and
+society. No spiritual ascent could progress while earthly longings
+were dragging back the soul, and so it frees itself from them by
+successively securing them and dropping them. When the round of
+such knowledge has been traversed, regret for ignorance has died
+out." This idea of "Living-Out and Out-Living" is urged by a number
+of writers and thinkers on the subject. J. Wm. Lloyd says, in his
+"Dawn Thought," on this subject: "You rise and overcome simply by
+the natural process of living fully and thus outliving, as a child
+its milk-teeth, a serpent his slough. Living and Outliving, that
+expresses it. Until you have learned the one lesson fully you are
+never ready for a new one." The same writer, in the same book, also
+says: "By sin, shame, joy, virtue and sorrow, action and reaction,
+attraction and repulsion, the soul, like a barbed arrow, ever goes
+on. It cannot go back, or return through the valves of its coming.
+But this must not be understood to be fulfilled in one and<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg
+162]</a></span> every earth-visit. It is true only of the whole
+circle-voyage of the soul. In one earth-trip, one 'life,' as we
+say, it may be that there would nothing be but a standing still or
+a turning back, nothing but sin. But the whole course of all is
+on." But there is the danger of a misunderstanding of this
+doctrine, and some have misinterpreted it, and read it to advise a
+plunging into all kinds of sinful experience in order to "live-out
+and out-live," which idea is wrong, and cannot be entertained by
+any true student of the subjects, however much it may be used by
+those who wish to avail themselves of an excuse for material
+dissipation. Mabel Collins, in her notes to "Light on the Path,"
+says on this subject: "Seek it by testing all experience, and
+remember that, when I say this, I do not say, 'Yield to the
+seduction of sense, in order to know it.' Before you have become an
+occultist, you may do this, but not afterwards. When you have
+chosen and entered the path, you cannot yield to these seductions
+without shame. Yet you can experience them without hor<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>ror;
+can weigh, observe and test them, and wait with the patience of
+confidence for the hour when they shall affect you no longer. But
+do not condemn a man that yields; stretch out your hand to him as a
+brother pilgrim whose feet have become heavy with mire. Remember, O
+disciple! that great though the gulf may be between the good man
+and the sinner, it is greater between the good man and the man who
+has attained knowledge; it is immeasurable between the good man and
+the one on the threshold of divinity. Therefore, be wary, lest too
+soon you fancy yourself a thing apart from the mass." And again,
+the same writer says: "Before you can attain knowledge you must
+have passed through all places, foul and clean alike. Therefore,
+remember that the soiled garment you shrink from touching may have
+been yours yesterday, may be yours tomorrow. And if you turn with
+horror from it when it is flung upon your shoulders, it will cling
+the more closely to you. The self-righteous man makes for himself a
+bed of mire. Abstain because it is right<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> to abstain, not
+that yourself shall be kept clean."</p>
+
+<p>It is also argued that Reincarnation is necessary in order to
+give the evolving races a chance to perfect themselves&mdash;that
+is, not through their physical descendants, which would not affect
+the souls of those living in the bodies of the races to-day, but by
+perfection and growth of the souls themselves. It is pointed out
+that to usher a savage or barbarian to the spiritual planes after
+death, no matter how true to his duty and "his lights" the soul had
+been, would be to work an absurd translation. Such a soul would not
+be fitted for the higher spiritual planes, and would be most
+unhappy and miserable there. It will be seen that Reincarnationists
+make quite a distinction between "goodness" and
+"advancement"&mdash;while they recognize and urge the former, they
+regard it as only one side of the question, the other being
+"spiritual growth and unfoldment." It will be seen that
+Reincarnation provides for a Spiritual Evolution with all of its
+advantages, as well as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165"
+id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> material evolution such as
+science holds to be correct.</p>
+
+<p>Concluding this chapter, let us quote once more from the
+authority on the subject before mentioned, who writes anonymously
+in the pamphlet from which the quotation is taken. He says: "Nature
+does nothing by leaps. She does not, in this case, introduce into a
+region of spirit and spiritual life a being who has known little
+else than matter and material life, with small comprehension even
+of that. To do so would be analogous to transferring suddenly a
+ploughboy into a company of metaphysicians. The pursuit of any
+topic implies some preliminary acquaintance with its nature, aims,
+and mental requirements; and the more elevated the topic, the more
+copious the preparation for it. It is inevitable that a being who
+has before him an eternity of progress through zones of knowledge
+and spiritual experience ever nearing the Central Sun, should be
+fitted for it through long acquisition of the faculties which alone
+can deal with it. Their delicacy, their vigor, their
+penetrative<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id=
+"Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>ness, their unlikeness to those
+called for on the material plane, show the contrast of the
+earth-life to the spirit-life. And they show, too, the
+inconceivability of a sudden transition from one to the other, of a
+policy unknown in any other department of Nature's workings, of a
+break in the law of uplifting through Evolution. A man, before he
+can become a 'god,' must first become a perfect man; and he can
+become a perfect man neither in seventy years of life on earth, nor
+in any number of years of life from which human conditions are
+absent. * * * Re-birth and re-life must go on till their purposes
+are accomplished. If, indeed, we were mere victims of an
+evolutionary law, helpless atoms on which the machinery of Nature
+pitilessly played, the prospect of a succession of incarnations, no
+one of which gave satisfaction, might drive us to mad despair. But
+we have thrust on us no such cheerless exposition. We are shown
+that Reincarnations are the law for man, because they are the
+conditions of his progress, which is also a law, but he may
+mould<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg
+167]</a></span> them and better them and lessen them. He cannot rid
+himself of the machinery, but neither should wish to. Endowed with
+the power to guide it for the best, prompted with the motive to use
+that power, he may harmonize both his aspirations and his efforts
+with the system that expressed the infinite wisdom of the supreme,
+and through the journey from the temporal to the eternal tread the
+way with steady feet, braced with the consciousness that he is one
+of an innumerable multitude, and with the certainty that he and
+they alike, if they so will it, may attain finally to that sphere
+where birth and death are but memories of the past."</p>
+
+<p>In this chapter we have given you a number of the arguments
+favorable to the doctrine of Reincarnation, from a number of
+sources. Some of these arguments do not specially appeal to us,
+personally, for the reason that they are rather more theological
+than scientific, but we have included them that the argument may
+appear as generally presented, and because we feel that in a work
+of this kind we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id=
+"Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> must not omit an argument which is
+used by many of the best authorities, simply because it may not
+appeal to our particular temperament or habit of thought. To some,
+the theological argument may appeal more strongly than would the
+scientific, and it very properly is given here. The proper way to
+present any subject is to give it in its many aspects, and as it
+may appear from varied viewpoints.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg
+169]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">The Proofs of
+Reincarnation.</span></div>
+
+<p>To many minds the "proof" of a doctrine is its reasonableness
+and its adaptability as an answer to existing problems. And,
+accordingly, to such, the many arguments advanced in favor of the
+doctrine, of which we have given a few in the preceding chapters,
+together with the almost universal acceptance of the fundamental
+ideas on the part of the race, in at least some period of its
+development, would be considered as a very good "proof" of the
+doctrine, at least so far as it might be considered as the "most
+available working theory" of the soul's existence, past and future,
+and as better meeting the requirements of a doctrine or theory than
+any other idea advanced by metaphysical, theological, or
+philosophical thinkers.</p>
+
+<p>But to the scientific mind, or the minds<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> of those who
+demand something in the nature of actual experience of facts, no
+amount of reasonable abstract theorizing and speculation is
+acceptable even in the way of a "working hypothesis," unless based
+upon some tangible "facts" or knowledge gained through human
+experience. While people possessing such minds will usually admit
+freely that the doctrine of Reincarnation is more logical than the
+opposing theories, and that it fits better the requirements of the
+case, still they will maintain that all theories regarding the soul
+must be based upon premises that cannot be established by actual
+experience in human consciousness. They hold that in absence of
+proof in experience&mdash;actual "facts"&mdash;these premises are
+not established, and that all structures of reasoning based upon
+them must partake of their insecurity. These people are like the
+slangy "man from Missouri" who "wants to be shown"&mdash;nay, more,
+they are like the companion of the above man&mdash;the Man from
+Texas, who not only says: "You've got to show me," but who also
+demands that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id=
+"Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> the thing be "placed in my hand."
+And, after all, one has no right to criticize these
+people&mdash;they are but manifesting the scientific spirit of the
+age which demands facts as a basis for theories, rather than
+theories that need facts to prove them. And, unless Reincarnation
+is able to satisfy the demands of this class of thinkers, the
+advocates of the doctrine need not complain if the scientific mind
+dismisses the doctrine as "not proven."</p>
+
+<p>After all, the best proof along the above mentioned
+lines&mdash;in fact, about the only possible strict proof&mdash;is
+the fragmentary recollections of former lives, which many people
+possess at times&mdash;these recollections often flashing across
+the mind, bringing with it a conviction that the place or thing
+"has been experienced before." Nearly every person has had glimpses
+of something that appeared to be a recollection from the past life
+of the individual. We see places that we have never known, and they
+seem perfectly familiar; we meet strangers, and we are convinced
+that we have known them in the past; we read an<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> old
+book and feel that we have seen it before, often so much so that we
+can anticipate the story or argument of the writer; we hear some
+strange philosophical doctrine, and we recognize it as an old
+friend. Many people have had this experience in the matter of
+Occultism&mdash;in the very matter of the doctrine of Reincarnation
+itself&mdash;when they first heard it, although it struck them as
+strange and unusual, yet they felt an inner conviction that it was
+an old story to them&mdash;that they "had heard it all before."
+These experiences are by far too common to be dismissed as mere
+fancy or coincidence. Nearly every living person has had some
+experience along this line.</p>
+
+<p>A recent writer along the lines of Oriental Philosophy has said
+regarding this common experience of the race: "Many people have had
+'peculiar experiences' that are accountable only upon the
+hypothesis of Metempsychosis. Who has not experienced the
+consciousness of having felt the thing before&mdash;having thought
+it some time in the dim past? Who has not witnessed<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> new
+scenes that appear old, very old? Who has not met persons for the
+first time, whose presence awakened memories of a past lying far
+back in the misty ages of long ago? Who has not been seized at
+times with the consciousness of a mighty 'oldness' of soul? Who has
+not heard music, often entirely new compositions, which somehow
+awakened memories of similar strains, scenes, places, faces,
+voices, lands, associations, and events, sounding dimly on the
+strings of memory as the breezes of the harmony floats over them?
+Who has not gazed at some old painting, or piece of statuary, with
+the sense of having seen it all before? Who has not lived through
+events which brought with them a certainty of being merely a
+repetition of some shadowy occurrences away back in lives lived
+long ago? Who has not felt the influence of the mountain, the sea,
+the desert, coming to them when they are far from such
+scenes&mdash;coming so vividly as to cause the actual scene of the
+present to fade into comparative unreality? Who has not had these
+experiences?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg
+174]</a></span>We have been informed by Hindus well advanced in the
+occult theory and practice that it is quite a common thing for
+people of their country to awaken to an almost complete
+recollection of their former lives; in some cases they have related
+details of former lives that have been fully verified by
+investigation in parts of the land very remote from their present
+residence. In one case, a Hindu sage related to us an instance
+where a poor Hindu, who had worked steadily in the village in which
+he had been born, without leaving it, ever since his childhood
+days. This man one day cried out that he had awakened to a
+recollection of having been a man of such and such a village, in a
+province hundreds of miles from his home. Some wealthy people
+became interested in the matter, and after having taken down his
+statements in writing, and after careful examination and
+questioning, they took him to the town in question. Upon entering
+the village the man seemed dazed, and cried out: "Everything is
+changed&mdash;it is the same and yet not the same!" Finally,<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg
+175]</a></span> however, he began to recognize some of the old
+landmarks of the place, and to call the places and roads by their
+names. Then, coming to a familiar corner, he cried: "Down there is
+my old home," and, rushing down the road for several hundred yards,
+he finally stopped before the ruins of an old cottage, and burst
+into tears, saying that the roof of his home had fallen in, and the
+walls were crumbling to pieces. Inquiry among the oldest men of the
+place brought to light the fact that when these aged men were boys,
+the house had been occupied by an old man, bearing the same name
+first mentioned by the Hindu as having been his own in his previous
+life. Other facts about the former location of places in the
+village were verified by the old men. Finally, while walking around
+the ruins, the man said: "There should be a pot of silver buried
+there&mdash;I hid it there when I lived here." The people rapidly
+uncovered the ground indicated, and brought to light an old pot
+containing a few pieces of silver coin of a date corresponding to
+the lifetime of the former occupant of the house. Our<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+informant told us that he had personal knowledge of a number of
+similar cases, none of which, however, were quite as complete in
+detail as the one mentioned. He also informed us that he himself,
+and a number of his acquaintances who had attained certain degrees
+of occult unfoldment, were fully aware of their past lives for
+several incarnations back.</p>
+
+<p>Another instance came under our personal observation, in which
+an American who had never been to India, when taken into a room in
+which a Hindu priest who was visiting America had erected a shrine
+or altar before which he performed his religious services, readily
+recognized the arrangement of the details of worship, ritual,
+ceremony, etc., and was conscious of having seen, or at least
+dreamed of seeing, a similar shrine at some time in the past, and
+as having had some connection with the same. The Hindu priest, upon
+hearing the American's remarks, stated that his knowledge of the
+details of the shrine, as then expressed, indicated a knowledge
+possible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg
+177]</a></span> only to one who had served at a Hindu altar in some
+capacity.</p>
+
+<p>We know of another case in which an acquaintance, a prominent
+attorney in the West, told us that when undergoing his initiation
+in the Masonic order he had a full recollection of having undergone
+the same before, and he actually anticipated each successive step.
+This knowledge, however, ceased after he had passed beyond the
+first three degrees which took him to the place where he was a full
+Master Mason, the higher degrees being entirely new to him, and
+having been apparently not experienced before. This man was not a
+believer in any doctrine of Reincarnation, and related the incident
+merely as "one of those things that no man can explain."</p>
+
+<p>We know of another case, in which a student of Hindu Philosophy
+and Oriental Occultism found that he could anticipate each step of
+the teaching and doctrine, and each bit of knowledge gained by him
+seemed merely a recollection of something known long since. So true
+was this that he was able to supply the "missing links"<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> of
+the teaching, where he had not access to the proper sources of
+information at the time, and in each case he afterward found that
+he had stated the same correctly. And this included many points of
+the Inner Teachings not generally taught to the general public, but
+reserved for the few. Subsequent contact with native Hindu teachers
+brought to light the fact that he had already unraveled many
+tangled skeins of doctrine deemed possible only to the "elect."</p>
+
+<p>Many of these recollections of the past come as if they were
+memories of something experienced in dreams, but sometimes after
+the loose end of the thought is firmly grasped and mentally drawn
+out, other bits of recollection will follow. Sir Walter Scott wrote
+in his diary in 1828: "I was strangely haunted by what I would call
+the sense of pre-existence, viz., a confused idea that nothing that
+passed was said for the first time; that the same topics had been
+discussed, and the same persons had stated the same opinions on
+them." William Home, an English writer, was instantly<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+converted from materialism to a belief in a spiritual existence by
+an incident that occurred to him in a part of London utterly
+strange to him. He entered a waiting room, and to his surprise
+everything seemed familiar to him. As he says: "I seemed to
+recognize every object. I said to myself, what is this? I have
+never been here before, and yet I have seen all this, and if so,
+there is a very peculiar knot in that shutter." He then crossed the
+room, and opened the shutter, and after examination he saw the
+identical peculiar knot that he had felt sure was there. Pythagoras
+is said to have distinctly remembered a number of his previous
+incarnations, and at one time pointed out a shield in a Grecian
+temple as having been carried by him in a previous incarnation at
+the siege of Troy. A well-known ancient Hindu sage is said to have
+transcribed a lost sacred book of doctrine from memory of its study
+in a previous life. Children often talk strangely of former lives,
+which ideas, however, are generally frightened out of them by
+reproof on the part of parents, and often<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> punishment for
+untruthfulness and romancing. As they grow older these memories
+fade away.</p>
+
+<p>People traveling in strange places often experience emotion when
+viewing some particular scene, and memory seems to painfully
+struggle to bring into the field of consciousness the former
+connection between the scene and the individual. Many persons have
+testified to these occurrences, many of them being matter-of-fact,
+unimaginative people, who had never even heard of the doctrine of
+Reincarnation. Charles Dickens, in one of his books of foreign
+travel, tells of a bridge in Italy which produced a peculiar effect
+upon him. He says: "If I had been murdered there in some former
+life, I could not have seemed to remember the place more
+thoroughly, or with more emphatic chilling of the blood; and the
+real remembrance of it acquired in that minute is so strengthened
+by the imaginary recollection that I hardly think I could forget
+it." Another recorded instance is that of a person entering a
+foreign library for the first time. Passing to<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> the
+department of ancient books, he said that he had a dim idea that a
+certain rare book was to be found on such a shelf, in such a
+corner, describing at the same time certain peculiarities of the
+volume. A search failed to discover the volume in the stated place,
+but investigation showed that it was in another place in the
+library, and an old assistant stated that a generation back it had
+been moved from its former place (as stated by the visitor), where
+it had been previously located for very many years. An examination
+of the volume showed a perfect correspondence in every detail with
+the description of the strange visitor.</p>
+
+<p>And so the story proceeds. Reference to the many works written
+on the subject of the future life of the soul will supply many more
+instances of the glimpses of recollection of past incarnations. But
+why spread these instances over more pages? The experience of other
+people, while of scientific interest and value as affording a basis
+for a theory or doctrine, will never supply the experience that the
+close and rigid investi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id=
+"Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>gator demands. Only his own
+experiences will satisfy him&mdash;and perhaps not even those, for
+he may consider them delusions. These experiences of others have
+their principal value as corroborative proofs of one's own
+experiences, and thus serve to prove that the individual experience
+was not abnormal, unusual, or a delusion. To those who have not had
+these glimpses of recollection, the only proof that can be offered
+is the usual arguments in favor of the doctrine, and the account of
+the experiences of others&mdash;this may satisfy, and may not. But
+to those who have had these glimpses&mdash;particularly in a marked
+degree&mdash;there will come a feeling of certainty and conviction
+that in some cases is as real as the certainty and conviction of
+the present existence, and which will be proof against all argument
+to the contrary. To such people the knowledge of previous
+existences is as much a matter of consciousness as the fact of the
+existence of last year&mdash;yesterday&mdash;a moment ago&mdash;or
+even the present moment, which slips away while we attempt to
+consider it. And those who have<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> this consciousness of
+past lives, even though the details may be vague, intuitively
+accept the teachings regarding the future lives of the soul. The
+soul that recognizes its "oldness" also feels its certainty of
+survival&mdash;not as a mere matter of faith, but as an item of
+consciousness, the boundaries of time being transcended.</p>
+
+<p>But there are other arguments advanced in favor of
+Reincarnation, which its advocates consider so strong as to entitle
+them to be classed as "proofs." Among these may be mentioned the
+difference in tastes, talents, predispositions, etc., noticeable
+among children and adults, and which can scarcely be attributed to
+heredity. This same idea carries one to the consideration of the
+question of "youthful genius," "prodigies," etc.</p>
+
+<p>It is a part of this argument to assume that if all souls were
+freshly created, by the same Creator, and from the same material,
+they would resemble each other very closely, and in fact would be
+practically identical. And, it is urged, the fact that every child
+is different in tastes, tempera<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>ment, qualities,
+nature, etc., independent of heredity and environment, then it must
+follow that the difference must be sought for further back.
+Children of the same parents differ very materially in nature,
+disposition, etc.; in fact, strangers are often more alike than
+children of the same parents, born within a few years of each
+other, and reared in the same environment. Those having much
+experience with young babies know that each infant has its own
+nature and disposition, and in which it differs from every other
+infant, although they may be classed into groups, of course. The
+infant a few hours born shows a gentleness, or a lack of it&mdash;a
+yielding or a struggle, a disposition to adjust itself, or a
+stubbornness, etc. And as the child grows, these traits show more
+plainly, and the nature of the individual asserts itself, subject,
+of course, to a moulding and shaping, but always asserting its
+original character in some way.</p>
+
+<p>Not only in the matter of disposition but in the matter of
+tastes, tendencies, moral inclinations, etc., do the children
+differ.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg
+185]</a></span> Some like this, and dislike that, and the reverse;
+some are attracted toward this and repelled by that, and the
+reverse; some are kind while others are cruel; some manifest an
+innate sense of refinement, while others show coarseness and lack
+of delicate feeling. This among children of the same family,
+remember. And, when the child enters school, we find this one takes
+to mathematics as the duck does to water, while its brother loathes
+the subject; the anti-arithmetic child may excel in history or
+geography, or else grammar, which is the despair of others. Some
+are at once attracted to music, and others to drawing, while both
+of these branches are most distasteful to others. And it will be
+noticed that in the studies to which the child is attracted, it
+seems to learn almost without effort, as if it were merely
+re-learning some favorite study, momentarily forgotten. And in the
+case of the disliked study, every step is attended with toil. In
+some cases the child seems to learn every branch with the minimum
+effort, and with practically no effort; while in other cases
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg
+186]</a></span> child has to plod wearily over every branch, as if
+breaking entirely new ground. And this continues into after life,
+when the adult finds this thing or that thing into which he
+naturally fits as if it were made for him, the knowledge concerning
+it coming to him like the lesson of yesterday.</p>
+
+<p>We know of a case in which a man had proved a failure in
+everything he had undertaken up to the age of forty, when his
+father-in-law, in disgust, placed him at the head of an enterprise
+which he had had to "take over" for a bad debt. The "failure"
+immediately took the keenest interest in the work, and in a month
+knew more about it than many men who had been in the concern for
+years. His mind found itself perfectly at home, and he made
+improvement after improvement rapidly, and with uniform success. He
+had found his work, and in a few years stepped to the front rank in
+the country in that particular line of business. "Blessed is he
+that hath found his work." Reincarnationists would hold that that
+man had found his work in a line similar in its men<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>tal
+demands with that of his former life or lives&mdash;not necessarily
+identical in details, but similar in its mental requirement.
+Instances of this thing are to be seen all around us. Heredity does
+not seem to account for it&mdash;nor does environment answer the
+requirements. Some other factor is there&mdash;is it
+Reincarnation?</p>
+
+<p>Allied to this phenomena is that of "youthful genius"&mdash;in
+fact, genius of any age, for that matter, for genius itself seems
+to be out of the category of the ordinary cause of heredity and
+environment, and to have its roots in some deeper, richer soil. It
+is a well-known fact that now and then a child is born which at a
+very early age shows an acquaintance with certain arts, or other
+branches of mental work, which is usually looked for only from
+those of advanced years, and after years of training. In many cases
+these children are born of parents and grandparents deficient in
+the particular branches of knowledge evidenced by the child. Babes
+scarcely able to sit on the piano stool, or to hold the violin,
+have begun to play in a way that cer<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>tainly indicated
+previous knowledge and technique, often composing original
+productions in an amazing manner. Other young children have begun
+to draw and design without any instruction whatever. Others have
+shown wonderful mathematical ability, there being several cases on
+record where such children have performed feats in mathematics
+impossible to advanced adults teaching the same lines. What are the
+cause of these phenomena? Is it Reincarnation?</p>
+
+<p>As Figuier said, years ago: "We hear it said every day that one
+child has a mathematical, another a musical, another an artistic
+turn. In others we notice savage, violent, even criminal instincts.
+After the first years of life these dispositions break out. When
+these natural aptitudes are pushed beyond the usual limit, we find
+famous examples that history has cherished, and that we love to
+recall. There is Pascal, mastering at the age of twelve years the
+greater part of Plane Geometry without any instruction, and not a
+figment of Calculus, drawing on the floor of his chamber<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg
+189]</a></span> all the figures in the first book of Euclid,
+estimating accurately the mathematical relations of them
+all&mdash;that is, reconstructing for himself a part of descriptive
+Geometry; the herdsman Mangia Melo, manipulating figures, when five
+years old, as rapidly as a calculating machine; Mozart, executing a
+sonata on the pianoforte with four-years-old fingers, and composing
+an opera at the age of eight; Theresa Milanollo, playing the violin
+at four years, with such eminent skill that Baillot said she must
+have played it before she was born; Rembrandt, drawing with
+masterly power before he could read." The same authority says, in
+reference to the fact that some of these prodigies do not become
+famous in their after years, and that their genius often seems to
+flicker out, leaving them as ordinary children: "That is easily
+understood. They come on earth with remarkable powers acquired in
+an anterior existence, but they have done nothing to develop their
+aptitudes; they have remained all their lives at the very point
+where they were at the moment of their<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> birth. The real
+man of genius is he who cultivates and improves incessantly the
+great natural aptitudes that he brought into the world."</p>
+
+<p>There is an interesting field for study, thought and
+investigation, along the lines of the early development of traits,
+tendencies, and thought in young children. Here evidently will be
+found the answer to many problems that have perplexed the race. It
+is true that heredity and environment plays an important part, but
+nevertheless, there seems to be another element working in the
+case, which science must have to reckon with in making up its final
+conclusions. Is that "something" connected with the "soul" rather
+than the mind of the child? Is that "something" that which men call
+Metempsychosis&mdash;Re-Birth&mdash;Reincarnation?</p>
+
+<p>Along the same lines, or thought, lie the great questions of
+instinctive Like and Dislike&mdash;Loves and Hates&mdash;that we
+find among people meeting as strangers. From whence come those
+strange, unaccountable attractions and repulsions that many feel
+when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg
+191]</a></span> meeting certain strangers, who could never have
+occasioned such feelings in the present life, and which heredity
+does not account for? Is it merely an absurd, irrational, fancy or
+feeling; is it the result of natures inharmonious and discordant;
+is it remnants of inherited ancestral feelings toward similar
+individuals hated, loved or feared; is it a telepathic sensing of
+certain elements in the other; or is it a manifestation of the
+feelings experienced in a past existence? Is this phenomena to be
+included in the Proofs of Reincarnation? Many people think that in
+Reincarnation the only answer may be found.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg
+192]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XI</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Arguments Against
+Reincarnation</span></div>
+
+<p>The honest consideration of any subject necessitates the
+examination of "the other side of the case," as well as the
+affirmative side. We have given much space to the presentation and
+consideration of the arguments advanced by those convinced of the
+truth of Reincarnation, and before closing our work we think it
+well to give at least a little glimpse of "the other side" as it is
+presented by the opponents of the doctrine, together with the reply
+to the same usually made by the Reincarnationists.</p>
+
+<p>The first adverse argument usually presented is that the
+advocates of Reincarnation have not established the existence of a
+"soul" which may reincarnate; nor have they proven its nature, if
+it does exist. The natural reply to this is that the doctrine of
+Reincarnation is not called upon to establish the proof of the
+existence of a "soul,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id=
+"Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> as the idea of existence of the soul
+practically is universal, and, therefore, "axiomic"&mdash;that is,
+it is a truth that may be considered as an "axiom," or self-evident
+truth, worthy of being assumed as a principle, necessary to thought
+on the subject, a proposition which it is necessary to take for
+granted, an established principle of thought on the subject.
+Strictly speaking, perhaps the fact of the existence of the soul is
+incapable of material proof, except to those who accept the fact of
+proven "spirit return," either in the shape of unmistakable
+manifestation of the disincarnate soul by materialization, or by
+equally unmistakable manifestation in the shape of communications
+of some sort from such discarnate soul. Science does not admit that
+there are any real "proofs" of the existence of a "soul" which
+persists after the death of the body&mdash;but all religious, and
+at least the older philosophical thought, generally agrees that the
+existence of such a soul is a self-evident fact, needing no proofs.
+Many regard the statement of Descartes: "I think, therefore I am,"
+as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg
+194]</a></span> logical proof of the existence of an immaterial
+soul, and others hold that the self-consciousness of every human
+being is sufficient proof that the Ego, or "I," is a something
+immaterial, ruling the material body which it inhabits. And so the
+Reincarnationists claim that this demand upon them for proof of the
+existence of the soul is not a fair one, because such discussion
+belongs to the more general field of thought; that they are
+justified in starting with the idea that the soul does exist, as an
+axiomic truth; and that their real task is to establish, not that
+the soul exists, but that it reincarnates after the death of the
+body. As Figuier says, "The difficulty is not to prove that there
+is a spiritual principle in us that resists death, for to question
+the existence of this principle we must doubt thought. The true
+problem is to ascertain if the spiritual and immortal principle
+within us is going to live again after death, in ourselves or
+somebody else. The question is, Will the immortal soul be born
+again in the same individual, physically transformed&mdash;into the
+same person?" As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id=
+"Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> to the other objection, that the
+Reincarnationists have not proven the nature of the soul, to which
+many of the advocates of the doctrine feel it necessary to reply at
+great length and with much subtle reasoning, we feel that the
+objection is not well taken. So far as Reincarnation is concerned,
+if it be taken as an axiom that the soul really exists, that is
+sufficient as a beginning for the argument in favor of the
+doctrine, and the proof or disproof of any special theory regarding
+the nature of the soul is outside of the main question, so we shall
+not consider it here. It is possible to think of the soul as a
+reincarnating entity, whether it be a monad, duad, triad, or
+septenary being.</p>
+
+<p>The second objection usually made is that Reincarnation cannot
+be true, else we would remember the incidents of our past lives,
+clearly and distinctly, the fact that the majority of persons have
+no such recollection, being held to be a disproof of the doctrine.
+The reply to this objection is (1) that it is not true that people
+do not remember the events of their past lives, the<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>
+instances quoted by us, and similar ones happening to others,
+together with the fact that nearly every one remembers something of
+the past, showing that the objection is not correctly stated. And
+(2) that the fact that we have but a very cloudy and imperfect
+recollection is not an objection at all, for have we a clear
+recollection of the events of our infancy and childhood in this
+life? Have we a clear recollection of the events of twenty years
+ago, outside of a few scattered instances, of which the majority
+are only recalled when some associated fact is mentioned? Are not
+the great majority of the events of our present life completely
+forgotten? How many can recall the events of the youthful life? Old
+companions and friends are completely forgotten or only recalled
+after much thought and assistance in the way of suggested
+associations. Then again, do we not witness a complete
+forgetfulness in cases of very old people who relapse into a state
+of "second childhood," and who then live entirely in the present,
+the past having vanished for them. There are cases of<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+people having grown old, and while retaining their reasoning
+faculties, were as children, so far as the past was concerned. A
+well-known writer, when in this state, was wont to read the books
+that he had written, enjoying them very much and not dreaming that
+he was their author. Professor Knight says of this matter: "Memory
+of the details of the past is absolutely impossible.</p>
+
+<p>"The power of the conservative faculty, though relatively great,
+is extremely limited. We forget the larger portion of experience
+soon after we have passed through it, and we should be able to
+recall the particulars of our past years, filling all the missing
+links of consciousness since we entered on the present life, before
+we were in a position to remember our ante-natal experience. Birth
+must necessarily be preceded by crossing the river of oblivion,
+while the capacity for fresh acquisition survives, and the garnered
+wealth of old experience determines the amount and characters of
+the new." Loss of memory is not loss of being&mdash;or even loss of
+individuality or character.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg
+198]</a></span>In this connection, we must mention the various
+instances of Double Personality, or Lost Personality, noted in the
+recent books on Psychology. There are a number of well
+authenticated cases in which people, from severe mental strain,
+overwork, etc., have lost the thread of Personality and forgotten
+even their own names and who have taken up life anew under new
+circumstances, which they would continue until something would
+occur to bring about a restoration of memory, when the past in all
+of its details would come back in a flash. The annals of the
+English Society for Psychical Research contain quite a number of
+such cases, which are recognized as typical. Now, would one be
+justified in asserting that such a person, while living in the
+secondary personality and consequently in entire ignorance of his
+past life, had really experienced no previous life? The same "I"
+was there&mdash;the same Ego&mdash;and yet, the personality was
+entirely different! Is it not perfectly fair and reasonable to
+consider these cases as similar to the absence of memory in cases
+of Reincarnation?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg
+199]</a></span>Let the reader lay down this book, and then endeavor
+to remember what happened in his twelfth year. He will not remember
+more than one or two, or a half dozen, events in that
+year&mdash;perhaps not one, in the absence of a diary, or perhaps
+even with the aid of one. The majority of the happenings of the
+three hundred and sixty-five days of that year are as a
+blank&mdash;as if they never had happened, so far as the memory is
+concerned. And yet, the same "I," or Ego, persists, and the
+person's character has certainly been affected and influenced by
+the experiences and lessons of that year. Perhaps in that year, the
+person may have acquired certain knowledge that he uses in his
+everyday life. And so, in this case, as with Reincarnation, the
+"essence" of the experiences are preserved, while the details are
+forgotten. For that is the Reincarnationist contention. As a matter
+of fact, advanced occultists, and other Reincarnationists, claim
+that nothing is really forgotten, but that every event is stored
+away in some of the recesses of the mind, below the level of
+consciousness--which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id=
+"Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>idea agrees with that of modern
+psychologists. And Reincarnationists claim that when man unfolds
+sufficiently on some higher plane, he will have a full recollection
+of his past experiences in all of his incarnations. Some
+Reincarnationists claim that as the soul passes from the body all
+the events of that particular life pass rapidly before its mind, in
+review, before the waters of Lethe, or oblivion, causes
+forgetfulness.</p>
+
+<p>Closely allied to the last mentioned argument against
+Reincarnation is the one that as the memory of the past life is
+absent, or nearly so, the new personality is practically a new
+soul, instead of the old one reincarnated, and that it is
+unreasonable and unjust to have it enjoy or suffer by reasons of
+its experiences and acts in the previous life. We think that the
+answers to the last mentioned objection are answers to this one
+also. The "I," Ego, or Individuality, being the same, it matters
+not if the details of the old Personality be forgotten. You are the
+same "I" that lived fifty years ago in the same body<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+&mdash;or even ten years ago&mdash;and you are enjoying certain
+things, or suffering from certain things, done or left undone at
+the previous time, although you have forgotten the incidents. The
+impress of the thing is on your Character, and you are today
+largely what you are by reason of what you have been in past years,
+though those years are forgotten by you. This you will readily
+admit, and yet the argument of the Reincarnationists is merely an
+extension of the same idea. As Figuier says: "The soul, in spite of
+its journeys, in the midst of its incarnations and divers
+metamorphoses remains always identical with itself; only at each
+metempsychosis, each metamorphosis of the external being, improving
+and purifying itself, growing in power and intellectual grasp."</p>
+
+<p>Another argument against Reincarnation is that it is not
+necessary, for the reason that Heredity accounts for all of the
+facts claimed as corroborative of Reincarnation. Answering this the
+advocates of the doctrine insist that Heredity does not account for
+all the facts, inasmuch as children are<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> born with marked
+talents and genius, while none of their family for generations back
+have displayed any such tendencies. They also claim that if
+Heredity were the only factor in the case, there would be no
+advance in the races, as the children would be precisely like their
+ancestors, no variety or improvement being possible. But it must be
+remembered that Reincarnationists do not deny certain effects of
+Heredity, particularly along physical lines, and to an extent along
+mental lines, in the way of perpetuating "tendencies," which,
+however, are and may be overcome by the individuality of the child.
+Moreover, the doctrine holds that one of the laws of Rebirth is
+that the reincarnating soul is attracted to parents harmonious to
+itself, and likely to afford the environments and association
+desirable to the soul. So in this way the characteristics likely to
+be transmitted to the offspring are those which are sought for and
+desired by the reincarnating soul. The law of Rebirth is held to be
+as exact and certain as the laws of mathematics or chemistry, the
+parents, as well as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id=
+"Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> the child, forming the combination
+which brings forth the rebirth. Rebirth is held to be above the
+mere wish of the reincarnating soul&mdash;it is in accordance with
+an invariable natural law, which has Justice and Advancement as its
+basis.</p>
+
+<p>Another argument against Reincarnation is that it holds that
+human souls are reborn as animals, in some cases. This objection we
+shall not discuss, for the reason that the advanced ideas of
+Reincarnation expressly forbid any such interpretation, and
+distinctly deny its legitimate place in the doctrine. Among some of
+the primitive people this idea of transmigration in the bodies of
+animals has been held, but never among advanced occultists, or the
+leaders in philosophical thought favoring Reincarnation.
+Reincarnation teaches the Evolution of the soul from lowly forms to
+higher, but never the Devolution or going back into animal forms. A
+study of the doctrine of Reincarnation will dispel this erroneous
+idea from the mind of an intelligent person.</p>
+
+<p>Another favorite argument is that it is<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> repulsive to the
+mind and soul of the average person. Analysis of this objection
+will show that what is repugnant to the person is usually the fear
+that he will be born again without a memory of the present, which
+seems like a loss of the self. A moment's consideration will show
+that this objection is ill founded. No one objects to the idea of
+living in the same body for, say, ten years or twenty years more,
+in health. But at the end of that ten or twenty years he will be
+practically a different person, by reason of the new experiences he
+has undergone. Persons change very much in twenty years, and yet
+they are the same individuals&mdash;the same "I" is there with
+them. And at the end of the twenty years they will have forgotten
+the majority of the events of the present year, but they do not
+object to that. When one realizes that the Individual, or "I," is
+the Real Self instead of the Personality, or the "John Smith,
+grocer, aged 36," part of them&mdash;then will they cease to fear
+the loss of the personality of the day or year. They will know that
+the "I" is the "Self"&mdash;the same<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> yesterday, today and
+tomorrow. Be the doctrine of Reincarnation true or false, the fact
+remains that so long as YOU exist, it will be the same "I" in you
+that you will know that "I am." It will always be "I
+AM&mdash;HERE&mdash;NOW," with you, be it this moment, or a hundred
+years, or a million years hence. YOU can never be SOMEONE ELSE, no
+matter what form you wear, nor by what name you are known, nor what
+personality you may be acting through, nor in what place you may
+have your abode, nor on what plane of existence you may be. You
+will always be YOURSELF&mdash;and, as we have just said, it will
+always be "I AM&mdash;HERE&mdash;NOW" with You. The body, and even
+the Personality, are things akin to garments which you wear and
+take off without affecting your Real Self.</p>
+
+<p>Then we must note another objection often made by people in
+discussing Reincarnation. They say, "But I do not WANT to come
+back!" To this the Reincarnationists answer that, if one has
+reached a stage in which he really has no<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> desire for
+anything that the earth can offer him, then such a soul will not
+likely have to reincarnate again on earth, for it has passed beyond
+the need of earthly experiences, and has worn out its earth Karma.
+But they hold that but few people really have reached this stage.
+What one really means is that he does not want any more of
+Earth&mdash;life similar to that which he has been undergoing. But
+if he thought that he could have certain things&mdash;riches,
+position, fame, beauty, influence, and the rest of it, he would be
+perfectly willing to "come back." Or else he might be so bound by
+links of Karma, acting by reason of Love or Hate, Attachment or
+Repulsion, or by duties unperformed, or moral debts unpaid, that he
+might be brought back to work out the old problems until he had
+solved them. But even this is explained by those Reincarnationists
+who hold to the idea of Desire as the great motive power of Karma,
+and who hold that if one has risen above all earthly desire or
+dislike, that soul is freed from the attraction of earth-life, and
+is prepared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id=
+"Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> to go on higher at once, or else
+wait in realms of bliss until the race is ready to pass on,
+according to the various theories held by the various advocates of
+the doctrine. A little self-examination will show one whether he is
+free from all desire to "come back," or not. But, after all, if
+there is Ultimate Justice in the plan, working ever and ever for
+our good and advancements, as the Reincarnationists
+claim&mdash;then it must follow that each of us is in just the best
+place for his own good at the present moment, and will always be in
+a like advantageous position and condition. And if that be so, then
+there is no cause for complaint or objection on our part, and our
+sole concern should be in the words of the Persian sage, to "So
+live, that that which must come and will come, may come well,"
+living on one day at a time, doing the best you know how, living
+always in the belief that "it is well with us now and evermore,"
+and that "the Power which has us in charge Here will have us in
+charge There." There is a good philosophy for Living and Dying.
+And, this being true,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id=
+"Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> though you may have to "come back,"
+you will not have to "go back," or fall behind in the Scale of
+Advancement or Spiritual Evolution&mdash;for it must always be
+Onward and Upward on the Ladder of Life! Such is the Law!</p>
+
+<p>Another objection very often urged against the doctrine of
+Reincarnation is that "it is un-Christian, and derived from pagan
+and heathen sources, and is not in accord with the highest
+conceptions of the immortality of the soul." Answering this
+objection, it may be said that, insofar as Reincarnation is not a
+generally accepted doctrine in the orthodox Christian Churches of
+today, it may be said to be non-Christian (rather than
+un-Christian), but when it is seen that Pre-existence and Rebirth
+was held as Truth by many of the Early Fathers of the Church, and
+that the doctrine was finally condemned by the dominant majority in
+Church Councils only by means of the most severe methods and the
+exercise of the most arbitrary authority, it may be seen that in
+the opinion of many of the most eminent early authorities<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg
+209]</a></span> there was nothing "un-Christian" about it, but that
+it was a proper doctrine of the Church. The doctrine was simply
+"voted down," just as were many important doctrines revered by some
+of the great minds of the early church, in some cases the decision
+being made by a majority of one vote. And, again, there have been
+many bright minds in the Christian Church who persisted in the
+belief that the doctrine was far more consistent with the Inner
+Teachings of Christianity than the prevailing conception, and based
+upon quite as good authority.</p>
+
+<p>So far as the charge that it is "derived from pagan and heathen
+sources" is concerned, it must be answered that certainly the
+doctrine was accepted by the "pagan and heathen" world centuries
+before the dawn of Christianity, but, for that matter, so was the
+doctrine regarding the soul's future generally accepted by orthodox
+Christianity&mdash;in fact, nearly every doctrine or theory
+regarding the survival of the soul was "derived from pagan and
+heathen sources." The "pagan and heath<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>en" mind had
+thought long and earnestly upon this great problem, and the field
+of thought had been pretty well covered before the advent of
+Christianity. In fact, Christianity added no new
+doctrine&mdash;invented no new theory&mdash;and is far from being
+clear and explicit in its teachings on the subject, the result
+being that the early Christians were divided among themselves on
+the matter, different sects and schools favoring different
+doctrines, each and all of which had been "derived from pagan and
+heathen sources." If all the doctrines regarding the immortality of
+the soul are to be judged by the test of their having been, or not
+been, "derived from pagan and heathen sources," then the entire
+body of doctrine and thought on the subject must be thrown out of
+the Christian mind, which must then endeavor to create or invent an
+entirely new doctrine which has never been thought of by a "pagan
+or heathen"&mdash;a very difficult task, by the way, considering
+the activity of the pagan and heathen mind in that respect. It must
+be remembered that there is no au<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>thoritative teaching on
+this subject&mdash;none coming direct from Jesus. The Christian
+Doctrines on the subject come from the Theologians, and represent
+simply the views of the "majority" of some Church Council&mdash;or
+of the most powerful faction.</p>
+
+<p>While the objection that Reincarnation "is not in accord with
+the highest conceptions of the immortality of the soul" is one that
+must depend almost entirely upon the personal bias or opinion of
+the individual as to what constitutes "the highest conceptions,"
+still a comparison of the conceptions is not out of the way at this
+place. Do you know what was the doctrine favored by the dominant
+majority in the Church Councils, and for which Pre-Existence and
+Re-Birth finally was discarded? Do you know the dogma of the Church
+and the belief of masses of the orthodox Christians of the early
+centuries? Well, it was this: That at the death of the body, the
+person passes into a state of "coma," or unconsciousness, in which
+state he rests today, awaiting the sound of the trumpet of the
+great Day of Judgment, when the dead<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> shall be raised and
+the righteous given eternal life IN THEIR FORMER BODIES, while the
+wicked in their bodies may pass into eternal torment. That is the
+doctrine. You doubt it? Then look over the authorities and examine
+even the current creeds of today, many of which state practically
+the same thing. This belief passed into one of the Christian Creed,
+in the words: "I believe in the Resurrection of the Body."</p>
+
+<p>The great masses of Christians today, in general thought on the
+subject, speak as if the accepted doctrine of the Church was that
+the soul passed to Judgment, and then eternal soul life in Heaven
+or Hell immediately after the death of the body, thus ignoring the
+dogmas of the Church Councils regarding the future Day of Judgment
+and the Resurrection of the Body at that time. A little questioning
+of the religious teachers, and a little examination of religious
+history, and the creeds and doctrines of their respective churches,
+would astonish many good church members who have been fondly
+thinking of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id=
+"Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> beloved ones, who have passed on, as
+even now dwelling in Heaven as blessed angels. They would be
+astonished to find that the "angels" of the churches are not the
+souls of the good people who have been judged and awarded heavenly
+joys, but, rather, a body of supernatural beings who never
+inhabited the flesh; and that instead of their loved ones now
+enjoying the heavenly realms, the dogmas hold that they are now in
+a state of "coma" or unconsciousness, awaiting the great Day of
+Judgment, when their bodies will be resurrected and life
+everlasting given them. Those who are interested in the matter, and
+who may doubt the above statement, are invited to examine the
+records for themselves. The doctrine of the Resurrection of the
+Body, which is of undoubted "pagan and heathen" origin, was a
+favorite theological dogma of the Church in the first thousand
+years of its existence, and for many centuries after, and it still
+occupies a most important place in the church doctrines today,
+although it is not so often publicly preached or taught.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg
+214]</a></span>David Kay says: "The great distinguishing doctrine
+of Christianity is not the Immortality of the Soul, but the
+Resurrection of the Body. That the soul of man is immortal was a
+common belief among the Ancients, from whom it found its way at an
+early period into the Christian Church, but the most influential of
+the early Fathers were strenuously opposed to it, holding that the
+human soul was not essentially immortal, but only, like the body,
+capable of immortality." Vinet says: "The union of the soul and
+body appears to me essential and indissoluble. Man without a body
+is, in my opinion, man no longer; and God has thought and willed
+him embodied, and not otherwise. According to passages in the
+Scriptures, we can not doubt that the body, or a body, is essential
+to human personality and to the very idea of man."</p>
+
+<p>John Milton said: "That the spirit of man should be separate
+from the body, so as to have a perfect and intelligent existence
+independent of it, is nowhere said in Scripture, and the doctrine
+is evidently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id=
+"Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> at variance both with nature and
+reason." Masson, commenting on Milton's conception, says: "Milton's
+conception is that at the last gasp of breath the whole man dies,
+soul and body together, and that not until the Resurrection, when
+the body is revived, does the soul live again, does the man or
+woman live again, in any sense or way, whether for happiness or
+misery.... Are the souls of the millions on millions of human
+beings who have died since Adam, are those souls ready either with
+God and the angels in Heaven, or down in the diabolic world waiting
+to be rejoined to their bodies on the Resurrection Day? They are
+not, says Milton; but soul and bodies together, he says, are dead
+alike, sleeping alike, defunct alike, till that day comes." And
+many Christian theologians have held firmly to this doctrine, as
+may be seen by reference to any standard encyclopedia, or work on
+theology. Coleridge said: "Some of the most influential of the
+early Christian writers were materialists, not as holding the soul
+to be the mere result of bodily organization, but as holding<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg
+216]</a></span> the soul itself to be material&mdash;corporeal. It
+appears that in those days the vulgar held the soul to be
+incorporeal, according to the views of Plato and others, but that
+the orthodox Christian divines looked upon this as an impious,
+unscriptural opinion." Dr. R. S. Candlish said: "You live again in
+the body&mdash;in the very body, as to all essential properties,
+and to all practical intents and purposes in which you live now. I
+am to live not a ghost, a spectre, a spirit, I am to live then, as
+I live now, in the body." Dr. Arnold says: "I think that the
+Christian doctrine of the Resurrection meets the materialists so
+far as this&mdash;that it does imply that a body or an organization
+of some sort is necessary to the full development of man's
+nature."</p>
+
+<p>Rev. R. J. Campbell, the eminent English clergyman, in his
+recent work entitled, "The New Theology," says, speaking of the
+popular evangelical views: "But they are even more chaotic on the
+subject of death and whatever follows death. It does not seem to be
+generally recognized that Christian thought has never been
+really<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg
+217]</a></span> clear concerning the Resurrection, especially in
+relation to future judgment. One view has been that the deceased
+saint lies sleeping in the grave until the archangel's trumpet
+shall sound and bid all mankind awake for the great assize. Anyone
+who reads the New Testament without prejudice will see that this
+was Paul's earlier view, although later on he changed it for
+another. There is a good deal of our current, every-day religious
+phaseology which presumes it still&mdash;'Father, in thy gracious
+keeping, leave we now thy servant sleeping.' But alongside this
+view, another which is a flagrant contradiction of it has come down
+to us, namely, that immediately after death the soul goes straight
+to Heaven or Hell, as the case may be, without waiting for the
+archangel's trumpet and the grand assize. On the whole, this is the
+dominant theory of the situation in the Protestant circles, and is
+much less reasonable than the Catholic doctrine of purgatory,
+however much the latter may have been abused. But under this view,
+what is the exact significance of the Judgment Day<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> and
+the Physical Resurrection? One might think they might be accounted
+superfluous. What is the good of tormenting a soul in Hell for
+ages, and then whirling it back to the body in order to rise again
+and receive a solemn public condemnation? Better leave it in the
+Inferno and save trouble, especially as the solemn trial is
+meaningless, seeing that a part of the sentence has already been
+undergone and that there is no hope that any portion of it will
+ever be remitted. Truly the tender mercies with which the
+theologians have credited the Almighty are cruel indeed!"</p>
+
+<p>But, by the irony of progress, the orthodox churches are
+gradually coming around to the one much-despised Platonic
+conception of the naturally Immortal Immaterial Soul&mdash;the
+"pagan and heathen" idea, so much at variance with the opposing
+doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body, which doctrine really did
+not teach the "immortality of the soul" at all. As Prof. Nathaniel
+Schmidt says, in an article in a standard encyclopedia: "The
+doctrine of the natural immortality of the human soul<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>
+became so important a part of Christian thought that the
+resurrection naturally lost its vital significance, and it has
+practically held no place in the great systems of philosophy
+elaborated by the Christian thinkers of modern times." But still,
+the letter of the old doctrine persists on the books of the church
+and in its creeds, although opposed to the enlightened spirit now
+manifesting in the churches which is moving more and more toward
+the "pagan and heathen" conception of a naturally Immaterial and
+Immortal Soul, rather than in a Resurrection of the Body and an
+eternal life therein.</p>
+
+<p>It is scarcely worth while here to contrast the two
+doctrines&mdash;the Immortal Immaterial Soul on the one hand, and
+the Immortal Body on the other. The latter conception is so
+primitively crude, and so foreign to modern thought, that it
+scarcely needs an argument against it. The thought of the necessity
+of the soul for a material body&mdash;the same old material body
+that it once cast off like a worn out garment&mdash;a body perhaps
+worn by disease, crippled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220"
+id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> by "accident" or "the slipping of
+the hand of the Potter"&mdash;a body similar to those we see around
+us every day&mdash;the Immortal Soul needing such a garment in
+order to exist! Better accept plain Materialism, and say that there
+is no soul and that the body perishes and all else with it, than
+such a gross doctrine which is simply a materialistic Immortality.
+So far as this doctrine being "the highest conception of the
+Immortality of the Soul," as contrasted with the "pagan and
+heathen" doctrine of Reincarnation&mdash;it is not a "conception of
+the Immortality of the Soul" at all, but a flat contradiction of
+it. It is a doctrine of the "Immortality of the Body," which bears
+plain marks of a very lowly "pagan and heathen" origin. And as to
+the "later" Christian conception, it may be seen that there is
+nothing in the idea of Re-birth which is inconsistent
+therewith&mdash;in fact, the two ideas naturally blend into each
+other.</p>
+
+<p>In the above discussion our whole intent has been to answer the
+argument against Reincarnation which charges that the latter<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg
+221]</a></span> is "derived from pagan and heathen sources, and is
+not in accord with the highest conceptions of the immortality of
+the soul." And in order to do this we have found it necessary to
+examine the opposing theological dogmas as we find them, and to
+show that they do not come up to the claims of being "the highest
+conception," etc. We think that the strongest point against the
+dogmas may be found in the claims of their advocates. That the
+Church is now growing away from them only proves their unfitness as
+"the highest conception." And Reincarnationists hold that as the
+Church grows in favor of the Immaterial Immortal Soul, so will it
+find itself inclining toward the companion-doctrine of
+Pre-existence and Re-birth, in some of its varied forms, probably
+that of the Early Fathers of the Church, such as Origen and his
+followers&mdash;that the Church will again claim its own.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg
+222]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">The Law of
+Karma.</span></div>
+
+<p>"Karma" is a term in general use among the Hindus, and the
+Western believers in Reincarnation, the meaning of which is
+susceptible of various shades of definition and interpretation. It
+is most important to all students of the subject of Reincarnation,
+for it is the companion doctrine&mdash;the twin-truth&mdash;to the
+doctrine of Metempsychosis. Strictly speaking, "Karma" is the Law
+of Cause and Effect as applied to the life of the soul&mdash;the
+law whereby it reaps the results of its own sowing, or suffers the
+reaction from its own action. To the majority of Reincarnationists,
+however, it has a larger meaning, and is used in the sense of the
+Law of Justice, or the Law of Reward and Punishment, operating
+along the lines of personal experience, personal life, and personal
+character.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg
+223]</a></span>Many authorities hold that the original idea of
+Karma was that of a great natural law operating along exact lines,
+as do the laws of mathematics and chemistry, bringing forth the
+exact effect from every cause, and being, above all, questions of
+good or evil, reward or punishment, morality or immorality, etc.,
+and acting as a great natural force above all such questions of
+human conduct. To those who still adhere to this conception, Karma
+is like the Law of Gravitation, which operates without regard to
+persons, morals or questions of good and evil, just as does any
+other great natural law. In this view the only "right" or "wrong"
+would be the effect of an action&mdash;that is, whether it was
+conducive to one's welfare and that of the race, or the reverse. In
+this view, if a child places its hand on a hot stove, the action is
+"wrong," because it brings pain and unhappiness, although the act
+is neither moral or immoral. And another action is "right" because
+it brings happiness, well-being and satisfaction, present and
+future, although the act was neither moral nor immoral. In
+this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg
+224]</a></span> view there can be neither reward nor punishment, in
+the common acceptation of the term, although in another sense there
+is a reward for such "right" doing, and a punishment for such
+"wrong" doing, as the child with the burnt hand may testify to.</p>
+
+<p>In this sense of the term, some of the older schools of
+Reincarnation accepted Karma as determining the Re-Birth, along the
+lines of Desire and Attraction, holding that the souls' character
+would attract it to re-birth along the lines of its strongest
+desires, and in such environment as would give it the greatest
+opportunity to work out those desires into action, taking the pains
+and pleasures of experience arising from such action, and thus
+moulding a new, or fuller character, which would create new Karma,
+which would determine the future birth, etc., and so on, and on.
+Those holding to this view believed that in this way the soul would
+learn its lesson, with many a crack over the knuckles, and with the
+pain of many an experience that would tend to turn it into the road
+most condu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id=
+"Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>cive to spiritual happiness and
+well-being; and lead it away from the road of material desires and
+pleasures, because the repeated experiences had shown that no true
+spiritual well-being was to be obtained therefrom. In other words,
+the soul, in its spiritual childhood, was just like a little child
+in the physical world, learning by experience that some things
+worked for its "good" and others for "bad." This view naturally
+carried with it the idea that true ethics would show that whatever
+tended toward the advancement of the soul was "good," and whatever
+retarded its advancement was "bad," in spite of any arbitrary
+standard of right or wrong erected by man during the ages, and
+which standard has constantly changed from time to time, is
+changing now, and always will change.</p>
+
+<p>But the Hindu mind, especially, soon enlarged upon this original
+idea of Karma, and the priests of India soon had the idea of Karma
+working as a great rewarder of "good," and a great punisher of
+"evil." Corresponding to the rewards and punish<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>ments
+in the future life, as taught by Christian preachers, the Hindu
+priests held over the sinner the terrors of Karma; and the rewards
+promised the good people from the same source served to spur on the
+worshiper to actions in accordance with the ethics of the
+particular church preaching the doctrine. It was taught that the
+man's future state, in the next incarnation, and perhaps for many
+others, depended upon his state of "goodness," in accordance with
+the laws of the church and priestly teaching&mdash;surely as
+powerful an argument and as terrifying a threat as the orthodox
+"bribe of heaven, and threat of hell" of the Western world. The
+effect of this teaching is seen among the masses of the but
+slightly educated Hindu classes of today, who are very desirous of
+acquiring "merit" by performing some "good" deed, such as bestowing
+alms upon the wandering religious mendicant; making contributions
+to the temples, etc., as well as performing the acts of ordinary
+good will toward men; and who are as equally anxious to avoid
+acquiring "demerit" from the lack of prop<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>er observances,
+and the performance of improper actions. While the general effect
+of this may be in the direction of holding the ignorant masses in
+the ethical road most conducive to the public weal, it also has a
+tendency to foster credulity, superstition and imposition, just as
+do similar teachings in any land, time, under the cover of any
+religion. There is a strong family resemblance between these
+teachings among all the religions, and there are many men who hold
+that this "crack of the theological whip" is most necessary for the
+keeping of the masses of the people in the strait road of morality,
+they being held incapable of the practice of "doing good for good's
+sake, and avoiding evil because it is evil." We shall not discuss
+this question&mdash;decide it for yourself.</p>
+
+<p>One of the strongest applications of the above mentioned form of
+the doctrine in India is the teaching that the caste of the man in
+his next incarnation will be determined by his degree of "good
+conduct" in the present life&mdash;and that his present caste has
+been determined by his conduct<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> in his previous lives.
+No one who has not studied the importance of "caste" in India can
+begin to understand how powerful a lever this teaching is upon the
+people of India. From the exalted Brahman caste, the priestly
+caste&mdash;down to the Sudra caste of unskilled laborers, or even
+still further down to the Pariahs or outcasts, the caste lines are
+strongly marked; the higher caste person deeming it the greatest
+disgrace to be touched by one of an inferior caste, or to eat food
+prepared by a lower-caste person, and so on in every act of daily
+life. The only comparison possible to the American mind is the
+attitude of the old-time Southerner toward the lowest class of
+negroes, and even in this case the prejudice does not extend so far
+as in the case of the Hindus, for the Southerner will eat food
+cooked by a negro servant, and will permit the latter to shave him,
+act as his valet, etc., something at which the high-caste Hindu
+would be horrified on the part of one below him in caste. This
+being understood, it is easy to see how careful a high-caste Hindu
+would be to avoid per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id=
+"Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>forming actions which might rob him
+of his caste in his next life, and how powerful an incentive it is
+to a low-caste Hindu to strive for birth in a higher caste after
+many incarnations. To people holding such a view, birth in a low
+caste is the mark of crime and evil action performed in a previous
+life, and the low-born is accordingly felt to be worthy of no
+respect. We understand, from Hindu acquaintances, that this idea is
+gradually being dispelled in India, and an era of common human
+brotherhood and common interest is beginning to manifest
+itself.</p>
+
+<p>In the Western world, the Reincarnationists, without doubt, have
+been greatly affected by the prevailing orthodox Hindu conception
+of Karma, rather than by the Grecian and general occult conception.
+Although there are many who regard Karma as rather a moulder of
+character, and consequently a prime factor in the re-birth, rather
+than as a dispenser of rewards and punishments&mdash;still, there
+are many who, discarding the orthodox Devil of their former faith,
+have found a worthy substi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230"
+id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>tute for him in their conception
+of Karma, and manifest the same terror and fear of the new devil as
+of the old one&mdash;and his name may be summed up as FEAR, in both
+cases.</p>
+
+<p>Theosophists have discussed the matter of Karma very thoroughly,
+and their leading authorities have written much about it, its
+various interpretations showing in the shades of opinion among the
+writers. Generally speaking, however, it may be said that they have
+bridged over the chasm between the "natural law" idea and that of
+"the moral law," with its rewards and punishments, by an
+interpretation which places one foot on each conception, holding
+that there is truth in each. Of course, justice requires the
+reference of that student to the Theosophical writings themselves,
+for a detailed understanding of their views, but we feel that a
+brief summary of their general interpretation would be in order at
+this place.</p>
+
+<p>One of their leading authorities states that the Law of Karma is
+automatic in action, and that there is no possible escape<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg
+231]</a></span> from it. He likewise holds that Absolute Justice is
+manifested in its operations, the idea of mercy or wrath being
+absent from it; and that, consequently, every debt must be paid in
+full, to the last penny, and that there is no vicarious atonement
+or exceptions made in answer to supplications to a higher source.
+But he particularly states that this action of the law must not be
+confused with ordinary reward and punishment for "good deed or
+bad," but that the law acts just as does any other law of Nature,
+just as if we put our hand in the fire we shall be burned as a
+natural consequence, and not as a punishment. In his statement of
+this view he says: "We hold that sorrow and suffering flow from sin
+just precisely in that way, under the direct working of natural
+law. It may be said, perhaps, that, obviously, the good man does
+not always reap his reward of good results, nor does the wicked man
+always suffer. Not always immediately; not always within our ken;
+but assuredly, eventually and inexorably." The writer then goes on
+to define his conception of Good and Evil. He<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+says: "We shall see more clearly that this must be so if we define
+exactly what we mean by good and evil. Our religious brothers would
+tell us that that was good which was in accordance with God's will,
+and that that was evil which was in opposition to it. The
+scientific man would say that that was good which helped evolution,
+and whatever hindered it was evil. Those two men are in reality
+saying exactly the same thing; for God's will for man is evolution,
+and when that is clearly realized all conflict between religion and
+science is at once ended. Anything, therefore, which is against
+evolution of humanity as a whole is against the Divine will. We see
+at once that when a man struggles to gain anything for himself at
+the expense of others he is distinctly doing evil, and it is evil
+because it is against the interest of the whole. Therefore the only
+true gain is that which is a gain for the race as a whole, and the
+man who gains something without cost or wrong to anyone is raising
+the whole race somewhat in the process. He is moving in<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> the
+direction of evolution, while the other man is moving against
+it."</p>
+
+<p>The same writer then gives the list of the three kinds of Karma,
+according to the Hindu teachings, namely: "1. There is the
+Samchita, or 'piled up' Karma&mdash;the whole mass that still
+remains behind the man not yet worked out&mdash;the entire unpaid
+balance of the debit and credit account; 2. There is the Prarabdha,
+or 'beginning' Karma&mdash;the amount apportioned to the man at the
+commencement of each life&mdash;his destiny for that life, as it
+were; 3. There is the Kriomana Karma, that which we are now, by our
+actions in this present life, making for the future." He further
+states: "That second type, the Prarabdha Karma, is the only destiny
+which can be said to exist for man. That is what an astrologer
+might foretell for us&mdash;that we have apportioned to us so much
+good or evil fortune&mdash;so much the result of the good and evil
+actions of our past lives which will react on us in this. But we
+should remember always that this result of previous action can
+never com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg
+234]</a></span>pel us to action in the present. It may put us under
+conditions in which it will be difficult to avoid an act, but it
+can never compel us to commit it. The man of ordinary development
+would probably yield to the circumstances and commit the act; but
+he may assert his free will, rise superior to the circumstances,
+and gain a victory and a step in evolution. So with a good action,
+no man is forced into that either, but an opportunity is given to
+him. If he takes it certain results will follow&mdash;not
+necessarily a happy or a wealthy life next time, but certainly a
+life of wider opportunity. That seems to be one of the things that
+are quite certain&mdash;that the man who has done well in this life
+has always the opportunity of doing still better in the next. This
+is nature's reward for good work&mdash;the opportunity to do more
+work. Of course, wealth is a great opportunity, so the reward often
+comes in that form, but the essence of the reward is the
+opportunity and not the pleasure which may be supposed to accompany
+the wealth." Another Theosophical writer says further on the
+subject of Kar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id=
+"Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>ma: "Just as all these phases of
+Karma have sway over the individual man, so they similarly operate
+upon races, nations and families. Each race has its karma as a
+whole. If it be good, that race goes forward; if bad, it goes
+out&mdash;annihilated as a race&mdash;though the souls concerned
+take up their karma in other races and bodies. Nations cannot
+escape their national karma, and any nation that has acted in a
+wicked manner must suffer some day, be it soon or late." The same
+writer sums up the idea of individual unhappiness in any life, as
+follows: "(a) It is punishment for evil done in past lives; or (b)
+it is discipline taken up by the Ego for the purpose of eliminating
+defects or acquiring fortitude and sympathy. When defects are
+eliminated it is like removing the obstruction in an irrigating
+canal which then lets the water flow on. Happiness is explained in
+the same way&mdash;the result of prior lives of goodness."</p>
+
+<p>The general idea of a number of writers on the subject of Karma
+is that "as ye sow, so shall ye reap," brought down to a won<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg
+236]</a></span>derful detail of arrangement, and effect flowing
+from causes. This conception, carried to its logical conclusion,
+would insist that every single bit of pain and unhappiness in this
+life is the result of some bad deed done either in the present life
+or in the past, and every bit of happiness, joy or pleasure, the
+result of some good action performed either in the present or past
+life. This conception of Karma affords us the most intricate,
+complex and detailed idea of reward for good, and punishment for
+evil (even when called "the operation of natural law") possible to
+the mind of man. In its entirety, and carried to its last
+refinement of interpretation and analysis, it has a tendency to
+bewilder and terrify, for the chance of escape from its entangling
+machinery seems so slight. But still, the same authorities inform
+us that every soul will surmount these obstacles, and everyone will
+Attain&mdash;so there is no need to be frightened, even if you
+accept the interpretation of doctrine in its completeness.</p>
+
+<p>But there are some thinkers who carry this idea of retributive
+Karma to such an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id=
+"Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> extreme that they hold that every
+instance of physical pain, disease, deformity, poverty, ill
+fortune, etc., that we see among people, is the inevitable result
+of some moral wrong or crime committed by that person in some past
+life, and that therefore every instance of poverty, want or
+physical suffering is the just result of some moral offense. Some
+of the extremists have gone so far as to hesitate at relieving
+poverty, physical pain and suffering in others, lest by so doing
+they might possibly be "interfering with Karma"&mdash;as if any
+great Law could be "interfered with." While we, generally, have
+refrained from insisting upon our personal preference of
+interpretation in this work, we cannot refrain from so doing in
+this instance. We consider that such an interpretation of the Law
+of Karma is forced and unnatural, and results from the seeming
+natural tendency of the human mind to build up devils for
+itself&mdash;and hells of one kind or another. Robbed of their
+Devil, many people would attribute to their God certain devilish
+qualities, in order that they may not be robbed<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> of
+the satisfaction of smugly thinking of the "just punishment" of
+others. And, if they have also discarded the idea of a Personal
+God, their demand for a Devil causes them to attribute certain
+devilish qualities to Natural Law. They are bound to find their
+Devil somewhere&mdash;the primitive demand for the Vengeful Spirit
+must manifest itself in one form or another.</p>
+
+<p>These people confound the action of Cause and Effect on the
+Material and Physical Plane, with Cause and Effect on the Spiritual
+Plane, whereas all true occultists teach that the Cause operating
+on one plane manifests effects upon the same plane. In this
+connection, we would call your attention to the instance in the New
+Testament (John IX., 2), in which Jesus was asked regarding the
+cause of the affliction of the man who was BORN BLIND. "And his
+disciples asked him, saying, 'Master, who did sin, this man, or his
+parents, that he was born blind?'" The question being asked in
+order that Jesus might determine between the two prevailing
+theories: (1) That the blindness was caused<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> according to the
+operation of the law of Moses, which held that the sins of the
+parents were visited on the children unto the third and fourth
+generation; or (2) that it was caused according to the Law of
+Karma, along the lines of reincarnation, and because of some sin
+which the man had committed in some past incarnation (for no other
+interpretation of the passage is possible, and it shows the
+prevalence of the idea of Reincarnation among the people of that
+time). But Jesus promptly brushed away these two crude, primitive
+conceptions and interpretations, and in the light of his superior
+spiritual knowledge answered: "Neither hath this man sinned, nor
+his parents; but that the works of God should be manifest in him,"
+the explanation of the term "the works of God" being that Jesus
+meant thereby the operation of the Laws of Nature imposed by
+God&mdash;something above punishment for "sins," and which operated
+according to invariable physical laws and which affected the just
+and the unjust alike, just as do any natural laws. It is now known
+that many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg
+240]</a></span> infants are rendered blind by negligence of certain
+precautions at birth&mdash;this may have been a case of that kind.
+We consider any attempt to attribute physical infirmities to "sin"
+unconnected with the physical trouble to be a reversion to
+primitive theological dogmas, and smacking strongly of the "devil
+idea" of theology, of which we have spoken. And Poverty results
+from economic conditions, and not as punishment for "Sin." Nor is
+Wealth the reward of Virtue&mdash;far from it.</p>
+
+<p>But before leaving this phase of the subject we would like to
+say that many careful thinkers have been able to discern certain
+spiritual benefits that have arisen from physical suffering, or
+poverty, and that the sufferers often manifest a high degree of
+spiritual development and growth, seemingly by reason of their
+pain. Not only this, but the divine faculties of pity, help, and
+true sympathy, are brought out in others, by reason thereof. We
+think that this view of the matter is far more along the lines of
+true spirituality than that of want and disease as "the punishment
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg
+241]</a></span> sins committed in past lives." Even the human idea
+of Justice revolts at this kind of "punishment," and, in fact, the
+highest human justice and human law eliminates the idea of
+"punishment" altogether, so far as reprisal or revenge is
+concerned, the penalty being regarded merely as a deterrent of
+others, and a warning to the criminal against further infractions
+of the law, and as a reformatory agent&mdash;this at least is the
+theory of Human Law&mdash;no matter how imperfectly it works out in
+practice&mdash;and we cannot think of Divine Law being less just
+and equitable, less merciful and loving. The "eye for eye, tooth
+for tooth" conception of human justice has been out-lived by the
+race in its evolution.</p>
+
+<p>After considering the above mentioned extreme ideas of
+"punishments," through the Law of Karma, we ask you to consider the
+following lines written by a writer having great insight, and
+published in a leading magazine several years ago. The idea of "The
+Kindergarten of God" therein expressed, we think, is far nearer in
+accordance with the highest Occult Teach<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>ings, than the
+other idea of "Divine Wrath" and punishment for sin, along the
+lines of a misinterpretation of the Law of Karma, worthy of the
+worshipers of some ancient Devil-God. Read this little quotation
+carefully, and then determine which of the two views seems to fit
+in better with your highest spiritual conceptions:</p>
+
+<p>"A boy went to school. He was very little. All that he knew he
+had drawn in with his mother's milk. His teacher (who was God)
+placed him in the lowest class, and gave him these lessons to
+learn: Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt do no hurt to any living
+thing. Thou shalt not steal. So the man did not kill; but he was
+cruel, and he stole. At the end of the day (when his beard was
+gray&mdash;when the night was come), his teacher (who was God)
+said: Thou hast learned not to kill. But the other lessons thou
+hast not learned. Come back tomorrow.</p>
+
+<p>"On the morrow he came back, a little boy. And his teacher (who
+was God) put him in a class a little higher, and gave him these
+lessons to learn: Thou shalt do no<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> hurt to any living
+thing. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not cheat. So the man did
+no hurt to any living thing; but he stole and he cheated. And at
+the end of the day (when his beard was gray&mdash;when the night
+was come), his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned to be
+merciful. But the other lessons thou hast not learned. Come back
+tomorrow.</p>
+
+<p>"Again, on the morrow, he came back, a little boy. And his
+teacher (who was God) put him in a class yet a little higher, and
+gave him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
+not cheat. Thou shalt not covet. So the man did not steal; but he
+cheated, and he coveted. And at the end of the day (when his beard
+was gray&mdash;when the night was come), his teacher (who was God)
+said: Thou hast learned not to steal. But the other lessons thou
+hast not learned. Come back, my child, tomorrow.</p>
+
+<p>"This is what I have read in the faces of men and women, in the
+book of the world, and in the scroll of the heavens,<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>
+which is writ with stars."&mdash;<i>Berry Benson, in The Century
+Magazine, May, 1894.</i></p>
+
+<p>But there is still another view of Karma held by some Western
+thinkers, who received it from the Greek mystics and occultists,
+who in turn are thought to have received it from ancient Egypt.
+These people hold that the Law of Karma has naught to do with Man's
+theories of ethics, or religious dogmas or creeds, but has as the
+basis of its operations only Universal and Cosmic Principles of
+Action, applicable to the atom as well as Man&mdash;to the beings
+above Man as well. And that these universal principles of action
+have to do with the evolution of all things in Nature, according to
+well established laws. And that the evolving soul is continually
+striving to find the path along the lines of evolution, being urged
+to by the unfolding spirit within it&mdash;and that that "path" is
+always along the lines of least spiritual friction, and therefore
+along the lines of the least ultimate spiritual pain. And that,
+accordingly, Spiritual Pain is an indication to the evolving thing
+that it is on the wrong path,<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> and that it must find
+a better way onward&mdash;which message it heeds by reason of the
+pain, and accordingly seeks out for itself a better way, and one
+that will bring less spiritual pain and greater ultimate spiritual
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>This teaching holds that all material things are a source of
+more or less pain to the growing and evolving soul, which tends to
+urge it along the line of the least spiritual resistence&mdash;the
+least spiritual friction. It may be that the soul does not
+recognize the direction of the urge, and insist in tasting this
+material pleasure (so-thought) and then that&mdash;only to find
+that neither satisfy&mdash;that both are Dead Sea Fruit&mdash;that
+both have the thorn attached to the flower&mdash;that all bring
+pain, satiety and disgust&mdash;the consequence being that the
+tired and wearied soul, when rested by the Lethal slumber, and then
+re-born has a horror and distaste for the things which disgusted it
+in its previous life, and is therefore urged toward opposite
+things. If the soul has not been satiated&mdash;has not yet been
+pricked by the hidden thorn&mdash;it<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> wishes to go on
+further in the dream of material pleasure, and so it does, until it
+learns its lesson. Finally, perceiving the folly and worthlessness
+of materiality, it emerges from its cocoon and, spreading out its
+newly found wings, takes its flight for higher planes of action and
+being&mdash;and so on, and on, and on, forever.</p>
+
+<p>Under this view people are not punished "for" their sins, but
+"by" them&mdash;and "Sin" is seen to be merely a "mistake," not a
+crime. And Pain arises not as a punishment for something done
+wrongly, but as a warning sign of "hands off"; and consequently
+Pain is something by which we may mount to higher things&mdash;to
+Something Better&mdash;and not a punishment. And this idea holds,
+also, that on the physical plane physical law governs, and physical
+effects follow physical causes; likewise on the mental plane;
+likewise on the Spiritual Plane. And, therefore, it is absurd to
+suppose that one suffers physical pain as a punishment for some
+moral offense committed on another plane. On the contrary, however,
+this idea holds that from the<span class='pagenum'><a name=
+"Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> physical pain which
+was occasioned by the operation of physical law alone one may
+develop higher spiritual states by reason of a better understanding
+of the nature of pain in oneself and others. And this idea refuses
+to recognize material pleasures or profits as a reward for
+spiritual or moral actions.</p>
+
+<p>On the whole this last mentioned conception of Karma refuses to
+use the terms "reward and punishment," or even to entertain those
+ideas, but instead sees in everything the working out of a great
+Cosmic Plan whereby everything rises from lower to higher, and
+still higher. To it Karma is but one phase of the great LAW
+operating in all planes and forms of Life and the Universe. To it
+the idea that "THE UNIVERSE IS GOVERNED BY LAW" is an axiom. And
+while to it ULTIMATE JUSTICE is also axiomic, it sees not in the
+operation of penalties and reward&mdash;merits and
+demerits&mdash;the proof of that Ultimate Justice; it looks for it
+and finds it in the conception and realizing that ALL WORKS FOR
+GOOD&mdash;that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id=
+"Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> Everything is tending
+upward&mdash;that everything is justified and just, because the END
+is ABSOLUTE GOOD, and that every tiny working of the great cosmic
+machinery is turning in the right direction and to that end.
+Consequently, each of us is just where he should be at the present
+time&mdash;and our condition is exactly the very best to bring us
+to that Divine Consummation and End. And to such thinkers, indeed,
+there is no Devil but Fear and Unfaith, and all other devils are
+illusions, whether they be called Beelzebub, Mortal-Mind, or Karma,
+if they produce Fear and Unfaith in the All-Good. And such thinkers
+feel that the way to live according to the Higher Light, and
+without fear of a Malevolent Karma, is to feel one's relationship
+with the Universal Good, and then to "Live One Day at a
+time&mdash;Doing the Best you Know How&mdash;and Be
+Kind"&mdash;knowing that in the All-Good you live and move and have
+your being, and that outside of that All-Good you cannot stray, for
+there is no outside&mdash;knowing that THAT which brought you Here
+will be with you There&mdash;that Death is but a phase<span class=
+'pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> of
+Life&mdash;and above all that THERE IS NOTHING TO BE AFRAID
+OF&mdash;and that ALL IS WELL with God; with the Universe; and with
+YOU!</p>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">finis.</span><br />
+<br />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="three" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg
+250]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>THE HINDU-YOGI</h3>
+
+<h1><b>Science of Breath</b></h1>
+
+<div class="center">A Complete Manual of the Oriental Philosophy of
+Physical, Mental, Psychic, and Spiritual Development by the
+Intelligent Control of the Breath.<br />
+<br />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<h4>By YOGI RAMACHARAKA</h4>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p>Synopsis:&mdash;Chapter I. The Hindu Yogis&mdash;Something About
+Their Teachings. Chapter II. "Breath is Life"&mdash;Teachings of
+the Orient and Occident Compared. Chapter III. The Exoteric Theory
+of Breath. Chapter IV. The Esoteric Theory of Breath&mdash;Prana.
+Chapter V. The Nervous System&mdash;Yogi Teachings Concerning the
+Solar Plexus&mdash;The Solar Plexus a Store-House of Prana. Chapter
+VI. How to Breathe&mdash;Oriental Methods. Chapter VII. Four
+Methods of Respiration as Classified by the Yogis&mdash;The Yogi
+Complete Breath. Chapter VIII. How to Acquire the Yogi Complete
+Breath. Chapter IX. Physiological Effect of the Complete Breath.
+Chapter X. Yogi Lore&mdash;The Yogi Cleansing Breath&mdash;The Yogi
+Nerve Vitalizing Breath&mdash;The Yogi Vocal Breath. Chapter XI.
+Seven Yogi Developing Exercises. Chapter XII. Chapter XIII.
+Vibration and Yogi Rhythmic Breathing&mdash;How to Ascertain the
+Heart Beat Unit Used by the Yogis as the Basis of Rhythmic
+Breathing. Chapter XIV. Phenomena of Psychic
+Breathing&mdash;Directions for Yogi Psychic Breathing&mdash;Prana
+Distributing&mdash;Inhibiting Pain&mdash;Self-Healing&mdash;Healing
+Others&mdash;Distant Healing. Chapter XV. More Phenomena of Yogi
+Psychic Breathing&mdash;Thought Projection&mdash;Forming an
+Aura&mdash;Recharging Yourself&mdash;Recharging
+Others&mdash;Charging Water&mdash;Acquiring Mental
+Qualities&mdash;Controlling the Emotions&mdash;Transmutation of
+Reproductive Energy&mdash;Brain Stimulating&mdash;The Grand Yogi
+Psychic Breath. Chapter XVI. Yogi Spiritual Breathing&mdash;Soul
+Consciousness&mdash;How Unfolded&mdash;The Universal
+Consciousness&mdash;How the Yogi Attain This
+Consciousness&mdash;General Directions.<br />
+75 Pages.</p>
+
+<div class="center2"><b>Price, Paper $0.53 Postpaid; Cloth $0.75
+Postpaid.</b></div>
+
+<p>I received the copy of "Science Breath" promptly and I am very
+much pleased with it. The simple, clear, logical manner in which it
+is written will certainly be appreciated and will enhance its
+usefulness. Please send me another copy.&mdash;H. W. A., Pittsburg,
+Pa.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg
+251]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1>The Hindu-Yogi System of Practical Water Cure</h1>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<div class="center2">By YOGI RAMACHARAKA</div>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p>Chapter I. The Hindu-Yogi Water Cure&mdash;An Important Branch
+of Hatha Yoga&mdash;The Underlying Principle&mdash;Prana in the
+Water&mdash;How slow Water Loses Prana&mdash;How Water May be
+Pranaized. Chapter II. Nature's Great Remedy&mdash;Water the Basis
+of Life&mdash;The Important Part Played by Water in the
+Psychological Mechanism of the System&mdash;What Water Does, and
+Why. Chapter III. Water Drinking&mdash;Why Man Needs
+Water&mdash;How Much Water He Needs&mdash;What He Suffers from
+Neglecting the Normal Amount of Fluids&mdash;An Important
+Secret&mdash;Surprising Facts. Chapter IV. The Stomach and
+Intestines&mdash;A Plain, Practical, Scientific Description of the
+Organs of Assimilation and Elimination&mdash;Something that
+Everyone Should Know to be Healthy. Chapter V. The Obstructed
+Sewer&mdash;A Scientific Statement Regarding the Great Sewer of the
+System, Which When Clogged, Obstructed and Choked with
+Waste-Matter, Causes Disease and Weakness. Chapter VI. The Internal
+Bath&mdash;The Scientific Method of Keeping Clean the Great Sewer
+of the System&mdash;A Simple Method of Internal Cleanliness, and
+Resulting Health. Chapter VII. The Skin&mdash;A Plain Scientific
+Description of the Skin, and the Part it Plays in Health and
+Disease&mdash;Something that Everyone Should Know, but Few Realize.
+Chapter VIII. Scientific Bathing&mdash;Scientific Methods of
+Bathing&mdash;The Cleansing Bath&mdash;The Non-Drying
+Bath&mdash;The Hot Bath&mdash;The Cold Bath&mdash;Hardening
+Baths&mdash;Private Information. Chapter X. Pack
+Treatments&mdash;The Wet Sheet Pack, and How to Apply It&mdash;The
+Half Pack&mdash;The Sweat Pack&mdash;Endosmose and
+Exosmose&mdash;Hydropathy in a Nut Shell. Chapter X. Other Valuable
+Methods&mdash;Fomentations, or Hot Steam Applications&mdash;Water
+Bandages and Compresses&mdash;Hot Water Compresses, and Cold Water
+Bandages&mdash;Special Applications&mdash;Sexual Vitality
+Treatments&mdash;Special Applications, etc.</p>
+
+<p>This book has just been published, although Yogi Ramacharaka
+wrote it some time ago.</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg
+252]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1>THE KYBALION</h1>
+
+<h4>A STUDY OF<br />
+<b>The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient<br />
+Egypt and Greece</b></h4>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<h4>BY THREE INITIATES</h4>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p>The lips of Wisdom are closed, except to the ears of
+Understanding."</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p>This new book is bound to attract the earnest attention of all
+students of the Secret Doctrines of the East. Perhaps the better
+way to describe this work is to give you the following words from
+its authors:</p>
+
+<p>"From old Egypt have come the fundamental esoteric and occult
+teachings which have so strongly influenced the philosophies of all
+races, nations and peoples, for several thousand years. Egypt, the
+home of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, was the birthplace of the
+Hidden Wisdom and Mystic Teachings. From her Secret Doctrine all
+nations have borrowed. India, Persia, Chaldea, Medea, China, Japan,
+Assyria, ancient Greece and Rome, and other ancient countries
+partook liberally at the feast of knowledge which the Hierophants
+and Masters of the Land of Isis so freely provided for those who
+came prepared to partake of the great store of Mystic and Occult
+Lore which the master-minds of that ancient land had gathered
+together. In ancient Egypt dwelt the great adepts and Masters who
+have never been surpassed, and who seldom have been equaled during
+the centuries that have taken their processional flight since the
+days of the Great Hermes. In Egypt was located the Great Lodge of
+Lodges of the Mystics. At the doors of her Temples entered the
+Neophytes who afterward, as Hierophants, Adepts, and Masters,
+traveled to the four corners of the earth, carrying with them the
+precious knowledge which they were ready, anxious, and willing to
+pass on to those who were ready to receive the same. All students
+of the Occult recognize the debt that they owe to these venerable
+Masters of that ancient land.</p>
+
+<h4>THE KYBALION</h4>
+
+<p>The Hermetic Teachings are to be found in all lands, among all
+religions, but never identified with any particular country, nor
+with any particular religious sect. This because of the warning of
+the ancient teachers against allowing the Secret Doctrine to become
+crystallized into a creed. The wisdom of this caution is apparent
+to all students of history. The ancient occultism of India and
+Persia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg
+253]</a></span> a degenerated, and was largely lost, owing to the
+fact that the teachers became priests, and so mixed theology with
+the philosophy, the result being that much of the occultism of
+India and Persia has been lost amidst the mass of religious
+superstition, cults, creeds and "gods." So it was with Ancient
+Greece and Rome. So it was with the Hermetic Teachings of the
+Gnostics and Early Christians, which were lost at the time of
+Constantine, whose iron hand smothered philosophy with the blanket
+of theology.</p>
+
+<h4>THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY</h4>
+
+<p>"But there were always a few faithful souls who kept alive the
+flame, tending it carefully, and not allowing its light to become
+extinguished. And thanks to these staunch hearts, and fearless
+minds, we have the truth still with us. But it is not found in
+books, to any great extent. It has been passed along from Master to
+Student; from Initiative to Heirophant; from lip to ear. When it
+was written down at all, its meaning was veiled in terms of alchemy
+and astrology, so that only those possessing the key could read it
+aright. This was made necessary in order to avoid the persecutions
+of the theologians of the Middle Ages, who fought the Secret
+Doctrine with fire and sword; stake, gibbet and cross. Even to this
+day there will be found but few reliable books on the Hermetic
+Philosophy. Although there are countless references to it in many
+books written on various phases of Occultism. And yet, the Hermetic
+Philosophy is the only Master Key which will open all the doors of
+the Occult Teachings!</p>
+
+<h4>ABOUT THE BOOK</h4>
+
+<p>"In this book we invite you to examine into the Hermetic
+Teachings as set forth in THE KYBALION. We therein give you many of
+the maxims and precepts of THE KYBALION, accompanied by
+explanations and illustrations which we deem likely to render the
+teachings more easily comprehended by the modern student,
+particularly as the original text is purposely veiled in obscure
+terms. The trust that the many students to whom we now offer this
+little work will derive as much benefit from the study of its pages
+as have the many who have gone on before, treading the same Path to
+Mastery throughout the centuries that have passed since the times
+of HERMES TRISMEGISTUS&mdash;the Master of Masters&mdash;the
+Great-great. According to the Teachings, this book will attract the
+attention of such as are prepared to receive its Teaching. And,
+likewise, when the pupil is ready to receive the truth, then will
+this book come to him, or her, and not before. Such is The Law. The
+Hermetic Principle of Cause and Effect, in its aspect of The Law of
+Attraction, will bring lips and ear together&mdash;pupil and book
+in company. 'The Principles of Truth are Seven; he who knows these,
+understandingly, possesses the Magic Key before whose touch all the
+Doors of the Temple fly open.'&mdash;The Kybalion.</p>
+
+<p class="quotsig">THE THREE INITIATES."</p>
+
+<p>Bound in Blue Silk Cloth, Lettered in Gold, 223 Pages.</p>
+
+<div class="center2"><b>Price $1.08 Postpaid.</b><br />
+<br />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg
+254]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1>Yoga Lessons</h1>
+
+<h4>FOR DEVELOPING SPRITUAL<br />
+CONSCIOUSNESS<br />
+<br />
+ By SWAMIE A. P. MUKERJI OF INDIA<br />
+Associate Editor Kalpaka Magazine Price $1.20 net.</h4>
+
+<hr class="three" />
+<p>Yoga is a subject which has enthralled the attention of the
+world from time out of mind. No one has hitherto done justice to
+such a grand system, though there have been, now and then,
+innumerable attempts.</p>
+
+<p>The present author, my esteemed friend, Swamie Mukerji, a Yogi
+who comes out of a successive generation of Yogis, is able and
+proper instrument to handle the subject. He, in these lessons,
+prepares the layman for an understanding of the Yoga and through a
+series of wise and masterful sayings, impresses on the mind of the
+reader the necessity for rising above materialism, nay, solves the
+very problem "What am I?"</p>
+
+<p>Every line is pregnant with mature thoughts and rivets on his
+attention, and makes him think, think, think.</p>
+
+<p>This is not a work for which an introduction, briefly setting
+forth the contents, could be written. I can but ask you to read,
+digest and improve.</p>
+
+<p>DR. T. R. SANJIVI, Ph. D., President</p>
+
+<p class="quotsig">The Latent Light Culture</p>
+
+<p>Tennevelley, India.<br />
+<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr class="two" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg
+255]</a></span></p>
+
+<h4>BOOKS PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE<br />
+ <small>BY</small><br />
+ <big>THE YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY</big><br />
+ <small>Chicago, Illinois</small></h4>
+
+<hr class="three" />
+<table width="100%" summary="books">
+<tr>
+<td class="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="middle">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="right">Price,&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
+Postpaid.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy, and Oriental
+Occultism. By Ramacharaka. Bound in green silk</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">$1.10</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy, and Oriental
+Occultism. By Ramacharaka. Bound in brown silk cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">$1.10</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Raja Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Bound in brown silk
+cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">$1.10</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Gnana Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Bound in blue silk
+cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">$1.10</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Psychic Healing. By Ramacharaka. Bound in maroon
+silk cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">$1.10</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Hatha Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Bound in yellow silk
+cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">$1.10</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Science of Breath. By Ramacharaka. Bound in
+paper, 53c; cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.75</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Light on the Path and Illumined Way. By M. C.
+Cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.44</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">A Treatise on the Light on the Path. By M. C.
+Paper</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.10</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">A Visit to a Gnani. By Edward Carpenter.
+Paper</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.28</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Jesus: The Last Great Initiate. By Edouard
+Schure.</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.80</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Krishna and Orpheus. By Edouard Schure. Silk
+cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.80</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Bhavagad Gita. By Ramacharaka</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.80</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">The Spirit of the Upanishads</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.55</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Mystery of Being</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.50</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Karma. Occult Novel. By A. P. Sinnett. Cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.40</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Practical Mind Reading. By W. W. Atkinson.
+Cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.50</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Practical Psychomancy and Crystal Gazing. By W.
+W. Atkinson. Cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.50</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Mental Influence. By W. W. Atkinson. Cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.50</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Mystic Christianity. By Ramacharaka. Pamphlet
+Edition, $1.12; ready in book form, Sept 1,'08</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">1.10</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Kybalion. By Three Initiates. Cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">1.08</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Inner Consciousness. By W. W. Atkinson</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.50</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">Secret of Success. By W. W. Atkinson</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">.50</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="left" colspan="2">
+<p class="indent">The Philosophies and Religions of India, by
+Ramacharaka. Cloth</p>
+</td>
+<td class="right">1.12</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="three" />
+<h4>COMPLETE CATALOG ON APPLICATION.</h4>
+
+<p>We will be pleased to send descriptive circulars to anyone<br />
+that you think would be interested.</p>
+
+<hr class="three" style="margin-top: 2em;" />
+<h4>Transcriber's Notes</h4>
+
+<p>
+"Bhavagad Gita" in the list of books published by The Yogi Publication Society
+is a misprint for "Bhagavad Gita."<br />
+<br />
+"Ronach" in the Table of Contents, Chapter IV, is a misprint for
+"Roauch."
+</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REINCARNATION AND THE LAW OF KARMA***</p>
+<p>******* This file should be named 26364-h.txt or 26364-h.zip *******</p>
+<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br />
+<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/3/6/26364">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/3/6/26364</a></p>
+<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.</p>
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+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Reincarnation and the Law of Karma, by
+William Walker Atkinson
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Reincarnation and the Law of Karma
+       A Study of the Old-New World-Doctrine of Rebirth, and Spiritual Cause and Effect
+
+
+Author: William Walker Atkinson
+
+
+
+Release Date: August 19, 2008  [eBook #26364]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REINCARNATION AND THE LAW OF
+KARMA***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Turgut Dincer, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+REINCARNATION AND THE LAW OF KARMA
+
+A Study of
+the Old-New World-Doctrine of
+Rebirth, and Spiritual
+Cause and Effect
+
+by
+
+WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Published and Sold by
+Yogi Publication Society
+Masonic Temple, Chicago, Ill.
+
+London Agents
+L.N. Fowler & Co., 7 Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus. E.C.
+
+(Reincarnation and the Law of Karma)
+
+Copyright, 1908, by
+Yogi Publication Society
+All Rights Reserved
+
+NOTICE.--This book is protected by Copyright and
+simultaneous publication in Great Britain, France, Germany,
+Russia and other countries. All foreign rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+                                                       PAGE
+
+CHAPTER I. THE EARLY RACES                                7
+
+What is Reincarnation?--Transmigration of
+Souls--The Something That Persists After
+Death--The Soul Not a Fresh Creation, but a
+Traveler on a Long Journey.
+
+CHAPTER II. THE EGYPTIANS, CHALDEANS, DRUIDS, ETC.       20
+
+The Egyptian Idea of the Soul--Forty Centuries of
+Occult History--The Inner Teachings of Egypt--The
+Ancient Chinese Teachings and Doctrine--The
+Ancient Druids and Their Teachings.
+
+CHAPTER III. THE ROMANS AND GREEKS                       35
+
+The Reasons of Rome's Backwardness in Spiritual
+Knowledge--Why the Greeks were
+Advanced--Pythagoras; Orpheus; Plato--The Various
+Grecian Teachings Regarding the Soul and Its
+Future Life--Plato's Wonderful Teachings and
+Philosophy.
+
+CHAPTER IV. THE JEWS, ESSENES, AND EARLY CHRISTIANS      49
+
+The Inner Teachings of the Jewish Priests--The
+Jewish Rabbins and Their Secret Doctrines--The
+Kaballah, the Zahar, Nichema; Ronach; and
+Nephesh--A Mysterious Brotherhood--The Christian
+Inner Doctrine--The Mysteries of Jesus.
+
+CHAPTER V. THE HINDUS                                    64
+
+India the Mother of Reincarnation, Past and
+Present--The Aryan Teachings--The History of the
+Belief Among the Hindus--Fundamental Hindu
+Philosophy.
+
+CHAPTER VI. THE MODERN WEST                              95
+
+Reincarnation in the Modern Western World--The
+Revival of Interest and Its Cause--Theosophical
+Society--Madame Blavatsky--The Western School of
+Yogi Philosophy: Its Fundamental Teachings--The
+Spiritists, and Their Doctrine--The Teachings of
+the "Elect Few" in Their Secret Societies--Is
+Earth a Hell?--Christian Reincarnationists and
+Their Beliefs.
+
+CHAPTER VII. BETWEEN AND BEYOND INCARNATIONS            117
+
+How Long Between Incarnations?--Necessity for
+Mental and Spiritual Digestion and
+Assimilation--The Advanced Teachings--Earth-bound
+Souls--Advanced Souls and Their Rest Period--Where
+Does the Soul Dwell Between Incarnations?--What
+Happens at Death--The Great Astral World and Its
+Planes and Sub-planes--Where the Soul Goes After
+Death and What It Does There--Rebirth and Its
+Laws--What is the Final State of the Soul?--The
+Message of the Illumined.
+
+CHAPTER VIII. THE JUSTICE OF REINCARNATION              134
+
+The Contrasting Theories of the Soul and Its
+Future Life--Doctrine of Reincarnation the Only
+Philosophical Theory that Reconciles Facts with
+Theory--The Law of Karma Automatic and Enforces
+Itself--Every One Their Own Judge and the Executor
+of Their Own Destiny--The Opinions of the World's
+Great Thinkers.
+
+CHAPTER IX. THE ARGUMENT FOR REINCARNATION              151
+
+Natural Laws Universal--If the Soul is Immortal,
+it Must Have Always Been So--A Mortal Thing Cannot
+be Made Immortal Any More Than Nothing Can be Made
+Something--Future Life Implies Past Life--Varient
+Experiences Necessary for the Soul's
+Education--Advancement Necessary to Enjoyment of
+the Soul's Higher States of Being--The True
+Teaching.
+
+CHAPTER X. THE PROOFS OF REINCARNATION                  169
+
+Actual Proofs of Personal Conscious Experience
+Demanded by Science--Such Proofs Possible and Have
+Occurred to Many of the Race--The Remembrance of
+the Details of Past Existence Common to the
+Race--Interesting Cases Given on Good
+Authority--Messages from the Past.
+
+CHAPTER XI. ARGUMENTS AGAINST REINCARNATION             192
+
+Why Reincarnation is Opposed by Some--The Answers
+to the Objections--The Proof of the Existence of
+the Soul--Is Reincarnation Un-Christian and
+Derived from Pagan and Heathen Sources?
+
+CHAPTER XII. THE LAW OF KARMA                           222
+
+What Karma Means--Does Karma Punish or is it but
+the Workings of a Natural Law?--The Various Kinds
+of Karma--The Advanced Mystical Doctrine--The End
+is Absolute Good--There is No Devil but Fear and
+Unfaith.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE EARLY RACES.
+
+
+By "Reincarnation" we mean the repeated incarnation, or embodiment in
+flesh, of the soul or immaterial part of man's nature. The term
+"Metempsychosis" is frequently employed in the same sense, the
+definition of the latter term being: "The passage of the soul, as an
+immortal essence, at the death of the body, into another living body."
+The term "Transmigration of Souls" is sometimes employed, the term being
+used in the sense of "passing from one body into another." But the term
+"Transmigration" is often used in connection with the belief of certain
+undeveloped races who held that the soul of men sometimes passed into
+the bodies of the lower animals, as a punishment for their sins
+committed during the human life. But this belief is held in disrepute
+by the adherents of Reincarnation or Metempsychosis, and has no
+connection with their philosophy or beliefs, the ideas having sprung
+from an entirely different source, and having nothing in common.
+
+There are many forms of belief--many degrees of doctrine--regarding
+Reincarnation, as we shall see as we proceed, but there is a fundamental
+and basic principle underlying all of the various shades of opinion, and
+divisions of the schools. This fundamental belief may be expressed as
+the doctrine that there is in man an immaterial Something (called the
+soul, spirit, inner self, or many other names) which does not perish at
+the death or disintegration of the body, but which persists as an
+entity, and after a shorter or longer interval of rest reincarnates, or
+is re-born, into a new body--that of an unborn infant--from whence it
+proceeds to live a new life in the body, more or less unconscious of its
+past existences, but containing within itself the "essence" or results
+of its past lives, which experiences go to make up its new "character,"
+or "personality." It is usually held that the rebirth is governed by the
+law of attraction, under one name or another, and which law operates in
+accordance with strict justice, in the direction of attracting the
+reincarnating soul to a body, and conditions, in accordance with the
+tendencies of the past life, the parents also attracting to them a soul
+bound to them by some ties in the past, the law being universal,
+uniform, and equitable to all concerned in the matter. This is a general
+statement of the doctrine as it is generally held by the most
+intelligent of its adherents.
+
+E. D. Walker, a well-known English writer on the subject, gives the
+following beautiful idea of the general teachings: "Reincarnation
+teaches that the soul enters this life, not as a fresh creation, but
+after a long course of previous existences on this earth and elsewhere,
+in which it acquired its present inhering peculiarities, and that it is
+on the way to future transformations which the soul is now shaping. It
+claims that infancy brings to earth, not a blank scroll for the
+beginning of an earthly record, nor a mere cohesion of atomic forces
+into a brief personality, soon to dissolve again into the elements, but
+that it is inscribed with ancestral histories, some like the present
+scene, most of them unlike it and stretching back into the remotest
+past. These inscriptions are generally undecipherable, save as revealed
+in their moulding influence upon the new career; but like the invisible
+photographic images made by the sun of all it sees, when they are
+properly developed in the laboratory of consciousness they will be
+distinctly displayed. The current phase of life will also be stored away
+in the secret vaults of memory, for its unconscious effects upon the
+ensuing lives. All the qualities we now possess, in body, mind and soul,
+result from our use of ancient opportunities. We are indeed 'the heir of
+all the ages,' and are alone responsible for our inheritances. For these
+conditions accrue from distant causes engendered by our older selves,
+and the future flows by the divine law of cause and effect from the
+gathered momentum of our past impetuses. There is no favoritism in the
+universe, but all have the same everlasting facilities for growth. Those
+who are now elevated in worldly station may be sunk in humble
+surroundings in the future. Only the inner traits of the soul are
+permanent companions. The wealthy sluggard may be the beggar of the next
+life; and the industrious worker of the present is sowing the seeds of
+future greatness. Suffering bravely endured now will produce a treasure
+of patience and fortitude in another life; hardships will give rise to
+strength; self-denial must develop the will; tastes cultivated in this
+existence will somehow bear fruit in coming ones; and acquired energies
+will assert themselves whenever they can by the Law of Parsimony upon
+which the principles of physics are based. Vice versa, the unconscious
+habits, the uncontrollable impulses, the peculiar tendencies, the
+favorite pursuits, and the soul-stirring friendships of the present
+descend from far-reaching previous activities."
+
+The doctrine of Reincarnation--Metempsychosis--Rebirth--has always been
+held as truth by a large portion of the human race. Following the
+invariable law of cyclic changes--the swing of the pendulum of
+thought--at times it has apparently died out in parts of the world, only
+to be again succeeded by a new birth and interest among the descendants
+of the same people. It is a light impossible to extinguish, and although
+its flickering flame may seem to die out for a moment, the shifting of
+the mental winds again allows it to rekindle from the hidden spark, and
+lo! again it bursts into new life and vigor. The reawakened interest in
+the subject in the Western world, of which all keen observers have taken
+note, is but another instance of the operation of the Cyclic Law. It
+begins to look as if the occultists are right when they predict that
+before the dawn of another century the Western world will once more have
+embraced the doctrines of Rebirth--the old, discarded truth, once so
+dear to the race, will again be settled in popular favor, and again move
+toward the position of "orthodox" teaching, perhaps to be again
+crystallized by reason of its "orthodoxy" and again to lose favor and
+fade away, as the pendulum swings backward to the other extreme of
+thought.
+
+But the teaching of Reincarnation never has passed away altogether from
+the race--in some parts of the world the lamp has been kept burning
+brightly--nay, more, at no time in human history has there been a period
+in which the majority of the race has not accepted the doctrine of
+Rebirth, in some of its various forms. It was so one thousand years
+ago--two thousand--five thousand--and it is so to-day. In this Twentieth
+Century nearly if not quite two-thirds of the race hold firmly to the
+teaching, and the multitudes of Hindus and other Eastern peoples cling
+to it tenaciously. And, even outside of these people, there are to be
+found traces of the doctrine among other races in the East, and West. So
+Reincarnation is not a "forgotten truth," or "discarded doctrine," but
+one fully alive and vigorous, and one which is destined to play a very
+important part in the history of Western thought during the Twentieth
+Century.
+
+It is interesting to trace the history of the doctrine among the ancient
+peoples--away back into the dim recesses of the past. It is difficult to
+ascribe to any particular time, or any particular race, the credit of
+having "originated" Reincarnation. In spite of the decided opinions, and
+the differing theories of the various writers on this subject, who would
+give Egypt, or India, or the lost Atlantis, as the birthplace of the
+doctrine, we feel that such ideas are but attempts to attribute a
+universal intuitive belief to some favored part of the race. We do not
+believe that the doctrine of Reincarnation ever "originated" anywhere,
+as a new and distinct doctrine. We believe that it sprang into existence
+whenever and wherever man arrived at a stage of intellectual development
+sufficient to enable him to form a mental conception of a Something that
+lived after Death. No matter from what source this belief in a "ghost"
+originated, it must be admitted that it is found among all peoples, and
+is apparently an universal idea. And, running along with it in the
+primitive peoples, we find that there is, and always has been, an idea,
+more or less vague and indistinct, that somehow, someway, sometime, this
+"ghost" of the person returns to earthly existence and takes upon itself
+a new fleshly garment--a new body. Here, then, is where the idea of
+Reincarnation begins--everywhere, at a certain stage of human mental
+development. It runs parallel with the "ghost" idea, and seems bound up
+with that conception in nearly every case. When man evolves a little
+further, he begins to reason that if the "ghost" is immortal, and
+survives the death of the body, and returns to take upon itself a new
+body, then it must have lived before the last birth, and therefore must
+have a long chain of lives behind it. This is the second step. The third
+step is when man begins to reason that the next life is dependent upon
+something done or left undone in the present life. And upon these three
+fundamental ideas the doctrine of Reincarnation has been built. The
+occultists claim that in addition to this universal idea, which is more
+or less intuitive, the race has received more or less instruction, from
+time to time, from certain advanced souls which have passed on to higher
+planes of existence, and who are now called the Masters, Adepts,
+Teachers, Race Guides, etc., etc. But whatever may be the explanation,
+it remains a truth that man seems to have worked out for himself, in all
+times and in all places, first, an idea of a "ghost" which persists
+after the body dies; and second, that this "ghost" has lived before in
+other bodies, and will return again to take on a new body. There are
+various ideas regarding "heavens" and "hells," but underlying them all
+there persists this idea of re-birth in some of its phases.
+
+Soldi, the archaeologist, has published an interesting series of works,
+dealing with the beliefs of primitive peoples, who have passed from the
+scene of human action. He shows by the fragments of carving and
+sculpture which have survived them that there was an universal idea
+among them of the "ghost" which lived after the body died; and a
+corresponding idea that some day this "ghost" would return to the scene
+of its former activities. This belief sometimes took the form of a
+return into the former body, which idea led to the preservation of the
+body by processes of mummifying, etc., but as a rule this belief
+developed into the more advanced one of a re-birth in a new body.
+
+The earlier travelers in Africa have reported that here and there they
+found evidences and traces of what was to them "a strange belief" in the
+future return of the soul to a new body on earth. The early explorers of
+America found similar traditions and beliefs among the Red Indians,
+survivals of which exist even unto this day. It is related of a number
+of savage tribes, in different parts of the world, that they place the
+bodies of their dead children by the roadside, in order that their souls
+may be given a good chance to find new bodies by reason of the
+approaching of many traveling pregnant women who pass along the road. A
+number of these primitive people hold to the idea of a complex soul,
+composed of several parts, in which they resemble the Egyptians,
+Hindus, Chinese, and in fact all mystical and occult philosophies. The
+Figi Islanders are said to believe in a black soul and a white soul, the
+former of which remains with the buried body and disintegrates with it,
+while the white soul leaves the body and wanders as a "ghost," and
+afterward, tiring of the wandering, returns to life in a new body. The
+natives of Greenland are said to believe in an astral body, which leaves
+the body during sleep, but which perishes as the body disintegrates
+after death; and a second soul which leaves the body only at death, and
+which persists until it is reborn at a later time. In fact, the student
+finds that nearly all of the primitives races, and those semi-civilized,
+show traces of a belief in a complex soul, and a trace of doctrine of
+Reincarnation in some form. The human mind seems to work along the same
+lines, among the different races--unless one holds to the theory that
+all sprang from the same root-race, and that the various beliefs are
+survivals of some ancient fundamental doctrine--the facts are not
+disturbed in either case.
+
+In the last mentioned connection, we might mention that the traditions
+concerning Ancient Atlantis--the lost continent--all hold to the effect
+that her people believed strongly in Reincarnation, and to the ideas of
+the complex soul. As the survivors of Atlantis are believed to have been
+the ancestors of the Egyptians on the one hand, and of the Ancient
+Peruvians on the other--the two branches of survivors having maintained
+their original doctrines as modified by different environments--we might
+find here an explanation of the prevalence of the doctrine on both sides
+of the ocean. We mention this merely in passing, and as of general
+interest in the line of our subject.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE EGYPTIANS, CHALDEANS, DRUIDS, ETC.
+
+
+After considering the existence of the doctrines of Reincarnation among
+the primitive peoples, and its traditional existence among the vanished
+peoples of the past, we find ourselves irresistibly borne toward that
+ancient land of mystery--the home of the mystics and occultists of the
+past--the land of Isis--the home of the builders of the Pyramids--the
+people of the Sphinx. Whether these people were the direct descendants
+of the people of destroyed Atlantis, the home of the Ancient Wisdom--or
+whether they were a new people who had rediscovered the old
+doctrines--the fact remains that when tracing back any old occult or
+mystic doctrine we find ourselves gradually led toward the land of the
+Sphinx as the source of that hidden truth. The Sphinx is a fit emblem of
+that wonderful race--its sealed lips seem to invite the ultimate
+questions, and one feels that there may be a whispered answer wafted
+from those tightly closed lips toward the ear that is prepared to hear
+and receive it. And so, in our search for the origin of Reincarnation,
+we find ourselves once more confronting the Egyptian Sphinx as we have
+done so often before in our search after Truth.
+
+Notwithstanding its obvious prehistoric origin, many have claimed that
+Metempsychosis has its birthplace in old Egypt, on the banks of the
+Nile. India disputes this claim, holding that the Ganges, not the Nile,
+gave birth to the doctrine. Be that as it may, we shall treat the
+Egyptian conception at this place, among the ancient lands holding the
+doctrine, for in India it is not a thing of the past, but a doctrine
+which has its full flower at the present time, and which flower is
+sending forth its subtle odor to all parts of the civilized world. And
+so we shall defer our consideration of India's teachings until we reach
+the present stage of the history of Reincarnation. Herodotus, many
+centuries ago, said of the Egyptians that: "The Egyptians are the first
+who propounded the theory that the human soul is imperishable, and that
+where the body of any one dies it enters into some other body that may
+be ready to receive it; and that when it has gone the round of all
+created forms on land, in water, and in air, then it once more enters
+the human body born for it; and that this cycle of existence for the
+soul takes place in three thousand years."
+
+The doctrine of Reincarnation is discernible though hidden away amidst
+the mass of esoteric doctrine back of the exoteric teachings of the
+Egyptians, which latter were expounded to the common people, while the
+truth was reserved for the few who were ready for it. The inner circles
+of the Egyptian mystics believed in and understood the inner truths of
+Reincarnation, and although they guarded the esoteric teachings
+carefully, still fragments fell from the table and were greedily taken
+up by the masses, as we may see by an examination of the scraps of
+historical records which have been preserved, graven in the stone, and
+imprinted on the bricks. Not only did these people accept the doctrine
+of Reincarnation, but Egypt was really the home of the highest occult
+teachings. The doctrines and teachings regarding several "sheaths" or
+"bodies" of man, which are taught by occultists of all times and races,
+are believed to have been fully taught in their original purity on the
+banks of the Nile, and in the shadow of the Pyramids--yes, even before
+the days of the Pyramids. Their forty centuries of history saw many
+modifications of the philosophical and religious beliefs, but the
+fundamental doctrine of Reincarnation was held to during the entire
+period of history in Ancient Egypt, and was not discarded until the
+decadent descendants of the once mighty race were overwhelmed by
+stronger races, whose religions and beliefs superseded the vestiges of
+the Ancient Doctrine. The Egyptians held that there was "Ka," the divine
+spirit in man; "Ab," the intellect or will; "Hati," the vitality; "Tet,"
+the astral body; "Sahu," the etheric double; and "Xa," the physical body
+(some authorities forming a slightly different arrangement), which
+correspond to the various "bodies of man" as recognized by occultists
+to-day.
+
+The Ancient Chaldeans also taught the doctrine of Rebirth. The body of
+Persian and Chaldean mystics and occultists, known as "the Magi," who
+were masters of the Hidden Wisdom, held to the doctrine of Reincarnation
+as one of their fundamental truths. In fact, they managed to educate the
+masses of their people to a much higher point than the masses of the
+Egyptians, and, escaping the idolatrous tendencies of the Egyptian
+populace, they manifested a very high degree of pure philosophical,
+occult, and religious knowledge. The Magi taught that the soul was a
+complex being, and that certain portions of it perished, while certain
+other parts survived and passed on through a series of earth and
+"other-world" existences, until finally it attained such a degree of
+purity that it was relieved of the necessity for further incarnation,
+and thenceforth dwelt in the region of ineffable bliss--the region of
+light eternal. The teaching also held that just before entering into
+the state of bliss, the soul was able to review its previous
+incarnations, seeing distinctly the connection between them, and thus
+gaining a store of the wisdom of experience, which would aid it in its
+future work as a helper of future races which would appear on the face
+of the earth. The Magi taught that as all living things--nay, all things
+having existence, organic or inorganic--were but varying manifestations
+of the One Life and Being, therefore the highest knowledge implied a
+feeling of conscious brotherhood and relationship toward and with all.
+
+Even among the Chinese there was an esoteric teaching concerning
+Reincarnation, beneath the outer teaching of ages past. It may be
+discerned in the teachings of the early philosophers and seers of the
+race, notably in the work of Lao-Tze, the great Chinese sage and
+teacher. Lao-Tze, whose great work, the "Tao-Teh-King," is a classic,
+taught Reincarnation to his inner circle of students and adherents, at
+least so many authorities claim. He taught that there existed a
+fundamental principle called "Tao," which is held to have been identical
+with the "primordial reason," a manifestation of which was the "Teh," or
+the creative activity of the universe. From the union and action of the
+"Tao" and the "Teh" proceeded the universe, including the human soul,
+which he taught was composed of several parts, among them being the
+"huen," or spiritual principle; and the "phi," or semi-material vital
+principle, which together animate the body. Lao-Tze said: "To be
+ignorant that the true self is immortal, is to remain in a grievous
+state of error, and to experience many calamities by reason thereof.
+Know ye, that there is a part of man which is subtle and spiritual, and
+which is the heaven-bound portion of himself; that which has to do with
+flesh, bones, and body, belongs to the earth; earthly to earth--heavenly
+to heaven. Such is the Law." Some have held that Lao-Tze taught the
+immediate return of the "huen" to the "tao" after death, but from the
+writings of his early followers it may be seen that he really taught
+that the "huen" persisted in individual existence, throughout repeated
+incarnations, returning to the "tao" only when it had completed its
+round of experience-life. For instance, in the Si Haei, it is said that:
+"The vital essence is dispersed after death together with the body,
+bones and flesh; but the soul, or knowing principle of the self, is
+preserved and does not perish. There is no immediate absorption of the
+individuality into the Tao, for individuality persists, and manifests
+itself according to the Law." And Chuang-Tze said: "Death is but the
+commencement of a new life." It was also taught by the early Taoists,
+that the deeds, good and evil, of the present life would bear fruit in
+future existences; in addition to the orthodox heavens and hells, in
+which the Chinese believed, and of which they had a great variety
+adapted to the requirements of the various grades of saints and sinners,
+the minute details of which places being described with that attention
+to minor details and particulars peculiar to the Chinese mind. The
+teachings of a later date, that the soul of the ancestor abided in the
+hall of the ancestors, etc., were a corruption of the ancient teaching.
+Other Chinese teachers taught that the soul consists of three parts, the
+first being the "kuei," which had its seat in the belly, and which
+perished with the body; the second being the "ling," which had its seat
+in the heart or chest, and which persisted for some time after death,
+but which eventually disintegrated; and the third, or "huen," which had
+its seat in the brain, and which survived the disintegration of its
+companions, and then passed on to other existences.
+
+As strange as it may appear to many readers unfamiliar with the subject,
+the ancient Druids, particularly those dwelling in ancient Gaul, were
+familiar with the doctrine of Reincarnation, and believed in its tenets.
+These people, generally regarded as ancient barbarians, really possessed
+a philosophy of a high order, which merged into a mystic form of
+religion. Many of the Romans, upon their conquest of Gallia, were
+surprised at the degree and character of the philosophical knowledge
+possessed by the Druids, and many of them have left written records of
+the same, notably in the case of Aristotle, Caesar, Lucan, and Valerius
+Maximus. The Christian teachers who succeeded them also bore witness to
+these facts, as may be seen by reference to the works of St. Clement,
+St. Cyril, and other of the early Christian Fathers. These ancient
+"barbarians" entertained some of the highest spiritual conceptions of
+life and immortality--the mind and the soul. Reynaud has written of
+them, basing his statements upon a careful study of the ancient beliefs
+of this race: "If Judea represents in the world, with a tenacity of its
+own the idea of a personal and absolute God; if Greece and Rome
+represent the idea of society, Gaul represents, just as particularly,
+the idea of immortality. Nothing characterized it better, as all the
+ancients admit. That mysterious folk was looked upon as the privileged
+possessor of the secrets of death, and its unwavering instinctive faith
+in the persistence of life never ceased to be a cause of astonishment,
+and sometimes of fear, in the eyes of the heathen." The Gauls possessed
+an occult philosophy, and a mystic religion, which were destroyed by the
+influences of the Roman Conquest.
+
+The philosophy of the Druids bore a remarkable resemblance to the Inner
+Doctrine of the Egyptians, and their successors, the Grecian Mystics.
+Traces of Hermeticism and Pythagoreanism are clearly discernible,
+although the connecting link that bound them together has been lost to
+history. Legends among the Druids connected their order with the ancient
+Aryan creeds and teachings, and there seems to have been a very close
+connection between these priests and those of Ancient Greece, for there
+are tales of offerings being sent to the temples of Greece from the
+priests of Gaul. And it is also related that on the island of Delphos
+there was once a Druidic tomb in the shape of a monument, believed to
+have been erected over the remains of Druid priestesses. Herodotus and
+others speak of a secret alliance between the priests of Greece and
+those of the Druids. Some of the ancient legends hold that Pythagoras
+was the instructor of the Druidic priests, and that Pythagoras himself
+was in close communication with the Brahmins of India, and the
+Hermetists of Egypt. Other legends have it that the Druids received
+their first instruction from Zamolais, who had been a slave and student
+of Pythagoras. At any rate, the correspondence between the two schools
+of philosophy is remarkable.
+
+Much of the Druidic teachings has been lost, and it is difficult to
+piece together the fragments. But enough is known to indicate the above
+mentioned relationship to the Pythagorean school, and of the firm hold
+of the doctrine of Reincarnation upon the Druids. The preserved
+fragments show that the Druids taught that there was in man an
+immaterial, spiritual part, called "Awen," which proceeded from an
+Universal Spiritual Principle of Life. They taught that this "Awen" had
+animated the lower forms of life, mineral, vegetable and animal, before
+incarnating as man. In those conditions it was entangled and imprisoned
+in the state of "abysmal circling," called "Anufu," from which it
+finally escaped and entered into the "circle of freedom," called
+"Abred," or human incarnation and beyond. This state of "Abred" includes
+life in the various human races on this and other planets, until finally
+there is a further liberation of the "Awen," which then passes on to the
+"Circle of Bliss," or "Gwynfid," where it abides for aeons in a state of
+ecstatic being. But, beyond even this transcendent state, there is
+another, which is called the "Circle of the Infinite," or "Ceugant,"
+which is identical with the "Union with God" of the Persians and Greek
+Mystics, or the "Nirvana" of the Hindus. Rather an advanced form of
+philosophy for "barbarians," is it not? Particularly when contrasted
+with the crude mythology of the Roman conquerors!
+
+The Gauls were so advanced in the practical phases of occultism that
+they gave every condemned criminal a respite of five years, after
+sentence of death, before execution, in order that he might prepare
+himself for a future state by meditation, instruction and other
+preparation; and also to prevent ushering an unprepared and guilty soul
+into the plane of the departed--the advantages of which plan is apparent
+to every student of occultism who accepts the teaching regarding the
+astral planes.
+
+The reader will understand, of course, that the degree of advancement in
+spiritual and philosophical matters evidenced by the Gauls was due not
+to the fact that these people were generally so far advanced beyond
+their neighbors, but rather to the fact that they had been instructed by
+the Druid priests among them. Tradition has it that the original Druidic
+priests came to Gaul and other countries from some far-off land,
+probably from Egypt or Greece. We have spoken of the connection between
+their teachings and that of the Pythagoreans, and there was undoubtedly
+a strong bond of relationship between these priests and the occultists
+of other lands. The Druidic priests were well versed in astronomy and
+astrology, and the planets had an important part in the teachings. A
+portion of their ritual is said to have correspondences with the early
+Jewish rites and worship. Their favorite symbol--the mistletoe--was used
+as indicating re-birth, the mistletoe being the new life springing forth
+from the old one, typified by the oak. The Druids traveled into Ancient
+Britain and Ireland, and many traces of their religious rites may still
+be found there, not only in the shape of the stone places-of-worship,
+but also in many curious local customs among the peasantry. Many a bit
+of English folk-lore--many an odd Irish fancy concerning fairies and the
+like; symbols of good-luck; banshees and "the little-folk"--came
+honestly to these people from the days of the Druids. And from the same
+source came the many whispered tales among both races regarding the
+birth of children who seemed to have remembrances of former lives on
+earth, which memory faded away as they grew older. Among these people
+there is always an undercurrent of mystic ideas about souls "coming
+back" in some mysterious way not fully understood. It is the inheritance
+from the Druids.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE ROMANS AND GREEKS.
+
+
+One unfamiliar with the subject would naturally expect to find the
+Ancient Romans well advanced along the lines of philosophy, religion,
+and spiritual speculation, judging from the all-powerful influence
+exerted by them over the affairs of the whole known world. Particularly
+when one considers the relationship with and connection of Rome with
+ancient Greece, it would seem that the two peoples must have had much in
+common in the world of thought. But such is not the case. Although the
+exoteric religions of the Romans resembled that of the Greeks, from whom
+it was borrowed or inherited, there was little or no original thought
+along metaphysics, religion or philosophy among the Romans. This was
+probably due to the fact that the whole tendency of Rome was toward
+material advancement and attainment, little or no attention being given
+to matters concerning the soul, future life, etc. Some few of the
+philosophers of Rome advanced theories regarding the future state, but
+beyond a vague sort of ancestor worship the masses of the people took
+but little interest in the subject. Cicero, it is true, uttered words
+which indicate a belief in immortality, when he said in "Scipio's
+Dream": "Know that it is not thou, but thy body alone, which is mortal.
+The individual in his entirety resides in the soul, and not in the
+outward form. Learn, then, that thou art a god; thou, the immortal
+intelligence which gives movements to a perishable body, just as the
+eternal God animates an incorruptible body." Pliny the younger left
+writings which seem to indicate his belief in the reality of phantoms,
+and Ovid has written verses which would indicate his recognition of a
+part of man which survived the death of the body. But, on the whole,
+Roman philosophy treated immortality as a thing perchance existing, but
+not proven, and to be viewed rather as a poetical expression of a
+longing, rather than as an established, or at least a well grounded,
+principle of philosophical thought. But Lucretius and others of his time
+and country protested against the folly of belief in the survival of the
+soul held by the other nations. He said that: "The fear of eternal life
+should be banished from the universe; it disturbs the peace of mankind,
+for it prevents the enjoyment of any security or pleasure." And Virgil
+praised and commended the philosophical attitude which was able to see
+the real cause of things, and was therefore able to reject the unworthy
+fear of a world beyond and all fears arising from such belief. But even
+many of the Roman philosophers, while denying immortality, believed in
+supernatural powers and beings, and were very superstitious and
+childlike in many respects, so that their philosophy of non-survival was
+evidently rather the result of temperament and pursuit of material
+things than a height of philosophical reasoning or metaphysical thought.
+
+And so, the Romans stand apart from the majority of the ancient
+peoples, in so far as the belief in Reincarnation is concerned. While
+there were individual mystics and occultists among them, it still
+remains a fact that the majority of the people held no such belief, and
+in fact the masses had no clearly defined ideas regarding the survival
+of the soul. It is a strange exception to the general rule, and one that
+has occasioned much comment and attention among thinkers along these
+lines. There was a vague form of ancestor worship among the Romans, but
+even this was along the lines of collective survival of the ancestors,
+and was free from the ordinary metaphysical speculations and religious
+dogmas. Roughly stated, the Roman belief may be expressed by an idea of
+a less material, or more subtle, part of man which escaped
+disintegration after death, and which in some mysterious way passed on
+to combine with the ancestral soul which composed the collective
+ancestral deity of the family, the peace and pleasure of which were held
+as sacred duties on the part of the descendants, sacrifices and
+offerings being made toward this end. Nevertheless, here and there,
+among the Romans, were eminent thinkers who seemingly held a vague,
+tentative belief in some form of Reincarnation, as, for instance, Ovid,
+who says: "Nothing perishes, although everything changes here on earth;
+the souls come and go unendingly in visible forms; the animals which
+have acquired goodness will take upon them human form"; and Virgil says:
+"After death, the souls come to the Elysian fields, or to Tartarus, and
+there meet with the reward or punishment of their deeds during life.
+Later, on drinking of the waters of Lethe, which takes away all memory
+of the past, they return to earth." But it must be admitted that Rome
+was deficient in spiritual insight and beliefs, on the whole, her
+material successes having diverted her attention from the problems which
+had so engrossed the mind of her neighbor Greece, and her older sisters
+Persia, Chaldea, and Egypt.
+
+Among the Greeks, on the contrary, we find a marked degree of interest
+and speculation regarding the immortality of the soul, and much
+interest in the doctrines of Metempsychosis or Reincarnation. Although
+the great masses of the Grecian people were satisfied with their popular
+mythology and not disposed to question further, or to indulge in keen
+speculation on metaphysical subjects, still the intellectual portion of
+the race were most active in their search after truth, and their schools
+of philosophy, with their many followers and adherents, have left an
+indelible mark upon the thought of man unto this day. Next to the
+Hindus, the Greeks were the great philosophers of the human race. And
+the occultists and mystics among them were equal to those of Persia,
+India, Chaldea or Egypt. While the various theories regarding the soul
+were as the sands of the sea, so many were the teachers, schools and
+divisions of thought among these people--still the doctrine of
+Reincarnation played a very important part in their philosophy. The
+prevailing idea was that the worthy souls pass on to a state of bliss,
+without rebirth, while the less worthy pass the waters of the river of
+Lethe, quaffing of its waters of forgetfulness, and thus having the
+recollection of their earth-life, and of the period of punishment that
+they had undergone by reason of the same, obliterated and cleansed from
+their memories, when they pass on to re-birth. One of the old Orphic
+hymns reads as follows: "The wise love light and not darkness. When you
+travel the journey of Life, remember, always, the end of the journey.
+When souls return to the light, after their sojourn on earth, they wear
+upon their more subtle bodies, like searing, hideous scars, the marks of
+their earthly sins--these must be obliterated, and they go back to earth
+to be cleansed. But the pure, virtuous and strong proceed direct to the
+Sun of Dionysus." The teachings of the Egyptians left a deep impression
+upon the Grecian mind, and not only the common form of belief, but also
+the esoteric doctrines, were passed along to the newer people by the
+elder.
+
+Pythagoras was the great occult teacher of Greece, and his school and
+that of his followers accepted and taught the great doctrine of
+Reincarnation. Much of his teaching was reserved for the initiates of
+the mystic orders founded by himself and his followers, but still much
+of the doctrine was made public. Both Orpheus and Pythagoras, although
+several centuries separated them, were students at the fount of
+knowledge in Egypt, having traveled to that country in order to be
+initiated in the mystic orders of the ancient land, and returning they
+taught anew the old doctrine of Rebirth. The Pythagorean teaching
+resembles that of the Hindus and Egyptians, in so far as is concerned
+the nature of man--his several bodies or sheaths--and the survival of
+the higher part of his nature, while the lower part perishes. It was
+taught that after death this higher part of the soul passed on to a
+region of bliss, where it received knowledge and felt the beneficent
+influence of developed and advanced souls, thus becoming equipped for a
+new life, with incentives toward higher things. But, not having as yet
+reached the stage of development which will entitle it to dwell in the
+blissful regions for all eternity, it sooner or later reaches the limit
+of its term of probation, and then passes down toward another
+incarnation on earth--another step on the Path of Attainment.
+
+The teaching was, further, that the conditions, circumstances and
+environments of the new earth-life were determined by the actions,
+thoughts, and mental tendencies of the former life, and by the degree of
+development which the several previous earth-lives had manifested. In
+this respect the teaching agrees materially with the universal doctrine
+regarding Reincarnation and Karma. Pythagoras taught that the doctrine
+of Reincarnation accounted for the inequality observable in the lives of
+men on earth, giving a logical reason for the same, and establishing the
+fact of universal and ultimate justice, accountable for on no other
+grounds. He taught that although the material world was subject to the
+laws of destiny and fatality, yet there was another and higher state of
+being in which the soul would rise above the laws of the lower world.
+This higher state, he taught, had laws of its own, as yet unknown to
+man, which tended to work out the imperfect laws of the material world,
+establishing harmony, justice, and equality, to supply the apparent
+deficiencies manifested in the earth life.
+
+Following Pythagoras, Plato, the great Grecian philosopher, taught the
+old-new doctrine of Rebirth. He taught that the souls of the dead must
+return to earth, where, in new lives, they must wear out the old earth
+deeds, receiving benefits for the worthy ones, and penalties for the
+unworthy ones, the soul profiting by these repeated experiences, and
+rising step by step toward the divine. Plato taught that the
+reincarnated soul has flashes of remembrance of its former lives, and
+also instincts and intuitions gained by former experiences. He classed
+innate ideas among these inherited experiences of former lives. It has
+been well said that "everything can be found in Plato," and therefore
+one who seeks for the ancient Grecian ideas concerning Reincarnation,
+and the problems of the soul, may find that which he seeks in the
+writings of the old sage and philosopher. Plato was the past master of
+the inner teachings concerning the soul, and all who have followed him
+have drawn freely from his great store of wisdom. His influence on the
+early Christian church was enormous, and in many forms it continues even
+unto this day. Many of the early Christian fathers taught that Plato was
+really one of the many forerunners of Christ, who had prepared the pagan
+world for the coming of the Master.
+
+In "Phaedo," Plato describes the soul, and explains its immortality. He
+teaches that man has a material body which is subject to constant
+change, and subject to death and disintegration; and also an immaterial
+soul, unchangeable and indestructible, and akin to the divine. At death
+this soul was severed from its physical companion, and rose, purified,
+to the higher regions, where it rendered an account of itself, and had
+its future allotted to it. If it was found sufficiently untainted and
+unsullied by the mire of material life, it was considered fit to be
+admitted to the State of Bliss, which was described as Union with the
+Supreme Being, which latter is described as Spirit, eternal and
+omniscient. The base and very guilty souls undergo a period of
+punishment, or purgation, to the end that they may be purged and
+purified of the guilt, before being allowed to make another trial for
+perfection. The souls which were not sufficiently pure for the State of
+Bliss, nor yet so impure that they need the purging process, were
+returned to earth-life, there to take up new bodies, and endeavor to
+work out their salvation anew, to the end that they might in the future
+attain the Blissful State. Plato taught that in the Rebirth, the soul
+was generally unconscious of its previous lives, although it may have
+flashes of recollection. Besides this it has a form of intuition, and
+innate ideas, which was believed to be the result of the experiences
+gained in the past lives, and which knowledge had been stored up so as
+to benefit the soul in its reincarnated existence.
+
+Plato taught that the immaterial part of man--the soul--was a complex
+thing, being composed of a number of differing, though related,
+elements. Highest in the hierarchy of the soul elements he placed the
+Spirit, which, he taught, comprised consciousness, intelligence, will,
+choice between good and evil, etc., and which was absolutely
+indestructible and immortal, and which had its seat in the head. Then
+came two other parts of the soul, which survived the dissolution of the
+body, but which were only comparatively immortal, that is, they were
+subject to later dissolution and disintegration. Of these semi-material
+elements, one was the seat of the affections, passions, etc., and was
+located in the heart; while the other, which was the seat of the sensual
+and lower desires, passions, etc., was located in the liver. These two
+mentioned lower elements were regarded as not possessed of reason, but
+still having certain powers of sensation, perception, and will.
+
+The Neo-Platonists, who followed Plato, and who adapted his teachings to
+their many conflicting ideas, held firmly to the doctrine of
+Reincarnation. The writings of Plotinus, Porphyry, and the other
+Mystics, had much to say on this subject, and the teaching was much
+refined under their influence. The Jewish philosophers were affected by
+the influence of the Platonic thought, and the school of the Essenes,
+which held firmly to the idea of Rebirth, was a source from which
+Christianity received much of its early influence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE JEWS, ESSENES AND EARLY CHRISTIANS.
+
+
+The early Jewish people had an Inner Teaching which embraced certain
+ideas concerning Reincarnation, although the masses of the people knew
+nothing of the doctrine which was reserved for the inner circles of the
+few. There is much dispute concerning the early beliefs of the Jewish
+people regarding the immortality of the soul. The best authorities seem
+to agree that the early beliefs were very crude and indefinite,
+consisting principally of a general belief that after death the souls
+are gathered up together in a dark place, called Sheol, where they dwell
+in an unconscious sleep. It will be noted that the earlier books in the
+Old Testament have very little to say on this subject. Gradually,
+however, there may be noticed a dawning belief in certain states of the
+departed souls, and in this the Jews were undoubtedly influenced by the
+conceptions of the people of other lands with whom they came in contact.
+The sojourn in Egypt must have exerted an important influence on them,
+particularly the educated thinkers of the race, of which, however, there
+were but few, owing to the condition in which they were kept as bondsmen
+of the Egyptians. Moses, however, owing to his education and training
+among the Egyptian priests, must have been fully initiated in the
+Mysteries of that land, and the Jewish legends would indicate that he
+formed an Inner Circle of the priesthood of his people, after they
+escaped from Egypt, and doubtless instructed them fully in the occult
+doctrines, which, however, were too advanced and complicated for
+preaching to the mass of ignorant people of which the Jewish race of
+that time was composed. The lamp of learning among the Jews of that time
+was kept alight but by very few priests among them. There has always
+been much talk, and legend, concerning this Inner Teaching among the
+Jews. The Jewish Rabbis have had so much to say regarding it, and some
+of the Early Fathers of the Christian Church were of the opinion that
+such Secret Doctrine existed.
+
+Scholars have noted that in important passages in the Jewish Bible,
+three distinct terms are used in referring to the immaterial part, or
+"soul," of man. These terms are "Nichema," "Rouach," and "Nephesh,"
+respectively, and have been translated as "soul," "spirit" or "breath,"
+in several senses of these terms. Many good authorities have held that
+these three terms did not apply to one conception, but that on the
+contrary they referred to three distinct elements of the soul, akin to
+the conceptions of the Egyptians and other early peoples, who held to
+the trinity of the soul, as we have shown a little further back. Some
+Hebrew scholars hold that "Nichema" is the Ego, or Intelligent Spirit;
+"Rouach," the lower vehicle of the Ego; and "Nephesh," the Vital Force,
+Vitality, or Life.
+
+Students of the Kaballah, or Secret Writings of the Jews, find therein
+many references to the complex nature of the soul, and its future
+states, as well as undoubted teachings regarding Reincarnation, or
+Future Existence in the Body. The Kaballah was the book of the Jewish
+Mysteries, and was largely symbolical, so that to those unacquainted
+with the symbols employed, it read as if lacking sense or meaning. But
+those having the key, were able to read therefrom many bits of hidden
+doctrine. The Kaballah is said to be veiled in seven coverings--that is,
+its symbology is sevenfold, so that none but those having the inner keys
+may know the full truth contained therein, although even the first key
+will unlock many doors. The Zohar, another Secret Book of the Jews,
+although of much later origin than the Kaballah, also contains much of
+the Inner Teachings concerning the destiny of the soul. This book
+plainly recognizes and states the three-fold nature of the soul, above
+mentioned, and treats the Nichema, Rouach and Nephesh as distinct
+elements thereof. It also teaches that when the soul leaves the body it
+goes through a long and tedious purifying process, whereby the effect
+of its vices is worn off by means of a series of transmigrations and
+reincarnations, wherein it develops several perfections, etc. This idea
+of attaining perfection through repeated rebirths, instead of the
+rebirths being in the nature of punishment as taught by Plato, is also
+taught in the Kaballah, showing the agreement of the Jewish mind on this
+detail of the doctrine. The essence of the Kaballic teaching on this
+subject is that the souls undergo repeated rebirth, after long intervals
+of rest and purification, in entire forgetfulness of their previous
+existences, and for the purpose of advancement, unfoldment,
+purification, development, and attainment. The Zohar follows up this
+teaching strictly, although with amplifications. The following quotation
+from the Zohar is interesting, inasmuch as it shows the teaching on the
+subject in a few words. It reads as follows: "All souls are subject to
+the trials of transmigration; and men do not know which are the ways of
+the Most High in their regard. They do not know how many
+transformations and mysterious trials they must undergo; how many souls
+and spirits come to this world without returning to the palace of the
+divine king. The souls must re-enter the absolute substance whence they
+have emerged. But to accomplish this end they must develop all the
+perfections; the germ of which is planted in them; and if they have not
+fulfilled this condition during one life, they must commence another, a
+third, and so on, until they have acquired the condition which fits them
+for reunion with God."
+
+The mystic sect which sprung up among the Jewish people during the
+century preceding the birth of Christ, and which was in the height of
+its influence at the time of the Birth--the sect, cult, or order of The
+Essenes--was an important influence in the direction of spreading the
+truths of Reincarnation among the Jewish people. This order combined the
+earlier Egyptian Mysteries with the Mystic Doctrine of Pythagoras and
+the philosophy of Plato. It was closely connected with the Jewish
+Therapeutae of Egypt, and was the leading mystic order of the time.
+Josephus, the eminent Jewish historian, writing of the Essenes, says:
+"The opinion obtains among them that bodies indeed are corrupted, and
+the matter of them not permanent, but that souls continue exempt from
+death forever; and that emanating from the most subtle ether they are
+unfolded in bodies as prisons to which they are drawn by some natural
+spell. But when loosed from the bonds of flesh, as if released from a
+long captivity, they rejoice and are borne upward." In the New
+International Encyclopedia (vol. vii, page 217) will be found an
+instructive article on "Essenes," in which it is stated that among the
+Essenes there was a certain "view entertained regarding the origin,
+present state, and future destiny of the soul, which was held to be
+pre-existent, being entrapped in the body as a prison," etc. And in the
+same article the following statement occurs: "It is an interesting
+question as to how much Christianity owes to Essenism. It would seem
+that there was room for definite contact between John the Baptist and
+this Brotherhood. His time of preparation was spent in the wilderness
+near the Dead Sea; his preaching of righteousness toward God, and
+justice toward one's fellow men, was in agreement with Essenism; while
+his insistence upon Baptism was in accordance with the Essenic emphasis
+on lustrations." In this very conservative statement is shown the
+intimate connection between the Essenes and Early Christianity, through
+John the Baptist. Some hold that Jesus had a still closer relationship
+to the Essenes and allied mystic orders, but we shall not insist upon
+this point, as it lies outside of the ordinary channels of historical
+information. There is no doubt, however, that the Essenes, who had such
+a strong influence on the early Christian Church, were closely allied to
+other mystic organizations with whom they agreed in fundamental
+doctrines, notably that of Reincarnation. And so we have brought the
+story down to the early Christian Church, at which point we will
+continue it. We have left the phase of the subject which pertains to
+India for separate consideration, for in India the doctrine has had its
+principal home in all ages, and the subject in that phase requires
+special treatment.
+
+That there was an Inner Doctrine in the early Christian Church seems to
+be well established, and that a part of that doctrine consisted in a
+teaching of Pre-existence of the Soul and some form of Rebirth or
+Reincarnation seems quite reasonable to those who have made a study of
+the subject. There is a constant reference to the "Mysteries" and "Inner
+Teachings" throughout the Epistles, particularly those of Paul, and the
+writings of the Early Christian Fathers are filled with references to
+the Secret Doctrines. In the earlier centuries of the Christian Era
+frequent references are found to have been made to "The Mysteries of
+Jesus," and that there was an Inner Circle of advanced Christians
+devoted to mysticism and little known doctrines there can be no doubt.
+Celsus attacked the early church, alleging that it was a secret
+organization which taught the Truth to the select few, while it passed
+on to the multitude only the crumbs of half-truth, and popular teachings
+veiling the Truth. Origen, a pupil of St. Clement, answered Celsus,
+stating that while it was true that there were Inner Teachings in the
+Christian Church, that were not revealed to the populace, still the
+Church in following that practice was but adhering to the established
+custom of all philosophies and religions, which gave the esoteric truths
+only to those who were ready to receive them, at the same time giving to
+the general mass of followers the exoteric or outer teachings, which
+were all they could understand or assimilate. Among other things, in
+this reply, Origen says: "That there should be certain doctrines, not
+made known to the multitude, which are divulged after the exoteric ones
+have been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but also
+of philosophic systems in which certain truths are exoteric and others
+esoteric. Some of the followers of Pythagoras were content with his
+'ipse dixit,' while others were taught in secret those doctrines which
+were not deemed fit to be communicated to profane and insufficiently
+prepared ears. Moreover, all the mysteries that are celebrated
+everywhere through Greece and barbarous countries, although held in
+secret, have no discredit thrown upon them, so that it is in vain he
+endeavors to calumniate the secret doctrines of Christianity, seeing
+that he does not correctly understand its nature." In this quotation it
+will be noticed that not only does Origen positively admit the existence
+of the Inner Teachings, but that he also mentions Pythagoras and his
+school, and also the other Mysteries of Greece, showing his acquaintance
+with them, and his comparison of them with the Christian Mysteries,
+which latter he would not have been likely to have done were their
+teachings repugnant to, and at utter variance with, those of his own
+church. In the same writing Origen says: "But on these subjects much,
+and that of a mystical kind, might be said, in keeping with which is the
+following: 'It is good to keep close to the secret of a king,' in order
+that the entrance of souls into bodies may not be thrown before the
+common understanding." Scores of like quotations might be cited.
+
+The writings of the Early Fathers of the Christian Church are filled
+with many allusions to the current inner doctrine of the pre-existence
+and rebirth of souls. Origen in particular has written at great length
+regarding these things. John the Baptist was generally accepted as the
+reincarnation of Elias, even by the populace, who regarded it as a
+miraculous occurrence, while the elect regarded it as merely another
+instance of rebirth under the law. The Gnostics, a mystic order and
+school in the early church, taught Reincarnation plainly and openly,
+bringing upon themselves much persecution at the hands of the more
+conservative. Others held to some form of the teaching, the disputes
+among them being principally regarding points of doctrine and detail,
+the main teachings being admitted. Origen taught that souls had fallen
+from a high estate and were working their way back toward their lost
+estate and glory, by means of repeated incarnations. Justin Martyr
+speaks of the soul inhabiting successive bodies, with loss of memory of
+past lives. For several centuries the early Church held within its bosom
+many earnest advocates of Reincarnation, and the teaching was recognized
+as vital even by those who combatted it.
+
+Lactinus, at the end of the third century, held that the idea of the
+soul's immortality implied its pre-existence. St. Augustine, in his
+"Confessions," makes use of these remarkable words: "Did I not live in
+another body before entering my mother's womb?" Which expression is all
+the more remarkable because Augustine opposed Origen in many points of
+doctrine, and because it was written as late as A. D. 415. The various
+Church Councils, however, frowned upon these outcroppings of the
+doctrine of Reincarnation, and the influence of those who rose to power
+in the church was directed against the "heresy." At several councils
+were the teachings rebuked, and condemned, until finally in A. D. 538,
+Justinian had a law passed which declared that: "Whoever shall support
+the mythical presentation of the pre-existence of the soul and the
+consequently wonderful opinion of its return, let him be Anathema."
+Speaking of the Jewish Kaballists, an authority states: "Like Origen and
+other church Fathers, the Kaballists used as their main argument in
+favor of the doctrine of metempsychosis, the justice of God."
+
+But the doctrine of Reincarnation among Christian races did not die at
+the orders and commands of the Christian Church Councils. Smouldering
+under the blanket of opposition and persecution, it kept alive until
+once more it could lift its flame toward Heaven. And even during its
+suppression the careful student may see little flickers of the
+flame--little wreathings of smoke--escaping here and there. Veiled in
+mystic phrasing, and trimmed with poetic figure, many allusions may be
+seen among the writings of the centuries. And during the past two
+hundred years the revival in the subject has been constant, until at the
+close of the Nineteenth Century, and the beginning of the Twentieth
+Century, we once more find the doctrine openly preached and taught to
+thousands of eager listeners and secretly held even by many orthodox
+Christians.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE HINDUS.
+
+
+While Reincarnation has been believed and taught in nearly every nation,
+and among all races, in former or present times, still we are justified
+in considering India as the natural Mother of the doctrine, inasmuch as
+it has found an especially favorable spiritual and mental environment in
+that land and among its people, the date of its birth there being lost
+in the cloudiness of ancient history, but the tree of the teaching being
+still in full flower and still bearing an abundance of fruit. As the
+Hindus proudly claim, while the present dominant race was still in the
+savage, cave-dwelling, stone-age stage of existence--and while even the
+ancient Jewish people were beginning to place the foundation stones of
+their religion, of which the present Christian religion is but an
+offshoot--the great Hindu religious teachers and philosophers had long
+since firmly established their philosophies and religions with the
+doctrine of Reincarnation and its accompanying teachings, which had been
+accepted as Truth by the great Aryan race in India. And, throughout
+forty centuries, or more, this race has held steadfastly to the original
+doctrine, until now the West is looking again to it for light on the
+great problems of human life and existence, and now, in the Twentieth
+Century, many careful thinkers consider that in the study and
+understanding of the great fundamental thoughts of the Vedas and the
+Upanishads, the West will find the only possible antidote to the virus
+of Materialism that is poisoning the veins of Western spiritual
+understanding.
+
+The idea of reincarnation is to be found in nearly all of the
+philosophies and religions of the race, at least in some period in their
+history--among all peoples and races--yet, in India do we find the
+doctrine in the fullest flower, not only in the past but in the present.
+From the earliest ages of the race in India, Reincarnation in some of
+its various forms has been the accepted doctrine, and today it is
+accepted by the entire Hindu people, with their many divisions and
+sub-races, with the exception of the Hindu Mohammedans. The teeming
+millions of India live and die in the full belief in Reincarnation, and
+to them it is accepted without a question as the only rational doctrine
+concerning the past, present and future of the soul. Nowhere on this
+planet is there to be found such an adherence to the idea of "soul"
+life--the thinking Hindu always regarding himself as a soul occupying a
+body, rather than as a body "having a soul," as so many of the Western
+people seem to regard themselves. And, to the Hindus, the present life
+is truly regarded as but one step on the stairway of life, and not as
+the only material life preceding an eternity of spiritual existence. To
+the Hindu mind, Eternity is here with us Now--we are in eternity as much
+this moment as we ever shall be--and the present life is but one of a
+number of fleeting moments in the eternal life.
+
+The early Hindus did not possess the complicated forms of religion now
+existing among them, with their various creeds, ceremonials, rituals,
+cults, schools, and denominations. On the contrary, their original form
+of religion was an advanced form of what some have called
+"Nature-Worship," but which was rather more than that which the Western
+mind usually means by the term. Their "Nature" was rather a "Spirit of
+Nature," or One Life, of which all existing forms are but varying
+manifestations. Even in this early stage of their religious development
+they held to a belief in reincarnation of the soul, from one form to
+another. While to them everything was but a manifestation of One Life,
+still the soul was a differentiated unit, emanated from the One Life,
+and destined to work its way back to Unity and Oneness with the Divine
+Life through many and varied incarnations, until finally it would be
+again merged with the One. From this early beginning arose the many and
+varied forms of religious philosophy known to the India of today; but
+clinging to all these modern forms is to be found the fundamental basis
+idea of reincarnation and final absorption with the One.
+
+Brahmanism came first, starting from the simple and working to the
+complex, a great priesthood gradually arising and surrounding the
+original simple religious philosophy with ceremonial, ritual and
+theological and metaphysical abstractions and speculation. Then arose
+Buddhism, which, in a measure, was a return to the primitive idea, but
+which in turn developed a new priesthood and religious organization. But
+the fundamental doctrine of Reincarnation permeated them all, and may be
+regarded as the great common centre of the Hindu religious thought and
+philosophy.
+
+The Hindu religious books are filled with references to the doctrine of
+Reincarnation. The Laws of Manu, one of the oldest existing pieces of
+Sanscrit writing, contains many mentions of it, and the Upanishads and
+Vedas contain countless reference to it. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna
+says to Arjuna: "Know thou, O Prince of Pandu, that there never was a
+time when I, nor thou, nor any of these princes of earth was not; nor
+shall there ever come a time, hereafter, when any of us shall cease to
+be. As the soul, wearing this material body, experienceth the stages of
+infancy, youth, manhood, and old age, even so shall it, in due time,
+pass on to another body, and in other incarnations shall it again live,
+and move and play its part. * * * These bodies, which act as enveloping
+coverings for the souls occupying them, are but finite things--things of
+the moment--and not the Real Man at all. They perish as all finite
+things perish--let them perish. He who in his ignorance thinketh: 'I
+slay' or 'I am slain,' babbleth like an infant lacking knowledge. Of a
+truth none can slay--none can be slain. Take unto thy inner mind this
+truth, O Prince! Verily, the Real Man--the Spirit of Man--is neither
+born, nor doth it die. Unborn, undying, ancient, perpetual and eternal,
+it hath endured, and will endure forever. The body may die; be slain; be
+destroyed completely--but he that hath occupied it remaineth unharmed.
+* * * As a man throweth away his old garments, replacing them with new
+and brighter ones, even so the Dweller of the body, having quitted its
+old mortal frame, entereth into others which are new and freshly
+prepared for it. * * * Many have been my births and rebirths, O
+Prince--and many also have been thine own. But between us lies this
+difference--I am conscious of all my many lives, but thou lackest
+remembrance of thine."
+
+In the Mahabarata is said: "Even as when he casteth off an old garment,
+man clothes himself in new raiment, even so the soul, casting off the
+wornout body, takes on a new body, avoids the fatal paths leading to
+hell, works for its salvation, and proceeds toward heaven."
+
+The Brhadaranyakopanishad, one of the old Hindu writings, contains the
+following: "As the caterpillar, getting to the end of the straw, takes
+itself away after finding a resting place in advance, so the soul
+leaving this body, and finding another place in advance, takes himself
+off from his original abode. As the goldsmith taking little by little
+of the gold expands it into a new form, so, indeed, does this soul,
+leaving this body, make a new and happy abode for himself."
+
+But to attempt to quote passages relating to incarnation from the Hindu
+books, would be akin to compiling a library of many volumes. The sacred
+writings of the East are filled with references to Reincarnation, and if
+the latter were eliminated it would be "like the play of Hamlet with
+Hamlet omitted."
+
+We cannot enter into a description of the various schools of Hindu
+religious thought and philosophy in this work, for to do so would be to
+expand this little volume in several of larger size, so extended is the
+subject. But underlying the many divisions and subdivisions of Hindu
+thought may be found the fundamental idea of an original emanation from,
+or manifestation of, One Divine Being, Power and Energy, into countless
+differentiated units, atoms, or egos, which units, embodying in matter,
+are unconscious of the spiritual nature, and take on a consciousness
+corresponding with the form in which they are embodied. Then follows a
+series of embodiments, or incarnations, from lower to higher, in which
+occurs an evolution or "unfoldment" of the nature of the soul, in which
+it rises to higher and higher planes of being, until finally, after aeons
+of time, it enters in Union with the Divine Nirvana and
+Para-Nirvana--the state of Eternal Bliss.
+
+The great difference between the Hindu thought and the Grecian is that
+while the Greeks considered repeated life with joy as a means of greater
+and greater expression of life, the Hindus, on the contrary, regard life
+as but a period of travail and sorrow, the only light to be perceived
+being the expectation and hope of eventually emerging from the region of
+materiality, and illusion, and regaining true existence in the Spirit.
+The Hindus nearly all agree that this material life is occasioned by
+"avidya" or ignorance on the part of the soul of its own real nature and
+being, whereby it fails to recognize that this material life is "maya"
+or illusion. They hold that Wisdom consists in the soul recognizing its
+real nature, and perceiving the illusion of material life and things,
+and striving to liberate itself from the bondage of materiality and
+ignorance.
+
+The principal differences among the various Hindu schools of religion
+and philosophical thought arise from their differing views regarding the
+nature and constitution of the soul on the one hand, and the means of
+attaining liberation and freedom from material embodiment on the other.
+The doctrine of "Karma" of spiritual cause and effect, which we shall
+consider in another chapter, also runs along with all the varying Hindu
+conceptions, doctrines, and theories.
+
+Without considering the matter of differences of opinion between the
+various schools, concerning the nature and constitution of the soul, we
+may say that all the schools practically agree that the constitution of
+Man is a complex thing, comprising a number of sheaths, bodies,
+coverings, or elements, from the grosser to the more spiritual, the
+various sheaths being discarded as the soul advances on its way toward
+perfection. There are disputes between the various schools regarding
+terminology and the precise arrangement of these "principles," but the
+following classification will answer for the purpose of giving a general
+idea of the Hindu views on the subject, subject always to the
+conflicting claims of the various schools. The classification is as
+follows, passing from lower to higher:
+
+1. Physical or material body, or Rupa. 2. Vitality of Vital Force, or
+Prana-Jiva. 3. Astral Body, Etheric Double, or Linga Sharira. 4. Animal
+Soul, or Kama Rupa. 5. Human Soul, or Manas. 6. Spiritual Soul, or
+Buddhi. 7. Divine Spirit, or Atma.
+
+From the beginning, the tendency of the Hindu mind was in the direction
+of resolving the universe of forms, shapes, and change, back into some
+One Underlying Principle, from which all the phenomenal world
+emerged--some One Infinite Energy, from which all else emerged,
+emanated, or evolved. And the early Hindu mind busied itself actively
+with the solution of the problem of this One Being manifesting a
+Becoming into Many. Just as is the Western world of today actively
+engaged in solving many material problems, so was ancient India active
+in solving many spiritual problems--just as the modern West is straining
+every energy toward discovering the "How," so was ancient India
+straining every effort to discovering the "Why." And from that struggle
+of the mind of India there arose countless schools of religious and
+philosophical thought, many of which have passed away, but many of which
+persist today. The problem of the relationship of the human soul to the
+One Being, and the secondary problem of the life, present and future, of
+the individual soul, is a most vital one to all thinking Hindus today as
+in the forty centuries or more of its philosophical history. To the
+Hindu mind, all material research is of minor importance, the important
+Truth being to discover that "which when once known, all else is
+understood." But, as we have said, in spite of the numerous religions,
+schools, and phases of teaching, among the Hindus, the one fundamental
+conception of Reincarnation is never lost sight of, nor is it ever
+doubted in any of the forms of the philosophies or religions.
+
+Ignoring the subdivisions of Hindu philosophical thought, we may say
+that the Hindu philosophies may be divided into a few general classes,
+several of which we shall now hastily consider, that you may get a
+glimpse at the variety of Hindu speculative philosophy in its relation
+to the soul and its destiny. You will, of course, understand that we can
+do no more than mention the leading features of each class, as a careful
+consideration would require volumes for each particular school.
+
+We will first consider the philosophy of Kanada, generally known as the
+Vaisheshika Teaching, which inclines toward an Atomic Theory, akin to
+that formulated by the old Greek philosopher Democritus. According to
+this teaching the substance of the universe is composed of an infinite
+number of atoms, which are eternal, and which were not created by God,
+but which are co-eternal with Him. These atoms, combining and forming
+shapes, forms, etc., are the basis of the material universe. It is held,
+however, that the power or energy whereby these atoms combine and thus
+form matter, comes from God. This teaching holds that God is a Personal
+Being, possessing Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence. It is also
+held that there are two substances, or principles, higher, that the
+material energies or substance, namely, Manas, or Mind, and Atman, or
+Spirit. Manas or Mind is held to be something like a Mind-Stuff, from
+which all individual minds are built up--and which Mind-Stuff is held to
+be eternal. Atman, or Spirit, is held to be an eternal principle, from
+which the Selves or Souls are differentiated. The Atman, or Spirit, or
+Self, is regarded as much higher than Mind, which is its tool and
+instrument of expression. This philosophy teaches that through
+progression, by Reincarnation, the soul advances from lower to higher
+states, on its road to freedom and perfection.
+
+Another great school of Hindu philosophy is the philosophy of Kapila,
+generally known as the Sankhya system. This teaching opposes the Atomic
+Theory of the Vaisheshika system, and holds that the atoms are not
+indestructible nor eternal, but may be resolved back into a primal
+substance called Prakriti. Prakriti is held to be an universal, eternal
+energy or ethereal substance, something similar to certain Western
+scientific conceptions of an Universal Ether. From this eternal,
+universal energy, Kapila held that all the universe has been
+evolved--all material forms or manifestations of energy being but
+manifestations of Prakriti. But, the Sankhya system is not
+materialistic, as might be supposed at first glance, for side by side
+with Prakriti it offers the principle of Purusha, or Soul, or Spirit, of
+which all individual souls are atomic units--the Principle of Purusha
+being an Unity of Units, and not an Undivided One. The Purusha--that is,
+its units or Individual Souls--is regarded as eternal and immortal.
+Prakriti is devoid of mind, but is possessed of active vital energy,
+and is capable of producing forms and material manifestations by reason
+of its inherent energy, and laws, and thus produces what the Hindus call
+"Maya," or material illusion, which they hold to be devoid of reality,
+inasmuch as the forms are constantly changing and have no permanence.
+This philosophy holds that Prakriti, by means of the glamour of its
+manifestations of Maya, entices the individual souls, or Purushas, which
+when once in the centre of attraction of the Maya are drawn into the
+vortex of material existence, losing a knowledge of their real nature.
+But the souls never lose entirely the glimmer of the Light of the
+Spirit, and, consequently, soon begin to feel that they have made a
+mistake, and consequently begin to strive to escape the bondage of
+Prakriti and its Maya--but such escape is possible only through a
+gradual rising up from the depths of Maya, step by step, cycle by cycle,
+by a series of purification and cleansing of themselves, just as a fly
+cleanses itself of the sticky substance into which it has fallen. This
+escape is accomplished by Spiritual Unfoldment or Evolution, by means of
+Reincarnation--this Evolution not being a "growth," but rather an
+"unfoldment" or "unwrapping" of the soul from its confining sheaths, one
+by one.
+
+Another great school of Hindu philosophy is the philosophy of Patanjali,
+generally known as the Yoga Philosophy, but which differs from the Yogi
+Philosophy of the West, which is eclectic in nature. The Yoga Philosophy
+of Patanjali bears some resemblance to the Sankhya school of Kapila,
+inasmuch as it recognizes the teachings regarding Prakriti, from which
+universal energy the material universe has been evolved; and inasmuch as
+it also recognizes the countless individual Purushas, or souls, which
+are eternal and immortal, and which are entrapped in the Maya of
+Prakriti. But it then takes a position widely divergent from the Sankhya
+school, inasmuch as Patanjali's Yoga school holds that there also exists
+a Supreme Purusha, Spirit, Soul--or God--who is without form; infinite;
+eternal; and above all attributes and qualities common to man. In this
+respect, Patanjali differs from Kapila, and inclines rather toward
+agreement with Kanada, of the first mentioned school of the Vaisheshika
+system. All three philosophers, however, seem to generally agree in the
+main upon the Mind Principle, which they hold to be beneath Soul or
+Spirit, and to be in the nature of Mind-Stuff, which is of a
+semi-material nature--Kapila and Patanjali even going so far as to hold
+that it is a manifestation of Prakriti or the Universal Energy, rather
+than a distinct principle. They hold that the Purusha, or Spirit, not
+the Mind, is the Real Self, and the source of consciousness and the real
+intelligence. The practical teachings of the school of Patanjali is a
+system by which the Purusha may escape from and overcome the Prakriti,
+and thus gain emancipation, freedom, and a return to its natural and
+original purity and power. This school, of course, teaches
+Reincarnation, and Progression through Rebirth, in accordance with the
+principles mentioned above.
+
+Another great school of Hindu philosophy is that known as the Vedanta
+Philosophy, which many consider the most advanced of all the Hindu
+systems, and which is rapidly growing in popularity among the educated
+Hindus, and also among many very intelligent students of philosophical
+thought in the Western world. Its followers claim that the Vedanta
+Philosophy has reached the very highest point of philosophical thought,
+speculation and analysis possible to the human mind of today, and many
+Western students have claimed that it contains the highest conceptions
+found in any and all of the great World Philosophies. Be this as it may,
+it certainly contains much that is the most subtle, refined and keen in
+the field of philosophical speculative thought of the world, and while,
+as some claim, it may lack the "appeal to the religious emotions" that
+some other forms of thought possess, still it proves very attractive to
+those in whom intellectual development and effort have superseded the
+"emotional" side of philosophy or religion.
+
+The Vedanta System holds that the Ultimate Reality, or Actual Being, of
+the universe--the One Absolute Energy or Substance from which all the
+universe proceeds--is THAT which may be called The Absolute, which is
+eternal, infinite, indivisible, beyond attributes and qualities, and
+which is the source of intelligence. The Absolute is held to be One, not
+Many--Unique and Alone. It is identical with the Sanscrit "Brahman," and
+is held to be THAT which has been called "The Unknowable"; the "Father";
+the "Over-Soul"; the "Thing-in-Itself"--in short, it is THAT which men
+mean, and have always meant, when they wished to express the ABSOLUTE
+REALITY. The Vedantists hold that this Absolute Brahman is the essence
+of "Sat," or Absolute Existence; "Chit," or Absolute Intelligence; and
+"Ananda," or Absolute Bliss. Without attempting to enter into an
+analysis, or close exposition, of the Vedanta Philosophy, or so far as
+concerns the soul, and its destiny, we may say that it holds that there
+do not exist the countless eternal, immortal souls or Purushas of the
+Sankhya philosophy, but instead that the individual souls are but the
+countless "images or reflections" of the Absolute Being, or Brahman, and
+have their existence only by reason of the Real Existence of the One
+Only Being. Consequently, the Spirit within the soul of Man, and which
+is "the soul of his soul," is Divine. The Vedantists admit the existence
+of a "Logos," or Ishwara, the Lord of the Universe, who is, however, but
+a manifestation of Brahman--a Great Soul, as it were, and who presides
+over the evolution of Universes from the Prakriti, and who plays the
+part of the Demiurge of the old Grecian and Gnostic philosophies. The
+Vedantists admit the existence (relative) of Prakriti, or Universal
+Energy, but hold that it is not eternal, or real-in-itself, but is
+practically identical with Maya, and may be regarded as a form of the
+Creative Energy of the Absolute, Brahman. This Maya (which while
+strictly speaking is illusion inasmuch as it has no real existence or
+eternal quality) is the source of time, space, and causation, and of
+the phenomenal universe, with its countless forms, shapes, and
+appearances. The Vedantists teach that the Evolution of the Soul is
+accomplished by its escaping the folds of Maya, or Materiality, one by
+one, by means of Rebirths, until it manifests more and more of its
+Divine Nature; and thus it goes on, and on, from higher to still higher,
+until at last it enters into the Divine Being and attains Union with
+God, and is "One with the Father."
+
+Another great Hindu philosophy is the philosophy of Gautama, the Buddha,
+which is generally known as the Buddhistic Philosophy, or as Buddhism.
+It is difficult to give a clear idea of Buddhism in a concise form, for
+there are so many schools, sects, and divisions among this general
+school of philosophy, differing upon the minor points and details of
+doctrine, that it requires a lengthy consideration in order to clear
+away the disputed points. Speaking generally, however, it may be said
+that the Buddhists start with the idea or conception of an Unknowable
+Reality, back of and under all forms and activity of the phenomenal
+universe. Buddha refused to discuss the nature of this Reality,
+practically holding it to be Unknowable, and in the nature of an
+Absolute Nothing, rather than an Absolute Something in the sense of
+"Thingness" as we understand the term; that is to say, it is a No-Thing,
+rather than a Thing--consequently it is beyond thought, understanding,
+or even imagination--all that can be said is that it IS. Buddha refused
+to discuss or teach of the manner in which this Unknowable came to
+manifest upon the Relative Plane, for he held that Man's proper study
+was of the World of Things, and how to escape therefrom. In a vague way,
+however, Buddhism holds that in some way this Unknowable, or a part
+thereof, becomes entangled in Maya or Illusion, through Avidya or
+Ignorance, Law, Necessity, or perhaps something in the nature of a
+Mistake. And arising from this mistaken activity, all the pain and
+sorrow of the universe arises, for the Buddhist holds that the Universe
+is a "world of woe," from which the soul is trying to escape. Buddhism
+holds that the soul Reincarnates often, because of its desires and
+attractions, which if nursed and encouraged will lead it into lives
+without number. Consequently, to the Buddhist, Wisdom consists in
+acquiring a knowledge of the true state of affairs, just mentioned, and
+then upon that knowledge building up a new life in which desire and
+attraction for the material world shall be eliminated, to the end that
+the soul having "killed out desire" for material things--having cut off
+the dead branch of Illusion--is enabled to escape from Karma, and
+eventually be released from Rebirth, thence passing back into the great
+ocean of the Unknowable, or Nirvana, and ceasing to Be, so far as the
+phenomenal world is concerned, although of course it will exist in the
+Unknowable, which is Eternal. Many Western readers imagine the
+Buddhistic Nirvana to be an utter annihilation of existence and being,
+but the Hindu mind is far more subtle, and sees a vast difference
+between utter annihilation on the one hand, and extinction of
+personality on the other. That which appears Nothingness to the Western
+Mind, is seen as No-Thingness to the Oriental conception, and is
+considered more of a resumption of an original Real Existence, rather
+than an ending thereof.
+
+There is a great difference between the two great schools of Buddhism,
+the Northern and Southern, respectively, regarding the nature of the
+soul. The Northern school considers the soul as an entity,
+differentiated from the Unknowable in some mysterious way not explained
+by Buddha, and yet different from the individual Purusha of the Sankhya
+school, before mentioned. On the contrary, the Southern school does not
+regard the soul as a differentiated or distinct entity, but rather as a
+centre of phenomenal activity saturated or charged with the results of
+its deeds, and that therefore the Karma, or the Essence of Deeds, may be
+considered as the soul itself, rather than as something pertaining to
+it. The Northern school holds that the soul, accompanied by its Karma,
+reincarnates along the same lines as those taught by all the other
+Hindu schools of Reincarnation and Karma. But the Southern school, on
+the contrary, holds that it is not the soul-entity that re-incarnates
+(for there is no such entity), but that instead it is the Karma, or
+Essence of Deeds, that reincarnates from life to life, according to its
+attractions, desires, and merits or demerits. In the last mentioned view
+of the case, the rebirth is compared to the lighting of one lamp from
+the flame of another, rather than in the transferring of the oil from
+one lamp to another. But, really, these distinctions are quite
+metaphysical, and when refined by analysis become hair-splitting. It is
+said that the two schools of Buddhism are growing nearer together, and
+their differences reconciled. The orthodox Hindus claim that Buddhism is
+on the decline in India, being largely supplanted by the various forms
+of the Vedanta. On the other hand, Buddhism has spread to China, Japan
+and other countries, where it has taken on new forms, and has grown into
+a religion of ritualism, creeds, and ceremonialism, with an
+accompanying loss of the original philosophy and a corresponding
+increase of detail of teaching, doctrine and disciple and general
+"churchiness," including a belief in several thousand different kind of
+hells. But even in the degenerated forms, Buddhism still holds to
+Reincarnation as a fundamental doctrine.
+
+In this consideration of the philosophies of India, we do not consider
+it necessary to go into an explanation of the various forms of
+religions, or church divisions, among the Hindus. In India, Religion is
+an important matter, and there seems to be some form of religion adapted
+to each one of that country's teeming millions. From the grossest form
+of religious superstition, and crudest form of ceremony and worship, up
+to the most refined idealism and beautiful symbolisms, runs the gamut of
+the Hindu Religions. Many people are unable to conceive of an abstract,
+ideal Universal Being, such as the Brahman of the Hindu Philosophy, and
+consequently that Being has been personified as an Anthropomorphic
+Deity, and human attributes bestowed upon him to suit the popular fancy.
+In India, as in all other countries, the priesthood have given the
+people that which they asked for, and the result is that many forms of
+churchly ceremonialism, and forms of worship, maintain which are
+abhorrent and repulsive to Western ideas. But we of the West are not
+entirely free from this fault, as one may see if he examines some of the
+religious conceptions and ceremonies common among ignorant people in
+remote parts of our land. Certain conceptions, of an anthropomorphic
+Deity held by some of the more ignorant people of the Western world are
+but little advanced beyond the idea of the Devil; and the belief in a
+horned, cloven-hoofed, spiked-tail, red-colored, satyr-like, leering
+Devil, with his Hell of Eternal Fire and Brimstone, is not so uncommon
+as many imagine. It has not been so long since we were taught that "one
+of the chief pleasures of God and his angels, and the saved souls, will
+be the witnessing of the tortures of the damned in Hell, from the walls
+of Heaven." And the ceremonies of an old-time Southern negro
+camp-meeting were not specially elevating or ideal.
+
+Among the various forms of the religions of India we find some of the
+before mentioned forms of philosophy believed and taught among the
+educated people--often an eclectic policy of choosing and selecting
+being observed, a most liberal policy being observed, the liberty of
+choice and selection being freely accorded. But, there is always the
+belief in Reincarnation and Karma, no matter what the form of worship,
+or the name of the religion. There are two things that the Hindu mind
+always accepts as fundamental truth, needing no proof--axiomic, in fact.
+And these two are (1) The belief in a Soul that survives the death of
+the body--the Hindu mind seeming unable to differentiate between the
+consciousness of "I Am," and "I always Have Been, and always Shall
+Be"--the knowledge of the present existence being accepted as a proof of
+past and future existence; and (2) the doctrine of Reincarnation and
+Karma, which are accepted as fundamental and axiomic truths beyond the
+need of proof, and beyond doubt--as a writer has said: "The idea of
+Reincarnation has become so firmly fixed and rooted in the Hindu mind as
+a part of belief that it amounts to the dignity and force of a moral
+conviction." No matter what may be the theories regarding the nature of
+the universe--the character of the soul--or the conception concerning
+Deity or the Supreme Being--you will always find the differing sects,
+schools, and individuals accepting Reincarnation and Karma as they
+accept the fact that they themselves are existent, or that twice one
+makes two. Hindu Philosophy cannot be divorced from Reincarnation. To
+the Hindu the only escape from the doctrine of Reincarnation seems to be
+along the road of the Materialism of the West. From the above statement
+we may except the Hindu Mohammedans and the native Hindu Christians,
+partially, although careful observers say that even these do not escape
+entirely the current belief of their country, and secretly entertain a
+"mental reservation" in their heterodox creeds. So, you see, we are
+justified in considering India as the Mother Land of Reincarnation at
+the present time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE MODERN WEST.
+
+
+In the modern thought of the Western world, we find Reincarnation
+attracting much attention. The Western philosophies for the past hundred
+years have been approaching the subject with a new degree of attention
+and consideration, and during the past twenty years there has been a
+marvellous awakening of Western public interest in the doctrine. At the
+present time the American and European magazines contain poems and
+stories based upon Reincarnation, and many novels have been written
+around it, and plays even have been based upon the general doctrine, and
+have received marked attention on the part of the public. The idea seems
+to have caught the public fancy, and the people are eager to know more
+of it.
+
+This present revival of attention has been brought about largely by the
+renewed interest on the part of the Western world toward the general
+subject of occultism, mysticism, comparative religion, oriental
+philosophy, etc., in their many phases and forms. The World's Parliament
+of Religions, held at the World's Fair in Chicago, in 1893, did much to
+attract the attention of the American public to the subject of the
+Oriental Philosophies in which Reincarnation plays such a prominent
+part. But, perhaps, the prime factor in this reawakened Western interest
+in the subject is the work and teachings of the Theosophical Society,
+founded by Madame Blavatsky some thirty years ago, and which has since
+been continued by her followers and several successors. But, whatever
+may be the cause, the idea of Reincarnation seems destined to play an
+important part in the religious and philosophical thought of the West
+for some time to come. Signs of it appear on every side--the subject
+cannot be ignored by the modern student of religion and philosophy.
+Whether accepted or not, it must be recognized and examined.
+
+But the forms of the doctrine, or theory, regarding Reincarnation, vary
+almost as much in the Modern West as in the various Eastern countries at
+present, and in the past. We find all phases of the subject attracting
+attention and drawing followers to its support. Here we find the
+influence of the Hindu thought, principally through the medium or
+channel of Theosophy, or of the Yogi Philosophy--and there we find the
+influence of the Grecian or Egyptian philosophical conceptions
+manifesting principally through the medium of a number of occult orders
+and organizations, whose work is performed quietly and with little
+recognition on the part of the general public, the policy being to
+attract the "elect few" rather than the curious crowd--and again we find
+quite a number of persons in America and Europe, believing in
+Reincarnation because they are attracted by the philosophy of the
+Neo-Platonists, or the Gnostics of the Early Christian Church, and
+favoring Reincarnation as a proper part of the Christian Religion, and
+who while remaining in the bosom of the Church interpret the teachings
+by the light of the doctrine of Rebirth, as did many of the early
+Christians, as we have seen.
+
+The Theosophical conception and interpretation appeals to a great number
+of the Western Reincarnationists, by reason of its wide circulation and
+dissemination, as well as by the fact that it has formulated a detailed
+theory and doctrine, and besides claims the benefit of authoritative
+instruction on the doctrine from Adepts and Masters who have passed to a
+higher plane of existence. We think it proper to give in some little
+detail an account of the general teachings of Theosophy on this point,
+the reader being referred to the general Theosophical literature for
+more extended information regarding this special teaching.
+
+Theosophy teaches that the human soul is a composite entity, consisting
+of several principles, sheaths of vehicles, similar to those mentioned
+by us in our account of Hindu Reincarnation. The Theosophical books
+state these principles as follows: (1) The Body, or Rupa; (2) Vitality,
+or Prana-Jiva; (3) Astral Body, or Linga-Sharira; (4) Animal Soul, or
+Kama-Rupa; (5) Human Soul, Manas; (6) Spiritual Soul, or Buddhi; and (7)
+Spirit, or Atma. Of these seven principles, the last or higher Three,
+namely, the Atma, Buddhi, and Manas, compose the higher Trinity of the
+Soul--the part of man which persists; while the lower Four principles,
+namely, Rupa, Prana-Jiva, Linga-Sharira, and Kama-Rupa, respectively,
+are the lower principles, which perish after the passing out of the
+higher principles at death. At Death the higher principles, or Triad,
+lives on, while the lower principles of Quarternary dissolve and
+separate from each other and finally disintegrate, along the lines of a
+process resembling chemical action.
+
+Theosophy teaches that there is a great stream of Egos, or Monads, which
+originally emanated from a Source of Being, and which are pursuing a
+spiral journey around a chain of seven globes, including the earth,
+called the Planetary Chain. The Life Wave of Monads reaches Globe A,
+and goes through a series of evolutionary life on it, and then passes on
+to Globe B, and so on until Globe G is reached, when after a continued
+life there the Life Wave returns to Globe A, but not in a circle, but
+rather in a spiral, that is, on a higher plane of activity, and the
+round begins once more. There are seven Races to be lived through on
+each globe, many incarnations in each--each Race having seven sub-races,
+and each sub-race having seven branches. The progress of the Life Wave
+is illustrated by the symbol of a seven-coil spiral, sweeping with a
+wider curve at each coil, each coil, however, being divided into a minor
+seven-coil spiral, and so on. It is taught that the human soul is now on
+its fourth great round-visit to the Earth, and is in about the middle of
+the fifth Race of that round. The total number of incarnations necessary
+for each round is quite large, and the teaching is that none can escape
+them except by special merit and development. Between each incarnation
+there is a period of rest in the Heaven World, or Devachan, where the
+soul reaps the experiences of the past life, and prepares for the next
+step. The period of rest varies with the degree of attainment gained by
+the soul, the higher the degree the longer the rest. The average time
+between incarnations is estimated at about fifteen hundred years.
+Devachan is thus a kind of temporary Heaven, from whence the soul must
+again pass in time for a rebirth, according to its merits or demerits.
+Thus, accordingly, each soul has lived in a variety of bodies, even
+during the present round--having successively incarnated as a savage, a
+barbarian, a semi-civilized man, a native of India, Egypt, Chaldea,
+Rome, Greece, and many other lands, in different ages, filling all kinds
+of positions and places in life, tasting of poverty and riches, of
+pleasure and pain--all ever leading toward higher things. The doctrine
+enunciated by Theosophy is complicated and intricate, and we can do no
+more than to barely mention the same at this place.
+
+Another Western form of the Oriental Teachings, known as the "Yogi
+Philosophy," numbers quite a large number of earnest students in this
+country and in Europe, and has a large circle of influence, although it
+has never crystallized into an organization, the work being done quietly
+and the teachings spread by the sale of popular books on the subject
+issued at nominal prices. It is based on the Inner Teachings of the
+Hindu Philosophy and is Eclectic in nature, deriving its inspiration
+from the several great teachers, philosophies and schools, rather than
+implicitly following any one of them. Briefly stated this Western school
+of Yogi Philosophy teaches that the Universe is an emanation from, or
+mental creation of, the Absolute whose Creative Will flows out in an
+outpouring of mental energy, descending from a condition above Mind,
+downward through Mind, Physical Energy, and Matter, in a grand
+Involution or "infolding" of the divine energy into material forms and
+states. This Involution is followed by an Evolution, or unfoldment, the
+material forms advancing in the scale of evolution, accompanied by a
+corresponding Spiritual Evolution, or Unfoldment of the Individual
+Centres or Units of Being, created or emanated as above stated. The
+course of Evolution, or rather, that phase of it with which the present
+human race on earth is concerned, has now reached a point about midway
+in the scale of Spiritual Evolution, and the future will lead the race
+on, and on, to higher and still higher planes and states of being, on
+this earth and on other spheres, until it reaches a point
+incomprehensible to the mind of man of today, and then still on and on,
+until finally the souls will pass into the plane of the Absolute, there
+to exist in a state impossible of present comprehension, and
+transcending not only the understanding but also the imagination of the
+mind of man as we know him.
+
+The Yogi Philosophy teaches that the soul will reincarnate on earth
+until it is fitted to pass on to higher planes of being, and that many
+people are now entering into a stage which will terminate the
+unconscious reincarnation, and which enables them to incarnate
+consciously in the future without loss of memory. It teaches that
+instead of a retributive Karma, there is a Law of Spiritual Cause and
+Effect, operating largely along the lines of Desire and what has been
+called the "Law of Attraction," by which "like attracts like," in
+persons, environments, conditions, etc. As we have stated, the Yogi
+Philosophy follows closely the lines of certain phases of the Hindu
+philosophies from which it is derived, it being, however, rather an
+"eclectic" system rather than an exact reproduction of that branch of
+philosophy favored by certain schools of Hindus and known by a similar
+name, as mentioned in our chapter on "The Hindus"--that is to say,
+instead of accepting the teachings of any particular Hindu school in
+their entirety, the Western school of the Yogi Philosophy has adopted
+the policy of "Eclecticism," that is, a system following the policy of
+selection, choosing from several sources or systems, rather than a blind
+following of some particular school, cult or teacher.
+
+The Yogi Philosophy teaches that man is a seven-fold entity, consisting
+of the following principles, or divisions: 1. The Physical Body. 2. The
+Astral Body. 3. Prana, or Vital Force. 4. The Instinctive Mind. 5. The
+Intellect. 6. The Spiritual Mind. 7. Spirit. Of these, the first four
+principles belong to the lower part of the being, while the latter three
+are the higher principles which persist and Reincarnate. Man, however,
+is gradually evolving on to the plane of the Spiritual Mind, and will in
+time pass beyond the plane of Intellect, which he will then class along
+with Instinct as a lower form of mentality, he then using his Intuition
+habitually and ordinarily, just as the intelligent man now uses his
+Intellect, and the ignorant man his Instinct-Intellect, and the animal
+its Instinct alone. In many points the Yogi Philosophy resembles the
+Vedanta, and in others it agrees with Theosophy, although it departs
+from the latter in some of the details of doctrine regarding the process
+of Reincarnation, and particularly in its conception of the meaning and
+operation of the Law of Karma.
+
+There are many persons in the West who hold firmly to Reincarnation, to
+whom the Hindu conceptions, even in the Western form of their
+presentation, do not appeal, and who naturally incline toward the Greek
+conception and form of the doctrine. A large number of these people are
+generally classed among the "Spiritualists," although strictly speaking
+they do not fit into that classification, for they hold that the
+so-called "Spirit World" is not a place of permanent abode, but rather a
+resting place between incarnations. These people prefer the name
+"Spiritists," for they hold that man is essentially a spiritual
+being--that the Spirit is the Real Man--and that that which we call Man
+is but a temporary stage in the development and evolution of the
+individual Spirit. The Spiritists hold that the individual Spirit
+emanated from the Great Spirit of the Universe (called by one name or
+another) at some distant period in the past, and has risen to its
+present state of Man, through and by a series of repeated incarnations,
+first in the form of the lowly forms of life, and then through the
+higher forms of animal life, until now it has reached the stage of human
+life, from whence it will pass on, and on, to higher and still higher
+planes--to forms and states as much higher than the human state than man
+is above the earthworm. The Spiritists hold that man will reincarnate in
+earthly human bodies, only until the Spirit learns its lessons and
+develops sufficiently to pass on to the next plane higher. They hold
+that the planets and the countless fixed stars or suns, are but stages
+of abode for the evolving Spirit, and that beyond the Universe as we
+know it there are millions of others--in fact, that the number of
+Universes is infinite. The keynote of this doctrine may be stated as
+"Eternal Progression" toward the Divine Spirit. The Spirits do not
+insist upon any particular theory regarding the constitution of the
+soul--some of them speak merely of "soul and body," while others hold to
+the seven-fold being--the general idea being that this is unimportant,
+as the essential Spirit is after all the Real Self, and it matters
+little about the number or names of its temporary garments or vehicles
+of expression.
+
+Still another class of Reincarnationists in the Western World incline
+rather more toward the Grecian and Egyptian forms of the doctrine, than
+the Hindu--the ideas of the Neo-Platonists which had such a powerful
+effect upon the early Christian Church, or rather among the "elect few"
+among the early Fathers of the Church, seeming to have sprung into
+renewed activity among this class. These people, as we have said in the
+beginning of this chapter, are rather inclined to group themselves into
+small organizations or secret orders, rather than to form popular cults.
+They follow the examples of the ancients in this respect, preferring the
+"few elect" to the curious general public who merely wish to "taste or
+nibble" at the Truth. Many of these organizations are not known to the
+public, as they studiously avoid publicity or advertisement, and trust
+to the Law of Attraction to "bring their own to them--and them to their
+own." The teachings of this class vary in interpretation, and as many of
+them maintain secrecy by pledges or oaths, it is not possible to give
+their teachings in detail.
+
+But, generally speaking, they base their doctrines on the general
+principle that Man's present condition is due to the "Descent of
+Spirit," in the nature of "The Fall of Man," occurring some time in the
+far distant past. They hold that Man was originally "Spirit Pure and
+Free," from which blissful state he was enticed by the glamour of
+Material Life, and he accordingly fell from his higher state, lower and
+lower until he was sunken deep into the mire of Matter. From this lowly
+state he then began to work up, or evolve, having in the dim recesses of
+his soul a glimmer of remembrance of his former state, which dim light
+is constantly urging him on and on, toward his former estate, in spite
+of his frequent stumbling into the mire in his attempts to rise above
+it. This teaching holds to a theory and doctrine very similar to that of
+the "Spiritists" just mentioned, except that while the latter, in common
+with the majority of Reincarnationists, hold that the evolution of the
+Soul is in the direction of advancement and greater expression, similar
+to the growth of a child, these "secret order" people hold forcibly and
+earnestly to the idea that the evolution is merely a "Returning of the
+Prodigal" to his "Father's Mansion"--the parable of the Prodigal Son,
+and that of the Expulsion from Eden, being held as veiled allegories of
+their teaching.
+
+In the above view, the present state of existence--this Earthly Life--is
+one of a series of Hells, in the great Hell of Matter, from which Man is
+creeping up slowly but surely. According to this idea, the Earth is but
+midway in the scale, there being depths of Materiality almost impossible
+of belief, and on the other hand, heights of heavenly bliss equally
+incapable of understanding. This is about all that we can say regarding
+this form of the doctrine, without violating certain confidences that
+have been reposed in us. We fear that we have said too much as it is,
+but inasmuch as one would have to be able to "read between the lines" to
+understand fully, we trust that those who have favored us with these
+confidences will pardon us.
+
+There is still another class of believers in Reincarnation, of which
+even the general public is not fully aware, for this class does not have
+much to say regarding its beliefs. I allude to those in the ranks of the
+orthodox Christian Church, who have outgrown the ordinary doctrines, and
+who, while adhering firmly to the fundamental Christian Doctrines, and
+while clinging closely to the Teachings of Jesus the Christ, still find
+in the idea of Rebirth a doctrine that appeals to their souls and minds
+as closer to their "highest conceptions of immortality" than the
+ordinary teachings of "the resurrection of the body," or the vague
+doctrines that are taking its place. These Christian Reincarnationists
+find nothing in the doctrine of Reincarnation antagonistic to their
+Faith, and nothing in their Faith antagonistic to the doctrine of
+Reincarnation. They do not use the term Reincarnation usually, but
+prefer the term "Rebirth" as more closely expressing their thought;
+besides which the former term has a suggestion of "pagan and heathen"
+origin which is distasteful to them. These people are inclined toward
+Rebirth for the reason that it "gives the soul Another Chance to Redeem
+Itself"--other chances to perfect itself to enter the Heavenly Realms.
+They do not hold to an idea of endless reincarnation, or even of
+continued earthly incarnation for all, their idea being that the soul
+that is prepared to enter heaven passes on there at once, having learned
+enough and earned enough merit in the few lives it has lived on
+earth--while the unprepared, undeveloped, and unfit, are bound to come
+back and back again until they have attained Perfection sufficient to
+enable them to advance to the Heaven World.
+
+A large number of the Christian Reincarnationists, if I may call them by
+that name, hold that Heaven is a place or state of Eternal Progression,
+rather than a fixed state or place--that there is no standing still in
+Heaven or Earth--that "In my Father's House are Many Mansions." To the
+majority, this idea of Progression in the Higher Planes seems to be a
+natural accompaniment to the Spiritual Progression that leads to the
+Higher Planes, or Heaven. At any rate, the two ideas seem always to have
+run together in the human mind when the general subject has been under
+consideration, whether in past time or present; whether among Christians
+or "pagans and heathen." There seems to be an intuitive recognition of
+the connection of the two ideas. And on the other hand, there seems to
+be a close connection between the several views of "special creation" of
+the soul before both--the single earth-life--and the eternity of reward
+or punishment in a state or place lacking progression or change. Human
+thought on the subject seems to divide itself into two distinct and
+opposing groups.
+
+There are quite a number of Christian preachers, and members of orthodox
+churches, who are taking an earnest interest in this doctrine of
+Rebirth, and Eternal Progression here and hereafter. It is being
+considered by many whose church associates do not suspect them of being
+other than strictly orthodox in their views. Some day there will be a
+"breaking out" of this idea in the churches, when the believers in the
+doctrine grow in numbers and influence. It will not surprise careful
+observers to see the Church once more accepting the doctrine of Rebirth
+and reinstating the doctrine of Pre-existence--returning to two of its
+original truths, long since discarded by order of the Councils. Prof.
+Bowen has said: "It seems to me that a firm and well-grounded faith in
+the doctrine of Christian Metempsychosis might help to regenerate the
+world. For it would be a faith not hedged round with many of the
+difficulties and objections which beset other forms of doctrine, and it
+offers distinct and pungent motives for trying to lead a more Christian
+life, and for loving and helping our brother-man." And as James Freeman
+Clarke has said: "It would be curious if we should find science and
+philosophy taking up again the old theory of metempsychosis, remodelling
+it to suit our present modes of religious and scientific thought, and
+launching it again on the wide ocean of human belief. But stranger
+things have happened in the history of human opinion."
+
+So, as we have said, there is a great variety of shades of belief in the
+Western world regarding Reincarnation today, and the student will have
+no difficulty in finding just the shade of opinion best suited to his
+taste, temperament and training or experience. Vary as they do in
+detail, and theory, there is still the same fundamental and basic truth
+of the One Source--the One Life--and Reincarnation, reaching ever toward
+perfection and divinity. It seems impossible to disguise the doctrine so
+as to change its basic qualities--it will always show its original
+shape. And, so it is with the varying opinions of the Western thought
+regarding it--the various cults advocating some form of its
+doctrine--the original doctrine may be learned and understood in spite
+of the fanciful dressings bestowed upon it. "The Truth is One--Men call
+it by many names."
+
+It may be of interest to Western readers to mention that some of the
+teachers of Occultism and Reincarnation hold that the present revival
+of interest on the subject in the Western world is due to the fact that
+in Europe and America, more particularly the latter, there is occurring
+a reincarnating of the souls of many persons who lived from fifteen
+hundred to two thousand years ago, and who were then believers in the
+doctrine. According to this view, those who are now attracted toward the
+Hindu forms of the doctrine formerly lived as natives of India; those
+who favor the Grecian idea, lived in Ancient Greece; others favor the
+Egyptian idea, from similar reasons; while the revival of Neo-Platonism,
+Gnosticism and general Mysticism, among the present-day Christians is
+accounted for by the fact that the early Christians are now
+reincarnating in the Western world, having been reborn as Christians
+according to the Law of Karmic Attraction. In this manner the advocates
+of the doctrine offer the present revival as another proof of their
+teachings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+BETWEEN AND BEYOND INCARNATIONS.
+
+
+One of the first questions usually asked by students of the subject of
+Reincarnation is: "Where does the soul dwell between incarnations; does
+it incarnate immediately after death; and what is its final abode or
+state?" This question, or questions, have been asked from the beginning,
+and probably will be asked so long as the human mind dwells upon the
+subject. And many are the answers that have been given to the
+questioners by the teachers and "authorities" upon the subject. Let us
+consider some of the leading and more "authoritative" answers.
+
+In the first place, let us consider that phase of the question which
+asks: "Does the soul incarnate immediately after death?" Some of the
+earlier Reincarnationists believed and taught that the soul
+reincarnated shortly after death, the short period between incarnations
+being used by the soul in adjusting itself, striking a balance of
+character, and preparing for a new birth. Others held that there was a
+period of waiting and rest between incarnations, in which the soul
+'mentally digested' the experiences of the last life just completed, and
+then considered and meditated over the mistakes it had made, and
+determined to rectify the mistakes in the next life--it being held that
+when the soul was relieved of the necessities of material existence, it
+could think more clearly of the moral nature of its acts, and would be
+able to realize the spiritual side of itself more distinctly, in
+addition to having the benefit of the spiritual perspective occasioned
+by its distance from the active scenes of life, and thus being able to
+better gauge the respective "worth-whileness" of the things of material
+life.
+
+At the present time, the most advanced students of the subject hold that
+the average period of rest between incarnations is about fifteen hundred
+years, the less advanced souls hastening back to earth in a very short
+time, the more advanced preferring a long period of rest, meditation and
+preparation for a new life. It is held that the soul of a gross,
+material, animal-like person will incarnate very shortly after death,
+the period of rest and meditation being very short, for the reason that
+there is very little about which such a soul could meditate, as all of
+its attractions and desires are connected with material life. Many souls
+are so "earth-bound" that they rush back at once into material
+embodiment if the conditions for rebirth are favorable, and they are
+generally favorable for there seems to be always an abundant supply of
+new bodies suitable for such souls in the families of people of the same
+character and nature, which afford congenial opportunities for such a
+soul to reincarnate. Other souls which have progressed a little further
+along the path of attainment, have cultivated the higher part of
+themselves somewhat, and enjoy to a greater extent the period of
+meditation and spiritual life afforded them. And so, as the scale
+advances--as the attraction for material life grows less, the period of
+purely spiritual existence between incarnations grows longer, and it is
+said that the souls of persons who are highly developed spiritually
+sometimes dwell in the state of rest for ten thousand years or more,
+unless they voluntarily return sooner in order to take part in the work
+of uplifting the world. It must be remembered, in this connection, that
+the best teaching is to the effect that the advanced souls are rapidly
+unfolding into the state in which they are enabled to preserve
+consciousness in future births, instead of losing it as is the usual
+case, and thus they take a conscious part in the selection of the
+conditions for rebirth, which is wisely denied persons of a more
+material nature and less spiritual development.
+
+The next phase of the question: "Where does the soul dwell between
+incarnations?" is one still more difficult of answer, owing to the
+various shades of opinion on the subject. Still there is a fundamental
+agreement between the different schools, and we shall try to give you
+the essence or cream of the thought on the subject. In the first place,
+all occultists set aside any idea of there being a "place" in which the
+souls dwell--the existence of "states" or "planes of existence" being
+deemed sufficient for the purpose. It is held that there are many planes
+of existence in any and every portion of space, which planes
+interpenetrate each other, so that entities dwelling on one plane
+usually are not conscious of the presence of those on another plane.
+Thus, an inhabitant of a high plane of being, in which the vibrations of
+substance are much higher than that which we occupy, would be able to
+pass through our material world without the slightest knowledge of its
+existence, just as the "X rays" pass through the most solid object, or
+as light passes through the air. It is held that there are many planes
+of existence much higher than the one we occupy, and upon which the
+disembodied souls dwell. There are many details regarding these planes,
+taught by the different schools of occultism, or spiritualism, but we
+have neither the time nor space to consider them at length, and must
+content ourselves with mentioning but a few leading or typical beliefs
+or teachings on the subject.
+
+The Theosophists teach that just when the soul leaves the body, there
+occurs a process of psychic photography in which the past life, in all
+of its details, is indelibly imprinted on the inner substance of the
+soul, thus preserving a record independent of the brain, the latter
+being left behind in the physical body. Then the Astral Body, or Etheric
+Double, detaches itself from the body, from which the Vital Force, or
+Prana-Jiva also departs at the same time, the Astral Body enfolding also
+the four other principles, and together the Five Surviving Principles
+pass on to the plane of Kama Loka, or the Astral Plane of Desire. Kama
+Loka is that part of the Astral Plane nearest to the material plane, and
+is very closely connected with the latter. If the soul is filled with
+hot and earnest desire for earth life, it may proceed no further, but
+may hasten back to material embodiment, as we said a moment ago. But if
+the soul has higher aspirations, and has developed the higher part of
+itself, it presses on further, in which case the Astral Body, and the
+Animal Soul which is the seat of the passions and grosser desires,
+disintegrate, and thus release the Triad, or three-fold higher nature of
+the soul, namely the higher human soul, the spiritual soul, and the
+spirit--or as some term them, the intellect, the spiritual mind, and the
+spirit. The Triad then passes on to what is known as the plane of
+Devachan, where it rests divested of the lower parts of its nature, and
+in a state of bliss and in a condition in which it may make great
+progress by reason of meditation, reflection, etc. Kama Loka has been
+compared to the Purgatory of the Catholics, which it resembles in more
+ways than one, according to the Theosophists. Devachan is sometimes
+called the Heaven World by Theosophists, the word meaning "the state or
+plane of the gods."
+
+Theosophy teaches that the Soul Triad dwells in Devachan "for a period
+proportionate to the merit of the being," and from whence in the proper
+time "the being is drawn down again to be reborn in the world of
+mortals." The Law of Karma which rules the earth-life of man, and which
+regulates the details of his rebirth, is said to operate on the
+Devachnic Plane as well, thus deciding the time of his abode on that
+plane, and the time when the soul shall proceed to rebirth. The state of
+existence in Devachan is described at length in the Theosophical
+writings, but is too complex for full consideration here. Briefly
+stated, it may be said that it is taught that the life on Devachan is in
+the nature of a Dream of the Best that is In Us--that is, a condition in
+which the highest that is in us is given a chance for expression and
+growth, and development. The state of the soul in Devachan is said to be
+one of Bliss, the degree depending upon the degree of spiritual
+development of the soul, as the Bliss is of an entirely spiritual
+nature. It may be compared to a state of people listening to some
+beautiful music--the greater the musical development of the person, the
+greater will be his degree of enjoyment. It is also taught that just as
+the soul leaves Devachan to be reincarnated, it is given a glimpse of
+its past lives, and its present character, that it may realize the
+Karmic relations between the cause and effect, to the end that its new
+life may be improved upon--then it sinks into a state of unconsciousness
+and passes on to rebirth.
+
+The Western school of the Yogi Philosophy gives an idea of the state
+between incarnations, somewhat eclectic in its origin, agreeing with the
+Theosophical teaching in some respects, and differing from it in others.
+Let us take a hasty glance at it. In the first place it does not use the
+terms "Kama Loca" and "Devachan" respectively, but instead treats the
+whole series of planes as the great "Astral World" containing many
+planes, divisions, and subdivisions--many sub-planes, and divisions of
+the same. The teaching is that the soul passes out of the body, leaving
+behind its physical form, together with its Prana or Vital Energy, and
+taking with it the Astral Body, the Instructive Mind, and the higher
+principles. The "last vision" of the past life, in which the events of
+that life are impressed upon the soul just as it leaves the body, is
+held to be a fact--the soul sees the past life as a whole, and in all of
+its minutest details at the moment of death, and it is urged that the
+dying person should be left undisturbed in his last moments for this
+reason, and that the soul may become calm and peaceful when starting on
+its journey. On one of the Astral Planes the soul gradually discards its
+Astral Body and its Instinctive Mind, but retains its higher vehicles or
+sheaths. But it is taught that this discarding of the lower sheaths
+occurs after the soul has passed into a "soul-slumber" on a sub-plane of
+the Astral World, from which it awakens to find itself clothed only in
+its higher mental and spiritual garments of being, and free from the
+grosser coverings and burdens. The teachings say: "When the soul has
+cast off the confining sheaths, and has reached the state for which it
+is prepared, it passes to the plane in the Astral World for which it is
+fitted, and to which it is drawn by the Law of Attraction. The planes of
+the Astral World interpenetrate, and souls dwelling on one plane are not
+conscious of those dwelling on another, nor can they pass from one plane
+to another, with this exception--that those dwelling on a higher plane
+are able to see (if they so desire) the planes below them in the order
+of development, and are also able to visit these lower planes if they so
+desire. But those on the lower planes are not able to either see or
+visit the planes above them--not that there is a 'watchman at the gate'
+to prevent them, but for the same reason that a fish is not able to pass
+from the water to the plane of air above that water." The same teachings
+tell us that the souls on the higher planes often visit friends and
+relatives on the lower, so that there is always the opportunity for
+loved ones, relatives and friends meeting in this way; and also many
+souls on the higher planes pass to the lower planes in order to instruct
+and advise those dwelling on the latter, the result that in some cases
+there may be a progression from a lower to a higher plane of the Astral
+World by promotion earned by this instruction. Regarding Rebirth, from
+the Astral World, the teachings say:
+
+"But sooner or later, the souls feel a desire to gain new experiences,
+and to manifest in earth-life some of the advancement which has come to
+them since 'death,' and for these reasons, and from the attraction of
+desires which have been smoldering there, not lived out or cast off, or,
+possibly influenced by the fact that some loved soul, on a lower plane,
+is ready to incarnate and wishing to be incarnated at the same time in
+order to be with it (which is also a desire) the souls fall into the
+current sweeping toward rebirth, and the selection of proper parents and
+advantageous circumstances and surrounding, and in consequence again
+fall into a soul-slumber, gradually, and so when their time comes they
+'die' to the plane upon which they have been existing and are 'born'
+into a new physical life and body. A soul does not fully awaken from its
+sleep immediately at birth, but exists in a dream-like state during the
+days of infancy, its gradual awakening being evidenced by the growing
+intelligence of the babe, the brain of the child keeping pace with the
+demands made upon it. In some cases the awakening is premature, and we
+see cases of prodigies, child-genius, etc., but such cases are more or
+less abnormal, and unhealthy. Occasionally the dreaming soul in the
+child half-wakes, and startles us by some profound observation, or
+mature remark or conduct."
+
+The third phase of the question: "What is the final state or abode of
+the soul?" is one that reaches to the very center or heart of
+philosophical and religious thought and teaching. Each philosophy and
+religion has its own explanation, or interpretation of the Truth, and it
+is not for us to attempt to select one teaching from the many in this
+work. The reader will find many references to these various explanations
+and teachings as he reads the several chapters of this book, and he may
+use his own discrimination and judgment in selecting that which appeals
+to him the most strongly. But he will notice that there is a fundamental
+agreement between all of the teachings and beliefs--the principle that
+the movement of the soul is ever upward and onward, and that there is no
+standing still in spiritual development and unfoldment. Whether the
+end--if end there be--is the reaching of a state of Bliss in the
+presence of the Divine One--or whether the weary soul finds rest "in the
+Bosom of the Father," by what has been called "Union with God"--the
+vital point for the evolving soul is that there is "a better day
+coming"--a haven of rest around the turn of the road. And whatever may
+be the details of the Truth, the fact remains that whatever state awaits
+the soul finally, it must be Good, and in accordance with Divine Wisdom
+and Ultimate Justice and Universal Love.
+
+The majority of occultists look forward to an end in the sense of being
+absorbed in the Divine Being, not in the sense of annihilation, but in
+the sense of reaching a consciousness "of the Whole in the Whole"--this
+is the true meaning of "Nirvana." But whether this be true, or whether
+there is a place of final rest in the highest spiritual realms other
+than in the sense of absorption in the Divine, or whether there is a
+state of Eternal Progression from plane to plane, from realm to realm,
+on and on forever Godward, and more and more God-like--the End must be
+Good, and there is nothing to Fear, for "the Power that rules Here,
+rules There, and Everywhere. And remember this, ye seekers after
+ultimate truths--the highest authorities inform us that even the few
+stages or planes just ahead of us in the journey are so far beyond our
+present powers of conception, that they are practically unknowable to
+us--this being so, it will be seen that states very much nearer to us
+than the End must be utterly beyond the powers not only of our
+understanding but also of our imagination, even when strained to its
+utmost. This being so, why should we attempt to speculate about The End?
+Instead, why not say with Newman:
+
+   "I do not ask to see the distant scene.
+   One step enough for me--
+   Lead Thou me on!"
+
+It is said that when Thoreau was dying, a friend leaned over and taking
+him by the hand, said: "Henry, you are so near to the border now, can
+you see anything on the other side?" And the dying Thoreau replied: "One
+world at a time, Parker!" And this seems to be the great lesson of
+Life--One Plane at a Time! But though the Veil of Isis is impossible of
+being lifted entirely, still there is a Something that enables one to
+see at least dimly the features of the Goddess behind the veil. And that
+Something is that Intelligent Faith that "knows," although it is unable
+to explain even to itself. And the voice of that Something Within
+informs him who has that Faith: All Is Well, Brother! For beyond planes,
+and states, and universes, and time, and space, and name, and form, and
+Things--there must be THAT which transcends them all, and from which
+they all proceed. Though we may not know what THAT is--the fact that It
+must exist--that It IS, is a sufficient guarantee that the LAW is in
+constant operation on all planes, from the lowest to the highest, and
+that THE COSMOS IS GOVERNED BY LAW! And this being so, not even an atom
+may be destroyed, nor misplaced, nor suffer Injustice; and all will
+attain the End rightly, and know the "Sat-chit-ananda" of the
+Hindus--the Being-Wisdom-Bliss Absolute that all philosophies and
+religions agree upon is the Final State of the Blessed. And to the
+occultist All are Blessed, even to the last soul in the scale of life.
+And over all the tumult and strife of Life there is always that
+Something--THAT--silently brooding, and watching, and waiting--the Life,
+Light, and Love of the All. Such is the message of the Illumined of all
+ages, races, and lands. Is it not worthy of our attention and
+consideration?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE JUSTICE OF REINCARNATION.
+
+
+There are three views entertained by men who believe in the existence of
+the soul--there are many shades of belief and opinion on the subject,
+but they may be divided into three classes. These three views,
+respectively, are as follows: (1) That the soul is specially created by
+the Supreme Power at the time of conception, or birth, and that its
+position on earth, its circumstances, its degree of intelligence, etc.,
+are fixed arbitrarily by that power, for some inscrutable reason of its
+own; (2) That the soul was pre-existent, that is, that it existed before
+conception and birth, in some higher state not understood by us, from
+whence it was thrust into human form and birth, its position on earth,
+its circumstances, its degree of intelligence, etc., being determined by
+causes unknown to us; (3) That the soul is one of countless others
+which emanated from the Source of Being at some period in the past, and
+which souls were equal in power, intelligence, opportunity, etc., and
+which worked its way up by spiritual evolution from lowly forms of
+expression and life to its present state, from whence it is destined to
+move on and on, to higher and still higher forms and states of
+existence, until in the end, after millions of aeons of existence in the
+highest planes of expressed life it will again return to the Source of
+Being from which it emanated, and becomes "one with the Father," not in
+a state of annihilated consciousness, but in a condition of universal
+consciousness with All. This view holds that the present condition of
+each soul is due to its own progress, development, advancement,
+unfoldment, or the lack of the same--the soul being its own Fate and
+Destiny--the enforcer of the Law upon itself, under the Law of Karma.
+
+Considering the first named view, namely that the soul is newly created,
+and that its condition has been arbitrarily fixed by the Divine Power,
+the student free from prejudice or fear finds it difficult to escape the
+conclusion that under this plan of creation there is lacking a
+manifestation of Divine Justice. Even admitting the inability of the
+finite mind to fully grasp infinite principles, man is still forced to
+the realization of the manifest inequality and injustice of the relative
+positions of human beings on earth, providing that the same is thrust
+arbitrarily upon them; and it would seem that no amount of future reward
+could possibly equalize or explain these conditions. Unless there be
+"something back of it all," it would certainly seem that Injustice was
+manifested. Of course, many argue that the idea of Justice has nothing
+to do with the universal processes, but all who think of a Divine Being,
+filled with Love, and Justice, are compelled to think that such
+qualities must manifest themselves in the creations of such a Being.
+And, if there be nothing "back of it all," then the candid observer must
+confess that the scheme of Justice manifested is most faulty according
+even to the human imperfect idea of Justice.
+
+As Figuier, a French writer said about forty years ago: "If there are a
+few men well organized, of good constitution and robust health, how many
+are infirm, idiotic, deaf-mute, blind from birth, maimed, foolish and
+insane? My brother is handsome and well-shaped: I am ugly, weakly,
+rickety, and a hunchback. Yet we are sons of the same mother. Some are
+born into opulence, others into the most dreadful want. Why am I not a
+prince and a great lord, instead of a poor pilgrim on the earth,
+ungrateful and rebellious? Why was I born in Europe and at Paris,
+whereby civilization and art life is rendered supportable and easy,
+instead of seeing the light under the burning skies of the tropics,
+where, dressed out in a beastly muzzle, a skin black and oily, and locks
+of wool, I should have been exposed to the double torments of a deadly
+climate and a barbarous society? Why is not a wretched African negro in
+my place in Paris, in conditions of comfort? We have, either of us,
+done nothing to entitle us to our assigned places: we have invited
+neither this favor nor that disgrace. Why is the unequal distribution of
+the terrible evils that fall upon some men, and spare others? How have
+those deserved the partiality of fortune, who live in happy lands, while
+many of their brethren suffer and weep in other parts of the world?"
+
+Figuier continues: "Some men are endowed with all benefits of mind;
+others, on the contrary, are devoid of intelligence, penetration and
+memory. They stumble at every step in their rough life-paths. Their
+limited intelligence and their imperfect faculties expose them to all
+possible mortifications and disasters. They can succeed in nothing, and
+Fate seems to have chosen them for the constant objects of its most
+deadly blows. There are beings who, from the moment of their birth to
+the hour of their death, utter only cries of suffering and despair. What
+crime have they committed? Why are they here on earth? They have not
+petitioned to be here; and if they could, they would have begged that
+this fatal cup might be taken from their lips. They are here in spite of
+themselves, against their will. God would be unjust and wicked if he
+imposed so miserable an existence upon beings who have done nothing to
+incur it, and have not asked for it. But God is not unjust or wicked:
+the opposite qualities belong to his perfect essence. Therefore the
+presence of man on such or such parts of the earth, and the unequal
+distribution of evil on our globe, must remain unexplained. If you know
+a doctrine, a philosophy, or a religion that solves these difficulties,
+I will destroy this book, and confess myself vanquished."
+
+The orthodox theology answers Figuier's question by the argument that
+"in our finite understanding, we cannot pretend to understand God's
+plans, purposes and designs, nor to criticize his form of justice." It
+holds that we must look beyond that mortal life for the evidence of
+God's love, and not attempt to judge it according to what we see here on
+earth of men's miseries and inequalities. It holds that the suffering
+and misery come to us as an inheritance from Adam, and as a result of
+the sins of our first parents; but that if we are "good" it will all be
+evened up and recompensed in the next world. Of course the extremists
+who hold to Predestination have held that some were happy and some
+miserable, simply because God in the exercise of His will had elected
+and predestined them to those conditions, but it would scarcely be fair
+to quote this as the position of current theology, because the tendency
+of modern theological thought is away from that conception. We mention
+it merely as showing what some have thought of the subject. Others have
+sought refuge in the idea that we suffer for the sins of our parents,
+according to the old doctrine that "the sins of the parents shall be
+visited upon the children," but even this is not in accordance with
+man's highest idea of justice and love.
+
+Passing on to the second view, namely that the soul was pre-existent,
+that is, existed in some higher state not understood by us, from whence
+it was thrust into human form, etc., we note that the questions as to
+the cause of inequality, misery, etc., considered a moment ago, are
+still actively with us--this view does not straighten out the question
+at all. For whether the soul was pre-existent in a higher state, or
+whether it was freshly created, the fact remains that as souls they must
+be equal in the sense of being made by the same process, and from the
+same material, and that up to the point of their embodiment they had not
+sinned or merited any reward or punishment, nor had they earned anything
+one way or another. And yet, according to the theory, these equally
+innocent and inexperienced souls are born, some being thrust into the
+bodies of children to be born in environments conducive to advancement,
+development, etc., and gifted with natural advantages, while others are
+thrust into bodies of children to be born into the most wretched
+environments and surroundings, and devoid of many natural
+advantages--not to speak of the crippled, deformed, and pain-ridden ones
+in all walks of life. There is no more explanation of the problem in
+this view than there was in the first mentioned one.
+
+Passing on to the third view, namely, that the soul is one of countless
+others which emanated from the Source of Being aeons ago, equal in power,
+opportunities, etc., and which individual soul has worked its way up to
+its present position through many rebirths and lives, in which it has
+gained many experiences and lessons, which determine its present
+condition, and which in turn will profit by the experiences and lessons
+of the present life by which the next stage of its life will be
+determined--we find what many have considered to be the only logical and
+possible explanation of the problem of life's inequalities, providing
+there is an "answer" at all, and that there is any such thing as a
+"soul," and a loving, just God. Figuier, the French writer, from whom we
+quoted that remarkable passage breathing the pessimism of the old view
+of life, a few moments ago, admitted that in rebirth was to be found a
+just explanation of the matter. He says: "If, on the contrary, we admit
+the plurality of human existences and reincarnation--that is, the
+passage of the same soul through several bodies--all this is made
+wonderfully clear. Our presence on such or such a part of the earth is
+no longer the effect of a caprice of Fate, or the result of chance; it
+is merely a station in the long journey that we make through the world.
+Before our birth, we have already lived, and this life is the sequel and
+result of previous ones. We have a soul that we must purify, improve and
+ennoble during our stay upon earth; or having already completed an
+imperfect and wicked life, we are compelled to begin a new one, and thus
+strive to rise to the level of those who have passed on to higher
+planes."
+
+The advocates of Reincarnation point out that the idea of Justice is
+fully carried out in that view of life, inasmuch as what we are is
+determined by what we have been; and what we shall be is determined by
+what we are now; and that we are constantly urged on by the pressure of
+the unfolding spirit, and attracted upward by the Divine One. Under this
+conception there is no such thing as Chance--all is according to Law.
+As an ancient Grecian philosopher once said: "Without the doctrine of
+metempsychosis, it is not possible to justify the ways of God," and many
+other philosophers and theologians have followed him in this thought. If
+we enjoy, we have earned it; if we suffer, we have earned it; in both
+cases through our own endeavors and efforts, and not by "chance," nor by
+reason of the merits or demerits of our forefathers, nor because of
+"predestination" nor "election" to that fate. If this be true, then one
+is given the understanding to stoically bear the pains and miseries of
+this life without cursing Fate or imputing injustice to the Divine. And
+likewise he is given an incentive toward making the best of his
+opportunities now, in order to pass on to higher and more satisfactory
+conditions in future lives. Reincarnationists claim that rewards and
+punishments are properly awarded only on the plane in which the deed,
+good or bad, was committed, "else their nature is changed, their effects
+impaired, and their collateral bearings lost." A writer on the subject
+has pointed out this fact in the following words: "Physical outrage has
+to be checked by the infliction of physical pain, and not merely by the
+arousing of internal regret. Honest lives find appropriate consequence
+in visible honor. But one career is too short for the precise balancing
+of accounts, and many are needed that every good or evil done in each
+may be requited on the earth where it took place." In reference to this
+mention of rewards and penalties, we would say that very many advanced
+Reincarnationists do not regard the conditions of life as "rewards and
+punishments," but, on the contrary, look upon them as forming part of
+the Lessons in the Kindergarten of Life, to be learned and profited by
+in future lives. We shall speak of this further in our consideration of
+the question of "Karma"--the difference is vital, and should be closely
+observed in considering the subject.
+
+Before we pass from the consideration of the question of Justice, as
+exemplified by Reincarnation, we would call your attention to the
+difference in the views of life and its rewards and punishments held by
+the orthodox theologians and the Reincarnationists, respectively. On the
+one hand, the orthodox theologians hold that for the deeds, good or
+evil, performed by a man during his short lifetime of a few years, and
+then performed under conditions arbitrarily imposed upon him at birth by
+his Creator, man is rewarded or punished by an eternity of happiness or
+misery--heaven or hell. Perhaps the man has lived but one or two years
+of reasonable understanding--or full three-score and ten--and has
+violated certain moral, ethical or even religious laws, perhaps only to
+the extent of refusing to believe something that his reason absolutely
+refused to accept--for this he is doomed to an everlasting sojourn in a
+place of pain, misery or punishment, or a state equivalent thereto. Or,
+on the other hand, he has done the things that he ought to have done,
+and left undone the things that he ought not to have done--even though
+this doing and not-doing was made very easy for him by reason of his
+environment and surroundings--and to crown his beautiful life he had
+accepted the orthodox creeds and beliefs of his fathers, as a matter of
+course--then this man is rewarded by an eternity of bliss, happiness and
+joy--without end. Try to think of what ETERNITY means--think of the aeons
+upon aeons of time, on and on, and on, forever--and the poor sinner is
+suffering exquisite torture all that time, and in all time to come,
+without limit, respite, without mercy! And all the same time, the "good"
+man is enjoying his blissful state, without limit, or end, or satiety!
+And the time of probation, during which the two worked out their future
+fate, was as a grain of sand as compared with the countless universes in
+space in all eternity--a relation which reduces the span of man's
+lifetime to almost absolutely NOTHING, mathematically considered. Think
+of this--is this Justice?
+
+And on the other hand, from the point of view of the Reincarnationist,
+is not the measure of cause and effect more equitably adjusted, even if
+we regard it as a matter of "reward and punishment"--a crude view by
+the way--when we see that every infraction of the law is followed by a
+corresponding effect, and an adherence to the law by a proportionate
+effect. Does not the "punishment fit the crime" better in this case--the
+rewards also. And looking at it from a reasonable point of view, devoid
+from theological bias, which plan seems to be the best exemplification
+of Justice and Natural Law, not to speak of the higher Divine Justice
+and Cosmic Law? Of course, we are not urging these ideas as "proofs" of
+Reincarnation, for strictly speaking "proof" must lie outside of
+speculation of "what ought to be"--proof belongs to the region of "what
+is" and "facts in experience." But, nevertheless, while one is
+considering the matter, it should be viewed from every possible aspect,
+in order to see "how it works out."
+
+It is also urged along the lines of the Justice of Reincarnation, as
+opposed to the injustice of the contrary doctrine, that there are many
+cases of little infants who have only a few days, or minutes, of this
+life, before they pass out of the body in death. According to the
+anti-reincarnation doctrine, these little souls have been freshly
+created, and placed into physical bodies, and then without having had to
+taste of the experiences of life, are ushered into the higher planes,
+there to pass an eternal existence--while other souls have to live out
+their long lives of earth in order to reach the same higher states, and
+then, according to the prevailing doctrine, even then they may have
+earned eternal punishment instead of eternal bliss. According to this
+idea the happiest fate would be for all to die as infants (providing we
+were baptized, some good souls would add), and the death of an infant
+should be the occasion for the greatest rejoicing on the part of those
+who love it. But in spite of the doctrine, human nature does not so act.
+According to the doctrine of Reincarnation, the little babe's soul was
+but pursuing the same path as the rest of the race--it had its past, as
+well as its future, according to Law and Justice. While, if the ordinary
+view be correct, no one would begrudge the infant its happy fate, still
+one would have good cause for complaint as the Inequality and Injustice
+of others having to live out long lives of pain, discomfort and misery,
+for no cause, instead of being at once translated into a higher life as
+was the infant. If the ordinary view be true, then why the need of
+earth-life at all--why not create a soul and then place it in the
+heavenly realms at once; if it is possible and proper in some cases, why
+not in all; if the experience is not indispensable, then why impose it
+on certain souls, when all are freshly created and equal in merit and
+deserts? If earthly life has any virtue, then the infant's soul is
+robbed of its right. If earthly life has no virtue, the adult souls are
+forced to live a useless existence on earth, running the risk of
+damnation if they fail, while the infant souls escape this. Is this
+equality of opportunity and experience, or Justice? There would seem to
+be something wrong with either the facts, or the theory. Test the
+problem with the doctrine of Reincarnation, and see how it works out!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE ARGUMENT FOR REINCARNATION.
+
+
+In addition to the consideration of Justice, there are many other
+advantages claimed by the advocates of Reincarnation which are worthy of
+the careful consideration of students of the problem of the soul. We
+shall give to each of these principal points a brief consideration in
+this chapter, that you may acquaint yourself with the several points of
+the argument.
+
+It is argued that the principle of analogy renders it more reasonable to
+believe that the present life of the soul is but one link in a great
+chain of existences, which chain stretches far back into the past on one
+side, and far out into the future on the other, than to suppose that it
+has been specially created for this petty term of a few years of earth
+life, and then projected for weal or woe into an eternity of spiritual
+existence. It is argued that the principle of Evolution on the Physical
+Plane points to an analogy of Evolution of the Spiritual Plane. It is
+reasoned that just as birth on the next plane of life follows death on
+the present one, so analogy would indicate that a death on past planes
+preceded birth on this, and so on. It is argued that every form of life
+that we know of has arisen from lower forms, which in turn arose from
+still lower forms, and so on; and that following the same analogy the
+soul has risen from lower to higher, and will mount on to still higher
+forms and planes. It is argued that "special creation" is unknown in the
+universe, and that it is far more reasonable to apply the principle of
+evolution to the soul than to consider it as an exception and violation
+of the universal law.
+
+It is also claimed by some thinkers that the idea of future-existence
+presupposes past-existence, for everything that is "begun" must "end"
+some time, and therefore if we are to suppose that the soul is to
+continue its existence in the future, we must think of it as having an
+existence in the past--being eternal at both ends of the earth-life, as
+it were. Opponents of the idea of immortality are fond of arguing that
+there was no more reason for supposing that a soul would continue to
+exist after the death of the body, than there was for supposing that it
+had existed previously. A well-known man once was asked the question:
+"What becomes of a man's soul after death?" when he evaded the question
+by answering: "It goes back to where it came from." And to many this
+idea has seemed sufficient to make them doubt the idea of immortality.
+The ancient Greek philosophers felt it logically necessary for them to
+assert the eternal pre-existence of the soul in order to justify their
+claim of future existence for it. They argued that if the soul is
+immortal, it must have always existed, for an immortal thing could not
+have been created--if it was not immortal by nature, it could never be
+made so, and if it was immortal by nature, then it had always existed.
+The argument usually employed is this: A thing is either mortal or
+immortal, one or the other; if it is mortal it has been born and must
+die; if it is immortal, it cannot have been born, neither can it die;
+mortality means subject to life and death--immortality means immunity
+from both. The Greeks devoted much time and care to this argument, and
+attached great importance to it. They reasoned that nothing that
+possessed Reality could have emerged from nothingness, nor could it pass
+into nothingness. If it were Real it was Eternal; if it was not Eternal
+it was not Real, and would pass away even as it was born. They also
+claimed that the sense of immortality possessed by the Ego, was an
+indication of its having experienced life in the past, as well as
+anticipating life in the future--there is a sense of "oldness" pervading
+every thought of the soul regarding its own nature. It is claimed as an
+illogical assumption to hold that back of the present there extends an
+eternity of non-existence for the soul, while ahead of it there extends
+an eternity of being--it is held that it is far more logical to regard
+the present life as merely a single point in an eternity of existence.
+
+It is argued, further, that Reincarnation fits in with the known
+scientific principle of conservation of energy--that is, that no energy
+is ever created or is lost, but that all energy is but a form of the
+universal energy, which flows on from form to form, from manifestation
+to manifestation, ever the same, and yet manifesting in myriad
+forms--never born, never dying, but always moving on, and on, and on to
+new manifestations. Therefore it is thought that it is reasonable to
+suppose that the soul follows the same law of re-embodiment, rising
+higher and higher, throughout time, until finally it re-enters the
+Universal Spirit from which it emerged, and in which it will continue to
+exist, as it existed before it emerged for the cycle of manifestation.
+It is also argued that Reincarnation brings Life within the Law of Cause
+and Effect, just as is everything else in the universe. The law of
+re-birth, according to the causes generated during past lives, would
+bring the existence of the soul within and in harmony with natural
+laws, instead of without and contrary to them.
+
+It is further argued that the feeling of "original sin" of which so many
+people assert a consciousness, may be explained better by the theory of
+Reincarnation than by any theological doctrine. The orthodox doctrine is
+that "original sin" was something inherited from Adam by reason of our
+forefather's transgression, but this jars upon the thought of today, as
+well it might, for what has the "soul" to do with Adam--it did not
+descend from him, or from aught else but the Source of Being--there is
+no line of descent for souls, though there may be for bodies. What has
+Adam to do with your soul, if it came fresh from the mint of the Maker,
+pure and unsullied--how could his sin taint your new soul? Theology here
+asserts either arrant nonsense, or else grave injustice. But if for
+"Adam" we substitute our past existences and the thoughts and deeds
+thereof, we may understand that feeling of conscious recognition of past
+wrong-doing and remorse, which so many testify to, though they be
+reasonably free from the same in the present life. The butterfly dimly
+remembers its worm state, and although it now soars, it feels the slime
+of the mud in which it once crawled.
+
+It is also argued that in one life the soul would fail to acquire the
+varied experience which is necessary to form a well rounded mentality of
+understanding. Dwarfed by its limited experience in the narrow sphere
+occupied by many human beings, it would be far from acquiring the
+knowledge which would seem to be necessary for a developed and advanced
+soul. Besides this there would be as great an inequality on the part of
+souls after death, as there is before death--some would pass into the
+future state as ignorant beings, while others would possess a full
+nature of understanding. As a leading authority has said: "A perfected
+man must have experienced every type of earthly relation and duty, every
+phase of desire, affection and passion, every form of temptation and
+every variety of conflict. No one life can possibly furnish the
+material for more than a minute section of such experience." Along this
+same line it is urged that the soul's development must come largely from
+contact and relationship with other souls, in a variety of phases and
+forms. It must experience pain and happiness, love, pity, failure,
+success--it must know the discipline of sympathy, toleration, patience,
+energy, fortitude, foresight, gratitude, pity, benevolence, and love in
+all of its phases. This, it is urged, is possible only through repeated
+incarnations, as the span of one life is too small and its limit too
+narrow to embrace but a small fraction of the necessary experiences of
+the soul on its journey toward development and attainment. One must feel
+the sorrows and joys of all forms of life before "understanding" may
+come. Narrowness, lack of tolerance, prejudice, and similar forms of
+undeveloped consciousness must be wiped out by the broad understanding
+and sympathy that come only from experience.
+
+It is argued that only by repeated incarnations the soul is able to
+realize the futility of the search for happiness and satisfaction in
+material things. One, while dissatisfied and disappointed at his own
+condition, is apt to imagine that in some other earthly condition he
+would find satisfaction and happiness now denied him, and dying carries
+with him the subsconcious desire to enjoy those conditions, which desire
+attracts him back to earth-life in search of those conditions. So long
+as the soul desires anything that earth can offer, it is earth-bound and
+drawn back into the vortex. But after repeated incarnations the soul
+learns well its lesson that only in itself may be found happiness--and
+that only when it learns its real nature, source, and destiny--and then
+it passes on to higher planes. As an authority says: "In time, the soul
+sees that a spiritual being cannot be nourished on inferior food, and
+that any joy short of union with the Divine must be illusionary."
+
+It is also argued that but few people, as we see them in earth-life,
+have realized the existence of a higher part of their being, and still
+fewer have asserted the supremacy of the higher, and subordinated the
+lower part of the self to that higher. Were they to pass on to a final
+state of being after death, they would carry with them all of their
+lower propensities and attributes, and would be utterly incapable of
+manifesting the spiritual part of their nature which alone would be
+satisfied and happy in the spiritual realms. Therefore, it needs
+repeated lives in order to evolve from the lower conditions and to
+develop and unfold the higher.
+
+Touching upon the question of unextinguished desire, mentioned a moment
+ago, the following quotation from a writer on the subject, gives clearly
+and briefly the Reincarnationist argument regarding this point. The
+writer says: "Desire for other forms of earthly experience can only be
+extinguished by undergoing them. It is obvious that any one of us, if
+now translated to the unseen world, would feel regret that he had not
+tasted existence in some other situation or surroundings. He would wish
+to have known what it was to possess wealth and rank, or beauty, or to
+live in a different race or climate, or to see more of the world and
+society. No spiritual ascent could progress while earthly longings were
+dragging back the soul, and so it frees itself from them by successively
+securing them and dropping them. When the round of such knowledge has
+been traversed, regret for ignorance has died out." This idea of
+"Living-Out and Out-Living" is urged by a number of writers and thinkers
+on the subject. J. Wm. Lloyd says, in his "Dawn Thought," on this
+subject: "You rise and overcome simply by the natural process of living
+fully and thus outliving, as a child its milk-teeth, a serpent his
+slough. Living and Outliving, that expresses it. Until you have learned
+the one lesson fully you are never ready for a new one." The same
+writer, in the same book, also says: "By sin, shame, joy, virtue and
+sorrow, action and reaction, attraction and repulsion, the soul, like a
+barbed arrow, ever goes on. It cannot go back, or return through the
+valves of its coming. But this must not be understood to be fulfilled in
+one and every earth-visit. It is true only of the whole circle-voyage
+of the soul. In one earth-trip, one 'life,' as we say, it may be that
+there would nothing be but a standing still or a turning back, nothing
+but sin. But the whole course of all is on." But there is the danger of
+a misunderstanding of this doctrine, and some have misinterpreted it,
+and read it to advise a plunging into all kinds of sinful experience in
+order to "live-out and out-live," which idea is wrong, and cannot be
+entertained by any true student of the subjects, however much it may be
+used by those who wish to avail themselves of an excuse for material
+dissipation. Mabel Collins, in her notes to "Light on the Path," says on
+this subject: "Seek it by testing all experience, and remember that,
+when I say this, I do not say, 'Yield to the seduction of sense, in
+order to know it.' Before you have become an occultist, you may do this,
+but not afterwards. When you have chosen and entered the path, you
+cannot yield to these seductions without shame. Yet you can experience
+them without horror; can weigh, observe and test them, and wait with
+the patience of confidence for the hour when they shall affect you no
+longer. But do not condemn a man that yields; stretch out your hand to
+him as a brother pilgrim whose feet have become heavy with mire.
+Remember, O disciple! that great though the gulf may be between the good
+man and the sinner, it is greater between the good man and the man who
+has attained knowledge; it is immeasurable between the good man and the
+one on the threshold of divinity. Therefore, be wary, lest too soon you
+fancy yourself a thing apart from the mass." And again, the same writer
+says: "Before you can attain knowledge you must have passed through all
+places, foul and clean alike. Therefore, remember that the soiled
+garment you shrink from touching may have been yours yesterday, may be
+yours tomorrow. And if you turn with horror from it when it is flung
+upon your shoulders, it will cling the more closely to you. The
+self-righteous man makes for himself a bed of mire. Abstain because it
+is right to abstain, not that yourself shall be kept clean."
+
+It is also argued that Reincarnation is necessary in order to give the
+evolving races a chance to perfect themselves--that is, not through
+their physical descendants, which would not affect the souls of those
+living in the bodies of the races to-day, but by perfection and growth
+of the souls themselves. It is pointed out that to usher a savage or
+barbarian to the spiritual planes after death, no matter how true to his
+duty and "his lights" the soul had been, would be to work an absurd
+translation. Such a soul would not be fitted for the higher spiritual
+planes, and would be most unhappy and miserable there. It will be seen
+that Reincarnationists make quite a distinction between "goodness" and
+"advancement"--while they recognize and urge the former, they regard it
+as only one side of the question, the other being "spiritual growth and
+unfoldment." It will be seen that Reincarnation provides for a Spiritual
+Evolution with all of its advantages, as well as a material evolution
+such as science holds to be correct.
+
+Concluding this chapter, let us quote once more from the authority on
+the subject before mentioned, who writes anonymously in the pamphlet
+from which the quotation is taken. He says: "Nature does nothing by
+leaps. She does not, in this case, introduce into a region of spirit and
+spiritual life a being who has known little else than matter and
+material life, with small comprehension even of that. To do so would be
+analogous to transferring suddenly a ploughboy into a company of
+metaphysicians. The pursuit of any topic implies some preliminary
+acquaintance with its nature, aims, and mental requirements; and the
+more elevated the topic, the more copious the preparation for it. It is
+inevitable that a being who has before him an eternity of progress
+through zones of knowledge and spiritual experience ever nearing the
+Central Sun, should be fitted for it through long acquisition of the
+faculties which alone can deal with it. Their delicacy, their vigor,
+their penetrativeness, their unlikeness to those called for on the
+material plane, show the contrast of the earth-life to the spirit-life.
+And they show, too, the inconceivability of a sudden transition from one
+to the other, of a policy unknown in any other department of Nature's
+workings, of a break in the law of uplifting through Evolution. A man,
+before he can become a 'god,' must first become a perfect man; and he
+can become a perfect man neither in seventy years of life on earth, nor
+in any number of years of life from which human conditions are absent.
+* * * Re-birth and re-life must go on till their purposes are
+accomplished. If, indeed, we were mere victims of an evolutionary law,
+helpless atoms on which the machinery of Nature pitilessly played, the
+prospect of a succession of incarnations, no one of which gave
+satisfaction, might drive us to mad despair. But we have thrust on us no
+such cheerless exposition. We are shown that Reincarnations are the law
+for man, because they are the conditions of his progress, which is also
+a law, but he may mould them and better them and lessen them. He cannot
+rid himself of the machinery, but neither should wish to. Endowed with
+the power to guide it for the best, prompted with the motive to use that
+power, he may harmonize both his aspirations and his efforts with the
+system that expressed the infinite wisdom of the supreme, and through
+the journey from the temporal to the eternal tread the way with steady
+feet, braced with the consciousness that he is one of an innumerable
+multitude, and with the certainty that he and they alike, if they so
+will it, may attain finally to that sphere where birth and death are but
+memories of the past."
+
+In this chapter we have given you a number of the arguments favorable to
+the doctrine of Reincarnation, from a number of sources. Some of these
+arguments do not specially appeal to us, personally, for the reason that
+they are rather more theological than scientific, but we have included
+them that the argument may appear as generally presented, and because we
+feel that in a work of this kind we must not omit an argument which is
+used by many of the best authorities, simply because it may not appeal
+to our particular temperament or habit of thought. To some, the
+theological argument may appeal more strongly than would the scientific,
+and it very properly is given here. The proper way to present any
+subject is to give it in its many aspects, and as it may appear from
+varied viewpoints.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE PROOFS OF REINCARNATION.
+
+
+To many minds the "proof" of a doctrine is its reasonableness and its
+adaptability as an answer to existing problems. And, accordingly, to
+such, the many arguments advanced in favor of the doctrine, of which we
+have given a few in the preceding chapters, together with the almost
+universal acceptance of the fundamental ideas on the part of the race,
+in at least some period of its development, would be considered as a
+very good "proof" of the doctrine, at least so far as it might be
+considered as the "most available working theory" of the soul's
+existence, past and future, and as better meeting the requirements of a
+doctrine or theory than any other idea advanced by metaphysical,
+theological, or philosophical thinkers.
+
+But to the scientific mind, or the minds of those who demand something
+in the nature of actual experience of facts, no amount of reasonable
+abstract theorizing and speculation is acceptable even in the way of a
+"working hypothesis," unless based upon some tangible "facts" or
+knowledge gained through human experience. While people possessing such
+minds will usually admit freely that the doctrine of Reincarnation is
+more logical than the opposing theories, and that it fits better the
+requirements of the case, still they will maintain that all theories
+regarding the soul must be based upon premises that cannot be
+established by actual experience in human consciousness. They hold that
+in absence of proof in experience--actual "facts"--these premises are
+not established, and that all structures of reasoning based upon them
+must partake of their insecurity. These people are like the slangy "man
+from Missouri" who "wants to be shown"--nay, more, they are like the
+companion of the above man--the Man from Texas, who not only says:
+"You've got to show me," but who also demands that the thing be "placed
+in my hand." And, after all, one has no right to criticize these
+people--they are but manifesting the scientific spirit of the age which
+demands facts as a basis for theories, rather than theories that need
+facts to prove them. And, unless Reincarnation is able to satisfy the
+demands of this class of thinkers, the advocates of the doctrine need
+not complain if the scientific mind dismisses the doctrine as "not
+proven."
+
+After all, the best proof along the above mentioned lines--in fact,
+about the only possible strict proof--is the fragmentary recollections
+of former lives, which many people possess at times--these recollections
+often flashing across the mind, bringing with it a conviction that the
+place or thing "has been experienced before." Nearly every person has
+had glimpses of something that appeared to be a recollection from the
+past life of the individual. We see places that we have never known, and
+they seem perfectly familiar; we meet strangers, and we are convinced
+that we have known them in the past; we read an old book and feel that
+we have seen it before, often so much so that we can anticipate the
+story or argument of the writer; we hear some strange philosophical
+doctrine, and we recognize it as an old friend. Many people have had
+this experience in the matter of Occultism--in the very matter of the
+doctrine of Reincarnation itself--when they first heard it, although it
+struck them as strange and unusual, yet they felt an inner conviction
+that it was an old story to them--that they "had heard it all before."
+These experiences are by far too common to be dismissed as mere fancy or
+coincidence. Nearly every living person has had some experience along
+this line.
+
+A recent writer along the lines of Oriental Philosophy has said
+regarding this common experience of the race: "Many people have had
+'peculiar experiences' that are accountable only upon the hypothesis of
+Metempsychosis. Who has not experienced the consciousness of having felt
+the thing before--having thought it some time in the dim past? Who has
+not witnessed new scenes that appear old, very old? Who has not met
+persons for the first time, whose presence awakened memories of a past
+lying far back in the misty ages of long ago? Who has not been seized at
+times with the consciousness of a mighty 'oldness' of soul? Who has not
+heard music, often entirely new compositions, which somehow awakened
+memories of similar strains, scenes, places, faces, voices, lands,
+associations, and events, sounding dimly on the strings of memory as the
+breezes of the harmony floats over them? Who has not gazed at some old
+painting, or piece of statuary, with the sense of having seen it all
+before? Who has not lived through events which brought with them a
+certainty of being merely a repetition of some shadowy occurrences away
+back in lives lived long ago? Who has not felt the influence of the
+mountain, the sea, the desert, coming to them when they are far from
+such scenes--coming so vividly as to cause the actual scene of the
+present to fade into comparative unreality? Who has not had these
+experiences?"
+
+We have been informed by Hindus well advanced in the occult theory and
+practice that it is quite a common thing for people of their country to
+awaken to an almost complete recollection of their former lives; in some
+cases they have related details of former lives that have been fully
+verified by investigation in parts of the land very remote from their
+present residence. In one case, a Hindu sage related to us an instance
+where a poor Hindu, who had worked steadily in the village in which he
+had been born, without leaving it, ever since his childhood days. This
+man one day cried out that he had awakened to a recollection of having
+been a man of such and such a village, in a province hundreds of miles
+from his home. Some wealthy people became interested in the matter, and
+after having taken down his statements in writing, and after careful
+examination and questioning, they took him to the town in question. Upon
+entering the village the man seemed dazed, and cried out: "Everything is
+changed--it is the same and yet not the same!" Finally, however, he
+began to recognize some of the old landmarks of the place, and to call
+the places and roads by their names. Then, coming to a familiar corner,
+he cried: "Down there is my old home," and, rushing down the road for
+several hundred yards, he finally stopped before the ruins of an old
+cottage, and burst into tears, saying that the roof of his home had
+fallen in, and the walls were crumbling to pieces. Inquiry among the
+oldest men of the place brought to light the fact that when these aged
+men were boys, the house had been occupied by an old man, bearing the
+same name first mentioned by the Hindu as having been his own in his
+previous life. Other facts about the former location of places in the
+village were verified by the old men. Finally, while walking around the
+ruins, the man said: "There should be a pot of silver buried there--I
+hid it there when I lived here." The people rapidly uncovered the ground
+indicated, and brought to light an old pot containing a few pieces of
+silver coin of a date corresponding to the lifetime of the former
+occupant of the house. Our informant told us that he had personal
+knowledge of a number of similar cases, none of which, however, were
+quite as complete in detail as the one mentioned. He also informed us
+that he himself, and a number of his acquaintances who had attained
+certain degrees of occult unfoldment, were fully aware of their past
+lives for several incarnations back.
+
+Another instance came under our personal observation, in which an
+American who had never been to India, when taken into a room in which a
+Hindu priest who was visiting America had erected a shrine or altar
+before which he performed his religious services, readily recognized the
+arrangement of the details of worship, ritual, ceremony, etc., and was
+conscious of having seen, or at least dreamed of seeing, a similar
+shrine at some time in the past, and as having had some connection with
+the same. The Hindu priest, upon hearing the American's remarks, stated
+that his knowledge of the details of the shrine, as then expressed,
+indicated a knowledge possible only to one who had served at a Hindu
+altar in some capacity.
+
+We know of another case in which an acquaintance, a prominent attorney
+in the West, told us that when undergoing his initiation in the Masonic
+order he had a full recollection of having undergone the same before,
+and he actually anticipated each successive step. This knowledge,
+however, ceased after he had passed beyond the first three degrees which
+took him to the place where he was a full Master Mason, the higher
+degrees being entirely new to him, and having been apparently not
+experienced before. This man was not a believer in any doctrine of
+Reincarnation, and related the incident merely as "one of those things
+that no man can explain."
+
+We know of another case, in which a student of Hindu Philosophy and
+Oriental Occultism found that he could anticipate each step of the
+teaching and doctrine, and each bit of knowledge gained by him seemed
+merely a recollection of something known long since. So true was this
+that he was able to supply the "missing links" of the teaching, where
+he had not access to the proper sources of information at the time, and
+in each case he afterward found that he had stated the same correctly.
+And this included many points of the Inner Teachings not generally
+taught to the general public, but reserved for the few. Subsequent
+contact with native Hindu teachers brought to light the fact that he had
+already unraveled many tangled skeins of doctrine deemed possible only
+to the "elect."
+
+Many of these recollections of the past come as if they were memories of
+something experienced in dreams, but sometimes after the loose end of
+the thought is firmly grasped and mentally drawn out, other bits of
+recollection will follow. Sir Walter Scott wrote in his diary in 1828:
+"I was strangely haunted by what I would call the sense of
+pre-existence, viz., a confused idea that nothing that passed was said
+for the first time; that the same topics had been discussed, and the
+same persons had stated the same opinions on them." William Home, an
+English writer, was instantly converted from materialism to a belief in
+a spiritual existence by an incident that occurred to him in a part of
+London utterly strange to him. He entered a waiting room, and to his
+surprise everything seemed familiar to him. As he says: "I seemed to
+recognize every object. I said to myself, what is this? I have never
+been here before, and yet I have seen all this, and if so, there is a
+very peculiar knot in that shutter." He then crossed the room, and
+opened the shutter, and after examination he saw the identical peculiar
+knot that he had felt sure was there. Pythagoras is said to have
+distinctly remembered a number of his previous incarnations, and at one
+time pointed out a shield in a Grecian temple as having been carried by
+him in a previous incarnation at the siege of Troy. A well-known ancient
+Hindu sage is said to have transcribed a lost sacred book of doctrine
+from memory of its study in a previous life. Children often talk
+strangely of former lives, which ideas, however, are generally
+frightened out of them by reproof on the part of parents, and often
+punishment for untruthfulness and romancing. As they grow older these
+memories fade away.
+
+People traveling in strange places often experience emotion when viewing
+some particular scene, and memory seems to painfully struggle to bring
+into the field of consciousness the former connection between the scene
+and the individual. Many persons have testified to these occurrences,
+many of them being matter-of-fact, unimaginative people, who had never
+even heard of the doctrine of Reincarnation. Charles Dickens, in one of
+his books of foreign travel, tells of a bridge in Italy which produced a
+peculiar effect upon him. He says: "If I had been murdered there in some
+former life, I could not have seemed to remember the place more
+thoroughly, or with more emphatic chilling of the blood; and the real
+remembrance of it acquired in that minute is so strengthened by the
+imaginary recollection that I hardly think I could forget it." Another
+recorded instance is that of a person entering a foreign library for the
+first time. Passing to the department of ancient books, he said that he
+had a dim idea that a certain rare book was to be found on such a shelf,
+in such a corner, describing at the same time certain peculiarities of
+the volume. A search failed to discover the volume in the stated place,
+but investigation showed that it was in another place in the library,
+and an old assistant stated that a generation back it had been moved
+from its former place (as stated by the visitor), where it had been
+previously located for very many years. An examination of the volume
+showed a perfect correspondence in every detail with the description of
+the strange visitor.
+
+And so the story proceeds. Reference to the many works written on the
+subject of the future life of the soul will supply many more instances
+of the glimpses of recollection of past incarnations. But why spread
+these instances over more pages? The experience of other people, while
+of scientific interest and value as affording a basis for a theory or
+doctrine, will never supply the experience that the close and rigid
+investigator demands. Only his own experiences will satisfy him--and
+perhaps not even those, for he may consider them delusions. These
+experiences of others have their principal value as corroborative proofs
+of one's own experiences, and thus serve to prove that the individual
+experience was not abnormal, unusual, or a delusion. To those who have
+not had these glimpses of recollection, the only proof that can be
+offered is the usual arguments in favor of the doctrine, and the account
+of the experiences of others--this may satisfy, and may not. But to
+those who have had these glimpses--particularly in a marked
+degree--there will come a feeling of certainty and conviction that in
+some cases is as real as the certainty and conviction of the present
+existence, and which will be proof against all argument to the contrary.
+To such people the knowledge of previous existences is as much a matter
+of consciousness as the fact of the existence of last year--yesterday--a
+moment ago--or even the present moment, which slips away while we
+attempt to consider it. And those who have this consciousness of past
+lives, even though the details may be vague, intuitively accept the
+teachings regarding the future lives of the soul. The soul that
+recognizes its "oldness" also feels its certainty of survival--not as a
+mere matter of faith, but as an item of consciousness, the boundaries of
+time being transcended.
+
+But there are other arguments advanced in favor of Reincarnation, which
+its advocates consider so strong as to entitle them to be classed as
+"proofs." Among these may be mentioned the difference in tastes,
+talents, predispositions, etc., noticeable among children and adults,
+and which can scarcely be attributed to heredity. This same idea carries
+one to the consideration of the question of "youthful genius,"
+"prodigies," etc.
+
+It is a part of this argument to assume that if all souls were freshly
+created, by the same Creator, and from the same material, they would
+resemble each other very closely, and in fact would be practically
+identical. And, it is urged, the fact that every child is different in
+tastes, temperament, qualities, nature, etc., independent of heredity
+and environment, then it must follow that the difference must be sought
+for further back. Children of the same parents differ very materially in
+nature, disposition, etc.; in fact, strangers are often more alike than
+children of the same parents, born within a few years of each other, and
+reared in the same environment. Those having much experience with young
+babies know that each infant has its own nature and disposition, and in
+which it differs from every other infant, although they may be classed
+into groups, of course. The infant a few hours born shows a gentleness,
+or a lack of it--a yielding or a struggle, a disposition to adjust
+itself, or a stubbornness, etc. And as the child grows, these traits
+show more plainly, and the nature of the individual asserts itself,
+subject, of course, to a moulding and shaping, but always asserting its
+original character in some way.
+
+Not only in the matter of disposition but in the matter of tastes,
+tendencies, moral inclinations, etc., do the children differ. Some like
+this, and dislike that, and the reverse; some are attracted toward this
+and repelled by that, and the reverse; some are kind while others are
+cruel; some manifest an innate sense of refinement, while others show
+coarseness and lack of delicate feeling. This among children of the same
+family, remember. And, when the child enters school, we find this one
+takes to mathematics as the duck does to water, while its brother
+loathes the subject; the anti-arithmetic child may excel in history or
+geography, or else grammar, which is the despair of others. Some are at
+once attracted to music, and others to drawing, while both of these
+branches are most distasteful to others. And it will be noticed that in
+the studies to which the child is attracted, it seems to learn almost
+without effort, as if it were merely re-learning some favorite study,
+momentarily forgotten. And in the case of the disliked study, every step
+is attended with toil. In some cases the child seems to learn every
+branch with the minimum effort, and with practically no effort; while in
+other cases the child has to plod wearily over every branch, as if
+breaking entirely new ground. And this continues into after life, when
+the adult finds this thing or that thing into which he naturally fits as
+if it were made for him, the knowledge concerning it coming to him like
+the lesson of yesterday.
+
+We know of a case in which a man had proved a failure in everything he
+had undertaken up to the age of forty, when his father-in-law, in
+disgust, placed him at the head of an enterprise which he had had to
+"take over" for a bad debt. The "failure" immediately took the keenest
+interest in the work, and in a month knew more about it than many men
+who had been in the concern for years. His mind found itself perfectly
+at home, and he made improvement after improvement rapidly, and with
+uniform success. He had found his work, and in a few years stepped to
+the front rank in the country in that particular line of business.
+"Blessed is he that hath found his work." Reincarnationists would hold
+that that man had found his work in a line similar in its mental
+demands with that of his former life or lives--not necessarily identical
+in details, but similar in its mental requirement. Instances of this
+thing are to be seen all around us. Heredity does not seem to account
+for it--nor does environment answer the requirements. Some other factor
+is there--is it Reincarnation?
+
+Allied to this phenomena is that of "youthful genius"--in fact, genius
+of any age, for that matter, for genius itself seems to be out of the
+category of the ordinary cause of heredity and environment, and to have
+its roots in some deeper, richer soil. It is a well-known fact that now
+and then a child is born which at a very early age shows an acquaintance
+with certain arts, or other branches of mental work, which is usually
+looked for only from those of advanced years, and after years of
+training. In many cases these children are born of parents and
+grandparents deficient in the particular branches of knowledge evidenced
+by the child. Babes scarcely able to sit on the piano stool, or to hold
+the violin, have begun to play in a way that certainly indicated
+previous knowledge and technique, often composing original productions
+in an amazing manner. Other young children have begun to draw and design
+without any instruction whatever. Others have shown wonderful
+mathematical ability, there being several cases on record where such
+children have performed feats in mathematics impossible to advanced
+adults teaching the same lines. What are the cause of these phenomena?
+Is it Reincarnation?
+
+As Figuier said, years ago: "We hear it said every day that one child
+has a mathematical, another a musical, another an artistic turn. In
+others we notice savage, violent, even criminal instincts. After the
+first years of life these dispositions break out. When these natural
+aptitudes are pushed beyond the usual limit, we find famous examples
+that history has cherished, and that we love to recall. There is Pascal,
+mastering at the age of twelve years the greater part of Plane Geometry
+without any instruction, and not a figment of Calculus, drawing on the
+floor of his chamber all the figures in the first book of Euclid,
+estimating accurately the mathematical relations of them all--that is,
+reconstructing for himself a part of descriptive Geometry; the herdsman
+Mangia Melo, manipulating figures, when five years old, as rapidly as a
+calculating machine; Mozart, executing a sonata on the pianoforte with
+four-years-old fingers, and composing an opera at the age of eight;
+Theresa Milanollo, playing the violin at four years, with such eminent
+skill that Baillot said she must have played it before she was born;
+Rembrandt, drawing with masterly power before he could read." The same
+authority says, in reference to the fact that some of these prodigies do
+not become famous in their after years, and that their genius often
+seems to flicker out, leaving them as ordinary children: "That is easily
+understood. They come on earth with remarkable powers acquired in an
+anterior existence, but they have done nothing to develop their
+aptitudes; they have remained all their lives at the very point where
+they were at the moment of their birth. The real man of genius is he
+who cultivates and improves incessantly the great natural aptitudes that
+he brought into the world."
+
+There is an interesting field for study, thought and investigation,
+along the lines of the early development of traits, tendencies, and
+thought in young children. Here evidently will be found the answer to
+many problems that have perplexed the race. It is true that heredity and
+environment plays an important part, but nevertheless, there seems to be
+another element working in the case, which science must have to reckon
+with in making up its final conclusions. Is that "something" connected
+with the "soul" rather than the mind of the child? Is that "something"
+that which men call Metempsychosis--Re-Birth--Reincarnation?
+
+Along the same lines, or thought, lie the great questions of instinctive
+Like and Dislike--Loves and Hates--that we find among people meeting as
+strangers. From whence come those strange, unaccountable attractions and
+repulsions that many feel when meeting certain strangers, who could
+never have occasioned such feelings in the present life, and which
+heredity does not account for? Is it merely an absurd, irrational, fancy
+or feeling; is it the result of natures inharmonious and discordant; is
+it remnants of inherited ancestral feelings toward similar individuals
+hated, loved or feared; is it a telepathic sensing of certain elements
+in the other; or is it a manifestation of the feelings experienced in a
+past existence? Is this phenomena to be included in the Proofs of
+Reincarnation? Many people think that in Reincarnation the only answer
+may be found.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+ARGUMENTS AGAINST REINCARNATION
+
+
+The honest consideration of any subject necessitates the examination of
+"the other side of the case," as well as the affirmative side. We have
+given much space to the presentation and consideration of the arguments
+advanced by those convinced of the truth of Reincarnation, and before
+closing our work we think it well to give at least a little glimpse of
+"the other side" as it is presented by the opponents of the doctrine,
+together with the reply to the same usually made by the
+Reincarnationists.
+
+The first adverse argument usually presented is that the advocates of
+Reincarnation have not established the existence of a "soul" which may
+reincarnate; nor have they proven its nature, if it does exist. The
+natural reply to this is that the doctrine of Reincarnation is not
+called upon to establish the proof of the existence of a "soul," as the
+idea of existence of the soul practically is universal, and, therefore,
+"axiomic"--that is, it is a truth that may be considered as an "axiom,"
+or self-evident truth, worthy of being assumed as a principle, necessary
+to thought on the subject, a proposition which it is necessary to take
+for granted, an established principle of thought on the subject.
+Strictly speaking, perhaps the fact of the existence of the soul is
+incapable of material proof, except to those who accept the fact of
+proven "spirit return," either in the shape of unmistakable
+manifestation of the disincarnate soul by materialization, or by equally
+unmistakable manifestation in the shape of communications of some sort
+from such discarnate soul. Science does not admit that there are any
+real "proofs" of the existence of a "soul" which persists after the
+death of the body--but all religious, and at least the older
+philosophical thought, generally agrees that the existence of such a
+soul is a self-evident fact, needing no proofs. Many regard the
+statement of Descartes: "I think, therefore I am," as a logical proof
+of the existence of an immaterial soul, and others hold that the
+self-consciousness of every human being is sufficient proof that the
+Ego, or "I," is a something immaterial, ruling the material body which
+it inhabits. And so the Reincarnationists claim that this demand upon
+them for proof of the existence of the soul is not a fair one, because
+such discussion belongs to the more general field of thought; that they
+are justified in starting with the idea that the soul does exist, as an
+axiomic truth; and that their real task is to establish, not that the
+soul exists, but that it reincarnates after the death of the body. As
+Figuier says, "The difficulty is not to prove that there is a spiritual
+principle in us that resists death, for to question the existence of
+this principle we must doubt thought. The true problem is to ascertain
+if the spiritual and immortal principle within us is going to live again
+after death, in ourselves or somebody else. The question is, Will the
+immortal soul be born again in the same individual, physically
+transformed--into the same person?" As to the other objection, that the
+Reincarnationists have not proven the nature of the soul, to which many
+of the advocates of the doctrine feel it necessary to reply at great
+length and with much subtle reasoning, we feel that the objection is not
+well taken. So far as Reincarnation is concerned, if it be taken as an
+axiom that the soul really exists, that is sufficient as a beginning for
+the argument in favor of the doctrine, and the proof or disproof of any
+special theory regarding the nature of the soul is outside of the main
+question, so we shall not consider it here. It is possible to think of
+the soul as a reincarnating entity, whether it be a monad, duad, triad,
+or septenary being.
+
+The second objection usually made is that Reincarnation cannot be true,
+else we would remember the incidents of our past lives, clearly and
+distinctly, the fact that the majority of persons have no such
+recollection, being held to be a disproof of the doctrine. The reply to
+this objection is (1) that it is not true that people do not remember
+the events of their past lives, the instances quoted by us, and similar
+ones happening to others, together with the fact that nearly every one
+remembers something of the past, showing that the objection is not
+correctly stated. And (2) that the fact that we have but a very cloudy
+and imperfect recollection is not an objection at all, for have we a
+clear recollection of the events of our infancy and childhood in this
+life? Have we a clear recollection of the events of twenty years ago,
+outside of a few scattered instances, of which the majority are only
+recalled when some associated fact is mentioned? Are not the great
+majority of the events of our present life completely forgotten? How
+many can recall the events of the youthful life? Old companions and
+friends are completely forgotten or only recalled after much thought and
+assistance in the way of suggested associations. Then again, do we not
+witness a complete forgetfulness in cases of very old people who relapse
+into a state of "second childhood," and who then live entirely in the
+present, the past having vanished for them. There are cases of people
+having grown old, and while retaining their reasoning faculties, were as
+children, so far as the past was concerned. A well-known writer, when in
+this state, was wont to read the books that he had written, enjoying
+them very much and not dreaming that he was their author. Professor
+Knight says of this matter: "Memory of the details of the past is
+absolutely impossible."
+
+"The power of the conservative faculty, though relatively great, is
+extremely limited. We forget the larger portion of experience soon after
+we have passed through it, and we should be able to recall the
+particulars of our past years, filling all the missing links of
+consciousness since we entered on the present life, before we were in a
+position to remember our ante-natal experience. Birth must necessarily
+be preceded by crossing the river of oblivion, while the capacity for
+fresh acquisition survives, and the garnered wealth of old experience
+determines the amount and characters of the new." Loss of memory is not
+loss of being--or even loss of individuality or character.
+
+In this connection, we must mention the various instances of Double
+Personality, or Lost Personality, noted in the recent books on
+Psychology. There are a number of well authenticated cases in which
+people, from severe mental strain, overwork, etc., have lost the thread
+of Personality and forgotten even their own names and who have taken up
+life anew under new circumstances, which they would continue until
+something would occur to bring about a restoration of memory, when the
+past in all of its details would come back in a flash. The annals of the
+English Society for Psychical Research contain quite a number of such
+cases, which are recognized as typical. Now, would one be justified in
+asserting that such a person, while living in the secondary personality
+and consequently in entire ignorance of his past life, had really
+experienced no previous life? The same "I" was there--the same Ego--and
+yet, the personality was entirely different! Is it not perfectly fair
+and reasonable to consider these cases as similar to the absence of
+memory in cases of Reincarnation?
+
+Let the reader lay down this book, and then endeavor to remember what
+happened in his twelfth year. He will not remember more than one or two,
+or a half dozen, events in that year--perhaps not one, in the absence of
+a diary, or perhaps even with the aid of one. The majority of the
+happenings of the three hundred and sixty-five days of that year are as
+a blank--as if they never had happened, so far as the memory is
+concerned. And yet, the same "I," or Ego, persists, and the person's
+character has certainly been affected and influenced by the experiences
+and lessons of that year. Perhaps in that year, the person may have
+acquired certain knowledge that he uses in his everyday life. And so, in
+this case, as with Reincarnation, the "essence" of the experiences are
+preserved, while the details are forgotten. For that is the
+Reincarnationist contention. As a matter of fact, advanced occultists,
+and other Reincarnationists, claim that nothing is really forgotten, but
+that every event is stored away in some of the recesses of the mind,
+below the level of consciousness--which idea agrees with that of modern
+psychologists. And Reincarnationists claim that when man unfolds
+sufficiently on some higher plane, he will have a full recollection of
+his past experiences in all of his incarnations. Some Reincarnationists
+claim that as the soul passes from the body all the events of that
+particular life pass rapidly before its mind, in review, before the
+waters of Lethe, or oblivion, causes forgetfulness.
+
+Closely allied to the last mentioned argument against Reincarnation is
+the one that as the memory of the past life is absent, or nearly so, the
+new personality is practically a new soul, instead of the old one
+reincarnated, and that it is unreasonable and unjust to have it enjoy or
+suffer by reasons of its experiences and acts in the previous life. We
+think that the answers to the last mentioned objection are answers to
+this one also. The "I," Ego, or Individuality, being the same, it
+matters not if the details of the old Personality be forgotten. You are
+the same "I" that lived fifty years ago in the same body--or even ten
+years ago--and you are enjoying certain things, or suffering from
+certain things, done or left undone at the previous time, although you
+have forgotten the incidents. The impress of the thing is on your
+Character, and you are today largely what you are by reason of what you
+have been in past years, though those years are forgotten by you. This
+you will readily admit, and yet the argument of the Reincarnationists is
+merely an extension of the same idea. As Figuier says: "The soul, in
+spite of its journeys, in the midst of its incarnations and divers
+metamorphoses remains always identical with itself; only at each
+metempsychosis, each metamorphosis of the external being, improving and
+purifying itself, growing in power and intellectual grasp."
+
+Another argument against Reincarnation is that it is not necessary, for
+the reason that Heredity accounts for all of the facts claimed as
+corroborative of Reincarnation. Answering this the advocates of the
+doctrine insist that Heredity does not account for all the facts,
+inasmuch as children are born with marked talents and genius, while
+none of their family for generations back have displayed any such
+tendencies. They also claim that if Heredity were the only factor in the
+case, there would be no advance in the races, as the children would be
+precisely like their ancestors, no variety or improvement being
+possible. But it must be remembered that Reincarnationists do not deny
+certain effects of Heredity, particularly along physical lines, and to
+an extent along mental lines, in the way of perpetuating "tendencies,"
+which, however, are and may be overcome by the individuality of the
+child. Moreover, the doctrine holds that one of the laws of Rebirth is
+that the reincarnating soul is attracted to parents harmonious to
+itself, and likely to afford the environments and association desirable
+to the soul. So in this way the characteristics likely to be transmitted
+to the offspring are those which are sought for and desired by the
+reincarnating soul. The law of Rebirth is held to be as exact and
+certain as the laws of mathematics or chemistry, the parents, as well
+as the child, forming the combination which brings forth the rebirth.
+Rebirth is held to be above the mere wish of the reincarnating soul--it
+is in accordance with an invariable natural law, which has Justice and
+Advancement as its basis.
+
+Another argument against Reincarnation is that it holds that human souls
+are reborn as animals, in some cases. This objection we shall not
+discuss, for the reason that the advanced ideas of Reincarnation
+expressly forbid any such interpretation, and distinctly deny its
+legitimate place in the doctrine. Among some of the primitive people
+this idea of transmigration in the bodies of animals has been held, but
+never among advanced occultists, or the leaders in philosophical thought
+favoring Reincarnation. Reincarnation teaches the Evolution of the soul
+from lowly forms to higher, but never the Devolution or going back into
+animal forms. A study of the doctrine of Reincarnation will dispel this
+erroneous idea from the mind of an intelligent person.
+
+Another favorite argument is that it is repulsive to the mind and soul
+of the average person. Analysis of this objection will show that what is
+repugnant to the person is usually the fear that he will be born again
+without a memory of the present, which seems like a loss of the self. A
+moment's consideration will show that this objection is ill founded. No
+one objects to the idea of living in the same body for, say, ten years
+or twenty years more, in health. But at the end of that ten or twenty
+years he will be practically a different person, by reason of the new
+experiences he has undergone. Persons change very much in twenty years,
+and yet they are the same individuals--the same "I" is there with them.
+And at the end of the twenty years they will have forgotten the majority
+of the events of the present year, but they do not object to that. When
+one realizes that the Individual, or "I," is the Real Self instead of
+the Personality, or the "John Smith, grocer, aged 36," part of
+them--then will they cease to fear the loss of the personality of the
+day or year. They will know that the "I" is the "Self"--the same
+yesterday, today and tomorrow. Be the doctrine of Reincarnation true or
+false, the fact remains that so long as YOU exist, it will be the same
+"I" in you that you will know that "I am." It will always be "I
+AM--HERE--NOW," with you, be it this moment, or a hundred years, or a
+million years hence. YOU can never be SOMEONE ELSE, no matter what form
+you wear, nor by what name you are known, nor what personality you may
+be acting through, nor in what place you may have your abode, nor on
+what plane of existence you may be. You will always be YOURSELF--and, as
+we have just said, it will always be "I AM--HERE--NOW" with You. The
+body, and even the Personality, are things akin to garments which you
+wear and take off without affecting your Real Self.
+
+Then we must note another objection often made by people in discussing
+Reincarnation. They say, "But I do not WANT to come back!" To this the
+Reincarnationists answer that, if one has reached a stage in which he
+really has no desire for anything that the earth can offer him, then
+such a soul will not likely have to reincarnate again on earth, for it
+has passed beyond the need of earthly experiences, and has worn out its
+earth Karma. But they hold that but few people really have reached this
+stage. What one really means is that he does not want any more of
+Earth--life similar to that which he has been undergoing. But if he
+thought that he could have certain things--riches, position, fame,
+beauty, influence, and the rest of it, he would be perfectly willing to
+"come back." Or else he might be so bound by links of Karma, acting by
+reason of Love or Hate, Attachment or Repulsion, or by duties
+unperformed, or moral debts unpaid, that he might be brought back to
+work out the old problems until he had solved them. But even this is
+explained by those Reincarnationists who hold to the idea of Desire as
+the great motive power of Karma, and who hold that if one has risen
+above all earthly desire or dislike, that soul is freed from the
+attraction of earth-life, and is prepared to go on higher at once, or
+else wait in realms of bliss until the race is ready to pass on,
+according to the various theories held by the various advocates of the
+doctrine. A little self-examination will show one whether he is free
+from all desire to "come back," or not. But, after all, if there is
+Ultimate Justice in the plan, working ever and ever for our good and
+advancements, as the Reincarnationists claim--then it must follow that
+each of us is in just the best place for his own good at the present
+moment, and will always be in a like advantageous position and
+condition. And if that be so, then there is no cause for complaint or
+objection on our part, and our sole concern should be in the words of
+the Persian sage, to "So live, that that which must come and will come,
+may come well," living on one day at a time, doing the best you know
+how, living always in the belief that "it is well with us now and
+evermore," and that "the Power which has us in charge Here will have us
+in charge There." There is a good philosophy for Living and Dying. And,
+this being true, though you may have to "come back," you will not have
+to "go back," or fall behind in the Scale of Advancement or Spiritual
+Evolution--for it must always be Onward and Upward on the Ladder of
+Life! Such is the Law!
+
+Another objection very often urged against the doctrine of Reincarnation
+is that "it is un-Christian, and derived from pagan and heathen sources,
+and is not in accord with the highest conceptions of the immortality of
+the soul." Answering this objection, it may be said that, insofar as
+Reincarnation is not a generally accepted doctrine in the orthodox
+Christian Churches of today, it may be said to be non-Christian (rather
+than un-Christian), but when it is seen that Pre-existence and Rebirth
+was held as Truth by many of the Early Fathers of the Church, and that
+the doctrine was finally condemned by the dominant majority in Church
+Councils only by means of the most severe methods and the exercise of
+the most arbitrary authority, it may be seen that in the opinion of many
+of the most eminent early authorities there was nothing "un-Christian"
+about it, but that it was a proper doctrine of the Church. The doctrine
+was simply "voted down," just as were many important doctrines revered
+by some of the great minds of the early church, in some cases the
+decision being made by a majority of one vote. And, again, there have
+been many bright minds in the Christian Church who persisted in the
+belief that the doctrine was far more consistent with the Inner
+Teachings of Christianity than the prevailing conception, and based upon
+quite as good authority.
+
+So far as the charge that it is "derived from pagan and heathen sources"
+is concerned, it must be answered that certainly the doctrine was
+accepted by the "pagan and heathen" world centuries before the dawn of
+Christianity, but, for that matter, so was the doctrine regarding the
+soul's future generally accepted by orthodox Christianity--in fact,
+nearly every doctrine or theory regarding the survival of the soul was
+"derived from pagan and heathen sources." The "pagan and heathen" mind
+had thought long and earnestly upon this great problem, and the field of
+thought had been pretty well covered before the advent of Christianity.
+In fact, Christianity added no new doctrine--invented no new theory--and
+is far from being clear and explicit in its teachings on the subject,
+the result being that the early Christians were divided among themselves
+on the matter, different sects and schools favoring different doctrines,
+each and all of which had been "derived from pagan and heathen sources."
+If all the doctrines regarding the immortality of the soul are to be
+judged by the test of their having been, or not been, "derived from
+pagan and heathen sources," then the entire body of doctrine and thought
+on the subject must be thrown out of the Christian mind, which must then
+endeavor to create or invent an entirely new doctrine which has never
+been thought of by a "pagan or heathen"--a very difficult task, by the
+way, considering the activity of the pagan and heathen mind in that
+respect. It must be remembered that there is no authoritative teaching
+on this subject--none coming direct from Jesus. The Christian Doctrines
+on the subject come from the Theologians, and represent simply the views
+of the "majority" of some Church Council--or of the most powerful
+faction.
+
+While the objection that Reincarnation "is not in accord with the
+highest conceptions of the immortality of the soul" is one that must
+depend almost entirely upon the personal bias or opinion of the
+individual as to what constitutes "the highest conceptions," still a
+comparison of the conceptions is not out of the way at this place. Do
+you know what was the doctrine favored by the dominant majority in the
+Church Councils, and for which Pre-Existence and Re-Birth finally was
+discarded? Do you know the dogma of the Church and the belief of masses
+of the orthodox Christians of the early centuries? Well, it was this:
+That at the death of the body, the person passes into a state of "coma,"
+or unconsciousness, in which state he rests today, awaiting the sound of
+the trumpet of the great Day of Judgment, when the dead shall be raised
+and the righteous given eternal life IN THEIR FORMER BODIES, while the
+wicked in their bodies may pass into eternal torment. That is the
+doctrine. You doubt it? Then look over the authorities and examine even
+the current creeds of today, many of which state practically the same
+thing. This belief passed into one of the Christian Creed, in the words:
+"I believe in the Resurrection of the Body."
+
+The great masses of Christians today, in general thought on the subject,
+speak as if the accepted doctrine of the Church was that the soul passed
+to Judgment, and then eternal soul life in Heaven or Hell immediately
+after the death of the body, thus ignoring the dogmas of the Church
+Councils regarding the future Day of Judgment and the Resurrection of
+the Body at that time. A little questioning of the religious teachers,
+and a little examination of religious history, and the creeds and
+doctrines of their respective churches, would astonish many good church
+members who have been fondly thinking of their beloved ones, who have
+passed on, as even now dwelling in Heaven as blessed angels. They would
+be astonished to find that the "angels" of the churches are not the
+souls of the good people who have been judged and awarded heavenly joys,
+but, rather, a body of supernatural beings who never inhabited the
+flesh; and that instead of their loved ones now enjoying the heavenly
+realms, the dogmas hold that they are now in a state of "coma" or
+unconsciousness, awaiting the great Day of Judgment, when their bodies
+will be resurrected and life everlasting given them. Those who are
+interested in the matter, and who may doubt the above statement, are
+invited to examine the records for themselves. The doctrine of the
+Resurrection of the Body, which is of undoubted "pagan and heathen"
+origin, was a favorite theological dogma of the Church in the first
+thousand years of its existence, and for many centuries after, and it
+still occupies a most important place in the church doctrines today,
+although it is not so often publicly preached or taught.
+
+David Kay says: "The great distinguishing doctrine of Christianity is
+not the Immortality of the Soul, but the Resurrection of the Body. That
+the soul of man is immortal was a common belief among the Ancients, from
+whom it found its way at an early period into the Christian Church, but
+the most influential of the early Fathers were strenuously opposed to
+it, holding that the human soul was not essentially immortal, but only,
+like the body, capable of immortality." Vinet says: "The union of the
+soul and body appears to me essential and indissoluble. Man without a
+body is, in my opinion, man no longer; and God has thought and willed
+him embodied, and not otherwise. According to passages in the
+Scriptures, we can not doubt that the body, or a body, is essential to
+human personality and to the very idea of man."
+
+John Milton said: "That the spirit of man should be separate from the
+body, so as to have a perfect and intelligent existence independent of
+it, is nowhere said in Scripture, and the doctrine is evidently at
+variance both with nature and reason." Masson, commenting on Milton's
+conception, says: "Milton's conception is that at the last gasp of
+breath the whole man dies, soul and body together, and that not until
+the Resurrection, when the body is revived, does the soul live again,
+does the man or woman live again, in any sense or way, whether for
+happiness or misery.... Are the souls of the millions on millions of
+human beings who have died since Adam, are those souls ready either with
+God and the angels in Heaven, or down in the diabolic world waiting to
+be rejoined to their bodies on the Resurrection Day? They are not, says
+Milton; but soul and bodies together, he says, are dead alike, sleeping
+alike, defunct alike, till that day comes." And many Christian
+theologians have held firmly to this doctrine, as may be seen by
+reference to any standard encyclopedia, or work on theology. Coleridge
+said: "Some of the most influential of the early Christian writers were
+materialists, not as holding the soul to be the mere result of bodily
+organization, but as holding the soul itself to be material--corporeal.
+It appears that in those days the vulgar held the soul to be
+incorporeal, according to the views of Plato and others, but that the
+orthodox Christian divines looked upon this as an impious, unscriptural
+opinion." Dr. R. S. Candlish said: "You live again in the body--in the
+very body, as to all essential properties, and to all practical intents
+and purposes in which you live now. I am to live not a ghost, a spectre,
+a spirit, I am to live then, as I live now, in the body." Dr. Arnold
+says: "I think that the Christian doctrine of the Resurrection meets the
+materialists so far as this--that it does imply that a body or an
+organization of some sort is necessary to the full development of man's
+nature."
+
+Rev. R. J. Campbell, the eminent English clergyman, in his recent work
+entitled, "The New Theology," says, speaking of the popular evangelical
+views: "But they are even more chaotic on the subject of death and
+whatever follows death. It does not seem to be generally recognized that
+Christian thought has never been really clear concerning the
+Resurrection, especially in relation to future judgment. One view has
+been that the deceased saint lies sleeping in the grave until the
+archangel's trumpet shall sound and bid all mankind awake for the great
+assize. Anyone who reads the New Testament without prejudice will see
+that this was Paul's earlier view, although later on he changed it for
+another. There is a good deal of our current, every-day religious
+phaseology which presumes it still--'Father, in thy gracious keeping,
+leave we now thy servant sleeping.' But alongside this view, another
+which is a flagrant contradiction of it has come down to us, namely,
+that immediately after death the soul goes straight to Heaven or Hell,
+as the case may be, without waiting for the archangel's trumpet and the
+grand assize. On the whole, this is the dominant theory of the situation
+in the Protestant circles, and is much less reasonable than the Catholic
+doctrine of purgatory, however much the latter may have been abused. But
+under this view, what is the exact significance of the Judgment Day and
+the Physical Resurrection? One might think they might be accounted
+superfluous. What is the good of tormenting a soul in Hell for ages, and
+then whirling it back to the body in order to rise again and receive a
+solemn public condemnation? Better leave it in the Inferno and save
+trouble, especially as the solemn trial is meaningless, seeing that a
+part of the sentence has already been undergone and that there is no
+hope that any portion of it will ever be remitted. Truly the tender
+mercies with which the theologians have credited the Almighty are cruel
+indeed!"
+
+But, by the irony of progress, the orthodox churches are gradually
+coming around to the one much-despised Platonic conception of the
+naturally Immortal Immaterial Soul--the "pagan and heathen" idea, so
+much at variance with the opposing doctrine of the Resurrection of the
+Body, which doctrine really did not teach the "immortality of the soul"
+at all. As Prof. Nathaniel Schmidt says, in an article in a standard
+encyclopedia: "The doctrine of the natural immortality of the human
+soul became so important a part of Christian thought that the
+resurrection naturally lost its vital significance, and it has
+practically held no place in the great systems of philosophy elaborated
+by the Christian thinkers of modern times." But still, the letter of the
+old doctrine persists on the books of the church and in its creeds,
+although opposed to the enlightened spirit now manifesting in the
+churches which is moving more and more toward the "pagan and heathen"
+conception of a naturally Immaterial and Immortal Soul, rather than in a
+Resurrection of the Body and an eternal life therein.
+
+It is scarcely worth while here to contrast the two doctrines--the
+Immortal Immaterial Soul on the one hand, and the Immortal Body on the
+other. The latter conception is so primitively crude, and so foreign to
+modern thought, that it scarcely needs an argument against it. The
+thought of the necessity of the soul for a material body--the same old
+material body that it once cast off like a worn out garment--a body
+perhaps worn by disease, crippled by "accident" or "the slipping of the
+hand of the Potter"--a body similar to those we see around us every
+day--the Immortal Soul needing such a garment in order to exist! Better
+accept plain Materialism, and say that there is no soul and that the
+body perishes and all else with it, than such a gross doctrine which is
+simply a materialistic Immortality. So far as this doctrine being "the
+highest conception of the Immortality of the Soul," as contrasted with
+the "pagan and heathen" doctrine of Reincarnation--it is not a
+"conception of the Immortality of the Soul" at all, but a flat
+contradiction of it. It is a doctrine of the "Immortality of the Body,"
+which bears plain marks of a very lowly "pagan and heathen" origin. And
+as to the "later" Christian conception, it may be seen that there is
+nothing in the idea of Re-birth which is inconsistent therewith--in
+fact, the two ideas naturally blend into each other.
+
+In the above discussion our whole intent has been to answer the argument
+against Reincarnation which charges that the latter is "derived from
+pagan and heathen sources, and is not in accord with the highest
+conceptions of the immortality of the soul." And in order to do this we
+have found it necessary to examine the opposing theological dogmas as we
+find them, and to show that they do not come up to the claims of being
+"the highest conception," etc. We think that the strongest point against
+the dogmas may be found in the claims of their advocates. That the
+Church is now growing away from them only proves their unfitness as "the
+highest conception." And Reincarnationists hold that as the Church grows
+in favor of the Immaterial Immortal Soul, so will it find itself
+inclining toward the companion-doctrine of Pre-existence and Re-birth,
+in some of its varied forms, probably that of the Early Fathers of the
+Church, such as Origen and his followers--that the Church will again
+claim its own.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE LAW OF KARMA.
+
+
+"Karma" is a term in general use among the Hindus, and the Western
+believers in Reincarnation, the meaning of which is susceptible of
+various shades of definition and interpretation. It is most important to
+all students of the subject of Reincarnation, for it is the companion
+doctrine--the twin-truth--to the doctrine of Metempsychosis. Strictly
+speaking, "Karma" is the Law of Cause and Effect as applied to the life
+of the soul--the law whereby it reaps the results of its own sowing, or
+suffers the reaction from its own action. To the majority of
+Reincarnationists, however, it has a larger meaning, and is used in the
+sense of the Law of Justice, or the Law of Reward and Punishment,
+operating along the lines of personal experience, personal life, and
+personal character.
+
+Many authorities hold that the original idea of Karma was that of a
+great natural law operating along exact lines, as do the laws of
+mathematics and chemistry, bringing forth the exact effect from every
+cause, and being, above all, questions of good or evil, reward or
+punishment, morality or immorality, etc., and acting as a great natural
+force above all such questions of human conduct. To those who still
+adhere to this conception, Karma is like the Law of Gravitation, which
+operates without regard to persons, morals or questions of good and
+evil, just as does any other great natural law. In this view the only
+"right" or "wrong" would be the effect of an action--that is, whether it
+was conducive to one's welfare and that of the race, or the reverse. In
+this view, if a child places its hand on a hot stove, the action is
+"wrong," because it brings pain and unhappiness, although the act is
+neither moral or immoral. And another action is "right" because it
+brings happiness, well-being and satisfaction, present and future,
+although the act was neither moral nor immoral. In this view there can
+be neither reward nor punishment, in the common acceptation of the term,
+although in another sense there is a reward for such "right" doing, and
+a punishment for such "wrong" doing, as the child with the burnt hand
+may testify to.
+
+In this sense of the term, some of the older schools of Reincarnation
+accepted Karma as determining the Re-Birth, along the lines of Desire
+and Attraction, holding that the souls' character would attract it to
+re-birth along the lines of its strongest desires, and in such
+environment as would give it the greatest opportunity to work out those
+desires into action, taking the pains and pleasures of experience
+arising from such action, and thus moulding a new, or fuller character,
+which would create new Karma, which would determine the future birth,
+etc., and so on, and on. Those holding to this view believed that in
+this way the soul would learn its lesson, with many a crack over the
+knuckles, and with the pain of many an experience that would tend to
+turn it into the road most conducive to spiritual happiness and
+well-being; and lead it away from the road of material desires and
+pleasures, because the repeated experiences had shown that no true
+spiritual well-being was to be obtained therefrom. In other words, the
+soul, in its spiritual childhood, was just like a little child in the
+physical world, learning by experience that some things worked for its
+"good" and others for "bad." This view naturally carried with it the
+idea that true ethics would show that whatever tended toward the
+advancement of the soul was "good," and whatever retarded its
+advancement was "bad," in spite of any arbitrary standard of right or
+wrong erected by man during the ages, and which standard has constantly
+changed from time to time, is changing now, and always will change.
+
+But the Hindu mind, especially, soon enlarged upon this original idea of
+Karma, and the priests of India soon had the idea of Karma working as a
+great rewarder of "good," and a great punisher of "evil." Corresponding
+to the rewards and punishments in the future life, as taught by
+Christian preachers, the Hindu priests held over the sinner the terrors
+of Karma; and the rewards promised the good people from the same source
+served to spur on the worshiper to actions in accordance with the ethics
+of the particular church preaching the doctrine. It was taught that the
+man's future state, in the next incarnation, and perhaps for many
+others, depended upon his state of "goodness," in accordance with the
+laws of the church and priestly teaching--surely as powerful an argument
+and as terrifying a threat as the orthodox "bribe of heaven, and threat
+of hell" of the Western world. The effect of this teaching is seen among
+the masses of the but slightly educated Hindu classes of today, who are
+very desirous of acquiring "merit" by performing some "good" deed, such
+as bestowing alms upon the wandering religious mendicant; making
+contributions to the temples, etc., as well as performing the acts of
+ordinary good will toward men; and who are as equally anxious to avoid
+acquiring "demerit" from the lack of proper observances, and the
+performance of improper actions. While the general effect of this may be
+in the direction of holding the ignorant masses in the ethical road most
+conducive to the public weal, it also has a tendency to foster
+credulity, superstition and imposition, just as do similar teachings in
+any land, time, under the cover of any religion. There is a strong
+family resemblance between these teachings among all the religions, and
+there are many men who hold that this "crack of the theological whip" is
+most necessary for the keeping of the masses of the people in the strait
+road of morality, they being held incapable of the practice of "doing
+good for good's sake, and avoiding evil because it is evil." We shall
+not discuss this question--decide it for yourself.
+
+One of the strongest applications of the above mentioned form of the
+doctrine in India is the teaching that the caste of the man in his next
+incarnation will be determined by his degree of "good conduct" in the
+present life--and that his present caste has been determined by his
+conduct in his previous lives. No one who has not studied the
+importance of "caste" in India can begin to understand how powerful a
+lever this teaching is upon the people of India. From the exalted
+Brahman caste, the priestly caste--down to the Sudra caste of unskilled
+laborers, or even still further down to the Pariahs or outcasts, the
+caste lines are strongly marked; the higher caste person deeming it the
+greatest disgrace to be touched by one of an inferior caste, or to eat
+food prepared by a lower-caste person, and so on in every act of daily
+life. The only comparison possible to the American mind is the attitude
+of the old-time Southerner toward the lowest class of negroes, and even
+in this case the prejudice does not extend so far as in the case of the
+Hindus, for the Southerner will eat food cooked by a negro servant, and
+will permit the latter to shave him, act as his valet, etc., something
+at which the high-caste Hindu would be horrified on the part of one
+below him in caste. This being understood, it is easy to see how careful
+a high-caste Hindu would be to avoid performing actions which might rob
+him of his caste in his next life, and how powerful an incentive it is
+to a low-caste Hindu to strive for birth in a higher caste after many
+incarnations. To people holding such a view, birth in a low caste is the
+mark of crime and evil action performed in a previous life, and the
+low-born is accordingly felt to be worthy of no respect. We understand,
+from Hindu acquaintances, that this idea is gradually being dispelled in
+India, and an era of common human brotherhood and common interest is
+beginning to manifest itself.
+
+In the Western world, the Reincarnationists, without doubt, have been
+greatly affected by the prevailing orthodox Hindu conception of Karma,
+rather than by the Grecian and general occult conception. Although there
+are many who regard Karma as rather a moulder of character, and
+consequently a prime factor in the re-birth, rather than as a dispenser
+of rewards and punishments--still, there are many who, discarding the
+orthodox Devil of their former faith, have found a worthy substitute
+for him in their conception of Karma, and manifest the same terror and
+fear of the new devil as of the old one--and his name may be summed up
+as FEAR, in both cases.
+
+Theosophists have discussed the matter of Karma very thoroughly, and
+their leading authorities have written much about it, its various
+interpretations showing in the shades of opinion among the writers.
+Generally speaking, however, it may be said that they have bridged over
+the chasm between the "natural law" idea and that of "the moral law,"
+with its rewards and punishments, by an interpretation which places one
+foot on each conception, holding that there is truth in each. Of course,
+justice requires the reference of that student to the Theosophical
+writings themselves, for a detailed understanding of their views, but we
+feel that a brief summary of their general interpretation would be in
+order at this place.
+
+One of their leading authorities states that the Law of Karma is
+automatic in action, and that there is no possible escape from it. He
+likewise holds that Absolute Justice is manifested in its operations,
+the idea of mercy or wrath being absent from it; and that, consequently,
+every debt must be paid in full, to the last penny, and that there is no
+vicarious atonement or exceptions made in answer to supplications to a
+higher source. But he particularly states that this action of the law
+must not be confused with ordinary reward and punishment for "good deed
+or bad," but that the law acts just as does any other law of Nature,
+just as if we put our hand in the fire we shall be burned as a natural
+consequence, and not as a punishment. In his statement of this view he
+says: "We hold that sorrow and suffering flow from sin just precisely in
+that way, under the direct working of natural law. It may be said,
+perhaps, that, obviously, the good man does not always reap his reward
+of good results, nor does the wicked man always suffer. Not always
+immediately; not always within our ken; but assuredly, eventually and
+inexorably." The writer then goes on to define his conception of Good
+and Evil. He says: "We shall see more clearly that this must be so if
+we define exactly what we mean by good and evil. Our religious brothers
+would tell us that that was good which was in accordance with God's
+will, and that that was evil which was in opposition to it. The
+scientific man would say that that was good which helped evolution, and
+whatever hindered it was evil. Those two men are in reality saying
+exactly the same thing; for God's will for man is evolution, and when
+that is clearly realized all conflict between religion and science is at
+once ended. Anything, therefore, which is against evolution of humanity
+as a whole is against the Divine will. We see at once that when a man
+struggles to gain anything for himself at the expense of others he is
+distinctly doing evil, and it is evil because it is against the interest
+of the whole. Therefore the only true gain is that which is a gain for
+the race as a whole, and the man who gains something without cost or
+wrong to anyone is raising the whole race somewhat in the process. He is
+moving in the direction of evolution, while the other man is moving
+against it."
+
+The same writer then gives the list of the three kinds of Karma,
+according to the Hindu teachings, namely: "1. There is the Samchita, or
+'piled up' Karma--the whole mass that still remains behind the man not
+yet worked out--the entire unpaid balance of the debit and credit
+account; 2. There is the Prarabdha, or 'beginning' Karma--the amount
+apportioned to the man at the commencement of each life--his destiny for
+that life, as it were; 3. There is the Kriomana Karma, that which we are
+now, by our actions in this present life, making for the future." He
+further states: "That second type, the Prarabdha Karma, is the only
+destiny which can be said to exist for man. That is what an astrologer
+might foretell for us--that we have apportioned to us so much good or
+evil fortune--so much the result of the good and evil actions of our
+past lives which will react on us in this. But we should remember always
+that this result of previous action can never compel us to action in
+the present. It may put us under conditions in which it will be
+difficult to avoid an act, but it can never compel us to commit it. The
+man of ordinary development would probably yield to the circumstances
+and commit the act; but he may assert his free will, rise superior to
+the circumstances, and gain a victory and a step in evolution. So with a
+good action, no man is forced into that either, but an opportunity is
+given to him. If he takes it certain results will follow--not
+necessarily a happy or a wealthy life next time, but certainly a life of
+wider opportunity. That seems to be one of the things that are quite
+certain--that the man who has done well in this life has always the
+opportunity of doing still better in the next. This is nature's reward
+for good work--the opportunity to do more work. Of course, wealth is a
+great opportunity, so the reward often comes in that form, but the
+essence of the reward is the opportunity and not the pleasure which may
+be supposed to accompany the wealth." Another Theosophical writer says
+further on the subject of Karma: "Just as all these phases of Karma
+have sway over the individual man, so they similarly operate upon races,
+nations and families. Each race has its karma as a whole. If it be good,
+that race goes forward; if bad, it goes out--annihilated as a
+race--though the souls concerned take up their karma in other races and
+bodies. Nations cannot escape their national karma, and any nation that
+has acted in a wicked manner must suffer some day, be it soon or late."
+The same writer sums up the idea of individual unhappiness in any life,
+as follows: "(a) It is punishment for evil done in past lives; or (b) it
+is discipline taken up by the Ego for the purpose of eliminating defects
+or acquiring fortitude and sympathy. When defects are eliminated it is
+like removing the obstruction in an irrigating canal which then lets the
+water flow on. Happiness is explained in the same way--the result of
+prior lives of goodness."
+
+The general idea of a number of writers on the subject of Karma is that
+"as ye sow, so shall ye reap," brought down to a wonderful detail of
+arrangement, and effect flowing from causes. This conception, carried to
+its logical conclusion, would insist that every single bit of pain and
+unhappiness in this life is the result of some bad deed done either in
+the present life or in the past, and every bit of happiness, joy or
+pleasure, the result of some good action performed either in the present
+or past life. This conception of Karma affords us the most intricate,
+complex and detailed idea of reward for good, and punishment for evil
+(even when called "the operation of natural law") possible to the mind
+of man. In its entirety, and carried to its last refinement of
+interpretation and analysis, it has a tendency to bewilder and terrify,
+for the chance of escape from its entangling machinery seems so slight.
+But still, the same authorities inform us that every soul will surmount
+these obstacles, and everyone will Attain--so there is no need to be
+frightened, even if you accept the interpretation of doctrine in its
+completeness.
+
+But there are some thinkers who carry this idea of retributive Karma to
+such an extreme that they hold that every instance of physical pain,
+disease, deformity, poverty, ill fortune, etc., that we see among
+people, is the inevitable result of some moral wrong or crime committed
+by that person in some past life, and that therefore every instance of
+poverty, want or physical suffering is the just result of some moral
+offense. Some of the extremists have gone so far as to hesitate at
+relieving poverty, physical pain and suffering in others, lest by so
+doing they might possibly be "interfering with Karma"--as if any great
+Law could be "interfered with." While we, generally, have refrained from
+insisting upon our personal preference of interpretation in this work,
+we cannot refrain from so doing in this instance. We consider that such
+an interpretation of the Law of Karma is forced and unnatural, and
+results from the seeming natural tendency of the human mind to build up
+devils for itself--and hells of one kind or another. Robbed of their
+Devil, many people would attribute to their God certain devilish
+qualities, in order that they may not be robbed of the satisfaction of
+smugly thinking of the "just punishment" of others. And, if they have
+also discarded the idea of a Personal God, their demand for a Devil
+causes them to attribute certain devilish qualities to Natural Law. They
+are bound to find their Devil somewhere--the primitive demand for the
+Vengeful Spirit must manifest itself in one form or another.
+
+These people confound the action of Cause and Effect on the Material and
+Physical Plane, with Cause and Effect on the Spiritual Plane, whereas
+all true occultists teach that the Cause operating on one plane
+manifests effects upon the same plane. In this connection, we would call
+your attention to the instance in the New Testament (John IX., 2), in
+which Jesus was asked regarding the cause of the affliction of the man
+who was BORN BLIND. "And his disciples asked him, saying, 'Master, who
+did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?'" The
+question being asked in order that Jesus might determine between the two
+prevailing theories: (1) That the blindness was caused according to the
+operation of the law of Moses, which held that the sins of the parents
+were visited on the children unto the third and fourth generation; or
+(2) that it was caused according to the Law of Karma, along the lines of
+reincarnation, and because of some sin which the man had committed in
+some past incarnation (for no other interpretation of the passage is
+possible, and it shows the prevalence of the idea of Reincarnation among
+the people of that time). But Jesus promptly brushed away these two
+crude, primitive conceptions and interpretations, and in the light of
+his superior spiritual knowledge answered: "Neither hath this man
+sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be manifest in
+him," the explanation of the term "the works of God" being that Jesus
+meant thereby the operation of the Laws of Nature imposed by
+God--something above punishment for "sins," and which operated according
+to invariable physical laws and which affected the just and the unjust
+alike, just as do any natural laws. It is now known that many infants
+are rendered blind by negligence of certain precautions at birth--this
+may have been a case of that kind. We consider any attempt to attribute
+physical infirmities to "sin" unconnected with the physical trouble to
+be a reversion to primitive theological dogmas, and smacking strongly of
+the "devil idea" of theology, of which we have spoken. And Poverty
+results from economic conditions, and not as punishment for "Sin." Nor
+is Wealth the reward of Virtue--far from it.
+
+But before leaving this phase of the subject we would like to say that
+many careful thinkers have been able to discern certain spiritual
+benefits that have arisen from physical suffering, or poverty, and that
+the sufferers often manifest a high degree of spiritual development and
+growth, seemingly by reason of their pain. Not only this, but the divine
+faculties of pity, help, and true sympathy, are brought out in others,
+by reason thereof. We think that this view of the matter is far more
+along the lines of true spirituality than that of want and disease as
+"the punishment of sins committed in past lives." Even the human idea
+of Justice revolts at this kind of "punishment," and, in fact, the
+highest human justice and human law eliminates the idea of "punishment"
+altogether, so far as reprisal or revenge is concerned, the penalty
+being regarded merely as a deterrent of others, and a warning to the
+criminal against further infractions of the law, and as a reformatory
+agent--this at least is the theory of Human Law--no matter how
+imperfectly it works out in practice--and we cannot think of Divine Law
+being less just and equitable, less merciful and loving. The "eye for
+eye, tooth for tooth" conception of human justice has been out-lived by
+the race in its evolution.
+
+After considering the above mentioned extreme ideas of "punishments,"
+through the Law of Karma, we ask you to consider the following lines
+written by a writer having great insight, and published in a leading
+magazine several years ago. The idea of "The Kindergarten of God"
+therein expressed, we think, is far nearer in accordance with the
+highest Occult Teachings, than the other idea of "Divine Wrath" and
+punishment for sin, along the lines of a misinterpretation of the Law of
+Karma, worthy of the worshipers of some ancient Devil-God. Read this
+little quotation carefully, and then determine which of the two views
+seems to fit in better with your highest spiritual conceptions:
+
+"A boy went to school. He was very little. All that he knew he had drawn
+in with his mother's milk. His teacher (who was God) placed him in the
+lowest class, and gave him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt not kill.
+Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing. Thou shalt not steal. So the
+man did not kill; but he was cruel, and he stole. At the end of the day
+(when his beard was gray--when the night was come), his teacher (who was
+God) said: Thou hast learned not to kill. But the other lessons thou
+hast not learned. Come back tomorrow.
+
+"On the morrow he came back, a little boy. And his teacher (who was God)
+put him in a class a little higher, and gave him these lessons to learn:
+Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing. Thou shalt not steal. Thou
+shalt not cheat. So the man did no hurt to any living thing; but he
+stole and he cheated. And at the end of the day (when his beard was
+gray--when the night was come), his teacher (who was God) said: Thou
+hast learned to be merciful. But the other lessons thou hast not
+learned. Come back tomorrow.
+
+"Again, on the morrow, he came back, a little boy. And his teacher (who
+was God) put him in a class yet a little higher, and gave him these
+lessons to learn: Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not cheat. Thou shalt
+not covet. So the man did not steal; but he cheated, and he coveted. And
+at the end of the day (when his beard was gray--when the night was
+come), his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned not to steal.
+But the other lessons thou hast not learned. Come back, my child,
+tomorrow.
+
+"This is what I have read in the faces of men and women, in the book of
+the world, and in the scroll of the heavens, which is writ with
+stars."--_Berry Benson, in The Century Magazine, May, 1894._
+
+But there is still another view of Karma held by some Western thinkers,
+who received it from the Greek mystics and occultists, who in turn are
+thought to have received it from ancient Egypt. These people hold that
+the Law of Karma has naught to do with Man's theories of ethics, or
+religious dogmas or creeds, but has as the basis of its operations only
+Universal and Cosmic Principles of Action, applicable to the atom as
+well as Man--to the beings above Man as well. And that these universal
+principles of action have to do with the evolution of all things in
+Nature, according to well established laws. And that the evolving soul
+is continually striving to find the path along the lines of evolution,
+being urged to by the unfolding spirit within it--and that that "path"
+is always along the lines of least spiritual friction, and therefore
+along the lines of the least ultimate spiritual pain. And that,
+accordingly, Spiritual Pain is an indication to the evolving thing that
+it is on the wrong path, and that it must find a better way
+onward--which message it heeds by reason of the pain, and accordingly
+seeks out for itself a better way, and one that will bring less
+spiritual pain and greater ultimate spiritual satisfaction.
+
+This teaching holds that all material things are a source of more or
+less pain to the growing and evolving soul, which tends to urge it along
+the line of the least spiritual resistence--the least spiritual
+friction. It may be that the soul does not recognize the direction of
+the urge, and insist in tasting this material pleasure (so-thought) and
+then that--only to find that neither satisfy--that both are Dead Sea
+Fruit--that both have the thorn attached to the flower--that all bring
+pain, satiety and disgust--the consequence being that the tired and
+wearied soul, when rested by the Lethal slumber, and then re-born has a
+horror and distaste for the things which disgusted it in its previous
+life, and is therefore urged toward opposite things. If the soul has not
+been satiated--has not yet been pricked by the hidden thorn--it wishes
+to go on further in the dream of material pleasure, and so it does,
+until it learns its lesson. Finally, perceiving the folly and
+worthlessness of materiality, it emerges from its cocoon and, spreading
+out its newly found wings, takes its flight for higher planes of action
+and being--and so on, and on, and on, forever.
+
+Under this view people are not punished "for" their sins, but "by"
+them--and "Sin" is seen to be merely a "mistake," not a crime. And Pain
+arises not as a punishment for something done wrongly, but as a warning
+sign of "hands off"; and consequently Pain is something by which we may
+mount to higher things--to Something Better--and not a punishment. And
+this idea holds, also, that on the physical plane physical law governs,
+and physical effects follow physical causes; likewise on the mental
+plane; likewise on the Spiritual Plane. And, therefore, it is absurd to
+suppose that one suffers physical pain as a punishment for some moral
+offense committed on another plane. On the contrary, however, this idea
+holds that from the physical pain which was occasioned by the operation
+of physical law alone one may develop higher spiritual states by reason
+of a better understanding of the nature of pain in oneself and others.
+And this idea refuses to recognize material pleasures or profits as a
+reward for spiritual or moral actions.
+
+On the whole this last mentioned conception of Karma refuses to use the
+terms "reward and punishment," or even to entertain those ideas, but
+instead sees in everything the working out of a great Cosmic Plan
+whereby everything rises from lower to higher, and still higher. To it
+Karma is but one phase of the great LAW operating in all planes and
+forms of Life and the Universe. To it the idea that "THE UNIVERSE IS
+GOVERNED BY LAW" is an axiom. And while to it ULTIMATE JUSTICE is also
+axiomic, it sees not in the operation of penalties and reward--merits
+and demerits--the proof of that Ultimate Justice; it looks for it and
+finds it in the conception and realizing that ALL WORKS FOR GOOD--that
+Everything is tending upward--that everything is justified and just,
+because the END is ABSOLUTE GOOD, and that every tiny working of the
+great cosmic machinery is turning in the right direction and to that
+end. Consequently, each of us is just where he should be at the present
+time--and our condition is exactly the very best to bring us to that
+Divine Consummation and End. And to such thinkers, indeed, there is no
+Devil but Fear and Unfaith, and all other devils are illusions, whether
+they be called Beelzebub, Mortal-Mind, or Karma, if they produce Fear
+and Unfaith in the All-Good. And such thinkers feel that the way to live
+according to the Higher Light, and without fear of a Malevolent Karma,
+is to feel one's relationship with the Universal Good, and then to "Live
+One Day at a time--Doing the Best you Know How--and Be Kind"--knowing
+that in the All-Good you live and move and have your being, and that
+outside of that All-Good you cannot stray, for there is no
+outside--knowing that THAT which brought you Here will be with you
+There--that Death is but a phase of Life--and above all that THERE IS
+NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF--and that ALL IS WELL with God; with the
+Universe; and with YOU!
+
+FINIS.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT
+
+
+THE HINDU-YOGI
+
+Science of Breath
+
+A Complete Manual of the Oriental Philosophy of Physical, Mental,
+Psychic, and Spiritual Development by the Intelligent Control of the
+Breath.
+
+By YOGI RAMACHARAKA
+
+
+Synopsis:--Chapter I. The Hindu Yogis--Something About Their Teachings.
+Chapter II. "Breath is Life"--Teachings of the Orient and Occident
+Compared. Chapter III. The Exoteric Theory of Breath. Chapter IV. The
+Esoteric Theory of Breath--Prana. Chapter V. The Nervous System--Yogi
+Teachings Concerning the Solar Plexus--The Solar Plexus a Store-House of
+Prana. Chapter VI. How to Breathe--Oriental Methods. Chapter VII. Four
+Methods of Respiration as Classified by the Yogis--The Yogi Complete
+Breath. Chapter VIII. How to Acquire the Yogi Complete Breath. Chapter
+IX. Physiological Effect of the Complete Breath. Chapter X. Yogi
+Lore--The Yogi Cleansing Breath--The Yogi Nerve Vitalizing Breath--The
+Yogi Vocal Breath. Chapter XI. Seven Yogi Developing Exercises. Chapter
+XII. Chapter XIII. Vibration and Yogi Rhythmic Breathing--How to
+Ascertain the Heart Beat Unit Used by the Yogis as the Basis of Rhythmic
+Breathing. Chapter XIV. Phenomena of Psychic Breathing--Directions for
+Yogi Psychic Breathing--Prana Distributing--Inhibiting
+Pain--Self-Healing--Healing Others--Distant Healing. Chapter XV. More
+Phenomena of Yogi Psychic Breathing--Thought Projection--Forming an
+Aura--Recharging Yourself--Recharging Others--Charging Water--Acquiring
+Mental Qualities--Controlling the Emotions--Transmutation of
+Reproductive Energy--Brain Stimulating--The Grand Yogi Psychic Breath.
+Chapter XVI. Yogi Spiritual Breathing--Soul Consciousness--How
+Unfolded--The Universal Consciousness--How the Yogi Attain This
+Consciousness--General Directions.
+
+75 Pages.
+
+Price, Paper $0.53 Postpaid; Cloth $0.75 Postpaid.
+
+  I received the copy of "Science Breath" promptly and I am
+  very much pleased with it. The simple, clear, logical manner
+  in which it is written will certainly be appreciated and
+  will enhance its usefulness. Please send me another
+  copy.--H. W. A., Pittsburg, Pa.
+
+
+
+
+The Hindu-Yogi System of
+Practical Water Cure
+
+By YOGI RAMACHARAKA
+
+Chapter I. The Hindu-Yogi Water Cure--An Important Branch of Hatha
+Yoga--The Underlying Principle--Prana in the Water--How slow Water Loses
+Prana--How Water May be Pranaized. Chapter II. Nature's Great
+Remedy--Water the Basis of Life--The Important Part Played by Water in
+the Psychological Mechanism of the System--What Water Does, and Why.
+Chapter III. Water Drinking--Why Man Needs Water--How Much Water He
+Needs--What He Suffers from Neglecting the Normal Amount of Fluids--An
+Important Secret--Surprising Facts. Chapter IV. The Stomach and
+Intestines--A Plain, Practical, Scientific Description of the Organs of
+Assimilation and Elimination--Something that Everyone Should Know to be
+Healthy. Chapter V. The Obstructed Sewer--A Scientific Statement
+Regarding the Great Sewer of the System, Which When Clogged, Obstructed
+and Choked with Waste-Matter, Causes Disease and Weakness. Chapter VI.
+The Internal Bath--The Scientific Method of Keeping Clean the Great
+Sewer of the System--A Simple Method of Internal Cleanliness, and
+Resulting Health. Chapter VII. The Skin--A Plain Scientific Description
+of the Skin, and the Part it Plays in Health and Disease--Something that
+Everyone Should Know, but Few Realize. Chapter VIII. Scientific
+Bathing--Scientific Methods of Bathing--The Cleansing Bath--The
+Non-Drying Bath--The Hot Bath--The Cold Bath--Hardening Baths--Private
+Information. Chapter X. Pack Treatments--The Wet Sheet Pack, and How to
+Apply It--The Half Pack--The Sweat Pack--Endosmose and
+Exosmose--Hydropathy in a Nut Shell. Chapter X. Other Valuable
+Methods--Fomentations, or Hot Steam Applications--Water Bandages and
+Compresses--Hot Water Compresses, and Cold Water Bandages--Special
+Applications--Sexual Vitality Treatments--Special Applications, etc.
+
+This book has just been published, although Yogi Ramacharaka wrote it
+some time ago.
+
+
+
+
+THE KYBALION
+
+A STUDY OF
+
+The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient
+Egypt and Greece
+
+BY THREE INITIATES
+
+"The lips of Wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding."
+
+This new book is bound to attract the earnest attention of all students
+of the Secret Doctrines of the East. Perhaps the better way to describe
+this work is to give you the following words from its authors:
+
+"From old Egypt have come the fundamental esoteric and occult teachings
+which have so strongly influenced the philosophies of all races, nations
+and peoples, for several thousand years. Egypt, the home of the Pyramids
+and the Sphinx, was the birthplace of the Hidden Wisdom and Mystic
+Teachings. From her Secret Doctrine all nations have borrowed. India,
+Persia, Chaldea, Medea, China, Japan, Assyria, ancient Greece and Rome,
+and other ancient countries partook liberally at the feast of knowledge
+which the Hierophants and Masters of the Land of Isis so freely provided
+for those who came prepared to partake of the great store of Mystic and
+Occult Lore which the master-minds of that ancient land had gathered
+together. In ancient Egypt dwelt the great adepts and Masters who have
+never been surpassed, and who seldom have been equaled during the
+centuries that have taken their processional flight since the days of
+the Great Hermes. In Egypt was located the Great Lodge of Lodges of the
+Mystics. At the doors of her Temples entered the Neophytes who
+afterward, as Hierophants, Adepts, and Masters, traveled to the four
+corners of the earth, carrying with them the precious knowledge which
+they were ready, anxious, and willing to pass on to those who were ready
+to receive the same. All students of the Occult recognize the debt that
+they owe to these venerable Masters of that ancient land."
+
+
+THE KYBALION
+
+The Hermetic Teachings are to be found in all lands, among all
+religions, but never identified with any particular country, nor with
+any particular religious sect. This because of the warning of the
+ancient teachers against allowing the Secret Doctrine to become
+crystallized into a creed. The wisdom of this caution is apparent to all
+students of history. The ancient occultism of India and Persia a
+degenerated, and was largely lost, owing to the fact that the teachers
+became priests, and so mixed theology with the philosophy, the result
+being that much of the occultism of India and Persia has been lost
+amidst the mass of religious superstition, cults, creeds and "gods." So
+it was with Ancient Greece and Rome. So it was with the Hermetic
+Teachings of the Gnostics and Early Christians, which were lost at the
+time of Constantine, whose iron hand smothered philosophy with the
+blanket of theology.
+
+
+THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY
+
+"But there were always a few faithful souls who kept alive the flame,
+tending it carefully, and not allowing its light to become extinguished.
+And thanks to these staunch hearts, and fearless minds, we have the
+truth still with us. But it is not found in books, to any great extent.
+It has been passed along from Master to Student; from Initiative to
+Heirophant; from lip to ear. When it was written down at all, its
+meaning was veiled in terms of alchemy and astrology, so that only those
+possessing the key could read it aright. This was made necessary in
+order to avoid the persecutions of the theologians of the Middle Ages,
+who fought the Secret Doctrine with fire and sword; stake, gibbet and
+cross. Even to this day there will be found but few reliable books on
+the Hermetic Philosophy. Although there are countless references to it
+in many books written on various phases of Occultism. And yet, the
+Hermetic Philosophy is the only Master Key which will open all the doors
+of the Occult Teachings!
+
+
+ABOUT THE BOOK
+
+"In this book we invite you to examine into the Hermetic Teachings as
+set forth in THE KYBALION. We therein give you many of the maxims and
+precepts of THE KYBALION, accompanied by explanations and illustrations
+which we deem likely to render the teachings more easily comprehended by
+the modern student, particularly as the original text is purposely
+veiled in obscure terms. The trust that the many students to whom we now
+offer this little work will derive as much benefit from the study of its
+pages as have the many who have gone on before, treading the same Path
+to Mastery throughout the centuries that have passed since the times of
+HERMES TRISMEGISTUS--the Master of Masters--the Great-great. According
+to the Teachings, this book will attract the attention of such as are
+prepared to receive its Teaching. And, likewise, when the pupil is ready
+to receive the truth, then will this book come to him, or her, and not
+before. Such is The Law. The Hermetic Principle of Cause and Effect, in
+its aspect of The Law of Attraction, will bring lips and ear
+together--pupil and book in company. 'The Principles of Truth are Seven;
+he who knows these, understandingly, possesses the Magic Key before
+whose touch all the Doors of the Temple fly open.'--The Kybalion.
+
+THE THREE INITIATES."
+
+Bound in Blue Silk Cloth, Lettered in Gold, 223 Pages.
+
+Price $1.08 Postpaid.
+
+
+
+
+Yoga Lessons
+
+FOR DEVELOPING SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS
+
+By SWAMIE A. P. MUKERJI OF INDIA
+
+Associate Editor Kalpaka Magazine Price $1.20 net.
+
+Yoga is a subject which has enthralled the attention of the world from
+time out of mind. No one has hitherto done justice to such a grand
+system, though there have been, now and then, innumerable attempts.
+
+The present author, my esteemed friend, Swamie Mukerji, a Yogi who comes
+out of a successive generation of Yogis, is able and proper instrument
+to handle the subject. He, in these lessons, prepares the layman for an
+understanding of the Yoga and through a series of wise and masterful
+sayings, impresses on the mind of the reader the necessity for rising
+above materialism, nay, solves the very problem "What am I?"
+
+Every line is pregnant with mature thoughts and rivets on his attention,
+and makes him think, think, think.
+
+This is not a work for which an introduction, briefly setting forth the
+contents, could be written. I can but ask you to read, digest and
+improve.
+
+DR. T. R. SANJIVI, Ph. D., President
+The Latent Light Culture
+Tennevelley, India.
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE
+
+BY
+
+THE YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY
+
+Chicago, Illinois
+
+
+                                                        Price,
+                                                      Postpaid.
+
+Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy, and Oriental
+  Occultism. By Ramacharaka. Bound in green silk
+  cloth                                                 $1.10
+
+Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy, and Oriental
+  Occultism. By Ramacharaka. Bound in brown silk
+  cloth                                                  1.10
+
+Raja Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Bound in brown silk
+  cloth                                                  1.10
+
+Gnana Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Bound in blue silk cloth     1.10
+
+Psychic Healing. By Ramacharaka. Bound in maroon silk
+  cloth                                                  1.10
+
+Hatha Yoga. By Ramacharaka. Bound in yellow silk cloth   1.10
+
+Science of Breath. By Ramacharaka. Bound in paper, 53c;
+  cloth                                                   .75
+
+Light on the Path and Illumined Way. By M. C. Cloth       .44
+
+A Treatise on the Light on the Path. By M. C. Paper       .10
+
+A Visit to a Gnani. By Edward Carpenter. Paper            .28
+
+Jesus: The Last Great Initiate. By Edouard Schure.
+  Silk cloth                                              .80
+
+Krishna and Orpheus. By Edouard Schure. Silk cloth        .80
+
+Bhavagad Gita. By Ramacharaka                             .80
+
+The Spirit of the Upanishads                              .55
+
+Mystery of Being                                          .50
+
+Karma. Occult Novel. By A. P. Sinnett. Cloth              .60
+
+Practical Mind Reading. By W. W. Atkinson. Cloth          .50
+
+Practical Psychomancy and Crystal Gazing. By W.
+  W. Atkinson. Cloth                                      .50
+
+Mental Influence. By W. W. Atkinson. Cloth                .50
+
+Mystic Christianity. By Ramacharaka. Pamphlet Edition,
+  $1.12; ready in book form, Sept 1, '08                 1.10
+
+Kybalion. By Three Initiates. Cloth                      1.08
+
+Inner Consciousness. By W. W. Atkinson                    .50
+
+Secret of Success. By W. W. Atkinson                      .50
+
+The Philosophies and Religions of India, by Ramacharaka.
+  Cloth                                                  1.12
+
+
+COMPLETE CATALOG ON APPLICATION.
+
+We will be pleased to send descriptive circulars to anyone that you
+think would be interested.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+"Bhavagad Gita" in the list of books published by The Yogi Publication
+Society is a misprint for "Bhagavad Gita."
+
+"Ronach" in the Table of Contents, Chapter IV, is a misprint for
+"Roauch."
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REINCARNATION AND THE LAW OF KARMA***
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #26364 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26364)