available by ,case ,western ,reserve ,university ,preservation ,department ,digital ,library7 ,illustration3 ,docteur ,pascal ,,reincarnation ,a ,,study ,,in ,,human ,,evolution ,,the ,,resurrection ,,of ,,the ,,body ,,and ,,the ,,reincarnation ,,of ,,the ,,soul ,,by ,,dr4 ,,th4 ,,pascal ,,translated ,,by ,,fred ,,rothwell ,were an ,asiatic to ask me for a definition of ,europe1 ,i should be forced to answer him3--,it is that part of the world which is haunted by the incredible delusion that man was created out of nothing1 and that his present birth is his first entrance into life4--,,schopenhauer4 7,parerga and ,paralipomena1 ,vol4 #b1 ,chap4 #ae7 ,,london ,the ,theosophical ,publishing ,society #afa ,,new ,,bond ,,street1 ,w4 #aiaj 99 99 99 99 99 ,,contents ,,chap4 ,,sketch ,,of ,,the ,,author',s ,,life ,,author',s ,,preface ,i4 ,,the ,,soul ,,and ,,the ,,bodies ,,ii4 ,,reincarnation ,,and ,,the ,,moral ,,law ,,iii4 ,,reincarnation ,,and ,,science ,,iv4 ,,reincarnation ,,and ,,the ,,religious ,,and ,,philosophical ,,consensus ,,of ,,the ,,ages ,,conclusion 99 99 99 99 99 ,,sketch ,,of ,,the ,,author',s ,,life4 ,thophile ,pascal was born on the #aath of ,may1 #ahfj1 at ,villecroze1 a village in the ,south of ,france4 ,his childhood was spent amid the pleasant surroundings of a country life4 ,shortly after his sixteenth birthday1 a relative of his1 a ,catholic priest ministering in ,toulon1 seeing that the youth showed considerable ability1 sent for him and presided over his studies in this large maritime centre4 ,before many years elapsed1 he entered the ,naval ,medical ,school of the town1 which he left at the age of twenty-two1 with first-class honours4 ,in his professional capacity1 he took several trips on vessels belonging to the ,mediterranean squadron4 ,four years afterwards he married1 resigned active naval service1 and devoted himself to building up a practice on land1 becoming a homoeopathic physician in the great seaport itself4 ,it was about this time that the young doctor became interested in ,theosophy1 owing to the kindly services of a former patient1 ,commander ,courmes4 ,the closest friendship and sympathetic interest in theosophic thought thus began1 and continued during their common labours subsequently in ,paris1 ,dr4 ,pascal entered the ,theosophical ,society in #ahia1 and during the course of the following year wrote a series of articles for the ,revue ,thosophique ,franaise4 ,these were continued year after year1 and dealt with the most varied subjects3 ,psychic ,powers2 ,the ,fall of the ,angels2 ,kma-,manasic ,elementals2 ,thought ,forms2 ,christianity1 ,prehistoric ,races1 and many others4 ,the young doctor had previously made a deep study of human magnetism1 which proved a most fertile ground for the sowing of the seed of the ,ancient ,wisdom4 ,in #ahih attacks of serious nervous depression became frequent1 forcing him to cease work of every kind4 ,mrs4 ,besant persuaded him to accompany her to ,india1 where his general health was gradually restored1 and he was enabled to return to ,france in the following year4 ,he decided to leave ,toulon1 where he had built up a considerable practice1 and to settle in ,paris1 hoping to provide for the needs of himself and his family--his wife and only daughter--by the exercise of his profession1 and at the same time to fight the good fight for ,theosophy in the capital itself4 ,the ,french ,section of the ,theosophical ,society was founded in #aijj1 and ,dr4 ,pascal was elected ,general ,secretary4 ,throughout the next two years a number of thoughtful articles and publications appeared from his pen4 ,the incessant labour and attention1 however1 which he bestowed on the spreading of theosophic instruction began to have its effect on a naturally delicate constitution1 and in ,july1 #aijb1 when attending the meetings of the ,british ,convention in ,london1 he was prostrated by an attack of congestion of the brain4 ,the most devoted care was lavished on him1 both in ,london and in ,paris1 the result being that a rapid1 though only temporary1 recovery took place4 ,had he relaxed his efforts somewhat1 the cure might have been a permanent one1 but ,dr4 ,pascal1 with the penetrating vision of the mystic1 saw how pressing were the needs of the age1 and how few the pioneers of this new presentation of the ,truth1 so that1 at whatever cost of personal sacrifice1 he plunged once more into the midst of his arduous toil4 ,in #aijc a series of very fine articles on the ,laws of ,destiny appeared in the ,revue ,thosophique1 to be followed immediately by publication in volume form4 ,two years afterwards appeared the present volume--,,reincarnation3 ,a ,,study ,,in ,,human ,,evolution2 a work considered the most complete of any that have so far appeared in ,france on this subject1 and the most popular of ,dr4 ,pascal's publications4 ,in #aijf some of the nerve centres controlling the organs of speech became affected1 but not sufficiently to compel him to remain absent from the ,international ,theosophical ,congress held that year in ,paris under the presidency of ,colonel ,olcott4 ,it was on this occasion that ,dr4 ,pascal received from the hands of the ,president-,founder the ,subba ,rao medal1 awarded to members of the society whose literary labours in the promulgation of the truths of ,theosophy have proved eminently useful4 ,twelve months afterwards he attended the ,congress at ,munich1 under the presidency of ,mrs4 ,besant1 but was obliged to leave before the termination of the meetings4 ,this may be regarded as ,dr4 ,pascal's last public appearance as an active theosophist1 for his subsequent prolonged stay in the ,south of ,france effected no radical improvement in the state of his health4 ,returning to ,paris in ,march1 #aijh1 and realising how impossible it was for him to fulfil the duties incumbent on a ,general ,secretary1 he decided to resign his post4 ,his colleagues1 however1 insisted on his continuing as ,honorary ,general ,secretary4 ,from this time onward his health became gradually worse1 and his physical life terminated on the #ahth of ,april1 #aiji1 his body being cremated three days afterwards at the ,cemetery of ,pre ,lachaise4 ,what was most striking about ,dr4 ,pascal1 in both public and private life1 was his intense earnestness--the index of a well-grounded habit of concentration--and the calm strength of his convictions4 ,it was impossible to be in his presence for any length of time without feeling the power that emanated from him1 and recognising that here was a mighty soul struggling for expression4 ,other characteristics were his extreme modesty1 and his continual endeavour to accord praise and merit to those working for the cause so dear to his own heart4 ,when questioned on many of the intricate points raised in a lecture or in conversation on some abstruse theosophical subject1 he made no pretence at knowledge he did not possess2 on such occasions his confession of ignorance would be charming1 even touching in its navet4 ,but the qualities he seemed to feel it his special object to awaken in the minds of others--as will be acknowledged1 ,i think1 by those who knew him best--may be inferred from his continual insistence on the double duty1 incumbent on students of ,theosophy1 of practising on all occasions the utmost tolerance1 refusing not only to condemn but even to judge harshly the opinions or actions of others1 and of seizing every opportunity to help another because of the recognition of the ,one ,life throughout the world1 ,may we who read the following pages catch somewhat of the deep earnestness and enthusiastic spirit breathing through them1 and may the joy of service dissipate all meaner1 motives1 taking as our watchword also the only key to true growth1 the very heart of altruism1 that exhortation he never wearied of repeating3 ,aidez6 ,aidez toujours6 ,f4 ,r4 ,,author',s ,,preface ,it will soon be3 #aejj years since the decision of the ,council of #edc ,a4,d4#a condemned to oblivion sublime teachings which ought to have been carefully preserved and handed down to future generations as a beacon amid social reefs2 teachings that would have uprooted that frightful egoism which threatens to annihilate the world1 and instilled patience into the hearts of such as were being crushed beneath the wheel of the cosmic law1 by showing them the scales of ,justice inclining to the side filled with their iniquities of bygone times2 teachings which would have been welcomed by the masses1 and the understanding of which would not have called for any lofty intellectual culture4 ,it was one of the greatest misfortunes that could have befallen the races of the ,west1 more especially the ,european1 that they were thus deprived for centuries of this indispensable knowledge4 ,we look upon it as a duty1 following on so many others1 to offer it anew1 this time in the clear1 logical1 illuminating form presented in theosophic teachings4 ,the necessity thereof is all the more imperative when we consider the growth of scepticism and materialism amongst the more intellectual classes1 whilst the mass of the people have forsaken their blind faith only to succumb to religious indifference4 ,to every awakened soul the question comes3 ,why does evil exist8 ,so long as the enigma remains unsolved1 ,suffering remains a threatening sphinx1 opposing ,god and ready to devour mankind4 ,the key to the secret lies in ,evolution1 which can be accomplished only by means of the continual return of souls to earth4 ,when once man learns that suffering is the necessary result of divine manifestation2 that inequalities of conditions are due to the different stages which beings have reached and the changeable action of their will2 that the painful phase lasts only a moment in ,eternity1 and that we have it in our power to hasten its disappearance2 that though slaves of the past1 we are masters of the future2 that1 finally1 the same glorious goal awaits all beings--then1 despair will be at an end2 hatred1 envy1 and rebellion will have fled away1 and peace will reign over a humanity made wise by knowledge4 ,were this modest work to hasten forward this time by a few years1 we should feel sufficiently rewarded4 ,the subject will be divided into four chapters3 7#a7 ,the ,soul and the bodies4 7#b7 ,reincarnation and the moral law4 7#c7 ,reincarnation and science4 7#d7 ,reincarnation and the religious and philosophical concensus of the ages4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #a3 ,this ,council came to the following decision3--,whosoever shall teach the pre-existence of the soul and the strange opinion of its returns to earth1 let him be anathema6 ,,reincarnation ,a ,,study ,,in ,,human ,,evolution ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,soul ,,and ,,the ,,bodies4 ,in a book dealing with the resurrection of bodies and the reincarnations of the ,soul1 a chapter must be devoted to the fundamental elements of the question4 ,we will give the name of ,soul to abstract ,being1 to the ,unknown1 that unmanifested ,principle which cannot be defined1 for it is above all definition4 ,it is the ,absolute of ,western philosophers1 the ,parabrahm of the ,hindus1 the ,tao of the ancient sages of ,china1 the causeless ,cause of all that has been or ever will be manifested in concrete time and space4 ,some feeble idea of it may perhaps be obtained by comparing it with electricity1 which1 though the cause of various phenomena3 heat1 movement1 chemical action1 light1 is not1 per se1 any one of these phenomena1 undergoes no modification from their existence1 and survives them when the apparatus through which they manifest disappears4 ,we shall set up no distinction between this ,soul1 which may be called the universal ,soul1 and the individual soul1 which has often been defined as a ray1 a particle of the total ,soul1 for logically one cannot imply parts to the ,absolute2 it is illusion1 limitation on our part1 which shows us souls in the ,soul4 ,bodies are aspects of the ,soul1 results of its activity--if1 indeed1 the ,infinite can be said to be either active or passive2 words fail when we attempt to express the ,inexpressible4 ,these bodies1 or1 more precisely1 the varied forms assumed by force-matter#b are aspects of the ,soul1 just as light or chemical action are aspects of electricity1 for one cannot suppose anything outside of infinite ,being1 nor can anything be imagined which is not a manifestation of the abstract ,whole4 ,let us also define ,consciousness4 ,taken absolutely1 it is ,being1 the ,soul1 ,god2 the uncaused ,cause of all the states which1 in beings1 we call states of consciousness4 ,this limited consciousness may be defined as the faculty a centre of life possesses of receiving vibrations from its surroundings4 ,when1 in the course of evolution1 a being is sufficiently developed to become conscious of a separation between its ,i and the object which sends it vibrations1 consciousness becomes self-consciousness4 ,this self-consciousness constitutes the human stage2 it appears in the higher animals1 but as it descends the scale of being1 gradually disappears in non-individualised consciousness4 ,in a word1 absolute ,consciousness is one1 though1 as in the above example1 it is manifested differently1 according to the differences in the vehicles which express it in the concrete world in which we live4 ,the ,soul1 per se1 is beyond the reach of beings who have not finished the pilgrimage of evolution4 ,to know it1 one must have attained to the eternal ,centre1 the unmanifested ,logos4 ,up to that point1 one can only1 in proportion as one ascends1 feel it in oneself1 or acknowledge it by means of the logic which perceives it through all its manifestations as the universal ,mover of forms1 the ,cause of all things1 the ,unity that produces diversity by means of the various vehicles which serve it as methods of expression4 ,science says that intelligence1 or1 to be more generic1 consciousness1 results from the action of matter4 ,this is a mistake4 ,consciousness does not change in proportion as the cells of the body are renewed2 rather it increases with physical unconsciousness1 as in somnambulism4 ,thought is not the fruit of the brain2 it offers itself to the latter1 ready made1 so to speak2 the loftiest intellectual or artistic inspirations are flashes which strike down into the awaiting brain1 when maintaining that passive expectant attitude which is the condition in which a higher message may be received4 ,the senses are not the thinking-principle4 ,they need to be controlled by consciousness2 thus1 people blind from birth1 when suddenly made to see1 cannot judge either distance or perspective2 like animals and primitive men1 they see nothing but colours on a surface4 ,science says also3 the organ is created for the function it has to perform2 again a mistake4 ,the eyes of the foetus are constructed in the darkness of the womb4 ,the human germ1 notwithstanding its unconsciousness and its simplicity of structure1 develops a body that is complex and capable of a considerable degree of consciousness2 though itself unintelligent1 it produces prodigies of intelligence in this body2 here1 consequently1 the effect would be greatly superior to the cause1 which is absurd4 ,outside of the body and the germ is a supreme ,intelligence which creates the models of forms and carries out their construction4 ,this ,intelligence is the ,soul of the world4 ,if ,consciousness per se1 or the ,soul1 is above all direct proof at the present stage of human evolution1 the vehicles through which it functions are more or less apparent to us provided they are capable of affecting the brain4 ,at the present stage of human evolution1 this is the case only with the astral body2 the other bodies are too fine to manifest through the nervous system such characteristics as are calculated to furnish scientists with a proof of their existence2 they can only be felt and proved in and by ,yoga4#c ,it is not without importance1 however1 to set forth the proofs of the existence of a vehicle of consciousness immediately above the physical1 for it affords us a wider horizon and throws far more light on the rest of the subject4 ,,proofs ,,of ,,the ,,astral ,,body4 ,certain normal and abnormal or morbid phenomena in man have proved the existence of this vehicle1 which we will call the higher consciousness1 for it is far greater than normal1 waking consciousness1 that of the brain4 ,in the somewhat rare cases in which this consciousness is expressed in the physical world1 it is forced to make use of the brain4 ,now1 in the majority of men1 the latter is still incapable of vibrating harmoniously with the matter which forms the astral vehicle2 this is because the density of the atoms of the brain cells which preside over thought is incapable of reproducing the rapid vibrations of the finer matter belonging to the body immediately above it4 ,by special training 7the yoga of the ,hindus71 by a particular constitution of body 7sensitiveness71 by certain special methods 7hypnotism71 or in certain maladies 7somnambulism71 the brain may become receptive to these vibrations1 and receive from them an impression1 though always an imperfect one4 ,the rarity of this impression1 its imperfection1 and especially the necessity for the vibration of the physical brain that it may be manifested in our environment2 all these have made it very difficult to prove the existence of this higher vehicle2 still1 there are certain considerations which show that it exists1 and that it alone is capable of explaining the most characteristic phenomena of the higher consciousness4 ,let us first define these two states of consciousness rather more completely1 and fix their limits4 ,normal consciousness is that which functions during waking hours1 when the brain is in full physiological activity1 freely and completely related to the outer physical world4 ,this consciousness is more or less developed according to the individual1 but its component parts--sensation1 emotion1 sentiment1 reason1 intelligence1 will1 intuition--do not exceed known limits2 for instance1 we do not find clairvoyance1 the prophetic faculty1 and certain other abnormal faculties1 which we shall class under the higher consciousness4 ,the higher consciousness works in the astral body1 whether externalised or not2 it seldom manifests itself1 and then incompletely2 it is accompanied by the more or less complete inhibition of the senses1 and by a kind of sleep in which the relations of the subject with the physical world are wholly or partially suspended4 ,the characteristics of this state are greater keenness of the normal faculties1 and the appearance of new ones1 which are often inexplicable and extraordinary and the more remarkable in proportion as sleep is more profound1 the brain calmer1 or the physiological state more abnormal4 ,how can we explain the paradox that faculties shown by a brain in a state of inactivity cover an extent of ground which the brain in a state of activity cannot approach8 ,the reason is that the brain1 in this case1 is not an instrument moved directly by the cause of consciousness1 the soul1 but a simple recipient1 which the soul1 then centred in the astral body1 impresses on returning to the physical body 7if it has been far away7 or impresses directly when1 whilst acting in the finer vehicle1 the latter has not left the body4#d ,in other words1 the brain1 by reason of its functional inactivity1 vibrates little or not at all in its higher centres2 it plays the part of a sounding-board at rest1 capable of vibrating sympathetically under the influence of a similar board placed by its side4 ,the necessity of cerebral quiet1 if the higher consciousness is to make an impression1 is now easy to understand2 the finer vibration of the astral body cannot be impressed upon the brain when the latter is already strongly vibrating under the action of normal consciousness4 ,for this reason also1 the deeper the sleep of the physical body the better the higher consciousness manifests itself4 ,in ordinary man1 organic quiet is scarcely ever complete during sleep2 the brain1 as we shall see shortly1 automatically repeats the vibrations which normal consciousness has called forth during the waking state2 this1 together with an habitual density of the nervous elements1 too great to respond to the higher vibration1 explains the rarity and the confused state of the impression of astral consciousness on the brain4 ,the facts relating to the higher consciousness are as numerous as they are varied4 ,we shall not enter into full details1 but choose only a few phenomena quoted in well-known works4 ,,manifestations ,,of ,,the ,,higher ,,consciousness ,,during ,,the ,,different ,,kinds ,,of ,,sleep4 ,normal dream4 ,during normal sleep there exists a special consciousness which must not be confounded either with waking consciousness or with that of the astral body4 ,it is due to the automatic1 cerebral vibration which continues during sleep1 and which the soul examines on its return to the body--when awake4 ,this dream is generally an absurd one1 and the reason the dreamer notices it only on awaking is that he is absent from the visible body during sleep4 ,the proof of the departure of the astral body during sleep has been ascertained by a certain number of seers1 but the absurdity of the commonplace dream is a rational proof thereof1 one which must here be mentioned4 ,as another rational proof of the existence of a second vehicle of consciousness1 we must also notice the regular registering of the commonplace dream1 because it takes place in the brain1 and the habitual non-registering of the true dream experience1 because this latter takes place in the externalised astral body4 ,why does the astral body leave the physical during sleep8 ,this question is beyond our power to answer1 though a few considerations on this point may be advanced4 ,sleep is characterised by the transfer of consciousness from the physical to the astral body2 this transfer seems to take place normally under the influence of bodily fatigue4 ,after the day's activity1 the senses no longer afford keen sensations1 and as it is the energy of these sensations that keeps the consciousness centred in the brain#e2 this consciousness1 when the senses are lulled to sleep1 centres in the finer body1 which then leaves the physical body with a slight shock4 ,it is1 however1 of the real dream--which is at times so intelligent that it has been called lucid1 and at all events is reasonable1 logical1 and co-ordinate--that we wish to speak4 ,in most cases this dream consists of a series of thoughts due to the soul in action in the astral body2 it is sometimes the result of seeing mental pictures of the future#f or else it represents quite another form of animistic activity1 as circumstances and the degree of the dreamer's development permit4 ,it is in the lucid dream--whether belonging to normal or to abnormal sleep--that occur those numerous and well-known cases of visions past or future to be found in so many of the books dealing with this special subject4 ,to these same states of higher consciousness are due such productions as ,walter ,scott's ,ivanhoe4 ,the author1 suffering from fever1 wrote this work whilst in a kind of delirious condition2 ,ivanhoe was printed before the recovery of the author1 who1 on reading it at a later date1 had not the slightest recollection that it was his own production4 7,ribot's ,maladies de la ,mmoire1 p4 #da47 ,walter ,scott remembered nothing1 because ,ivanhoe was the fruit of the astral consciousness impressed upon a brain which fever had rendered temporarily receptive to the higher vibrations4 ,there are certain peculiarities of the real dream which prove almost mathematically the superior nature of the vehicle which gives expression to it4 ,this dream1 for instance1 is never of a fatiguing nature1 however long it may appear to last1 because it is only an instantaneous impression made upon the brain by the astral body1 when the latter returns to the physical body1 on awaking4 ,on the other hand1 the cerebral ideation of the waking state is fatiguing if intense or prolonged1 or if the nervous system of the thinker is deprived of its normal power of resistance 7in neurasthenia72 the commonplace 7brain7 dream is also fatiguing if prolonged or at all vivid4 ,another peculiarity is that a dream--the real dream--which would require several years of life on earth for its realisation1 can take place in a second4 ,the dream of ,maury 7,le ,sommeil et le ,rve1 p4 #afa71 who in half a second lived through three years of the ,french ,revolution1 and many other dreams of the same nature1 are instances of this4 ,now1 ,fechner has proved1 in his ,elemente der ,psychophysik1 first1 that a fraction of a second is needed for the sensorial contact to cause the brain to vibrate--this prevents our perceiving the growth of a plant and enables us to see a circle of fire when a piece of glowing coal is rapidly whirled round2 secondly1 that another fraction of a second is needed for the cerebral vibration to be transformed into sensation4 ,we might add that a third fraction of a second is needed for sensation to be transformed into ideation1 proving that in these special dreams there can have been no more than an instantaneous1 mass impression of all the elements of the dream upon the brain1#g and that the dream itself has been produced by the imaginative action of the soul in the astral body1 an extremely subtle one1 whose vibratory power is such as to transform altogether our ordinary notions of time and space4 ,the death-bed dream4 ,in dying people1 the bodily senses gradually lose their vitality1 and by degrees the soul concentrates itself within the finer vehicle4 ,from that time signs of the higher consciousness appear1 time is inordinately prolonged1 visions present themselves1 the prophetic faculty is sometimes manifested1 and verified cases are related of removal to a distance1 like that of the ,alsatian woman dying on board ship4 ,during the final coma she went to ,rio de ,janeiro and commended her child to the keeping of a fellow-countryman4 7,d',assier's ,l'humanit posthume1 p4 #dg7 ,similar instances are found in ,the ,night ,side of ,nature1 by ,c4 ,crowe1 as well as in other works of the same kind4 ,the dream of intoxication4 ,under the influence of soporifics the same transfer of consciousness is produced1 and we meet with more or less remarkable phenomena due to the higher consciousness4 ,opium smokers and eaters of hashish are able to form ideas with such rapidity that minutes seem to them to be years1 and a few moments in dreamland delude them into the idea that they have lived through a whole life4 7,hervey's ,les rves et les moyens de les diriger47 ,the dream of asphyxia4 ,during asphyxia by submersion the higher consciousness enters into a minute study of the life now running to its close4 ,in a few moments it sees the whole of it again in its smallest details4 ,carl du ,prel 7,philos4 der ,mystik7 gives several instances of this2 ,haddock 7,somnolism and ,psychism1 p4 #bac7 quotes1 among other cases1 that of ,admiral ,beaufort4 ,during two minutes' loss of consciousness in a drowning condition1 he saw again every detail of his life1 all his actions1 including their causes1 collateral circumstances1 their effects1 and the reflections of the victim on the good and evil that had resulted therefrom4 ,perty's account 7,die ,mystischen ,erscheinungen der ,menschlichen ,natur7 of ,catherine ,emmerich1 the somnambulist nun1 who1 when dying1 saw again the whole of her past life1 would incline one to think that this strange phenomenon1 which traditional ,catholicism appears to have called the ,private ,judgment1 and which theosophy defines with greater preciseness1 is not limited to asphyxia by submersion1 but is the regular accompaniment of life's ending4 ,,manifestation ,,of ,,the ,,higher ,,consciousness ,,in ,,various ,,cases ,,of ,,mental ,,faculties ,,lost ,,to ,,normal ,,consciousness4 ,a rather large number of people born blind have images in dreams1 and can see with the higher consciousness1 when placed in a state of somnambulism4 ,this proves that the higher consciousness possesses the power of vision on its own plane1 and can impress images thereof on the brain4 ,that this impression may be translated into the language of the physical plane1#h it must evidently take place in one of the physical centres of vision which make possible three-dimensional sight2 these centres may be intact even when the external visual apparatus does not exist or is incapable of functioning4 ,a deaf and dumb idiot became intelligent and spoke during spontaneous somnambulism 7,steinbach's ,der ,dichter ein ,seher74 ,this is a case which appears to us difficult to explain fully2 indeed1 if the impression of the higher vibration on that portion of the brain which presides over intelligence and thought can be understood1 it is not easy to see how tongue and lips could suddenly utter precise sounds which they had never produced before4 ,another factor must have intervened here1 as was the case with the child prophets of the ,camisards4 7,v4 ,figuier's ,hist4 du merveilleux1 etc47 ,young ,hbert1 who had gone mad as the result of a wound1 regained full consciousness1 the higher consciousness1 during somnambulism4 7,puysegur's ,journal du traitement du jeune ,hbert47 ,dr4 ,teste 7,manuel pratiq4 du magnt4 anim47 came across madmen who became sane just before death1 i4e41 when consciousness was passing into the astral body4 ,he also mentions a servant girl1 quite uneducated and of ordinary intelligence1 who nevertheless became a veritable philosopher during mesmeric somnambulism and delivered learned discourses on lofty problems dealing with cosmogony4 ,this proves that the vibratory scale of the finer vehicle extends far beyond that of the physical1 and that the soul cannot impress on this latter vehicle all that it knows when functioning in the former4 ,by this we do not mean that it is omniscient as soon as it has left the visible body2 this opinion1 a current one1 is contrary to the law of evolution1 and will not bear examination4 ,,manifestations ,,of ,,the ,,higher ,,consciousness ,,under ,,the ,,form ,,of ,,memory4 ,the memory that is lost by the brain is preserved in its entirety by the finer vehicle4 ,a musician1 a friend of ,hervey's1 once heard a remarkable piece of music2 he remembered it on awaking1 and wrote it down1 regarding it as his own inspiration4 ,many years afterwards1 he found it in an old parcel of music where he knew it had been long before2 he had totally forgotten it in his normal consciousness4 7,hervey's ,dreams47 ,coleridge tells of a servant girl who1 when in a state of delirium1 would recite long passages of ,hebrew which she had formerly heard from the lips of a priest in whose service she had been4 ,in the same way1 she would repeat passages from ,latin and ,greek theological books1 which she had heard under the same circumstances2 in her normal state1 she had no recollection whatever of all this4 7,dr4 ,carpenter's ,mental ,physiology1 p4 #dcg1 #ahha edition47 ,ricard 7,physiol4 et ,hygine du ,magnt41 p4 #ahc7 relates the case of a young man1 possessed of an ordinary memory1 but who1 in somnambulism1 could repeat almost word for word a sermon he had heard or a book he had read4 ,mayo1 the physiologist1 states that an ignorant young girl1 in a state of somnambulism1 wrote whole pages of a treatise on astronomy1 including figures and calculations1 which she had probably read in the ,encyclopdia ,britannica1 for the treatise was afterwards found in that work4 7,truths in ,popular ,superstitions47 ,ladame 7,la ,nvrose hypnotique1 p4 #aje7 mentions a woman who1 having only on one occasion been to the theatre1 was able1 during somnambulism1 to sing the whole of the second act of ,meyerbeer's ,l',africaine1 an opera of which she knew nothing whatever in her waking state4 ,during experiments with the inhaling of protoxyde of azote1 ,h4 ,davy said that normal consciousness disappeared1 and was followed by a wonderful power of recalling past events4 7,hibbert's ,philosophy of ,apparitions1 p4 #afb47 ,,manifestations ,,of ,,the ,,higher ,,consciousness ,,in ,,phenomena ,,of ,,double ,,consciousness4 ,the strata of memory met with in many cases also prove the existence of the second vehicle of consciousness which we are trying to demonstrate4 ,certain dreams continue night after night1 beginning again just where they stopped the previous night2 this is noticed in the case of those who talk in their sleep and in spontaneous or forced somnambulism4 ,the memory of one intoxicated1 or in a state of fever delirium is lost when consciousness returns from the astral to the physical body2 it comes back on the return of the delirium or the intoxication4 ,the same thing takes place in madness2 at the termination of a crisis1 the patients take up the past just where they left it4 7,wienholt's ,heilkraft47 ,kerner relates that one of these unfortunate persons1 after an illness lasting several years1 remembered the last thing he did before the crisis happened1 his first question being whether the tools with which he had been cutting up wood had been put away4 ,during the whole of the interval he had been living in his higher consciousness4 ,ribot 7,maladies de la ,mmoire p4 #fc7 has noted the fact that the same thing happens with those who fall into a state of coma after having received a hurt or wound4 ,,manifestations ,,of ,,the ,,higher ,,consciousness1 ,,indicating ,,not ,,only ,,that ,,it ,,extends ,,farther ,,than ,,normal ,,consciousness1 ,,but ,,dominates1 ,,and ,,is ,,separated ,,from ,,it1 ,,recognising ,,that ,,its ,,vehicle--,,the ,,body--,,is ,,nothing ,,more ,,than ,,an ,,instrument4 ,the ,soul functioning in the finer body sees the physical body in a state of coma4 ,dr4 ,abercrombie relates the case of a child aged four1 who was trepanned as the result of fracture of the skull1 and whilst in a stale of coma4 ,he never knew what happened4 ,at the age of fifteen1 during an attack of fever1 the higher consciousness impressed itself upon the brain1 and he remembered every detail of the accident2 he described to his mother where he had felt the pain1 the operation1 the people present1 their number1 functions1 the clothes they wore1 the instruments used1 etc4 7,kerner1 ,magikon1 vol4 #c1 p4 #cfd47 ,the ,soul1 in the finer body1 during somnambulism1 is separated both from the physical body and from normal consciousness1 it calmly foresees the illness or the death of the denser body on which it sometimes imposes serious operations4 ,such facts were numerous in the case of magnetisers in olden days4 ,deleuze 7,hist4 crit4 du magn4 animal1 vol4 #b1 p4 #agc7 had a patient who1 in a state of somnambulism1 held moral1 philosophical1 and religious opinions quite contrary to those of his waking state4 ,charpignon 7,physiol41 mdecine et mtaphys4 du magntisme1 p4 #cda7 tells of a patient who1 when awake1 wished to go to the theatre1 but during somnambulism refused to do so1 saying3 ,she wants to go1 but ,i don't want4 ,on ,charpignon recommending that she should try to turn her aside from her purpose1 she replied3 ,what can ,i do8 ,she is mad6 ,deleuze 7,inst4 pratiq4 s4 le magt4 anim41 p4 #aba7 says that many somnambulists look into their body when the latter is ill2 that they are often indifferent to its sufferings1 and sometimes are not even willing to prescribe remedies to cure it4 ,chardel 7,esquisse de la nat4 humaine expliq4 p4 le magn4 anim41 p4 #bhb7 relates that many somnambulists are unwilling to be awakened so as not to return to a body which is a hindrance to them4 ,there are many madmen who speak of their body in the third person4 7,ladame1 ,la ,nvrose1 p4 #dc74 ,they function in the non-externalised finer vehicle4 ,some explain their use of the third person as follows3--,it is the body2 it is ,i who am the spirit4 ,,manifestation ,,of ,,the ,,higher ,,consciousness ,,in ,,the ,,phenomena ,,of ,,possession ,,and ,,materialisation4 ,in these strange phenomena1 not only manifestations of the higher consciousness1 analogous with or similar to those just cited1 have been noted1 but also a number of facts which prove1 to some extent1 the casual presence in a normal human body or in materialised abnormal forms1 of beings other than that which constitutes the personality of the one possessed1 or of the medium who conditions these materialisations4 ,on this point1 we would mention the well-known investigations of ,sir ,w4 ,crookes 7,katie ,king71 those of ,colonel de ,rochas 7,vincent1 ,un cas de changement de personnalit1 ,lotus ,bleu #ahif71 and similar experiments of other savants4 ,incarnation mediums have often lent their physical bodies to disincarnated human entities1 whose account of what happened or whose identity it has been possible to verify4 ,here ,i will mention only one case amongst several others1 ,i heard it from my friend1 ,d4 ,a4 ,courmes1 a retired naval captain1 a man who is well-informed in these matters1 thoroughly sincere1 and of unquestioned veracity4 ,in #ahie1 he happened to be off ,algiers1 on a training vessel4 ,a boat had sunk in the harbour1 and a man was drowned4 ,his body had not been recovered4 ,on the evening of the accident1 my friend1 accompanied by a doctor1 a professor1 and the vice-president of the ,court of ,algiers1 attended a spiritualistic meeting in the town4 ,one of these incarnation mediums happened to be present4 ,m4 ,courmes suggested that the drowned man should be called up4 ,the latter answered to the call1 entered the medium1 whose voice and attitude immediately changed4 ,he gave the following account of what had taken place3 ,when the boat sank1 ,i was on the ladder4 ,i was hurled down1 my right leg passed between two bars1 occasioning fracture of the leg1 and preventing me from releasing myself4 ,my body will be found caught in the ladder when the boat is brought to the surface4 ,it is useless to seek elsewhere4 ,this account was shortly afterwards confirmed4 ,these phenomena are more frequent than one would imagine2 a sufficient number might be given to show that1 judging from the theory of probabilities1 serious consideration should be given to them4 ,,manifestations ,,of ,,the ,,higher ,,consciousness ,,in ,,apparitions4 ,a final group of phenomena to which ,i wish to call attention is the one which goes under the name of apparitions4 ,a considerable number of these are to be found2 we will confine ourselves1 however1 to referring the reader to a volume entitled ,phantasms of the ,living1 due to the patient investigations of a distinguished body of foreign savants4 ,here we find1 first of all1 proof of the transmission of thought to a distance4 ,an examination into the conditions under which most of these cases took place has convinced several students of the existence of the finer body which we are here endeavouring to demonstrate1 as well as of the possibility of its instantaneous transference to a great distance4 ,as the proofs afforded by apparitions are not mathematical1 i4e41 indisputable1 and as they give room for a variety of opinions1 we will make no attempt to detail them1 preferring to pass on to a final proof--the least important1 perhaps1 from a general point of view1 since it is limited to the individual possessing it2 the only absolute and mathematical one1 however1 to the man who has obtained it3--the personal proof4 ,there are persons--few in number1 true--who1 under divers influences1 have been able to leave the physical body and see it sleeping on a couch4 ,they have freely moved in an environment--the astral world--similar to our physical one in some respects1 though different in many others1 and have returned again to the body1 bringing back the memory of their wanderings4 ,these accounts have been given by persons deserving of credence and not subject to hallucinations4 ,there are other individuals1 though not so numerous--of whom we have the pleasure of knowing some personally--who are able to leave their physical bodies and return at will4 ,they travel to great distances with the utmost rapidity and bring back a complete memory of their journeyings4 ,d',assier gives a typical case in his work4 7,l',humanit posthume1 p4 #ei47 ,such is the proof we look upon as irrefutable1 as complete and perfect4 ,the man who can thus travel freely in his finer body knows that the physical body is only a vehicle adapted to the physical world and necessary for life in this world2 he knows that consciousness does not cease to function1 and that the universe by no means provides the conditions for a state of nothingness1 once this body of flesh is laid aside4 ,at this stage of his evolution man can1 in addition1 make use of his astral body at will1 and obtain on the astral plane1 first by reason and intuition1 afterwards by personal experience1 proof of another vehicle of consciousness--the mental body4 ,at a further stage he obtains the certainty of possession of the causal body1 then of higher bodies1 and from that time he can no longer doubt the teachings of the ,elder ,brothers1 those who have entered the higher evolution1 the worlds that are divine4 ,he knows1 beyond all possibility of doubt1 that what the ordinary man expresses in such childish language regarding these lofty problems1 what he calls the ,absolute and the ,manifested1 ,god and the ,universe1 the soul and the body1 are more vitally true than he imagined2 he sees that these words are dense veils that conceal the supreme1 ineffable1 infinite ,being1 of whom manifested beings are illusory aspects1 facets of the divine ,jewel4#i ,with this introduction1 we will plunge at once into the heart of the subject4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #b3 ,which is nothing but an unknown aspect of abstract ,divinity4 ,footnote #c3 ,present-day man possesses four bodies of increasing fineness1 the elements of which interpenetrate4 ,proceeding from the most dense1 these are3 ,the physical1 the astral1 the mental1 and the causal body4 ,in certain conditions they are capable of dissociation1 and they last for a longer or a shorter time4 ,the astral body1 also called the body of desire1 animal soul 7,kmarpa1 in ,sanskrit7 is the seat of sensation4 ,evolution has in store for us higher bodies stilt--the buddhic body1 the atmic body1 c4444 but these need only be mentioned at this point4 ,yoga--,sanskrit1 union--is a training of the different bodies of man by the will2 its object is to make of those bodies complete and perfect instruments1 capable of responding to the vibrations of the outer universe as well as to those of the individual soul4 ,when this process is accomplished1 man can receive1 consciously and at will1 in any one of his bodies1 vibrations received by the soul primarily in one of the others2 for instance1 he may feel in the physical brain the direct action of his astral or higher bodies2 he may also leave the physical1 and feel directly in his astral body the action of the mental body1 and so on4 ,yoga can be practised only under the guidance of a ,master1 i4e41 a highly developed being1 capable of guiding the student safely through the dangers incidental to this training4 ,footnote #d3 ,when the astral body is externalised1 the subject cannot speak2 he must await its return2 when only partially externalised or not at all1 and consciousness is centred in it1 the subject can speak and relate what he sees afar off1 for astral vision is possible at enormous distances4 ,such cases as these are frequently met with4 ,footnote #e3 ,in #ahgf1 in a ,leipzic hospital1 there was a patient possessed of neither sensibility nor muscular sense4 ,he had only sight in the right eye and hearing in the left ear4 ,if this eye and ear were closed1 the patient immediately fell asleep4 ,neither by being touched nor shaken could he be awakened2 to effect this1 it was necessary to open his eye and unstop his ear4 7,archiv4 fr die ges4 ,physiologie1 vol4 #ae1 p4 #egc74 ,footnote #f3 ,these pictures are often visible in the astral world2 they explain the prophetic faculty of ordinary seers4 ,footnote #g3 ,in such cases1 by association of ideas or any other influence1 the soul dramatises the physical impression which calls forth the dream1 and creates the long phantasmagoria of this dream in so short a time as to be scarcely appreciable4 ,between the sleeping physical body and the externalised astral body there is so close a degree of sympathy that the latter is conscious of everything that takes place in the former4 ,this explains why the astral body returns so rapidly to the physical when a noise1 light1 or any other sensation impresses this latter4 ,footnote #h3 ,we say language of the physical plane because the soul1 in the astral body1 sees in four dimensions1 i4e41 all the parts of an object at once1 as though these parts were spread out on a two-dimensional plane4 ,consequently1 the higher vision needs interpretation in order to be expressed on the physical plane4 ,footnote #i3 ,there are other proofs of the existence of the causal body1 the reincarnating vehicle2 the principal one is given in the middle of ,chapter #c4 ,it is there shown that the physical germs explain only a very small portion of heredity1 and that logic imperiously demands the existence of an invisible1 durable body1 capable of gathering up the germs which preserve the moral and intellectual qualities of man4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,reincarnation ,,and ,,the ,,moral ,,law4 ,the ,goodness1 justice1 and ,omnipotence of ,god are the guarantees of ,providence4 ,it is absolutely impossible that the faintest breath of injustice should ever disturb the ,universe4 ,every time the ,law appears to be violated1 every time ,justice seems outraged1 we may be certain that it is our ignorance alone that is at work1 and that a deeper knowledge of the net-work of evolution and of the lines of action created by human free will1 sooner or later1 will dissipate our error4 ,for all that1 the whole universe appears to be the very incarnation of injustice4 ,the constellations as they come into manifestation shatter the heavens with their titanic combats2 it is the vampirism of the greatest among them that creates the suns1 thus inaugurating egoism from the very beginning4 ,everywhere on earth is heard the cry of pain1 a never-ending struggle2 sacrifice is everywhere1 whether voluntary or forced1 offered freely or taken unwillingly4 ,the law of the strongest is the universal tyranny4 ,the vegetable kingdom feeds upon the mineral1 and in its turn forms nourishment for the animal2 the giants of the forests spread ruin in every direction1 beneath their destructive influence the spent1 exhausted soil can nourish nothing but weeds and shrubs of no importance4 ,in the animal kingdom a war to the death is ever being waged1 a terrible destruction in which those best armed for the fray pitilessly devour the weak and defenceless4 ,man piles up every kind and method of destruction1 cruelty and barbarity of every sort2 he tears away gold from the bowels of the earth1 mutilates the mighty forests1 exhausts the soil by intensive culture1 harasses and tortures animals when unable to utilise their muscular strength1 and1 in addition1 kills them when their flesh is eatable2 his most careful calculations are the auxiliaries of his insatiable egoism1 and1 by might or cunning1 he crushes everything that hinders or inconveniences him4 ,finally1 from time to time1 the ,elements mingle their awful voice in this concert of pain and despair1 and we find hurricanes and floods1 fires and earthquakes pile up colossal wreck and ruin in a few hours1 on which scenes of destruction the morrow's calm and glorious sun sheds his impassive beams4 ,and so1 before reaching individual evil and apparent injustice1 there rises up before us at the very outset the threatening spectre of universal evil and injustice4 ,this problem is so closely bound up with our subject that we are compelled to spend a short time in considering it4 ,,why ,,does ,,pain ,,exist8 ,to admit1 as do certain ignorant fatalists1 that the ,universe was created by the stroke of some magic wand1 and that each planet1 kingdom1 and being is condemned1 so to speak1 to a definite crystallisation in the state in which it has pleased ,god to fix it2 to admit that the mineral will remain a mineral throughout eternity1 that the vegetable will ever reproduce the same types1 that the animal will definitely be confined to his instincts and impulses1 without the hope1 some day1 of developing the superior mentality of his torturers in human form2 to admit that man will never be anything but man1 i4e41 a being in whom the passions have full play whereas the virtues are scarcely born2 to admit that there is no final goal--perfection1 the divine state--to crown man's labour2 all this is to refuse to recognise evolution1 to deny the progress everywhere apparent1 to set divine below human justice2 blasphemy1 in a word4 ,it has been said by unthinking ,christians that evidently ,god created human suffering1 so that those might gain ,heaven who1 but for this suffering1 would have no right to it4 ,to speak thus is to represent the ,supreme ,goodness in a very unworthy aspect and to attribute the most gratuitous cruelty to ,divine ,justice4 ,when1 too1 we see that this absurd reasoning explains neither the sufferings of animals1 which have no right to enjoy the felicity of heaven1 they say1 nor the fact#aj that there are many called but few chosen1 nor the saying that outside the ,church there is no salvation1 although for ages past ,god has caused millions of men to be born in countries where the ,gospel has not been preached1 we shall not be astonished to find that those who arrogate to themselves a monopoly of ,truth bring forward none but arguments of childish folly in support of their claims4 ,generally1 however1 it is original sin that is advanced as the cause of suffering4 ,the absurdity of this doctrine is so apparent that it has lost all credence by enlightened members of the ,christian faith4 ,first of all1 it does not explain the sufferings of animals1 which have had no participation in this sin1 nor does it account for the unequal distribution of pain amongst men themselves4 ,this sin being the same for all at birth1#aa punishment ought to have been equally severe for all1 and we ought not to see such frightful disproportions as are to be found in the condition of children who have not attained to the age of reason1 i4e41 of responsibility4 ,saint ,augustine felt the weight of this consideration2 he reflected long on this torturing problem3 ,when ,i come to consider the sufferings of children1 he says1 believe me1 ,i am in a state of terrible perplexity4 ,i have no wish whatever to speak only of the punishment inflicted on them after this life by eternal damnation to which they are of necessity condemned if they have left their bodies without receiving the sacrament of ,christ1 but of the pains they endure in this present life1 under our very eyes4 ,did ,i wish to examine these sufferings1 time would fail me rather than instances thereof2 they languish in sickness1 are torn by pain1 tortured by hunger and thirst1 weakened in their organs1 deprived of their senses1 and sometimes tormented by unclean beings4 ,i should have to show how they can with justice be subjected to such things1 at a time when they are yet without sin4 ,it cannot be said that they suffer unknown to ,god or that ,god can do nothing against their tormentors1 nor that ,he can create or allow unjust punishment4 ,when men suffer1 we say they are being punished for their crimes1 but this can be applied only to adults4 ,as children have in them no sin capable of meriting so terrible a punishment1 tell me what answer can be given8 ,the answer1 indeed1 cannot be made that original sin is capable of explaining this unequal retribution2 but then1 ought not the very absurdity of the consequences due to such sin to justify one in refusing to examine this argument8 ,what soul could admit that the innocent should be punished for the guilty8 ,does human justice1 in spite of its imperfection1 punish the offspring of criminals8 ,can the millions of descendants of the mythical ,adam have been chastised for a crime in which they have had no share8 ,and would this chastisement1 multiplied millions of times without the faintest reason1 never have stirred the conscience of the ,church8 ,saint ,augustine could not make up his mind to accuse ,god of injustice2 so1 to avoid disputing the truth of the ,christian teaching in which he wholly believed1 he invented his famous theory of generation1 often called translation4 ,men suffer because of original sin1 he says1 but it would not be just of ,god to punish them for this1 had they not shared therein#ab2 this1 indeed1 they have done1 for the soul of a man was not created directly1 by ,god1 at the moment of the birth of the body2 it is a branch taken from the soul of his father1 as the latter's comes from that of his parents2 thus1 ascending the genealogical chain1 we see that all souls issue from that of the common father of mankind3 ,adam4#ac ,so that ,saint ,augustine preferred to deny the creation of souls and to derive them from the soul of ,adam1 through a successive progeny of human vehicles1 rather than to allow ,god to be charged with injustice4 ,we are not called upon to demonstrate the falsity of his hypothesis1 which the ,church has been forced to condemn1 though without replacing it with a better theory2 all the same1 if human souls suffer from a sin in which they have not individually and consciously participated--and such is the case1 for even granting that translation be a fact1 these souls existed in ,adam only potentially1 as unconscious1 undeveloped germs1 when the sin took place--their punishment is none the less arbitrary and revolting4 ,saint ,augustine believed he was justifying ,providence2 he succeeded only in deceiving his own reason and revolted sense of justice1 but he preferred by suggestion to deceive himself to such an extent as to believe in the reality of his desire rather than enrol himself against the ,church4 ,in order to reconcile divine ,justice with the injustice of punishing all for the fault of one alone1 the theologians also said3 ,adam sinned1 his sin has been distributed over the whole of his race1 but ,god1 by sending down his son1 instituted baptism2 and the waters of the sacrament wash the stains of original sin from the souls of men4 ,this reply is as childish as the former4 ,as a matter of fact1 according to the ,church1 about four thousand years intervened between the sin of ,adam and the coming of the ,redeemer1 and so only after that interval did the souls of the just1 who were waiting in the ,life ,beyond for the coming of the ,messiah1 enter ,paradise6 ,would not this delay in itself be an injustice8 ,ought not baptism to have been instituted immediately after the sin1 and should it not have been placed within the reach of all8 ,besides1 do we not see that even in our days1 two thousand years after the coming of the ,christ1 millions of human beings are born and die without ever having heard of the existence of this sacrament4 ,this part of the argument is too puerile to dwell upon at length1 but we will spend a few moments on it to show definitely how powerless this theory is to explain evil4 ,before teaching the doctrine of ,limbo1 the ,church accepted the idea of the damnation of children who died without being baptised1 as we have just seen in the case of ,saint ,augustine4#ad ,bossuet1 with incredible blindness1 also accepted it2 and1 sad to relate1 his reason did not feel called upon to furnish an explanation which would justify ,providence1 as was the case with ,saint ,augustine4 ,he rejected translation1 and discovered nothing with which to veil the blasphemy4 ,on this point the following is a faithful rsum of his letter to ,pope ,innocent ,,xii43 ,the damnation of children who have died without being baptised must be firmly believed by the ,church4 ,they are guilty because they are born under the wrath of ,god and in the power of ,darkness4 ,children of wrath by nature1 objects of hatred and aversion1 hurled into ,hell with the rest of the damned1 they will remain there for all eternity punished by the horrible vengeance of the ,demon4 ,such also are the decisions of the learned ,denis ,ptau1 the most eminent ,bellarmin1 the ,councils of ,lyons1 of ,florence1 and of ,trent2 for these things are not decided by human considerations1 but by the authority of tradition and of the ,scriptures4 ,such logic makes one really doubt human reason1 and reminds one of the spirit with which the courts of the ,holy ,inquisition were inspired4 ,where in ,nature can there be found such lack of proportion between cause and effect1 crime and punishment8 ,have such arguments ever been justified by the voice of conscience8 ,official ,christianity remains powerless to explain suffering4 ,let us see what we can learn from the philosophies and religions of the past and the greatest of modern philosophers1 as well as from the admirable rsums of ,teachers of theosophy4 ,the problem of suffering is one with that of life1 i4e41 with that of evolution in general4 ,the object of the successive worlds is the creation of millions of centres of consciousness in the germinal state 7souls7 and the transformation of these germs into divinities similar to their father1 ,god4 ,this is the divine multiplication1 creating innumerable gods1 in ,god4 ,to produce divine germs1 homogeneous ,unity must limit its immensity and create within itself the diversity of matter1 of form4 ,this can be obtained by the creation of multiplicity and by the limitation of what might be called a portion of ,divinity4 ,now1 limitation implies imperfection1 both general and individual1 i4e41 suffering2 and multiplicity implies diversity of needs and interests1 forced submission to the general law i4e41 suffering again4 ,that the divine germs may evolve1 their potentialities must be awakened by their surroundings2 in other words1 by the action of the opposites1 and sensation must come into being2 the action of the opposites on sensation is also a cause of pain4 ,outside of the unknown ,being--which will be known at the end of evolution--nothing can be4 ,everything is in ,him4 ,he is all2 the worlds1 time and space are aspects which ,he assumes from time to time#ae2 for this reason it has been said that the ,universe is an illusion1 which may be expressed more clearly by saying that it is an illusion to believe that what exists is not one form of divine activity1 an aspect of ,god4 ,that anything may exist1 or rather that aspects of ,god may appear1 there must be manifested in ,him a special mode of being1 to call forth what we designate as multiplicity4 ,that multiplicity#af may be manifest1 differences must be produced in ,unity2 these differences in the world are the pairs of opposites--the contraries4 ,these contraries are everywhere4 ,matter is the fulcrum of force--both of these terms being aspects of ,god--and without a fulcrum no force can manifest itself2 there is no heat without cold1 and when it is summer in the northern hemisphere it is winter in the southern4 ,there is no movement that does not depend upon a state of rest1 no light without shadow1 no pleasure without the faculty of pain1 no freedom that is not founded upon necessity1 no good that does not betoken an evil4 ,the following are a few examples of duality taken from nature4 ,the current of electricity is polarised into a positive and a negative current4 ,it is the same with the magnet2 though you break a bar into a hundred pieces1 you bring into being a hundred small magnets1 each possessing its positive and negative side2 you will not have destroyed the duality1 the opposites4 ,like the magnet1 the solar spectrum forms two series1 separated by a neutral point1 the blue series and the red one1 united by the violet4#ag ,violet4 ,indigo4 ,yellow4 ,blue4 ,orange4 ,green4 ,red4 ,the terms of the two series are respectively complimentary to each other2 the violet dominates the two groups of opposites and is a visible member of the axis formed by the colours that might be called neutral4 ,duality appears in every shape and form4 ,symbolically1 we may say with the ,hindus that the ,universe begins and ends with two opposite movements3 an emanation from ,brahm1 it is born when the breast of ,god sends forth the heavenly outbreathing1 it dies1 reabsorbed1 when the universal inbreathing takes place4 ,these movements produce attraction and repulsion1 the aggregation and dissolution to be found everywhere4 ,it is the attraction of a force-centre1 the laya centre of ,theosophy1 which permits of the atomic condensation that gives it the envelope whose soul it is2 when its cycle of activity ends1 attraction gives place to repulsion1 the envelope is destroyed by the return of its constituent elements to the source from which they were drawn1 and the soul is liberated until a future cycle of activity begins4 ,even the rhythm of pulmonary respiration1 the contraction and dilation 7systole and diastole7 of the heart1 the ebb and flow of the tides1 as also day and night1 sleeping and waking1 summer and winter1 life and death1 are all products of that law of contraries which rules creation4 ,these opposites are the very essence of cosmic life1 the twin pillars of universal equilibrium2 they have been represented in ,solomon's symbolical temple--here1 the ,universe--by ,jakin and ,boaz1 the white and the black columns2 they are also the interlaced triangles of ,solomon's ,seal1 the six-pointed star1 the two ,old ,men of the ,kabbalah1 the white ,jehovah and the black ,jehovah2 ,eros and ,anteros1 the serpents of ,mercury's caduceus1 the two ,sphinxes of the car of ,osiris1 ,adam and ,eve1 ,cain and ,abel1 ,jacob and ,esau1 the ,chinese ,yang and ,yin1 the goblet and staff of ,tarot1 man and woman4 ,all these images represent the same law4 ,multiplicity1 the fruit of the contraries1 makes its appearance in the forms born in infinite1 homogeneous ,being2 its goal is the goal of creation2 the production1 in infinite ,being1 of centres which are developed by evolution and finally become gods in ,god4 ,these centres1 or souls1 these points in the supreme ,point1 are divine in essence1 though1 so far1 they have no share at all in the perfection manifested by ,god2 they are all centres1 for ,god is a sphere1 whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere1 but they have not developed consciousness which is as yet only potential in them4 ,like cuttings of willow which reproduce the mother-tree1 these points1 veritable portions of ,god1 are capable of germinating1 growing up1 and becoming ,i's1 self-conscious beings1 intelligent and endowed with will-power1 and finally gods1 having developed the entire potentialities of the ,all by their repeated imprisonment in the series of forms that make up the visible and invisible kingdoms of nature4 ,every form1 i4e4 aggregate of substance-force1 reflects within itself one of these points of ,divinity4 ,this point is its ,monad1 its centre of consciousness1 or soul2 it is the cause which is manifested as qualities in the envelopes1 and these give it the illusion of separateness for a certain period1#ah just as a soap-bubble momentarily acquires a fictitious individuality and appears separate from the atmosphere--of which it forms part--so long as its illusory envelope endures4 ,thus do men imagine themselves separate from one another1 when all the time their soul is nothing more than a drop of the divine ,ocean1 hidden momentarily in a perishable body4 ,the contraries are the anvil and the hammer which slowly forge souls by producing what might be called sensation in general1 and sensation is a fertile cause of suffering each time the vehicles of consciousness receive vibrations that greatly exceed their fundamental capacity of sensation4 ,without sensation however--consequently without suffering--the body could neither walk1#ai nor see1 nor hear1 nor show any disturbance brought to bear upon it2 there would exist no possible relation between the ,universe and the ,i1 between the ,all and the parts1 between bodies and souls2 there would be no consciousness1 or sensation of being1 since no vibration from without would find an echo in the incarnated centres of life2 no knowledge would be possible2 man would be1 as it were1 in a state of nothingness2 and1 without suspecting it1 his body might at any moment be crushed to the ground by the forces of ,nature4 ,but these material necessities are not by any means the only ones that demand sensation2 without it1 one of the principal objects of evolution--the development of ,egos--would be impossible4 ,as an example borrowed from the domain of physical sensation1 we need only call to memory a well-known experience in childhood4 ,all who have been at a boarding school know how heavy and fetid is the atmosphere of a dormitory in the early winter morning1 when fifty boys have been breathing the same air again and again during the whole of the night4 ,and yet1 who suspected this until he had gone out for a few minutes and then returned to the bed-room8 ,it needed the contrary1 the pure outside air1 to make known the state of the atmosphere inside4 ,the contrast produced sensation--that nauseous1 suffocating impression of foul1 mephitic air2 suffering#bj generated knowledge of the vitiated air2 as the result of this influence1 the centre of consciousness felt itself an ,i distinct from its surroundings1 and its self-consciousness received a slight increase4 ,what might be called passional sensibility--desire1 emotion1 impulse--is1 like physical sensation1 another indispensable factor in evolution2 it is the special element in the development of the animal kingdom as well as of the less evolved portion of the human kingdom4 ,the young souls of mankind must receive the comparatively simple lessons of sensation1 desire1 and passion1 before beginning the far more complicated study of mentality4 ,but for desire1 a host of needs could not be manifested1 numberless functions would remain inactive2 the body would not feed itself1 and would die1 were it not for hunger2 danger would not be fled from1 but for the instinct of self-preservation2 nor without this would there be any propagation of the species4 ,none the less is this life of sensation the source of many evils2 desire and passion amongst human beings create terrible misery1 fill prisons and hospitals1 and are at the root of all kinds of moral suffering4 ,in its turn1 intelligence--that sensation so characteristic of the human state--is both an indispensable necessity and the most fertile source of evil1 so long as it has not experienced a yearning for that inner divinity1 deep in the heart of man1 which calls to it4 ,a powerful lever of progress1 it might convert this earth into a paradise1 whereas it is the weapon which the strong1 in their egoism1 use to crush the feeble1 a terrible weapon which either creates or intensifies all the evils under which the people writhe in despair4 ,once it becomes the instrument of a regenerate humanity1 that is to say1 when men have become compassionate1 loving1 and devoted1 then the social question will cease to exist1 and the old instrument of torture will become a pledge of general happiness4 ,even spiritual sensibility is a cause of suffering to some noble souls who have developed it1 for however deep the joy of loving and giving oneself1 intense too is the pain of witnessing the cruel drama of life1 that fratricidal struggle in which passion strikes without mercy1 whilst illusion and ignorance deal blows even more terrible1 for into the wounds they make they instil the poison of revolt and despair4 ,the action of multiplicity1 and of its creators1 the contraries1 engenders still other causes of suffering4 ,every being lives both for others and at their expense4 ,for instance1 physical bodies are obliged to replace with food and nourishment those particles which the various functions of life cause them to lose4 ,the vegetable kingdom takes its constituent elements from the mineral kingdom1 and itself serves as food for large portions of the animal kingdom2 up to this point physical pain has not manifested itself1 though there is a momentary arrest of evolution for the animistic essence which represents the individual in the destroyed vegetable4 ,a portion of the animal kingdom feeds on its own members2 man1 too1 extorts from this same kingdom a very heavy tribute2 here1 the arrested evolution of the victims is all the more important1 inasmuch as their stage of evolution is higher1 and the existence of a nervous system brings the possibility of suffering1 suffering which certain influences#ba either diminish or suppress altogether1 when caused by animal destructiveness1 but which may become intense when it is man who is the sacrificer4 ,among the causes of pain1 arising from multiplicity there is also the physical1 mental1 and moral action exercised by the solidarity of all beings4 ,by exchanging1 with those that come into contact with us1 the products thrown off by our visible and invisible bodies1 we are the dispensers of good or ill-health4 ,everyone1 for instance1 is aware of the far-reaching effects of an evil intellectual and moral example2 physical contagion1 in spite of the torture it inflicts1 is far less to be dreaded than moral contagion4 ,the spiritual qualities alone do not form a leaven of evil2 they are not the double-edged instruments we meet with elsewhere4 ,the reason of this is that they belong to the plane of ,unity4 ,but it is none the less true that1 though the presence of a highly developed soul is a help to younger souls within its reach and influence1 its powerful vibrations may1 from certain points of view1 prove fatiguing to those still at the foot of the ladder of evolution4 ,this is one of the many reasons that have given rise to the saying that it is dangerous prematurely to enter the circle of the ascetics4 ,but the most powerful causes of pain1 due to multiplicity1 are the ignorance and the will of beings who have reached the human stage4 ,man can employ his mental faculties for good or evil1 and so long as he does not know definitely that he is the brother of all beings1 i4e41 until his divine faculties have been developed1 and love and the spirit of sacrifice have taken possession of his heart1 he remains a terrible egoist1 more to be dreaded than the criminal dominated by a momentary burst of passion1 for he acts in cold blood1 he evades or refuses to recognise the law of humanity1 he dominates and destroys4 ,this man is at the stage of ingratitude2 he no longer possesses the harmlessness of childhood1 nor has he yet acquired the wisdom of advanced age4 ,our ,western race has reached this critical stage1 whereof the menacing demands of the suffering masses are a striking testimony4 ,here1 too1 ,god could not do otherwise2 ,he might create bodies blindly obedient to his law1 mere automata1 but it would be impossible for ,him to cause divine germs to evolve into gods without pulling them through the school of evolution which teaches them1 first1 of the ego1 the root of all egoism1 then knowledge by ignorance1 liberty by necessity1 good by evil1 and the perfect by the imperfect4 ,it may at this point just be mentioned that though human egoism appears to have free play and to be unrestrained in its cruelty1 divine ,law never allows innocence to suffer for the errors of evolving souls1 it punishes only the guilty1 whether their faults or misdeeds be known or unknown1 belonging to the present life or to past ones4 ,such1 briefly1 is the cause of pain and suffering in evolution2 in the following pages we will set forth the causes of the unequal distribution of this suffering4 ,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,the ,,inequality ,,of ,,conditions4 ,if suffering in general is the child of ,necessity--since it is born of multiplicity and the limitation of the ,infinite1 without which the ,universe could not exist--it would seem that we ought to find it falling upon all beings without distinction1 in uniform1 regular1 and impartial fashion4 ,instead of this1 it is every moment losing its character of impersonality2 it respects those who are guilty on a large scale2 and1 without any visible cause1 strikes fiercely the most innocent of persons2 noble souls are born in the families of criminals1 whilst criminals have fathers of the utmost respectability2 we find parricides1 and brothers hostile to each other2 millionaires die of surfeiting alongside of paupers dying of hunger2 we find giants by the side of dwarfs2 the healthy and well-formed near the crippled or those wasted away by terrible diseases2 ,apollos contrast with ,quasimodos2 men of genius are met with1 cheek by jowl with idiots2 some children are stillborn1 others blind or deaf and dumb from birth4 ,extremely different races people the earth--on the one hand1 unintelligent and cannibal negroes2 on the other1 the proud1 handsome1 and intelligent1 though selfish and cruel white race4 ,again1 from a moral standpoint1 who can explain congenital tendencies to crime1 the vicious by birth1 the wicked by nature1 the persons with uncontrollable passions8 ,wherefore are thrift and foresight lacking in so many men1 who are consequently condemned to lifelong poverty and wretchedness8 ,why this excess of intelligence1 used mainly for the exploiting of folly8 ,it is useless to multiply examples1 one has only to look around at hospitals and prisons1 night-shelters1 palaces and garrets2 everywhere suffering has taken up its abode4 ,can no reply be given to this terrible charge brought against ,divinity8 ,is man to remain in a state of dejection and discouragement1 as though some irreparable catastrophe had befallen him8 ,according to the ,church1 all this is the work of the soul which ,god gives at the birth of a man--a soul that is good or bad1 prudent or foolish1 one which damns or saves itself according as its will can1 or cannot1 dominate its passions1 its intelligence discover the way to heaven or not2 according as grace or rejection predestine it to heaven or to hell4 ,is it not the depth of profanity to represent ,god as watching over conceptions in order to create souls so unfairly endowed1 most of whom will never hear the ,gospel message1 and consequently cannot be saved1 whilst the rest are destined to animate the bodies of savages and cannibals1 devoid of moral consciousness8 ,is it not an act of sacrilege thus to convert ,god1 ,who is all ,wisdom and ,love1 into a kind of accomplice of adulterers and lewd persons or the sport of ,malthusian insults4 ,unconscious blasphemers are they who would offer this ,dead ,sea fruit as the true manna of ,life6 ,there is also another theory1 often advanced in certain quarters1 on which we must say a few words1 for though it contains only a minimum of truth1 and consequently cannot withstand serious examination1 it has led astray more than one earnest thinker4 ,inequalities of suffering1 it has been said1 arise from inequalities of social conditions4 ,intelligence1 morality1 will1 in fact all human faculties1 develop more or less according to their environment2 men are born equal2 they become unequal as the result of different environment2 pay the same care and attention to all and they will remain equal1 and if they are equal1 the theory seems to imply1 evil will disappear from the face of the earth4 ,this is not so4 ,inequality of suffering does not result from inequality of condition4 ,many a poor tiller of the fields enjoys a degree of peace and happiness that those favoured by birth or fortune would envy4 ,disease visits poor and rich alike2 moral suffering is more especially the appanage of the so-called higher classes1 and if obscurity and poverty render certain troubles specially severe1 wealth and rank play the same rle in afflictions of another kind2 there is a dark side to every picture4 ,more than this1 inequality of condition is one of the fundamental factors of social equilibrium2 without it1 many urgent and even indispensable functions would be neglected1 numerous general needs would remain unsatisfied2 so-called menial work1 which1 in a state of society that is still imperfect and consequently selfish1 is performed only in the hope of remuneration1 would never be done at all2 every man would have to provide for the whole of his necessities2 no one could find time for self-improvement or for flinging himself entirely into those divers branches of activity which1 if personal interest were absent1 would make life infinitely better and progress extremely rapid4 ,the partisans of this theory rely on diversity of tastes to fill the diversity of functions that are necessary in social life3 another illusion4 ,the inferior1 painful1 or difficult tasks will never find sufficient workers1 whilst easy or honourable posts will always be overcrowded4 ,to believe the contrary would be to shut one's eyes to the present imperfection of men2 it would mean the belief that they were noble and lofty beings1 eager for self-sacrifice1 demanding only to work for the happiness of all1 without a single thought of their personal preferences2 it would mean seeing1 in present-day humanity1 that of the future in which each individual has attained to such a degree of perfection that not a single idle1 ill-disposed1 or stupid person is to be found amongst them1 for each one would regard himself as the brother and helper of all1 and the universal standard of life would be3 ,each for all and all for each6 ,how ardently we desire that this were so2 how eagerly we pray for that future1 so far away1 when we shall have grown to this nobler stature1 and the present fratricidal struggle shall have given place to a lasting peace1 the offspring of a higher1 spiritual1 universal love4 ,anxiously do we await it2 like lost travellers1 we fix our eyes on the dark horizon to catch the first faint streaks of light1 harbingers of the dawn4 ,we greet with joy and gratitude all such as believe in that blessed future and endeavour to hasten its coming1 all who impersonally and in sincerity aim at the social ,unity towards which the heart aspires1 and especially those whose aim it is to advance in accordance with that continuous1 progressive evolution based on the physical1 moral1 mental1 and spiritual amelioration of men1 for it is they who have learned the secret of ,nature4 ,indeed1 evolution shows us that1 the more souls grow1 the nearer they approach that perfection to which progress destines them1 and happiness exists only in perfection4 ,to return to other aspects of the subject4 ,men are born equal1 we are told4 ,a single glance at the differences in the moral and intellectual qualities of races and individuals1 at the differences between young children1 even at the differences in the instincts of infants at the breast1 is sufficient to prove the contrary4 ,there are savages in whom no trace whatever of the moral sense can be discovered4 ,charles ,darwin in one of his works relates a fact1 which ,mrs4 ,besant has quoted1 in illustration of this4 ,an ,english missionary reproached a ,tasmanian with having killed his wife in order to eat her4 ,in that rudimentary intellect1 the reproach aroused an idea quite different from that of a crime2 the cannibal thought the missionary imagined that human flesh was of an unpleasant flavour1 and so he replied3 ,but she was very good6 ,is it possible to attribute to the influence of surroundings alone a degree of moral poverty so profound as this8 ,many a mother has been able to find out that souls are not equal1 in other words1 that they are of different ages1 by the discovery of diametrically opposite qualities and tendencies in two children born under the same conditions2 in twins1 for instance4 ,every schoolmaster has noticed the same fact in the pupils under his charge4 ,mrs4 ,besant says that amongst the #hj1jjj children who came under her inspection in the ,london schools she would often find side by side with gentle1 affectionate little beings others who showed criminal tendencies from birth4 ,looking at the question from another point of view1 are we not continually finding in schools and educational establishments pupils who1 for no explicable reason1 show a disposition for one branch of instruction only8 ,they shine in this1 but are dunces in every other subject4 ,as a final example1 do not infant prodigies prove that men are not born equal8 ,young1 who discovered the undulatory theory of light1 could read with wonderful rapidity at the age of two1 whilst at eight he had a thorough knowledge of six languages4 ,sir ,w4 ,r4 ,hamilton began to learn ,hebrew when he was three1 and knew it perfectly four years later4 ,at the age of thirteen he knew thirteen languages4 ,gauss1 of ,brunswick--the greatest mathematician in ,europe1 according to ,laplace--solved problems in arithmetic when only three4 ,no1 men are not born equal4 ,nor does environment cause the inequalities we find2 it favours or checks the development of qualities1 but has no part in their creation4 ,still1 its influence is sufficiently important for us to give it due consideration4 ,we are linked to one another by the closest bonds of solidarity1 whether we wish it and are conscious thereof or not4 ,everything absorbs and throws off1 breathes in and breathes out1 and this universal exchange1 if at times bad1 is none the less a powerful factor in evolution4 ,the atom of carbon1 on entering into the combinations of the human body1 is endowed with a far higher power of combining than the one which has just left the lump of ore2 to obtain its new properties1 this atom has had to pass through millions of vegetable1 animal1 and human molecules4 ,animals brought into close contact with man develop mentally to a degree that is sometimes incredible1 by reason of the intellectual food with which our thoughts supply them4 ,the man who lives alone is1 other things being equal1 weaker physically1 morally1 and mentally than he who lives in a large social environment2 it is for this reason that the mind develops far more rapidly in large centres of life than in the country4 ,and what is true of good is1 unfortunately1 true also of evil qualities4 ,consequently1 environment has an undeniable influence1 and it is perfectly true to say that the social conditions under which individuals are born favour or impede the development of their faculties4 ,there its influence stops2 it can intensify inequality1 but does not create it4 ,inequality of condition arises1 above all else1 from the continuity of what might be called creation4 ,atoms are incessantly being formed in the womb of the ,virgin ,mother1#bb by the might of the divine vortex perceived by seers in ecstatic vision1 and which theosophy has named the ,great ,breath2 ceaselessly are these atoms entering into multitudes of organisms1 ceaselessly is the plan of evolution being worked--some ending1 others beginning the great ,pilgrimage4 ,it is the existence of this circuit which creates and keeps complete the hierarchy of beings1 brings into existence and perpetuates the known and the unknown kingdoms of ,nature2 souls ascend slowly from one kingdom to another1 whilst the places they leave are filled by new-comers1 by younger souls4 ,a second cause of human inequality is the difference in effort and deed accomplished by the will of human beings who have reached a certain point in evolution4 ,as soon as this will is guided by intelligence and the moral sense1 it hastens or delays individual evolution1 makes it easy when it acts in harmony with divine ,law--by doing what is called good--or disturbs evolution by pain1 when it opposes this ,law1 by doing evil4 ,by modifying the direction of the ,law1 the ,soul engenders beneficent or maleficent forces1 which1 after having played in the universe within the limit the law has imposed on them1 return to their starting point--man4 ,from that time1 one understands that the balance of the scales in different individuals becomes unequal4 ,these effects of the will influence to a noticeable degree the life during which they have originated2 they are preserved in a latent condition after death1 and appear again in future returns to earth4 ,thus are men born laden with the results of their past and in possession of the capacities they have developed in the course of their evolution4 ,those whom the difficulties of life have filled with energy in the past return to existence on earth possessed of that might which the world admires2 now it is perseverance or courage2 now patient calm or violence1 which is the stronger1 according to the aspect of the energy developed4 ,others1 again1 are born feeble and devoid of energy2 their former lives have been too easy4 ,men are philosophers or mathematicians1 artists or savants1 from the very cradle4 ,objections have been brought against the doctrine of ,rebirth by opponents who have looked only on one side of the individual life1 and so have been unable to explain apparent anomalies1 especially in those cases where it is seen that the effect does not immediately follow the cause4 ,in reality1 every force that emerges from a centre of will#bc describes an ellipse1 so to speak1 which travels through a net-work of other ellipses generated by thousands of other centres of energy1 and is accelerated or retarded in its course1 according to the direction and nature of the forces with which it is connected4 ,it is for this reason that certain actions meet with their reward or their punishment almost immediately4 ,then the people say3 ,it is the finger of ,god6 ,in other cases1 again1 and these are the most numerous1 the reaction is postponed2 the noble-hearted man1 who has made sacrifices the whole of his life1 seems to receive in exchange nothing but misfortune and pain1 whilst close by the wicked1 selfish man prospers and thrives exceedingly4 ,thereupon the ignorant say3 ,there is no ,god1 for there is no justice4 ,not so6 ,it is impossible to defeat ,justice2 though1 in the interests of evolving beings1 it may allow the forces around to accelerate or retard its progress4 ,nothing is ever lost2 causes that have not fructified remain potential2 and1 like the grain of corn gathered thousands of years ago1 grow and develop as soon as favourable soil and environment are offered them4 ,debts are still recorded1 when the perishable sheaths of our physical bodies have been cast off2 they come up for future payment1 often in the next life4 ,but this next life may not wipe off the whole of the liabilities1 so the process is continued for several successive existences1 and this has given rise to the saying that the sins of the parents#bd are visited upon the children#be unto the seventh generation4#bf ,such is the truth4 ,souls1 equal in potentialities whilst dormant as germs in the womb of ,being1 become unequal1 as soon as they are born into existence in the manifested ,universe1 for they find predecessors1 elder souls in front of them2 inequality is intensified when they have reached the human stage1 where intelligence and will come into play1 for henceforth1 inequality in the actions of individuals1 variations of what might be called merit and demerit1 set up a second factor in the inequality of conditions4 ,evolution treasures up the causes that have not been able to germinate in one existence1 and1 by successive returns to earth1 realises the aims and ends of that ,justice which governs the ,universe1 the designs of that ,love which makes for progress and leads to perfection4 ,,objection4 ,an apparently serious objection to the doctrine of ,rebirth is constantly being made4 ,it is unjust and useless1 people say1 to be punished for misdeeds that are forgotten4 ,as this objection has reference to moral proofs1 we must deal with it here4 ,does forgetfulness efface faults or destroy their consequences8 ,could the assassin1 who has lost all memory of the crime committed the previous evening1 change his deed or its results in the slightest degree8 ,rebirths are nothing more than the morrows of former lives1 and though the merciful waters of ,lethe have effaced their memory1 the forces stored up in the soul1 during the ages1 perform their work all the same in the future4 ,on the other hand1 injustice would exist1 and that under a very cruel aspect1 were memory to continue2 for the painful vision of a past always full of weaknesses1 even when free from the stain of crime1 would be a continual one4 ,and if1 too--as our opponents would prefer--man knew why he was punished1 i4e41 if he knew that each of these past errors and faults1 ever present before his eyes1 would carry with it a particular fruit1 and that strict payment would be exacted at every step in his new life1 would not the punishment be far greater than the sin8 ,would there not rise from every human heart an outcry of blasphemy against a ,god who1 by means of memory1 transformed life into an endless torment1 destroying all activity or initiative in the anxiety of expectancy1 in a word1 stifling the present beneath the heavy nightmare of the past8 ,men1 though so unjust and little disposed to pity1 have always refused to inflict on a man condemned to death the torture of anticipation2 only at the last moment is he informed of the rejection of his appeal for mercy4 ,could divine ,law be less compassionate than human law8 ,is it not rash for us1 in our profound ignorance1 to criticise the workings of a boundless ,wisdom8 ,he who takes only a few steps along the pathway of ,knowledge1 or enters1 however slightly1 into the secret of the works of ,god1 obtains the proof that ,providence leaves no part of the ,cosmos1 no being anywhere1 deprived of its fatherly care and protection4 ,when1 in our blindness1 we imagine injustice1 a void or an imperfection of any kind1 a radiant beam of light shows us the omnipresent ,life1 bestowing love on all its children without distinction1 from the slumbering atom to the glorious planetary ,spirit1 whose consciousness is so vast as to enfold the ,universe4 ,it is more especially after death that the soul1 set free from its illusory sheaths1 makes an impartial review of its recent incarnation1 attentively following its actions and their consequences1 noting its errors and failures1 along with their motives and causes4 ,in this school it grows in knowledge and power2 and when1 in a future incarnation1 the same difficulties present themselves anew1 it is better equipped for the struggle2 what has been learned1 is retained within the soul2 it knows1 where formerly it was ignorant1 and by the voice of conscience1 tells the personality#bg what its duty is4 ,this wisdom1 sifted from the panorama of a thousand past images1 is the best of all memories1 for on those numerous occasions when a decision must be arrived at on the spur of the moment it would not be possible to summon forth from the depths of the past such groups of memories as refer to the decision to be reached1 to see the events over again1 and deduce therefrom a line of conduct4 ,the lesson must have been learnt and thoroughly assimilated during the enlightened peace and calm of the ,hereafter2 then only is the soul ready to respond without delay1 and its command is distinct2 its judgment1 sure2 do this1 avoid that4 ,when a soul1 in the course of evolution1 has succeeded in impressing its vibration--its thought--on a brain which it has refined and made responsive by a training which purifies the entire nature of the man1 it is able to transmit to the incarnated consciousness the memory of its past lives2 but this memory then ceases to be painful or dangerous1 for the soul has not only exhausted the greater part of its karma of suffering1 it also possesses the strength necessary to sustain its personality1 whenever a foreboding of what we call misfortune comes upon it4 ,in the divine work everything comes in its own time1 and we recognise the perfection of the ,creator by the perfect concatenation of all creation4 ,reincarnation is so intimately bound up with the ,law of ,causality1 and receives from it such powerful support1 that this chapter would be left in a very incomplete form were we not to say a few words on ,karma4 ,,the ,,law ,,of ,,causality 7,karma74#bh ,karma is the ,law of the ,universe1 the expression of divine ,will4 ,its seemingly essential attributes are ,justice and ,love2 it neither punishes nor rewards1 but adjusts things1 restores disturbed balance and harmony1 brings back evolving souls to the right path and teaches them ,law4 ,when a man acts against the ,law1 he is like a swimmer1 struggling against the current of a rapid river2 his strength fails1 and he is borne away4 ,so does ,god bear away1 in spite of all their efforts1 those who1 whether ignorantly or consciously1 fight against the ,law1 for it is ,his love that wills evolution1 i4e41 the making human beings divine2 so he brings them back to the path1 in spite of themselves1 every time they wander astray4 ,god is patient because ,he is eternal1 it has been said4 ,the sentence is incomplete and must be changed1 since it attributes to ,divinity a vindictive nature4 ,the ,law is patient because it is perfect in ,wisdom1 ,power1 and ,love4 ,this ,law is the divine ,will which moves all things and vibrates everywhere2 it is the music of the spheres1 the song of glory and harmony1 which murmurs in the heart like the rippling of a waterfall1 the chant of life and joy that eternally triumphs in its never-ending creation of beings1 who1 after revolving for a moment in the universe1 have become perfect4 ,its glorious strains resound in the heart of man1 when the soul has found peace in the ,law1 and we are told that1 when once heard1 its divine accents continue for ever1 like an ineffable whisper which brings us back to hope and faith1 when we are sunk in the depths of despair4 ,god limited himself in order to become incarnate in the ,universe3 ,he is the ,soul of the world4 ,his will is exerted everywhere1 it finds its reflection in every creature2 and man1 a portion of divinity in course of evolution1 possesses a germ of will that is infinite in its essence1 and consequently capable of limitless development2 ,god respects this will in ,his creatures1 and submits to violence1 in order to teach them ,his will1 which is supreme ,love4 ,like a stone that falls into a tranquil lake1 a human action creates1 all round1 concentric ripples which continue to the very shores or limits of the ,universe2 then the wave is thrown back upon itself1 returns to its starting-point1 and the man who began the first movement receives a recoil exactly equivalent to the original impetus4 ,reaction is equal to action2 obstacles on the way may delay its return or break up its energy1 but the time comes when the fractions return to the centre that generates the disturbance1 which thus receives from the ,law a perfectly just retribution4 ,the principal element in actions is thought4 ,every thought is a form in a state of vibration--a ray of intelligence which unites itself with subtle matter#bi and forms a being1 of which this matter is the body1 and thought1 the soul4 ,this being1 often called a thought-form1 possesses form1 duration1 and strength that bear a strict relation to the energy of the thought that created it2 if it embodies a soul of hatred1 it will react on the man who harbours this thought1 and on all who come into contact with him1 as a leaven of destruction1 but if it is guided by love it will be1 as it were1 the incarnation of some beneficent power4 ,in certain cases its action is expressed visibly and rapidly2 for instance1 a venomous thought may#cj cause the death of the person against whom it is directed--this is one aspect of the evil eye--as also it may#ca return to its starting-point and kill the one who generated it1 by the recoil4 ,every mental projection of a criminal nature1 however1 by no means necessarily reaches the object aimed at2 a sorcerer1 for instance1 could no more injure one who was positive1 consciously and willingly good1 than he could cause a grain of corn to sprout on a block of granite2 favourable soil is needed to enable the seed of evil to take root in a man's heart2 otherwise1 the evil recoils with its full force upon the one who sent it forth and who is an irresistible magnet1 for he is its very life-centre4 ,thoughts cling to their creator and attract towards this latter those of a similar nature floating about in the invisible world1 for they instinctively come to vitalise and invigorate themselves by contact with him2 they radiate around him a contagious atmosphere of good or evil1 and when they have left him1 hover about1 at the caprice of the various currents1 impelling those they touch towards the goal to which they are making4 ,they even recoil on the visible form of their generator2 it is for this reason that physical is closely connected with moral well-being1 and most of our diseases are nothing else than the outer expression of the hidden leaven of passion4 ,when the action of this latter is sudden and powerful1 diseases may be the immediate consequence thereof2 blinded by materialism1 certain doctors seldom acknowledge their real cause2 and yet instances of hair turning white in a single night are too numerous to be refuted1 congestion of the brain brought on by a fit of anger1 jaundice and other grave maladies caused by grief and trouble1 are to be met with continually4 ,when the mental forces which disturb the physical organs meet with obstacles which prevent their immediate outlet1 they accumulate1 like the electric fluid in a condenser1 until an unexpected contact produces a discharge2 this condensation often persists for a whole life in a latent condition1 and is preserved intact for a future incarnation2 this is the cause of original vices1 which1 incorporated in the etheric double1 react upon the organic texture of the body4 ,this also explains why each individual possesses an ensemble of pathological predispositions often radically different from those heredity should have bequeathed to him2 it is also1 to some extent1 the key to physiognomy1 for every single feature bears either the stamp of our passions or the halo of our virtues4 ,thought creates lasting bonds between human beings2 love and hatred enchain certain individuals to one another for a whole series of incarnations2 many a victim of the past is to be found again in those unnatural sons who send a thrill of horror through society when it hears of some heinous crime--they have become the torturers of their former oppressors4 ,in other cases1 it is love which attracts and unites in renewed affection those who formerly loved one another--they return to earth as brothers1 sisters1 fathers1 mothers1 husbands or wives4 ,but if we are the slaves of the past1 if fate compels us to reap what we have sown1 we yet have the future in our hands1 for we can tear up the weeds1 and in their place sow useful plants4 ,just as1 by means of physical hygiene1 we can change within a few years the nature of the constituents that make up our bodies1 so also1 by a process of moral hygiene1 we can purify our passions and then turn their strength in the direction of good4 ,according as we will1 so do we actually become1 good or bad2 every man who has taken his evolution in hand notices this rapid transformation of his personality1 and sees his successive egos rise step by step1 so to speak1 throughout his whole life4 ,speaking generally1 the first part of life is the expression of the distant past--of former lives--the second is a mixture of the past and of the energies of the present incarnation2 the end of life is nothing but a sinking into an ever-deepening rut for those who crystallise in only one direction2 the force of habit sets up its reign1 and man finds himself bound by the chains he himself has forged4 ,this is the reason an old man does not like the present times2 he has stopped whilst time has advanced1 and he is now being carried along like the flotsam and jetsam of a wreck2 the very tastes and habits of his contemporaries violently clashing with his beloved past4 ,speak not to him of progress or evolution1 he has brought himself into a state of complete immobility1 and he will discover no favourable field of action nor will he acquire real energy until he has drunk of the waters of ,lethe in a rest-giving ,hereafter and a new body supplies his will with an instrument having the obedient suppleness of youth4 ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky1 in the ,secret ,doctrine1 has well described this progressive enmeshing of man in the net he himself is weaving4 ,those who believe in ,karma have to believe in destiny1 which1 from birth to death1 every man is weaving1 thread by thread1 around himself1 as a spider his web2 and this destiny is guided either by the heavenly voice of the invisible prototype outside of us1 or by our more intimate astral or inner man1 who is but too often the evil genius of the embodied entity called man4 ,both these lead on the outward man1 but one of them must prevail2 and from the very beginning of the invisible affray the stern and implacable ,law of ,compensation steps in and takes its course1 faithfully following the fluctuations of the fight4 ,when the last strand is woven1 the man is seemingly enwrapped in the net-work of his own doing1 then he finds himself completely under the empire of this self-made destiny4444 ,she adds shortly afterwards3 ,an ,occultist or a philosopher will not speak of the goodness or cruelty of ,providence2 but1 identifying it with ,karma-,nemesis1 he will teach that nevertheless it guards the good and watches over them in this as in future lives2 and that it punishes the evil-doer1 aye1 even to his seventh rebirth1 so long1 in short1 as the effect of his having thrown into perturbation even the smallest atom in the ,infinite ,world of harmony1 has not been finally readjusted4 ,for the only decree of ,karma--an eternal and immutable decree--is absolute ,harmony in the world of matter as it is in the world of ,spirit4 ,it is not1 therefore1 ,karma that rewards or punishes1 but it is we who reward or punish ourselves1 according to whether we work with1 through1 and along with nature1 abiding by the laws on which that ,harmony depends1 or--break them4 ,nor would the ways of ,karma be inscrutable1 were men to work in union and harmony instead of disunion and strife4 ,for our ignorance of those ways--which one portion of mankind calls the ways of ,providence1 dark and intricate1 while another sees in them the action of blind ,fatalism1 and a third1 simple chance1 with neither gods nor devils to guide them--would surely disappear1 if we would but attribute all these to their correct cause4444 ,we stand bewildered before the mystery of our own making1 and the riddle of life that we will not solve1 and then accuse the great ,sphinx of devouring us4 ,but verily1 there is not an accident in our lives1 not a mis-shapen day or a misfortune1 that could not be traced back to our own doings in this or in another life4444 ,on the same subject1 ,mrs4 ,sinnett says in ,the ,purpose of ,theosophy3 ,every individual is making ,karma either good or bad in every action and thought of his daily round1 and is at the same time working out in this life the ,karma brought about by the acts and desires of the last4 ,when we see people afflicted by congenital ailments1 it may be safely assumed that these ailments are the inevitable results of causes started by the same in a previous birth4 ,it may be argued that1 as these afflictions are hereditary1 they can have nothing to do with a past incarnation2 but it must be remembered that the ego1 the real man1 the individuality1 has no spiritual origin in the parentage by which it is re-embodied1 but is drawn by the affinities which its previous mode of life attracted round it into the current that carries it1 when the time comes for re-birth1 to the home best fitted for the development of those tendencies4444 ,this doctrine of ,karma1 when properly understood1 is well calculated to guide and assist those who realise its truth to a higher and better mode of life2 for it must not be forgotten that not only our actions1 but our thoughts also1 are most assuredly followed by a crowd of circumstances that will influence for good or for evil our own future2 and1 what is still more important1 the future of many of our fellow-creatures4 ,if sins of omission and commission could in any case be only self-regarding1 the effect on the sinner's ,karma would be a matter of minor consequence4 ,the fact that every thought and act through life carries with it1 for good or evil1 a corresponding influence on the members of the human family renders a strict sense of justice1 morality1 and unselfishness so necessary to future happiness and progress4 ,a crime once committed1 an evil thought sent out from the mind1 are past recall--no amount of repentance can wipe out their results on the future4444 ,repentance1 if sincere1 will deter a man from repeating errors2 it cannot save him or others from the effects of those already produced1 which will most unerringly overtake him either in this life or in the next rebirth4 ,we will also quote a few lines from ,e4 ,d4 ,walker in ,reincarnation3 ,briefly1 the doctrine of ,karma is that we have made ourselves what we are by former actions1 and are building our future eternity by present actions4 ,there is no destiny but what we ourselves determine4 ,there is no salvation or condemnation except what we ourselves bring about4444 ,because it offers no shelter for culpable actions and necessitates a sterling manliness1 it is less welcome to weak natures than the easy religious tenets of vicarious atonement1 intercessions1 forgiveness1 and death-bed conversions4444 ,in the domain of eternal justice1 the offence and the punishment are inseparably connected as the same event1 because there is no real distinction between the action and its outcome4 ,it is ,karma1 or our old acts1 that bring us back into earthly life4 ,the spirit's abode changes according to its ,karma1 and this ,karma forbids any long continuance in one condition1 because it is always changing4 ,so long as action is governed by material and selfish motives1 just so long must the effect of that action be manifested in physical rebirths4 ,only the perfectly selfless man can elude the gravitation of material life4 ,few have attained this1 but it is the goal of mankind4 ,the danger of a too brief explanation of the law of ,causality consists in the possibility of being imperfectly understood1 and consequently of favouring the doctrine of fatalism4 ,why act at all1 the objection will be urged1 if everything is foreseen by the ,law8 ,why stretch out a hand to the man who falls into the water before our very eyes8 ,is not the ,law strong enough to save him1 if he is not to die2 and if he is1 have we any right to interfere8444 ,such reasoning arises from ignorance and egoism4 ,yes1 the law is powerful enough to prevent the man from drowning1 and also to prevent the possibility of his being saved by some passer-by1 who has been moved to pity by the sight2 to doubt this were to doubt the power of ,god4 ,in the work of evolution1 however1 ,god does more than supply man with means of developing his intelligence2 in order to enrich his heart1 he offers him opportunities of sacrificing himself4 ,again1 the innumerable problems set by duty are far from being solved for us2 with difficulty can we distinguish a crime from a noble action2 very often we do wrong1 thinking we are doing right1 and it not unfrequently happens that good results from our evil deeds2 this is why ,god sends us experiences which are to teach us our duty4 ,the soul learns not only during its incarnations1 but even more after leaving the body1#cb for life after death is largely spent in examining the consequences of deeds performed during life on earth4 ,whenever1 then1 an opportunity for action offers itself1 let us follow the impulse of the heart1 the cry of duty1 and not the sophisms of the lower nature1 the selfish ego1 the cold brain1 which knows neither compassion nor devotion4 ,do your duty1 whatever happens1 says the ,law1 i4e41 do not allege1 as your excuse for being selfish1 that ,god1 if ,he thinks it best1 will help your brother in his trouble2 why do you not fling yourself into the fire1 with the thought that1 if your hour has not yet come1 ,god will prevent the flames from burning you8 ,does not the man1 who commits suicide1 himself push forward the hand on the dial of life1 setting it at the fatal hour8 ,the threads of karmic action are so wonderfully interwoven1 and ,god1 in order to hasten evolution1 makes such marvellous use of human forces1 both good and bad1 that the first few glances cast at the mle of events are calculated to trouble the mind rather than reveal to it the marvels of adjustment effected by divine ,wisdom1 but no sooner does one succeed in unravelling some of the entanglements of the karmic forces1 and catching a glimpse of the harmony resulting from their surprising co-operation1 than the mind is lost in amaze4 ,then1 one understands how the murderer is only an instrument whose passions are used by ,god in carrying out the karmic decree which condemned the victim long before the crime was committed2 then1 too1 one knows that capital punishment is a legal crime of which divine ,justice makes use--yes1 a crime1 for none but ,god can judge2 every being has a right to live1 and does live1 until ,god condemns him4 ,but man1 by making himself1 even ignorantly1 the instrument of ,karma1 acts against the universal law1 and is preparing for himself that future suffering which results from every attack made on the harmony of the whole4#cc ,on the other hand1 ,destiny is not an immutable mass of forces2 will can destroy what it has created1 that is a question of time or energy2 and when these are unable1 within a given period1 to bring about the total destruction of a barrier belonging to the past1 none the less does this barrier lessen day by day1 for the resultant of this system of opposing forces changes its direction every moment1 and the final shock1 when it cannot be avoided1 is always diminished to a greater or less degree4 ,in the case of those who have attained to a perfect reading of the past1 their knowledge of the hostile forces is complete1 and the neutralisation of these forces immensely facilitated4 ,they can seek out1 in this world or in the next1 those they wronged in the past1 and thus repair the harm done2 they can see the source of those thoughts of hatred that are sent against them1 and destroy them by the intervention of love2#cd they can find out the weak points of their personal armour and strengthen them3 it is this that in theosophical language is called the burning of ,karma in the fire of ,wisdom4 ,none the less1 there are two points in the law of ,causality1 which appear to favour the idea of fatalism1 though in reality1 they are merely corollaries of ,karma4 ,according to the first1 every force is fatal1 in the sense that1 if left to itself1 it is indestructible4 ,this is not fatality1 for the force can be modified by meeting with forces differing in character1 and if no such encounter takes place1 it finally unites with the cosmic ,law1 or else is broken to pieces upon it1 according as it moves with evolution or against it4#ce ,only in one sense1 then1 is it fatal2 it cannot be destroyed save by an opposing force of the same momentum4 ,for instance1 in order to annihilate an obstructive force1 created in the past1 the soul must expend an amount of energy that is equal and opposite to that force2 it meanwhile cannot devote itself to any other work1 thus causing1 in one sense1 a useless production of energy2 in other words1 evolution will suffer delay1#cf but1 we must repeat1 that is not fatality4 ,now to the second point4 ,thought1 by repetition1 gains ever-increasing energy1 and when the forces which thoughts accumulate have become as powerful as those of the will of the ,ego which created them1 a final addition of energy--another thought--alone is needed for the will to be overcome and the heavier scale of the balance to incline2 then the thought is fatally realised in the action4 ,but so long as dynamic equilibrium has not been reached1 the will remains master1 although its power is ever diminishing1 in proportion as the difference in the forces becomes smaller4 ,when equilibrium is reached1 the will is neutralised2 it becomes powerless1 and feels that a fall is only a question of moments1 and1 with a fresh call of energy1 the thought is fatally realised on the physical plane2 the hour of freedom has gone and the fatal moment arrived4 ,like some solution that has reached saturation point1 obedient to the last impulse1 this thought crystallises into an act4 ,many a criminal thus meets1 in a single moment1 the fatality he has created in the course of several incarnations2 he no longer sees anything1 his reason disappears2 in a condition of mental darkness his arm is raised1 and1 impelled by a blind force1 he strikes automatically4 ,what have ,i done8 he immediately exclaims in horror4 ,what demon is this that has taken possession of me8 ,then only is the crime perpetrated1 without there being time for the will to be consulted1 without the voice of conscience having been invited to speak4 ,the whole fatality of automatism is in the deed1 which has been carried through without the man suspecting or being conscious of it2 his physical machine has been the blind instrument of the force of evil he has himself slowly accumulated throughout the ages4 ,but let there be no mistake2 every time a man1 who is tempted1 has time to think1 even in fleeting fashion1 of the moral value of the impulse which is driving him onward1 he has power to resist2 and if he yields to this impulse1 the entire responsibility of this final lapse is added on to that incurred by past thoughts4 ,among the victims of these actions that have become fatal are often to be found those who are near the stage of initiation1 for before being exposed to the dangers of the bewildering ,path1 which bridges the abyss--the abyss which separates the worlds of unity from the illusory and transitory regions of the ,universe--they are submitted to the most careful tests4 ,there may even be found souls that tread this path1#cg bearing within themselves#ch some old surviving residue which has not yet been finally thrown into the physical plane1 and must consequently appear for the last time before falling away and disappearing for ever4#ci ,mankind1 incapable of seeing the man--the divine fragment gloriously blossoming forth in these beings--often halts before these dark spots in the vesture of the great soul1 these excreta flung off from the centre1 belonging to the refuse of the vehicle1 not to the soul1 and in its blindness pretends to see1 in its folly to judge1 loftily condemning the sins of a brother more evolved than itself6 ,the future will bring men greater wisdom1 and teach them the greatness of their error4#dj ,at the conclusion of this important chapter1 let us repeat that ,karma--divine ,will in action--is ,love as well as justice1 ,wisdom as well as ,power1 and no one ought to dread it4 ,if at times it uses us roughly and always brings us back to the strait way when folly leads us astray1 it is only measuring its strength against our weakness1 its delicate scales balance the load according to our strength1 and when1 in times of great anguish or terrible crisis1 man is on the point of giving way1 it suddenly lifts the weight1 leaves the soul a moment's respite1 and only when it has recovered breath is the burden replaced4 ,the righteous ,will of ,god is always upon us1 filling our hearts with its might2 ,his ,love is ever about us1 enabling us to grow and expand1 even through the suffering he sends1 for it is ourselves who have created this suffering4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #aj3 ,fortunately1 this is a fact only in the imagination of those who are blinded by faith4 ,footnote #aa3 ,before men had sinned individually on earth4 ,footnote #ab3 ,de corruptione et gratia1 chap4 #g1 ,no4 #ai2 ,cont4 ,jul4 ,pelag41 ,book #d1 chap4 #c1 ,no4 #af1 et ,de ,peccat4 merit4 et remiss41 ,book #c1 chap4 #d1 ,no4 #g4 ,footnote #ac3 ,omnes illae unus homo fuerunt4 ,de ,peccat4 merit4 et remiss41 ,book #a1 chap4 #aj1 ,no4 #aa4 ,theologians pass over ,st4 ,augustine's adoption of this theory1 giving one to understand that he abandoned his error shortly before his death4 7,dictionnaire de ,thol41 by ,abb ,berger2 volume viii41 article x41 ,traduciens47 ,footnote #ad3 ,see also1 on this subject1 his letter to ,sixtus1 before the latter became ,pope4 ,chap4 vii41 ,no4 #ca1 and chap4 vi41 ,no4 #bg4 ,footnote #ae3 ,the movements of creation and absorption1 which are called in ,hindu symbolism the outbreathing and the inbreathing of ,brahm4 ,footnote #af3 ,creation4 ,footnote #ag3 ,after violet and red there stretches quite another spectrum1 invisible to the human eye2 it is because violet is at the beginning of our known spectrum1 that one might think it was not the neutral point thereof4 ,footnote #ah3 ,the soul believes itself distinct from the ,all1 because it is subjected to the illusion engendered by its body4 ,footnote #ai3 ,without the aid of the eyes1 walking is impossible to those suffering from plantar ansthesia4 ,footnote #bj3 ,pleasure1 like every other form of sensation1 produces the same results1 though perhaps with less force4 ,footnote #ba3 ,a magnetic effect or an emotion4 ,all travellers who have escaped from the attacks of wild beasts mention this effect of inhibition1 manifested by the absence of fear and pain at the moment of attack4 ,footnote #bb3 ,primordial matter which has not yet entered into any combination and is not differentiated4 ,footnote #bc3 ,a soul4 ,footnote #bd3 ,in these cases1 the soul4 ,footnote #be3 ,the personalities or new bodies created by the soul1 on each return to earth4 ,footnote #bf3 ,that is to say1 the seventh incarnation4 ,footnote #bg3 ,waking consciousness4 ,footnote #bh3 ,see ,karma1 by ,a4 ,besant4 ,footnote #bi3 ,those who have studied thought know that it is capable of being incorporated in diverse states of astral and mental matter4 ,footnote #cj3 ,if the divine law allows it4 ,footnote #ca3 ,if the divine law has not allowed the action to take place4 ,footnote #cb3 ,man1 after death1 loses in succession his astral and mental bodies4 ,footnote #cc3 ,la ,thosophie en quelques chapitres1 by the author1 pages #ca to #cd4 ,footnote #cd3 ,hatred is destroyed only by love1 said the ,buddha4 ,return good for evil1 said ,jesus4 ,footnote #ce3 ,it is this that causes the universal force of opposition--the ,enemy or demon--to become evil only when ignorance or the human will make use of it to oppose evolution3 apart from such cases1 it is only the second pillar necessary for the support of the ,temple1 the stepping-stone of the good4 ,footnote #cf3 ,perhaps this is only an apparent delay1 for1 on every plane1 force is correlative1 and knowledge is the fruit of many different kinds of energy4 ,the only real cases in which there is delay of individual evolution are probably those in which evil is done in return for evil4 ,of course1 we are speaking in relative terms and from a relative standpoint4 ,footnote #cg3 ,when human evolution is completed1 man passes the strait gate leading to superhuman evolution1 to the spiritual life1 which develops the next higher principle1 ,buddhi2 this is the ,path4 ,human evolution develops the mental principle1 ,manas2 ,super-human evolution develops the spiritual body1 ,buddhi4 ,footnote #ch3 ,here we are dealing with faults of a more or less venial nature4 ,footnote #ci3 ,for ever1 in this case1 for the soul is above these residues1 and1 so to speak1 has given them no vitality for ages past4 ,footnote #dj3 ,in completion of this chapter on the ,law of ,causality1 we refer the reader to ,a4 ,besant's book3 ,karma4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,reincarnation ,,and ,,science4 ,the secret of the ,universe lies in observation2 it is for man to develop his senses and patiently to search into the hidden things of ,nature4 ,all science proceeds thus1 and the reason that savants have not unearthed the precious object for which they seek with such wonderful perseverance is that the physical senses1 even when aided by the most delicate instruments1 are able to cognise only a portion of the physical ,universe--the denser portion4 ,this is proved by the fact that when man has succeeded in directing into a channel some subtle force1 he remains as ignorant of its essence as he was before chaining it down1 so to speak2 he has not the slightest knowledge of it4 ,he can utilise but he cannot dominate it1 for he has not discovered its source4 ,this source is not in the physical world1 but on the finer planes of being1 which will remain unknown to us1 so long as our senses are incapable of responding to their vibrations4 ,because physical observation reveals only the bark1 the outer crust of the ,cosmos1 man sees nothing but the surface of the world1 and remains in ignorance of the heart and vital plexus that give it life2 consequently1 he calls the disintegration following upon disincarnation by the senseless name of death4 ,he who has lifted the veil of ,isis sees divine ,life everywhere1 the ,life that animates forms1 builds them up1 uses them1 and finally breaks them to pieces when they have ceased to be of use2 and this ,life--,god--thus spread about in numberless forms1 by means of its many rays1 develops in itself centres--souls--which gradually grow and awaken their infinite potentialities#da in the course of these successive incarnations4 ,still1 though the eye of the god-man alone can penetrate this wonderful mechanism and study it in all its astonishing details1 the savant whose mind is unprejudiced can judge of the concealed mechanism by examining its outer manifestations1 and it is on this ground we now place ourselves with the object of setting forth another series of proofs of reincarnation4 ,,the ,,evolutionary ,,series4 ,if we look attentively at the totality of beings we perceive a progressive series of forms expressing a parallel series of qualities and states of consciousness4 ,the portion of this scale we are able to compass extends from the amorphous state#db--which represents the minimum of consciousness--up to those organic complexities which have allowed of a terrestrial expression being given to the soul of the ,saviours of the world4 ,in this glorious hierarchy each step forms so delicate a transition between the one preceding and the one following that on the borders of the different kingdoms it becomes impossible to trace a line of demarcation between different beings2 thus one does not know whether such or such a family should be classed among minerals1 or vegetables or animals4 ,it is this that science has called the evolutionary series4#dc ,,the ,,cyclic ,,process ,,of ,,evolution4 ,another fact strikes the observer3 the cyclic march of evolution4 ,after action comes reaction2 after activity1 rest2 after winter1 summer2 after day1 night2 after inspiration--the breath of life during which universal ,movement works in a molecular aggregate and there condenses in the form of vitality--expiration--the breath of death1 which causes the individualised life to flow back into the ocean of cosmic energy2 after the systole1 which drives the blood into every part of the body1 comes the diastole1 which breathes back the vital liquid into the central reservoir2 after the waking state comes sleep2 life here and life hereafter2 the leaves sprout and fall away periodically1 with the rising and descending of the sap2 annual plants die at the end of the season1 persisting in germinal state within a bulb1 a rhizome1 or a root before coming again to the light2 in metamorphoses1 we find that the germ 7the egg7 becomes a larva 7a worm71 and then dies as a chrysalis1 to be reborn as a butterfly4 ,ideas also have their successive cycles of glory and decadence2 is not the present theosophical movement the renaissance of the ,neoplatonic movement which brought the light to ,greece and ,egypt fifteen hundred years ago8 ,in #ahge ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky restored it to life1 whilst its previous birth look place in the time of ,ammonius ,saccas1 the theosophist1 in the ,schools of ,alexandria4 ,those who have acquired the power to read the cosmic records#dd will easily recognise amongst the present pioneers of theosophy many a champion who in a former age struggled and fought in the same sublime cause4 ,races are born and grow up1 die and are born again2 pass through a state of childhood1 of youth1 of maturity1 and of old age4 ,they flourish in all their splendour when the vital movement which animates them is at its height2 when it leaves them and passes to other portions of the globe1 they gradually fall into old age2 then the more developed ,egos--those incarnated in these races during their maturity--come down into the advanced nations1 living on the continents animated by the life-wave1 whilst the less evolved go to form the so-called degenerate races vegetating in obscure parts of the world4 ,look now at the adolescence of ,russia1 the youth of ,america1 the old age of ,france1 and the decrepitude of ,turkey4 ,look backwards at the glorious ,egypt of bygone ages2 nothing remains but deserts of sand on which imperishable structures still testify to the greatness of her past2 the race that witnessed the majesty of the ,hierophants and the divine ,dynasties is now inhabiting other lands4 ,continents submit to the same law2 history and science show how they pass through a series of immersions and emersions2 after ,lemuria1 which bore the third race1 came ,atlantis1 the mother of the fourth2 ,europe and ,america now hold the various branches of the fifth2 and later on1 when this old land of ours is again sunk beneath the waters1 new lands will have emerged from the ocean depths to bear the future race1 the sixth4 ,the very planets1 too1 come under this law2 issuing as nebul from the great womb of the ,universe at the beginning of the evolution of a solar system they are absorbed back again when the hour of their dissolution strikes4 ,finally1 the very ,universes go forth from the breast of ,brahm when he out-breathes1 and return to him when he in-breathes again4 ,everything1 then1 in appearance is born and dies4 ,in reality1 each thing springs from its germ1 makes an effort--the effort of the divine ,will incarnated in this germ--develops its potentialities up to a certain step in the ladder of evolution1 then garners the acquired qualities and again returns to activity in continuous cycles of life until its full development is reached4 ,,progress4 ,the observer of ,nature makes a third discovery4 ,every fresh cycle of life is characterised by an advance on the preceding cycle2 every stage brings the end nearer4 ,this represents progress1 and it is seen everywhere2 when it does not appear1 it is because our limited vision cannot pierce its veil4 ,minerals slowly develop in the bowels of the earth1 and miners well know when the ore is more or less ripe1#de and that certain portions1 now in a transition stage1 will in a certain number of centuries have become pure gold2 experiments#df have proved that metals are liable to fatigue from excessive tension2 and that1 after a rest1 they acquire greater power of resistance than before2 magnets are fed1 i4e41 they increase their power of attraction1 by exercise2 cultivation improves and sometimes altogether transforms certain species of vegetables2 the rapid mental development of domestic animals by contact with man is a striking instance of the heights to which progress may attain when it is aided1 whilst the influence of teaching and education on the development of individuals as well as of races is even more striking4#dg ,,the ,,goal ,,of ,,evolution4 ,the ,formation of ,centres of ,consciousness that become ,egos4 ,through innumerable wanderings this general progress traces a clear1 unwavering line4 ,those capable of following evolution on the planes of finer matter at once perceive1 as it were1 wide-spreading centres forming in the sea of divine ,essence1 which is projected by the ,logos into the ,universe4 ,as the ages pass1 these centres are sub-divided into more restricted centres1 into clearer and clearer blocks in which consciousness1 that is1 the faculty of receiving vibrations from without1 is gradually developed1 and when this consciousness within them reaches its limit1 they begin to differentiate from their surroundings1 to feel the idea of the ,i spring up within them4 ,from that time1 there is added to the power of receiving vibrations consciously1 that of generating them voluntarily2 no longer are they passive centres1 but rather beings that have become capable of receiving and giving freely1 individualities recognising and affirming themselves more day by day2 ,i's1 who henceforth regard themselves as separated from the rest of the ,universe2 this stage is that of the ,heresy of ,separateness4 ,regarding this heresy1 however1 one may well say3 ,felix culpa4 ,fortunate error1 indeed1 for it is the condition1 sine qu non of future divinity1 of salvation4 ,it is self-consciousness2 man is born2 man1 the centre of evolution1 set midway between the divine fragment which is beginning and that which is ending its unfoldment1 at the turning point of the arc which leads the most elementary of the various kingdoms of ,nature to the most divine of ,hierarchies4 ,this stage is a terrible one1 because it is that which represents egoism1 i4e4 combat1 the cause of every evil that afflicts the world1 but it is a necessary evil1 for there can be no individual wisdom1 power1 and immortality without the formation of an ,i4 ,this ego is nothing but the first shoot1 or bud1 of the individual soul2 it is only one of its first faculties2 the finest show themselves subsequently4 ,this bud is to blossom into a sweet-smelling flower2 love and compassion1 devotion1 and self-sacrifice will come into manifestation1 and the centre of consciousness1 after passing through the primitive stages--often called the elemental kingdoms--after being sheathed in mineral1 vegetable1 and animal forms1 after having thought1 reasoned1 and willed in human forms and looked upon itself as separated from its fellow-creatures1 comes finally to understand that it is only a breath of the spirit1 momentarily clad in a frail garment of matter1 recognises its oneness with all and everything1 passes into the angelic state1 is born as ,christ and so ends as a finished1 perfected soul--a ,world-,saviour4 ,such is the ,goal of life1 the wherefore of the ,universes1 the explanation of these startling evolutions of souls in the various worlds1 the solution of the problem regarding the diversity in the development of beings1 the justification of ,providence before the blasphemy of the inequality of conditions4 ,a ,,few ,,deductions4 ,the ,germ4 ,from the facts established in the course of this comprehensive view of the ,universe1 we are enabled to draw important deductions4 ,for instance1 as the basis of every cycle of life is found the egg or germ1 that strange microcosm which appears to contain within itself the entire organism from which it proceeds and which seems capable of manifesting it in its entirety4 ,the first embryologic discovery we make as the result of this study--a discovery of the utmost importance--is that germs are one in essence1 and are all endowed with the same possibilities and potentialities4 ,the only difference that can be found in them is that the more evolved have acquired the power of developing1 in the same cycle1 a greater number of links1 so to speak1 in the chain of forms that proceeds from the atom to the sheath1 or envelope1 of the ,gods-,men4 ,thus1 the highest germ which the microscope enables us to follow--the human ovule--is first a kind of mineral represented by the nucleus 7the point1 unity7 of its germinal cell2 then it takes the vegetable form--a radicle1 crowned by two cotyledons 7duality72 afterwards it becomes a fish 7multiplicity71 which is successively transformed into a batrachian1 then a bird1 afterwards assuming more and more complex animal forms1 until1 about the third month of foetal life1 it appears in the human form4 ,the process of transformation is more rapid when ,nature has repeated it a certain number of times2 it then represents a more extensive portion of the ladder of evolution1 but1 be it noted1 the process is the same for all1 and for all the ladder is composed of the same number of steps2 beings start from the same point1 follow the same path and halt at the same stages2 nothing but their age causes their inequalities4 ,they are more than brothers1 they are all representatives of the ,one1 that which is at the root of the ,universe1 ,divinity1 supreme ,being4 ,we also see that progress1 the result of the conservation of qualities1 offers us repeated instances of these stages in the reappearance1 at each step of the ladder1 of the forms preceding it in the natural series4 ,in the course of its evolution1 the germ of an animal passes through the mineral and vegetable forms2 if the animal is a bird1 its final embryological form will be preceded by the animal forms1 which1 in the evolutionary series1 make their appearance before the avian type2 if we are dealing with a mammifer1 the animal will be the summit of all the lower types2 when it is the human germ that we are following in its development1 we see that it also has contained within itself and is successively reproducing the potentialities of the whole preceding series4 ,the microscope is able to show only clearly marked stages and the most characteristic types1 for evolution runs through its initial stages with a rapidity defying the closest physical observation4 ,if only ,nature would slacken her pace in order to humour our incapacity1 we should see in an even more striking fashion that she preserves everything she has attained and develops the power of reconstruction with ever-increasing rapidity and perfection4 ,true1 each cycle of incarnation realises only an infinitesimal fraction of the total progress made1 each being advances only one step at a time along this interminable series2 but then1 are not these minor cycles in the course of which brings grow and advance towards the final ,goal1 the visible1 material expression1 the tangible and indisputable proof of the strict1 the inexorable ,law of ,rebirths8 ,what the ,germ contains4 ,now let us examine a little more carefully this process of physical germination and attempt to discover an important secret from it2 let us see whether the material germ contains the whole being1 or whether1 as the ancient wisdom teaches1 the vehicles of the divine ,spark in evolution are as numerous as the germs which respectively effect their development and preservation4 ,although here1 too1 the doctrine of the ,christian churches is inadequate1 we cannot altogether pass it by in silence4 ,we will1 therefore1 state it1 recommending the reader to compare it with the theory of science and the teachings of theosophy4 ,the ,churches deny evolution4 ,they say3 one single body1 one single state of development for each human being4 ,for the lower kingdoms a state of nothingness before birth and after death1 whatever may have been the fate of these beings during the short life imposed upon them2 for man a single body for which ,god creates a single soul and to which ,he gives a single incarnation on a single planet1#dh the ,earth4 ,it is our ardent wish that the signs of the growing acceptance of the idea of evolution now manifesting themselves in ,christian teaching may increase1 and that the ,church1 whatever be the influence that induces her to take the step1 will in the end loyally hold out her hand to ,science4 ,instead of remaining hostile1 the two will then help each other to mount the ladder of ,truth2 and divine ,life1 the light of all sciences1 philosophies1 and religions1 will illumine the dark path they are treading1 and guide their steps towards that ,one ,truth which is both without and within them4 ,scientific materialism says3 ,yes1 everything is born again from its germ--thus is progress made1 but that is the limit of my concessions4 ,everything is matter2 the soul has no existence4 ,there is evolution of matter1 for matter1 and by matter4 ,when a form is destroyed1 its qualities1 like its power of rebirth1 are stored away in a latent condition1 within the germs it has produced during its period of activity4 ,along with the disappearance of matter1 everything disappears--qualities1 thoughts1 ego--and passes into a latent slate within the germ2 along with the return of the form1 qualities and attributes gradually reappear without any hypothetical soul whatever having any concern in the matter4 ,so long as the form is in its germ stage1 the being is nothing more than a mass of potentialities2 when fully developed its faculties reappear1 but they remain strictly attached to the form1 and if the latter changes1 the faculties echo the change1 so to speak1 with the utmost fidelity4 ,matter is the parent of intelligence1 the brain manufactures thought1 and the heart distills love1 just as the liver secretes bile2 such is the language of present-day science4 ,this theory accepts the idea of universal injustice in its entirety2 we shall shortly prove that1 notwithstanding its apparent logic1 it explains only one side of evolution1 and that if matter is the condition sine qu non of the manifestation of spirit1 it is at least curious that the latter acts so powerfully upon it1 and is1 beyond the possibility of a doubt1 its real master4#di ,modern ,theosophy1 as well as the ,wisdom of old1 says in its turn3 ,spirit is the ,all1 the one ,being1 the only ,being that exists4 ,force-matter#ej is nothing but the product of the spirit's activity2 in it we find many and divers properties--density1 weight1 temperature1 volume1 elasticity1 cohesion1 c41 because we judge it from our sense perceptions2 but in reality1 we know it so little1 that the greatest thinkers have called it a state of consciousness1 i4e41 an impression produced by it within ourselves4#ea ,it is the result of the will of the supreme ,spirit1 which creates differences 7forms7 in unfathomable homogeneous ,unity1 which is incarnated in them and produces the modifications necessary for the development of its powers1 in other words1 for the accomplishment of their evolution4 ,as this evolution takes place in the finite--for the ,infinite can effect its sacrifice1 i4e4 its incarnation1#eb only by limiting itself--it is progressive1 proceeding from the simple to the complex4 ,each incarnate1 divine fragment#ec at first develops the simpler qualities and acquires the higher ones only by degrees2 these qualities can appear only by means of a vehicle of matter1 just as the colour-producing properties of a ray of light only become manifest with the aid of a prism4 ,form plays the part of the revealer of the qualities latent in the divine germ 7the soul72 the more complex this form becomes1 the more atomic divisions it has in a state of activity2 the greater the number of senses it has awake1 the greater the number of qualities it expresses4 ,in this process1 we see at work1 three main factors2 ,spirit1#ed awakening within itself vibrations1#ee which assume divers appearances4#ef ,these three factors are one2 force-matter and form cannot exist without the all-powerful1 divine ,will 7,spirit71 for this is the supreme ,being1 who1 by his ,will1 creates force matter1 by his ,intelligence gives it a form1 and animates it with his ,love4 ,force-matter is the blind giant1 who1 in the ,sankhya philosophy1 carries on his shoulders the lame man who can see--a giant1 for it is activity itself2 and blind1 because this activity is directed only by the intelligent ,will of the ,spirit4 ,the latter is lame1 because when it has not at its disposal an instrument of form-matter1 it cannot act1 it cannot appear1 it is no longer manifested1 having disappeared with the great periodical dissolution of things which the poetical ,east calls the inbreathing of ,brahm4 ,form--all form--creates a germ which reproduces it4 ,the germ is an aggregate containing1 in a very high state of vitalisation1 all the atomic types that will enter into the tissues of the form it has to build up4 ,these types serve as centres of attraction for the atoms which are to collect round them when1 under the influence of the vital fire1#eg creative activity has been roused in the germ4 ,each atomic type now attracts from the immediate surroundings the atoms that resemble it1 the process of segmentation which constitutes germination begins1 and the particular tissues represented by the different atomic types are formed2 in this way the fibrous1 osseous1 muscular1 nervous1 epithelial1 and other tissues are reproduced4 ,the creative activity that builds up tissues1 if left to itself1 could create nothing but formless masses2 it must have the help of the intelligence to organise the atoms into molecules1 the molecules into tissues1 and these again into organs capable of a corporate life as a single organism1 supplied with centres of sensation and action4 ,this intelligence cannot proceed from the mind bodies of the various beings1 for the latter manifest their qualities only when they possess a fully-developed form--which is not the case with the germs2 moreover1 the lower kingdoms show nothing but instinct1 and even the superior animals possess only a rudimentary form of mentality4 ,the most skilful human anatomist knows nothing more than the eye can teach him regarding the forms he dissects1 though even if he were acquainted with their whole structure1 he would none the less be quite incapable of creating the simplest sense organ4 ,the ,form is the expression of cosmic intelligence1 of ,god incarnated in the ,universe1 the ,soul of the world1 which1 after creating matter1 aggregates it into divers types1 to which it assigns a certain duration4 ,the type of the form varies with the stage of development of the being 7the soul7 incarnated therein1 for the instrument must be adapted to the artist's capacity2 the latter could not use an instrument either too imperfect or too perfect for his degree of skill4 ,what could the rudimentary musician of a savage tribe do if seated before the complex organ of one of our cathedrals2 whilst1 on the other hand1 what kind of harmony could a ,wagner produce from a shepherd's pipe8 ,the ,cosmic intelligence would appear to have created a single1 radical form-type1 which gradually develops and at each step produces an apparently new form1 until its series has reached the finished type of evolution4 ,it stops the evolutionary process of each germ at the requisite point in the scale2 in the case of the most rudimentary souls it allows a single step to be taken1 thus supplying an instrument that possesses the requisite simplicity2 the process is continued longer for the more advanced souls1 but stops just when the form has become a suitable instrument4 ,when it does not furnish the fecundated germ with the model which is to serve as a ground-plan for atomic deposits1 segmentation takes place in a formless mass1 and in this the tissues are shown without organisation2 it is then a mle1 a false conception4 ,it is the same cosmic ,intelligence that derides the period during which the form shall remain in a state of activity in the world4 ,until a soul has learnt the lesson that incarnation in a form must teach it1 this form is necessary1 and is given to it again and again until the soul has assimilated the experience that form had to supply2 when it has nothing more to learn from the form1 on returning to incarnation it passes into one that is more complex4 ,the soul learns only by degrees1 beginning with the letters of the alphabet of ,wisdom1 and gradually passing to more complex matter2 thus the stages of evolution are innumerable and the transition from one to the other imperceptible2 modern science states this fact1 though without explaining it1 when she says that ,nature makes no leaps4 ,the building up of forms is effected by numerous ,beings1 forming an uninterrupted chain that descends from the mighty ,architect1 ,god1 to the humblest1 tiniest1 least conscious of the builders4#eh ,god1 the universal ,spirit1 directs evolution1 and could accomplish every detail of it directly2 but it is necessary1 for their own development1 that the souls1 whatever stage they have reached1 should work in the whole of creation1 and therein play the part1 whether consciously or unconsciously1 that they are fitted to play4 ,consequently they are employed at every stage2 and1 in order to avoid mistakes1 their activity is guided by more advanced souls1 themselves the agents of higher cosmic ,entities1 right on up to ,god1 the sovereign controller of the hierarchies4 ,consequently there are no mistakes--if1 indeed1 there are any real ones at all--in ,nature1 except those that are compatible with evolution and of which the results are necessary for the instruction of souls2 but the ,law is continually correcting them in order to restore the balance4 ,such1 in general outline1 is the reason for the intervention of beings in the evolutionary process4 ,so far as man is concerned1 the highest of these ,beings supply the ideal type of the form which is to give the soul1 when reincarnated1 the best means of expression2 others take charge of these models and entrust them to entities whose sole mission is to keep them before their mental eyes and guide the thousands of builders who build round them the atoms which are to form the tabernacle of flesh in its minutest details2 these ,liliputian builders may be seen at work by the inner eye2 they are as real as the workmen who construct material edifices in accordance with an architect's plans4 ,that everything may be faithfully reproduced in form the entity that controls the building must not lose sight of the model for a single moment4 ,nor does it do so1 generally speaking1 for one may say that this being is1 as it were1 the soul of the model1 being one with it and conscious only of the work it has to perform4 ,in many cases1 however1 it receives certain impressions before birth from the mother's thoughts3 an influence capable either of forwarding or hindering its work4 ,the ancient ,greeks were well acquainted with this fact when they assisted ,nature to create beautiful forms by placing in the mother's room statues of rare plastic perfection1 and removing from her sight every suggestion of ugliness4 ,more than this2 certain intense emotions of the pregnant woman are capable of momentarily effacing the image of the model which the builder has to reproduce1 and replacing certain of its details with images arising from the mother's imagination4 ,if these images are sufficiently vivid1 the being follows them2 and if they endure for a certain length of time they are definitely incorporated in the building of the body4 ,in this fashion1 many birth marks 7naevi materni7 are produced2 strawberries or other fruit1 eagerly desired at times when they cannot be procured1 have appeared on the child's skin2 divers objects that have left a vivid impression on the imagination may have the same effect4 ,the clearness and perfection of the impression depend on the intensity and continuance of the mental image2 the part where it is to appear depends on the sense impressions of the mother coinciding with the desire which forms the image--for instance1 a spot on the body touched rather sharply at the moment4 ,this has given rise to the idea that the longing is impressed on that part of the body which the mother is touching during her desire4 ,when the image is particularly strong and persistent considerable modifications of the body have been obtained2 in such cases1 children are born with animal-like heads1 and treatises on teratology relate the case of a foetus born with the head detached from the trunk1 because the mother1 after witnessing an execution1 had been horribly impressed by the sight of the separated heads of the victims4 ,malebranche1 in his ,recherche de la ,vrit1 tells of a child that was born with broken limbs because his mother had seen the torture of the wheel4 ,in this case1 the image must have been of enormous vibratory power and of considerable persistence4#ei ,a general or even a local arrest of development is almost always due to the phenomenon of mental inhibition experienced by the same being2 it definitely ceases to see the plan1 evolution stops1 and the embryo1 expelled before the time takes on the form of the evolutionary stage it had reached at that moment2 if it ceases to deal with a single detail only that detail remains in statu quo1 and is often embedded in portions of the organism quite away from the point where it would have been found had it continued to evolve2 certain cysts belong to this class4 ,the third factor1 the ,spirit1 the ,soul--or1 to be more exact1 the incarnated divine ray--follows a line of evolution parallel to that of the matter which constitutes its form1 its instrument2 this parallelism is so complete that it has deceived observers insufficiently acquainted with the wonders of evolution4 ,it is thus that scientific materialism has taken root4 ,we will endeavour to set forth the mistake that has been made1 and call to mind the correctness of the ,vedantin symbol1 which represents the soul as lame1 incapable of acting without the giant1 force-matter2 though the latter1 without the guidance of the former1 could not advance along the path of evolution4 ,this soul is a no-thing1 which1 in reality1 is everything2 a ray of the spiritual sun 7,god71 a divine spark incarnated in the vibration 7matter7 produced by the supreme ,being1 it is a centre1 capable of all its ,father's potentialities4 ,these potentialities1 which may be grouped together under three general heads--power1 love1 and wisdom--we may sum up in the one word3 consciousness4 ,it is1 indeed1 a centre of consciousness in the germinal state1 that is about to blossom forth1 realising all its possibilities and becoming a being fully aware of its unity with the ,being from which it comes and which it will then have become4 ,in this development the vibrations of outer matter play the part of the steel1 which1 on striking flint1 causes the life latent within the latter to dart forth4 ,each vibration which strikes the soul arouses therein a dormant faculty1 and when all the vibrations of the universe have touched it1 this soul will have developed as many faculties as that universe admits of1 until1 in the course of successive worlds1 it becomes increasingly divine in the one ,divine ,being4 ,in order that all the vibrations of which a universe is capable may reach the soul the latter must surround itself with all the different types of atoms that exist in the world1 for every vibration is an atomic movement1 and the nature of the vibration depends on the quality of the atoms in motion4 ,now1 the first part of evolution consists in condensing round vital centres#fj 7souls7 atoms aggregated in combinations of a progressively increasing density1 on to those that make up the physical plane2 when the soul has thus clothed itself with the elements of all the planes1 the resulting form is called a microcosm--a small ,cosmos--for it contains1 in reality1 all the elements contained in the ,universe4 ,during this progressive development1 the soul1 which thus effects its fall into matter1 receives from all the planes through which it passes and from all the forms in which it incarnates1 varied vibrations which awake within it correspondingly responsive powers and develop a non-centred1 diffused1 non-individualised consciousness4 ,in the second phase of evolution1 the forms are limited1 the vibrations they receive are transmitted by specialised sensorial groups1 and the soul1 hitherto endowed with a diffused consciousness1 begins to feel varieties of vibrations that grow ever more numerous1 to be distinguished from the surrounding world1 to separate itself1 so to speak1 from everything around2 in a word1 to develop self-consciousness4 ,this separation first takes place on the physical plane2 it is made easier by hard1 violent contacts1 and the forms1 in their turn1 become more complex1 varied1 and specialised in proportion as the soul is the more perfectly individualised4 ,when it has developed all the self-conscious responsive powers in the physical body1 it begins to develop those faculties which have as their organs of transmission the finer bodies1 and as planes of vibration the invisible worlds4 ,in our planetary system the number of the invisible planes is seven4#fa ,each of them in turn supplies the soul with a form2 thus1 when evolution--which in its second phase successively dematerialises matter1 i4e41 disassociates the atoms from their combinations1 beginning with the denser ones--has dissolved the physical plane1 the human soul will utilise1 as its normal body1 a finer one which it is at present using as a link between the mental and the physical bodies4 ,before this dissolution is effected1 however1 human beings will have developed1 to some extent1 several finer bodies1 already existing1 though hitherto not completely organised4 ,the first of these bodies1 the astral--a very inappropriate name1 though here used because it is so well known--is a copy1 more or less1 of the physical form in its general aspect2 the resemblance and clearness of the features are pronounced in proportion to the intellectual development of the person1 for thought-vibration has great influence over the building up of the centres of force and of sensation in this body4#fb ,the second is an even finer aggregate1 composed of mental substance and assuming1 during incarnation1 the form of a smaller or larger ovoid--the causal body--surrounding the physical form4#fc ,at its centre1 and plunged in the astral body during incarnation1 is another kind of ovoid not so large and composed of denser substance--the mental body4#fd ,above these states of matter1 at the present stage there appears no form to the consciousness of human beings1 though perfect seers can perceive1 within the causal body1 still higher grades of matter1 which will only subsequently become centres of self-consciousness4 ,during incarnation1 the soul1 in the majority of men1 is clearly conscious of itself and of its surroundings only when it is functioning through the nervous system 7the brain72 when it leaves the denser body1 during sleep1 its consciousness is in the astral body1 and there it thinks1#fe but without being conscious of what is taking place around it4 ,after disincarnation1 it generally becomes highly conscious in its astral body1 where it passes its purgatorial life2 and this latter endures until the soul leaves the astral body4 ,as soon as the latter is thrown off1 consciousness centres in the mental body2 this is the period of ,devachan or ,heaven4 ,when the mental body is put off1 paradise is at an end1 and the soul1 sheathed only in the causal body1 finds itself on a very lofty plane1 but here1 consciousness is vague1 when we are dealing with a man of average development4 ,instead of laying aside this garment1 as so far it has done with the rest1 it recommences1 after the lapse of a certain time1 another descent into the matter of the lower planes and a new incarnation begins4 ,to the centre of the causal body are drawn atoms from the inner mental plane2 these represent a new mental body4#ff ,when this latter has been formed1 there are attracted to it atoms of the astral plane1 and these form a new astral body2 the soul1 clothed in these two sheaths1 if one may so express it1 is brought into conscious or unconscious relation1 according to its degree of development1 with the two corresponding planes1 lives there generally for a short time1 and is directed to a mother's womb1 in which is created the visible body of flesh within the centre of its astral body4 ,this force of atomic attraction has its centre in the causal body1 a kind of sensitive plate on which are registered all those vibrations which disturb or affect human vehicles during incarnation4 ,this body is1 in effect1 the present abode of the soul1 it represents the terminal point of human consciousness1#fg the real centre of man4#fh ,it receives all the impressions of the plane on which it finds itself1 as well as those which come to it from the lower planes1 and responds to them the more readily as it has now attained a fuller development4 ,it possesses the power to attract and to repel2 a microcosm1 it has its outbreathing and inbreathing1 as has the ,macrocosm2 like ,brahm1 it creates its bodies and destroys them1 although in the vast majority of mankind it exercises this power more or less unconsciously and under the irresistible impulsion of the force of evolution--the divine ,will4 ,when it attracts1 it causes to recur within itself the vibrations it has received and registered--like a phonographic roll--during the past incarnations2 these vibrations reverberate in the outer world1 and certain of them attract from this world#fi--;in this case the mental world--the atoms capable of responding to them4 ,when they have created the mental body1 other vibrations can be transmitted through this body to the astral world and attract atoms which will form the body bearing the same name--the astral--and finally other vibrations1 making use of these two bodies as a means of transmission1 will affect the physical plane and attract atoms which will assist in the building up of the denser body4 ,everywhere the formative power of vibration is guided by cosmic intelligence1 but it is effected far more easily in the reconstruction of the higher bodies1 that precedes incarnation properly so-called1 than in the creation of the now physical body4 ,indeed1 in the astral and mental bodies1 nothing is produced but an atomic mass1 the many elements of which will be aggregated into complete organisms only during incarnation properly so-called1 whilst the construction of the visible body admits of a mass of extremely delicate and important details4 ,it is for this reason that we have seen this work of construction entrusted to special ,beings who prepare1 control and watch over it unceasingly4 ,it is because the causal body registers every vibration the personality#gj has generated or received in the course of its series of incarnations1 that the vices and virtues are preserved1 as is the case with the faults or the good qualities of the physical body4 ,the man who has created for himself a coarse astral body by feeding the passions and thoughts which specially vivify the coarser matter of this body will on returning to earth find a new astral body composed of the same elements1 though then in a dormant state4 ,he who1 by the cultivation of a lofty intellect1 has built up a refined mental body1 will return to incarnation with a like mental body1 whilst the one who1 by meditation and the practice of devotion which bring into being the noblest qualities of the heart1 has set vibrating the purest portions of the causal body and of the divine essence 7tm-,buddhi1 as it is named in ,sanskrit71 with which it is filled1 will return to birth endowed with those qualities which make apostles and saints1 the ,saviours of the world4 ,in other words3 ,matter has more remote boundaries than science recognises2 the numberless grades of atoms of which it consists1 their powers of aggregation1 the multiplicity and duration of the bodies they form1 are not even suspected by materialism4 ,materialism sees nothing but the part played by matter2 it denies that intelligence plays any part1 and will by no means admit--in spite of evolution and progress--that above man there exists an almost endless chain of higher and higher ,beings1 whilst below him are kingdoms of an increasingly restricted range of consciousness4 ,by refusing to believe in the multiplicity of the vehicles which the human soul uses1 it is unable to understand individual survival or to solve the problem of heredity4 ,indeed1 evolution is only partially explained by the physical germ2 the latter1 in order to act alone and of itself in the development of the human embryo should possess a degree of intelligence considerably superior to that of man4 ,this is the opposite of what we find1 however1 and we are brought face to face with the absurd fact of a cause vastly inferior to its effect4 ,indeed1 the intelligence shown by the germ is not its own2 it is that of the cosmic ,mind reflected by mighty ,beings1 its willing servants4 ,besides1 this germ contains only the qualities that belong to physical matter1 and1 as we shall show1 the moral1 mental1 and spiritual qualities are preserved by the finer--the causal--body1 which represents the real man at the present time4 ,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,human ,,heredity4 ,if materialism were the whole truth1 it ought to explain the whole of heredity2 instead of that it clashes with almost all the problems of life4 ,physical substance offers for analysis none but physical phenomena3 attraction1 repulsion1 heat1 electricity1 magnetism1 vital movement2 the anatomical constitution of the highest--the nerve--tissue1 presents only the slightest differences in the animal series1 if these differences are compared with the enormous distinctions in the qualities it expresses4 ,differences of form1 visible to the microscope1 are at times important1 we shall be told1 and those that affect the atomic activity and groupings#ga are perhaps even more important4 ,that is true1 especially in whatever concerns man4 ,intelligence cannot always be explained by the complexity of the brain--though this complexity is the condition of faculty1 as a rule--insects such as ants1 bees1 and spiders1 whose brains are nothing but simple nerve ganglia1 display prodigies of foresight1 architectural ability and social qualities2 whilst along with these dwarfs of the animal kingdom1 we see giants that manifest only a rudimentary mind1 in spite of their large1 convoluted brains4 ,among the higher animals1 there is not one that could imitate the beaver--which1 all the same1 is far from being at the head of the animal series--in building for itself a house in a river and storing provisions therein4 ,there is a vast gulf1 in the zoological series1 before and after these insects1 as there is before and after the beaver2 whilst an even wider gulf separates the highest specimens of the animal world from man himself4 ,nor do the weight and volume of the brain afford any better explanation of the difference in intellect than does its structural complexity4 ,the weight relations between the brain and the body of different animals have been estimated as follows by ,debierre 7,la ,molle et l' ,encphale73-- ,rabbit #a of brain for #adj of body4 ,cat #a #aef ,fox #a #bje ,dog #a #cea ,horse #a #hjj ,if matter were the only condition sine qu non of intelligence1 we should have to admit that the rabbit was more intelligent than the cat1 the fox1 the dog1 and even than the horse4 ,in the same work the following figures express the average size of the brain in different races of men4 ,pariahs of ,india #accb cubic centimetres4 ,australians #acch ,polynesians #aejj ,ancient ,egyptians #aejj ,merovingians #aecg ,modern ,parisians #aeei ,this would prove that the people who built ,karnac and the ,pyramids1 who raised to an elevation of about #ejj feet blocks of granite1 one of which would require fifteen horses to drag it along a level road1 who placed these enormous stones side by side without mortar or cement of any kind and with almost invisible joints1 who possessed the secret of malleable glass and of painting in colours that have not faded even after the lapse of centuries 444 that such a race of men were inferior to the rude1 uncultured ,merovingians1 and scarcely the equals of the ,polynesians6 ,science also tells us that in a child five years of age the human brain weighs1 on an average1 #abej grammes--this1 too1 would bear no relation whatever with the intellectual and moral development of a child of that age and that of an adult man4 ,though ,cuvier's brain weighed #ahcj grammes1 and ,cromwell's #bbcj1 that of ,tiedemann1 the great anatomist1 when placed on the scales1 weighed no more than #abed1 and that of ,gambetta only #abdf4 ,the physical body of itself can give no reason for a host of psychological phenomena on which1 however1 a flood of light is shed if one recognises the existence of other vehicles of consciousness possessing more far-reaching vibrations1 and consequently capable of expressing higher faculties4 ,during sleep1 for instance1 which is characterised by the ,ego having left his physical body1 reason is absent1 and what we call dreams are generally nothing but a tissue of nonsense1 at which the dreamer feels astonishment only when returning to his body on awaking4 ,on the other hand1 as we have seen in ,chapter ,i41 when the ,ego succeeds in imprinting on the brain the vibrations of the higher consciousness1 it is able to regain the memory of facts long forgotten and to solve problems that could not be solved during the waking state4 ,there are madmen who have ceased to be mad during somnambulism2 persons of rudimentary intelligence have proved themselves to be profound thinkers during the mesmeric trance2 when under somnambulism vision is possible to those born blind and certain people can see things that are happening a great distance away1 and their reports have been proved correct2 certain phenomena of double-consciousness cannot be explained without the plurality--the duality1 at all events--of the vehicles of consciousness4 ,to return to the rle played by the germ in the question of heredity1 we repeat that the physical germ1 of itself alone1 explains only a portion of man2 it throws light on the physical side of heredity1 but leaves in as great darkness as ever the problem of intellectual and moral faculty4 ,if it represented the whole man1 one would expect to find in any individual the qualities manifested in his progenitors or parents--never any other2 these qualities could not exceed the amount possessed by the parents1 whereas we find criminals from birth in the most respectable families and saints born to parents who are the very scum of society4 ,you may come across twins1 i4e41 beings born from the same germs1 under the same conditions of time and environment1 one of whom is an angel and the other a demon1 though their physical forms closely resemble each other4 ,child prodigies are sufficiently numerous to frequently trouble the thinker with the problem of heredity4 ,whence came that irresistible impulse towards poetry in ,ovid which showed itself from his earliest youth and in the end overcame the vigorous opposition of his parents8 ,pascal in his youth met with keen opposition from his parents1 who forbade him to think of mathematics and geometry4 ,he besought his father to tell him1 at all events1 what was that science of which he was forbidden to think1 and what it treated of4 ,the answer was given to him that it is the method of making correct figures and finding out the proportions they bear to each other4 ,with nothing more than this information and the aid of reflection1 he discovered for himself the first thirty-two propositions of ,euclid by means of circles and lines traced in secret4 ,mozart1 at the age of three1 learnt the clavecin by watching his sister play2 a year afterwards he composed admirably1 at the age of seven he played the violin at first sight without having had any teacher1 and proved himself a composer of genius before he reached his twelfth birthday4 ,pepito ,ariola1 the little ,spaniard1 was only three years of age when1 about ten years ago1 he filled with astonishment the ,court of ,madrid by his wonderful playing on the piano4 ,in the lineage of these prodigies has there been found a single ancestor capable of explaining these faculties1 as astonishing as they are premature8 ,if to the absence of a cause in their progenitors is added the fact that genius is not hereditary1 that ,mozarts1 ,beethovens1 and ,dantes have left no children stamped from birth as prodigies of genius1 we shall be forced to the conclusion that1 within the limits it has taken up1 materialism is unable to explain heredity4 ,a few more words must be said on physical heredity to explain why moral qualities in men of average development are often on a par with the same in their parents4 ,in reality1 the physical germs only multiply the organic elements of the ovule1 and as this latter contains the cell-types of all the tissues1 it follows that these cell-types will possess the qualities of the tissues that exist in the parents4 ,for instance1 germs of sufferers from arterio-sclerosis will supply a vascular apparatus predisposed to arterio-sclerosis2 tuberculous subjects will supply germs in which the vital vibrations and cellular solidity will be below the normal1 and bring about those degenerate tendencies which characterise the tuberculous subject2 those of sanguine constitution will transmit a faculty for vital assimilation and considerable corpuscular production1 and so on4#gb ,in this transmission there are two main factors3 the male and the female germs4 ,the former represents force1 it imprints on the ovule the initial vital vibration which is to be that of each of the cells of the organism in course of construction4 ,the function of this germ may be studied more easily in animals1 because their heredity is not complicated by the individual differences due to the mental vehicle4 ,the stallion supplies the vital qualities--the blood1 i4e41 the vivacity1 brio1 pace2 physical resistance comes from the mare4 ,to sum up1 the modalities of matter are supplied by the feminine germ4 ,peculiarities of form proceed from several causes4 ,phrenology and physiognomy are sciences1 though the studies hitherto known by these names are almost valueless because they have not been carried on with the necessary scientific precision4 ,doubtless ,gall and ,lavater possessed the gift of penetrating both mind and heart1 as was also the case with ,mlle4 ,lenormand ,desbarolles and the genuine graphologists2 but this gift was not the result of mathematical deduction1 but rather a psychometric or prophetic faculty2 for this reason neither they nor their books have produced pupils worthy of the name4 ,the main features and lines only of the human form have a known meaning--and not always a very precise one--for every physical1 passional1 mental1 or spiritual force possesses an organ of expression in the visible body1 and the varieties of form of this organ enable one to judge of the degrees of force they express on the earth plane4 ,on this basis1 peculiarities of form mainly stand2 and the intensity of certain defects or qualities is at times expressed so strongly that it completely modifies the tendencies it would seem that heredity ought to pass on4 ,the similarity of form between parent and child is not exact1 because it proceeds from the peculiarities of the individual in incarnation far more than from the collective tendencies of the embryonic cells in process of proliferation4 ,the being charged with building the body can1 in turn1 considerably modify its form1 copying specially striking features found in the mother's thought2 certain characteristic family traits1 the ,bourbon nose1 for instance2 those belonging to strangers in continual relationship with the mother1 and those that a babe1 fed and brought up away from home1 takes from his nurse or from the surroundings amid which he lives2 all these probably leave their impress in the same way4 ,in this case1 indeed1 the builder--who1 it must be added1 ceases the work of construction only when it is on its way to completion1 which happens about the age of seven--is influenced by the forms of the new surroundings1 and at times copies them1 more or less1 and we may ask ourselves if the unexplained fact of negro children being born to a white woman--the widow of a negro--remarried to a white man is in no way connected with the reproduction of a mental image of the coloured children of a former marriage4 ,another fact3 observers have noticed that almost all great men have had as their mother a woman of lofty character4 ,this preponderance of the maternal influence will be understood if we remember that the cellular mass that composes the child's body belongs to the mother1 not only because this mass originates from the proliferation of the ovule1 and1 consequently1 is only the multiplication of the maternal substance1 but also because the materials that have formed it and have been transmuted into flesh have been supplied by her2 indeed1 everything comes from this cellular mass1 the elements drawn from the amniotic fluid and the blood1 the milk1 which1 after birth1 continues for long months to build up the child's body and the magnetic fluid1 the atoms of life1 which are continually escaping from it and which the babe absorbs whilst receiving incessant attention from his mother4 ,this exchange of atoms is of the utmost importance1 for these ultra-microscopic particles are charged with our mental and moral tendencies as well as with the physical qualities2 personally1 ,i have had many direct proofs of this1 but the most striking came at a critical period of my life4 ,one day1 when nervous exhaustion1 steadily increased by overwork1 had reached an extreme stage1 a great ,being--not a ,mahatma1 but a ,soul at a very lofty stage of evolution--sent to me by destiny at the time1 poured into my shattered body a portion of his physical life4 ,shortly afterwards a real transformation took place1 far more of a moral than of a physical nature1 and for a few hours ,i felt myself the copy or counterpart of that great ,soul1 and the divine influence lasted twenty-four hours before it gradually died away4 ,i then understood1 better than by any other demonstration1 the influence of the physical upon the moral nature and the method of the subtle contagion often effected by mesmerism4 ,a man is known by the friends he keeps is an old proverb4 ,if atoms of life can have so marked an influence upon a man nearly forty years of age1 i4e41 at a period when he is in full possession of himself1 how much more powerful is this influence when exercised upon the child--a delicate1 sensitive body1 almost entirely lacking the control of the soul8 ,this is the reason hired nurses often transmit to the child their own physical features and countless moral tendencies which last some time after weaning2 orphans1 too1 morally1 often resemble the strangers who have brought them up4 ,like physical tendencies these moral propensities disappear only by degrees1 according to change of environment1 and especially to the degree in which the body is controlled by the reincarnated soul4#gc ,the most important1 however1 of the moral influences at work on the being again brought into touch with earth-life is connected with the emotions1 the passions and thoughts of those around4 ,the child--and under this name must be included the embryo and the foetus--possesses bodies the subtle elements of which are in a dormant state2 his mental and sense organisms are scarcely more than masses of substance that have not yet been vitalised--a sort of collection of germs of good or of evil1 which will yield fruit when they awake4 ,the passional and mental vibrations of the parents play on the matter capable of responding to them in the invisible bodies of the child2 they vivify it1 attract atoms of the same nature taken from the finer atmosphere around1 and awake in it passional and mental centres which1 but for them1 might have remained latent1 or1 at all events1 would only have developed at a later stage1 when the ,ego1 master of its vehicles1 would be in a position to struggle against the outer evil influences and not permit them to have effect save within the limits imposed by will4 ,in this way1 it is possible to bring to birth evil instincts in a child1 and intensify them to a considerable extent1 before a single virtue has succeeded in expressing itself on the new instrument in course of development4 ,this mental action is so strong that it colours vividly1 if not altogether1 the morality of the little ones living beneath its influence1 and even older children are still so sensitive to it that whole classes are seen to reflect the moral character of the teacher who has charge of them4 ,this influence1 too1 does not cease with childhood1 it weighs--though far less heavily--on the man during the whole of his life2 and families1 nations1 nay1 even races1 each see through the prism of their own special atmosphere4 ,mighty and subtle is this illusion which man1 in the course of his pilgrimage towards divine ,unity1 must succeed in piercing and finally entirely dissipating4 ,our responsibility towards children is all the more serious in that1 to the deep impression which thought makes on the subtle1 plastic1 and defenceless mental bodies of the little ones1 is added the fact that1 could one prevent the development of the germs of evil in the course of one incarnation1 these germs1 not having fructified1 would transmit nothing to the causal body after death1 and would disappear#gd with the disintegration of the matter of which they were composed4 ,consequently1 with regard to children especially1 we should cultivate none but noble emotions and lofty thoughts1 so as to create centres of pure and worthy activity within their vehicles in course of reconstruction1 and to turn their early impulses in the direction of good1 their first actions towards duty and their first aspirations towards the lofty and luminous heights of spirituality4 ,one may see from this rapid sketch how numerous and important are the influences added to and blended with those of physical heredity4 ,this group of influences1 some maleficent1 some beneficent1 is chosen by the ,beings who control destiny and give to each ,ego1 on reincarnation1 the body and environment it has merited1 or rather that are needed1 for the harmonious development of its faculties4 ,a young soul#ge still at the mercy of the animal impulses--necessary impulses at the outset of human development--of its kmic1 i4e41 desire1 vehicle1 is sent to parents who will be able to supply its body with material elements of a particular density without which these impulses could not manifest themselves4 ,an ,ego that is approaching maturity will be drawn to a family that is physically and morally pure1 in which it will receive both the finer physical vehicle it needs and that lofty environment which1 when it enters upon earth life1 will develop the centres of expression for its nobler faculties4 ,those who are named in the mystic phraseology of the ,east1 the ,lords of ,karma1 in their choice of the race1 the family1 and the environment in which the reincarnated soul is to appear1 seek to give this latter the most favourable conditions for its evolution4 ,an ,ego whose artistic side needs to be developed will often be born in a family which will supply it with a nervous system accustomed to the kind of vibrations required1 and an environment favourable to the early development of the physical centres of these faculties2 to assist a being whose scientific1 mystical1 or metaphysical side needs to be developed1 other environment and parentage will be chosen1 and it is this relative parallelism existing between the moral qualities of the parents and those of the children which has deceived observers insufficiently instructed in the mystery of heredity1 and made them believe in the influence of the physical germ alone4 ,it is an easy matter to supply an ,ego of average development with a vehicle2 an ordinary body is all that is needed4 ,there may be extreme difficulty1 however1 when a new instrument has to be found for a lofty soul1 and when we think that1 in pressing instances when the fortune of humanity is at stake and the hour of destiny has struck1 certain great ,souls accept very imperfect bodies for want of better ones1 we shall no longer be astonished at finding that any particular ,messenger1 in his compassion for the humanity he has to enlighten and to direct to the ancient1 eternal ,source of ,truth1 has clothed himself with a body of flesh the ancestry of which was far from being adapted to the expression of his lofty faculties2 courageous ,souls are well able to put on the robe of pain and to submit to slander and calumny when the world's salvation can only be achieved at such a cost4 ,we know scarcely anything of the conditions that control the return to earth of the ,avataras1 the ,sons of ,god1 except that sometimes great ,initiates1 after purifying their bodies1 voluntarily hand them over to the gods1 who come down to earth--a sublime sacrifice which1 like that of the ,saviours who consent to come amongst us1 shows forth that supreme characteristic of divinity2 the gift of oneself4 ,nor is heredity always realised2 many a physical characteristic is not reproduced2 in families tainted with dangerous physiological defects1 many children escape the evil1 and the diseased tendencies of the tissues remain latent in them1 although they often afflict their descendants4 ,on the other hand1 as already stated1 extremely divergent mental types are often met with in the same family1 and many a virtuous parent is torn with grief on seeing the vicious tendencies of his child4 ,here1 as elsewhere1 the hand of ,providence1 as ,christianity calls it--the ,intelligence that brings about evolution1 the ,justice that controls and the ,love that animates it--the hand of ,god or of those who1 having become divine1 collaborate in the divine plan1 comes to make up for the imperfection of the vehicles1 and they permit only what is necessary to come to each one--only what he has deserved1 as is generally said3 this hand can create a physical or a psychic malady even where heredity and environment could not supply it1 just as it can preserve a pure soul from the moral infection of the surroundings into which it is thrown4#gf ,this is the reason we find that heredity and environment either fail to fulfil their promise or else give what was not their's to give4 ,,objection4 ,reincarnation is not necessary1 it has been alleged2 the soul's evolution is continued after death in the invisible worlds in finer bodies2 consequently it is needless to return to the denser bodies of earth4 ,in our opinion1 the trials of life1 so exhausting to the will1 must have given rise to this theory1 for not only have those who advance it never given the slightest proof of its truth1 but it is utterly opposed to the law of evolution4 ,in a world which prefers the flights of imagination to logical reasoning we are too accustomed to regard man as a being apart in ,nature2 we are only too prone to make exceptions on his behalf4 ,the patient scientific researches of all ages have laid down this universally accepted axiom3 ,nature does not proceed by leaps4 ,it has not so far entered anyone's mind--we think not at all events--to teach that the development of the mineral1 the vegetable1 and even of the animal kingdom1 comes to a sudden halt on this planet1 once the forms in these kingdoms are dispersed1 to be completed in finer worlds2 but regarding man other thoughts have prevailed1 as though his intelligence and his heart had learnt all the lessons this earth is capable of teaching6 ,from the most undeveloped of savages up to those glorious ,spirits that have been the ,manu1 the ,buddha1 and the ,christ1 we find every step occupied on the long ladder of humanity4 ,in the lower kingdoms all the stages exist also and are utilised1 each link receiving something from its neighbours and giving them something in return1 thus expressing on the visible plane that gracious unity which is divine ,love3 love that is instinctive and imperative in beings of a low degree of evolution2 obeyed by those who1 without loving it1 understand its good services1 and actually lived by such souls as have entered upon the path of sacrifice--souls that comprehend the ,unity of beings4 ,if this earth has been capable of teaching the ,saviours of the world1 why should divine ,wisdom send thereon only for one short life this mass of imperfect men1 to hurl them afterwards on to other worlds1 like careless butterflies flitting from flower to flower8 ,can the evolutionary effort be so easy and simple2 is divine energy of such slight value that it can thus be squandered to no purpose2 is the process of creation the sport of an infant ,god2 is the ,logos1 sacrificing himself in order to give life to the ,universe1 a prodigal1 working without rhyme or reason1 sending forth ,his intelligence and might in aimless sport and leaving evolution at the mercy of ,his caprice2 did not ,brahm1 by means of meditation1 which1 as the ,oriental scriptures tell us1 preceded creation1 practise the gentlest1 the most rapid1 and the easiest method of guiding beings to the ,goal8 ,is it not sheer blasphemy to attribute such folly to the ,soul of the world8 ,does not the study of ,nature1 at each step1 belie this insensate waste1 of which no human being would be guilty8 ,everywhere with the minimum of force1 ,nature produces the maximum of effect2 everywhere energy is consolidated with one end in view2 and yet1 amid the general order around1 is the evolution of man to form a solitary1 an incomprehensible exception8 ,no1 we cannot believe it for a moment4 ,american spiritists1#gg however--for it is they who have given out this hypothesis--are not in agreement with the school of ,allan ,kardec on this fundamental point1 and this fact is by no means calculated to strengthen1 the authority for this doctrine4 ,did we not know that disincarnate beings are as ignorant in the life beyond as they were on earth2 that they tend to group themselves1 as they did here below1 with those who think as they do1 whilst remaining aloof from such as profess hostile opinions2 that the ,hindu remains a ,hindu1 the ,christian a ,christian1 and the ,mussulman a ,mussulman2 that sceptics are still sceptics2 and atheists1 atheists2 we should think that spirit communications with their incessant contradictions were unparalleled nonsense1 since the spirits are by no means agreed on the very things regarding which they pretend to pronounce a judgment from which there is no appeal4 ,fortunately1 there is a reason for these divergences4 ,death neither lifts the veil of ,isis nor brings the soul into the presence of omniscient ,light2 man remains what he was1 with all his former beliefs1 opinions1 passions1 qualities1 sympathies1 and antipathies4 ,true1 he knows a little more than he did upon earth2 no more has he doubts as to the after-life1 he regains a precise memory of the whole of his life here1 and the recollection of many a forgotten fact comes back to him2 he understands better1 for his intelligence is being served by a much finer body--but that is all4 ,therefore spirits reflect both the morality and the mentality of the nation to which they belonged on earth1 and in the other life are to be found friends and enemies1 believers and unbelievers1 reincarnationists and non-reincarnationists4 ,rebirths can be established only by personal proof1 by memory2 now1 the soul that has entered the life beyond1 after disincarnation1 has not reached the end of its pilgrimage2 it is learning that it must1 by self-purification1 pass from world to world until it attains to a state of supreme and final rest2 but when this latter has been reached1 it has lost its lower sheaths and the memory they gave it1 and when the ,law brings it back to earth1 it puts on new bodies1 which1 having had no participation in preceding events1 are ignorant of the past4 ,remembrance1 we shall see later on1 is preserved in the cosmic ,memory1 but until the soul has readied a sufficient development1 it cannot summon it forth1 and even could it do so1 it would succeed in leaving its impress on the brain only when the physical1 the astral1 and the mental bodies have submitted to a process of purification which harmonises#gh them and binds them closely together4 ,then only does man know that ,reincarnation is true1 and takes place on earth until this latter passes into a slate of obscuration1#gi or1 at all events1 until the development of the soul enables it to utilise for its evolution some environment on the planet1 other than the physical one4#hj ,we shall be told that we are now proving what we before denied4 ,no1 we are simply stating an exception which happens in very few cases and only then to the pioneers of the race--an exception which is nothing but an apparent one and finds its place in the progressive order which unifies all the beings in the planetary chain to which we belong4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #da3 ,each part possesses in a potential state the properties of the whole4 ,footnote #db3 ,the kingdoms that are invisible to physical sight are as interesting as those we see1 but we have no occasion to speak of them here4 ,logic compels us to acknowledge them until the time comes when human development enables them to be discovered and affords direct proof of their existence4 ,footnote #dc3 ,we do not mean to affirm that evolutionists have not committed serious errors in their theory of development4 ,but the law they have set prominently forth is one of the fundamental expressions of the working of ,god in the ,universe4 ,footnote #dd3 ,the vibratory impressions that constitute the memory of the ,universe4 ,see in ,chapter #d1 the final ,objection4 ,footnote #de3 ,see ,l'or et la ,transmutation des mtaux1 by ,tiffereau4 ,footnote #df3 ,such as the one with the magnet which1 if too great a weight is suspended to its armature1 loses strength1 and this it only regains by degrees when fed with successively stronger charges4 ,a steel spring that has borne too great a weight loses strength1 and may break if subjected anew to the same weight that fatigued it4 ,pieces of iron break after being fatigued by a weight they easily carried before4 ,professor ,kennedy made very useful experiments regarding the fatigue of metals at the time when metallic bridges were continually breaking1 thus causing great perplexity in the engineering world4 ,footnote #dg3 ,there has been much discussion as to the causes of ,evolution4 ,in his ,progress and ,poverty1 ,henry ,george endeavours to show that ,evolution is in no way brought about by individual or collective heredity4 ,he says that the factors of ,progress are3 ,first1 the mind1 which causes the advance of civilisation when not exercised solely in the struggle for life1 or in frequent conflicts between nation and nation2 second1 association or combination1 which ensures all the benefits to be derived from division of work2 third1 justice1 which harmonises the units of the social body1 and without which civilisation decays and dies4 ,h4 ,george saw only these elements in evolution2 consequently1 he could neither solve the problem of progress nor explain the rise and fall of empires4 ,indeed1 egoism and war are in no way1 as he says they are1 the sole causes of the fall of races3 the soil cannot feed a great nation for an indefinite period even if the country is prevented by emigration from becoming over-populated2 the very nature itself of the civilisation of the time prevents it from continuing for ever4 ,modern western races1 for instance1 have for centuries past been developing energy and intelligence2 a limit must be fixed to that particular line of progress1 under penalty of destroying equilibrium both in the individual and the race4 ,if1 indeed1 man is to learn strength and intelligence1 he must also develop love1 or he will fail4 ,the ,elder ,brothers behind ,evolution control the advance of the races in accordance with the plan of ,god1 whose servants they are4 ,the real cause of evolution does not lie in environment1 as ,h4 ,george and his school would have it3 it is in the divine ,will1 incarnate in the ,universe4 ,it is ,god who creates the world1 ,god who fills it with life1 guides it and permits its development4 ,all the laws of ,nature are the expression of the supreme ,intelligence2 all progress is nothing but the realisation of the possibilities of the divine ,will4 ,the evolutionary edifice is based on solidarity1 and here environment is undoubtedly an indispensable factor in development2 still1 it only acts as the field or soil1 and soil without seed remains barren4 ,the mind is also a powerful lever in evolution1 but it affects only one side of the matter4 ,association or co-operation facilitates only the growth of certain faculties whilst checking the development of others4 ,justice calls forth only certain individual and social forces1 and leaves many of them in a state of stagnation4 ,in a word1 ,h4 ,george forgets that there is no useless force in the whole of ,nature2 that they all collaborate in the general task1 and finally that there would be no progress1 were it not for the existence of opposing forces4 ,if1 e4g41 egoism were non-existent1 those still incapable of working without the hope of personal gain would lack a powerful incentive to action4 ,true is the saying that evil is the stepping-stone to good4 ,were the ,law of ,rebirths known1 it would prove to be an explanation of the problems of evolution4 ,footnote #dh3 ,a few theologians have feebly affirmed the possibility of human life on other planets than the ,earth1 but their voices have either been stifled or have met with no echo4 ,at the ,congress of ,fribourg1 in ,switzerland1 ,august1 #ahig1 evolution was adopted by an assembly of #gjj eminent ,catholics--laymen and clergy4 ,dr4 ,zahn said that although creation is possible a priori1 it is a posteriori so very improbable that it ought to be rejected2 that those who believe in this creation rely upon the literal interpretation of ,genesis1 whilst the contemporary students of the ,bible affirm that the book is allegorical1 that ,god1 in the beginning created the elements and gave them power to evolve in all the forms that characterise the organic and inorganic worlds4 ,one voice alone was raised in protest1 but it was drowned beneath the refutations of the rest4 ,the question1 however1 might be asked3 ,how is the transition made from one kingdom to another8 ,what is the missing link8 ,who is to interpret the ,bible if it is an allegorical book8 ,is it the ,church which has always imposed the letter of the ,bible and condemned all who have attempted to set forth its spirit8 ,footnote #di3 ,in hypnosis1 indeed1 the thought suggested is strong enough to modify organic life and bring about hematic extravasion 7stigmata71 burnings1 vomiting1 etc4444 ,in certain ecstatic cases1 fixity of thought produces analogous effects4 ,no one who has studied these questions can have the slightest doubt that mind dominates matter4 ,footnote #ej3 ,we say force-matter1 for there is no force without matter1 they are the two poles of the same thing4 ,moreover1 what is considered force in relation to dense matter plays the rle of matter to subtler forces2 electricity1 e4g41 is force-matter1 probably capable of serving as a vehicle for subtler force-matter1 just as it plays the rle of force in relation to its conductors4 ,force is born and dies with matter and vice vers2 both alike arise from the activity of ,god4 ,footnote #ea3 ,the sensations it calls forth vary with the forms4 ,that which burns us1 gives life to other beings2 water1 which suffocates us1 enables fishes to live2 whilst air suffocates creatures that live in the water1 etc4 ,footnote #eb3 ,all this must be taken figuratively4 ,god does not incarnate ,himself4 ,he is the ,all4 ,to our limited conceptions1 ,he seems to limit ,himself1 in order to be the ,life of a ,universe4 ,footnote #ec3 ,here1 too1 we are speaking relatively2 in reality1 there are no fragments of the ,absolute4 ,we describe the process as it seems to us in the world of illusion4 ,footnote #ed3 ,being3 ,divinity4 ,footnote #ee3 ,force-matter4 ,footnote #ef3 ,forms4 ,footnote #eg3 ,the movement given to the germ by the union of its positive and negative forces4 ,footnote #eh3 ,the builders are inferior beings utilised by ,nature in every process of germination and development4 ,to certain readers1 this will perhaps appear to be an aberration of the theosophic imagination1 in which case we recommend them to supply us with a better theory and to believe in that1 until the time comes when the functioning of the inner senses takes place in them1 and enables them to perceive these beings in action4 ,footnote #ei3 ,teratological phenomena attributable to the imagination of the mother are so numerous that they cannot be refuted4 ,the case mentioned here is taken from ,van ,helmont's ,de ,injectis ,materialibus4 ,the woman in question had been present at the decapitation of thirteen soldiers1 condemned to death by the ,duc d',alva4 ,in the same work are two other instances which occurred under similar circumstances3 in the first1 the foetus at birth was lacking a hand2 and in the second1 it was the whole arm that was missing2 whilst1 what is perhaps even stranger than this1 neither arm1 nor hand1 nor head were found1 they had been absorbed by the body of the mother4 ,footnote #fj3 ,to be strictly logical1 one should say round the only centre1 the one ,being1 but looked upon from the side of manifestation1 evolution appears as stated4 ,footnote #fa3 ,hellenbach1 in his book1 ,magie der ,zahlen1 says regarding the number seven4 ,the law governing the phenomena on which our knowledge is based decrees that the vibrations of sound and light regularly increase in number1 that they are grouped in seven columns1 and that the vibratory elements of each column have so close a relation to one another that not only can it be expressed in figures1 but it is even confirmed by practice in music and chemistry4 ,the fact that this variation and periodicity are governed by the number seven cannot be disputed2 it is not a matter of chance3 there is a cause and we ought to discover it4 ,in his table of the elements grouped according to atomic weight1 ,mendelejef also acknowledges that the number seven controls what he calls the ,law of periodical function4 ,he reaches conclusions similar to those of ,hellenbach4 ,dr4 ,laycock1 in his ,articles on the ,periodicity of ,vital ,phenomena 7,lancet7 #ahdb1 sums up as follows3-- ,it is1 ,i think1 impossible to come to any less general conclusion than this1 that1 in animals1 changes occur every #c-a_/b1 #g1 #ad1 #ba or #bh days1 or at some definite period of weeks4 ,footnote #fb3 ,see ,man and his ,bodies1 by ,a4 ,besant4 ,footnote #fc3 ,the size of the causal body varies according to its development4 ,it has been named causal1 because it contains within itself the causes or germs of all the other bodies1 with the exception of the denser part of the physical4 ,we say denser because the physical body is double3 its etheric part belongs to the causal body1 its visible part comes from the parents4 ,footnote #fd3 ,the mental body1 which is1 as it were1 an ephemeral flower of the causal1 is born and developed in each incarnation1 disintegrating after the devachanic 7heavenly7 life4 ,footnote #fe3 ,it moves more or less freely on the astral plane1 according to the development of the astral body4 ,in men of low development1 this body cannot be separated from the physical1 under penalty of a nightmare which brings about a waking condition4 ,footnote #ff3 ,the atoms interpenetrate in consequence of their differences of tenuity4 ,footnote #fg3 ,later on1 the centre of consciousness passes from the human to the superhuman state and ascends unceasingly until it reaches the centre of the ,divinity incarnate in the world4 ,footnote #fh3 ,when this centre is fixed in one of the higher bodies1 the buddhic for instance1 the man has passed into the superhuman stage4 ,footnote #fi3 ,as sand1 placed on a plate in a state of vibration1 assumes varying forms4 ,footnote #gj3 ,the soul acting in the mental1 the astral1 and more especially--in the average man--the physical body4 ,the ,individuality is the soul acting in the causal body4 ,footnote #ga3 ,see the diagram in the chapter on the ,atom in ,the ,ancient ,wisdom1 by ,a4 ,besant4 ,footnote #gb3 ,we have seen that the organs formed by these tissues are the special work of a particular being controlled by lofty ,intelligences4 ,footnote #gc3 ,as the building of the body is reaching completion1 the ,ego 7the ,soul7 begins to make use of the new instrument4 ,it is at about the age of seven years that the development of the nerve centres becomes sufficiently advanced to allow of the brain receiving the vibrations of the soul2 up to this point1 the real man has scarcely had any influence upon the body1 although the mental projection 7the mental body7 which he has formed can express itself to a certain extent much earlier1 from the seventh month of foetal life2 up to this time1 the instinctive energies of the astral body alone affect the embryo4 ,footnote #gd3 ,in ,kmaloka 7,purgatory74 ,the desires1 in purgatory1 cannot be satisfied1 because there is no physical body to express them1 and this causes a state of suffering which has been compared to a burning fire4 ,this fire burns up the passions and leaves behind only the germs1 which the causal body takes up and bequeaths to the future astral body4 ,but for this providential burning away1 the passions would exist from early childhood in the future incarnation1 i4e41 at a time when the ,ego has no hold whatever upon the new personality1 and when the latter would be terribly affected by this influx of the forces of evil4 ,footnote #ge3 ,souls are of different ages3 the savage is not so old as the civilised man1 while the latter is the younger brother of those strong and wise ,souls who compose the vanguard of humanity4 ,footnote #gf3 ,it is impossible for heredity and environment to supply all the conditions that a soul's evolution calls for1 and nothing but these conditions2 that is the reason ,providence intervenes in the interests of justice4 ,footnote #gg3 ,it is in this great body1 with which we are in sympathy1 though we claim the right to dispute their theories when we regard them as erroneous1 that this hypothesis is met with more especially4 ,true1 certain schools of lower occultism teach it also1 but they form a minority1 and are of no importance4 ,footnote #gh3 ,harmony is established when there is vibratory synchronism of all the states of matter of the different bodies i4e41 when each slate of matter in a body vibrates in unison with the analogous states of matter of all the other bodies4 ,footnote #gi3 ,when the life wave has ended its cycle on this earth1 it passes in succession over the other planets of our chain and leaves the earth in a state of slumber4 ,this slumber ceases with the return of the life wave2 it becomes death when the evolution of the chain is accomplished4 ,see ,a4 ,p4 ,sinnett's ,esoteric ,buddhism4 ,footnote #hj3 ,at a certain stage on the ,path1 return to earth is no longer obligatory4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,reincarnation ,,and ,,the ,,religious ,,and ,,philosophic ,,consensus ,,of ,,the ,,ages4 ,in the rapid review we are now about to make of the religion and philosophy of the past1 we shall find that1 under many and divers names and veils1 the doctrine of ,rebirths has been taught from the farthest antiquity right up to the present time4 ,there is not a nation that has not preserved clear traces of this doctrine2 not a religion that has not taught it1 either openly or in secret1 or1 at all events1 retained the germ of the teaching2 and if we count only those peoples of whose national religion it forms part1 i4e41 ,hindus and ,buddhists1 the number of believers in ,reincarnation may be summed up in round figures at #edj millions of the present population of #adjj millions throughout the world4 ,the greatest of philosophers1 both ancient and modern1 have regarded palingenesis as the basis of life1 but whereas in the past the pledge of initiation prevented its details from being promulgated1 in our days1 along with the flood of light which this cycle has brought us1 the veil of secrecy has been partially lifted1 and theosophy has been privileged to set forth this glorious teaching in its main outlines and its most important details4 ,,india4 ,northern ,india was the cradle of the present race--the fifth--the ,eden of our humanity1 our physical1 moral1 mental1 and spiritual mother4#ha ,from her womb issued the emigrant hordes that peopled ,europe after spreading over ,egypt1 ,asia ,minor1 and ,siberia2 it was her code of ethics that civilised ,chalda1 ,greece1 ,rome1 and the whole of the ,east2 our own code is full of traces of the ,laws of ,manu1 whilst both the ,old and ,new ,testament are1 in many respects1 an abridged and often almost a literal copy of the sacred ,books of ancient ,aryavarta4 ,the presence of the doctrine of reincarnation in the ,vedic hymns has been disputed2 this proves nothing more than the present fragmentary condition of the ,vedas4 ,nothing1 indeed1 could be more absurd than to find that the sacred ,scriptures of ,india had maintained silence on a doctrine which1 along with that of ,karma1 form the two main columns of the ,hindu temple2 for the ,brhman as well as for the ,buddhist--who is only a member of a powerful offshoot of ,hinduism--these two laws rule throughout the whole ,universe1 from the primordial kingdoms up to the gods1 including man2 and the principal1 nay1 the only goal of human life is ,moksha--salvation1 in ,christian terminology--liberation from the chain of rebirths4 ,in this land1 in which1 along with strict obedience to the rules of conduct set forth by its great ,teachers1 there existed the most complete freedom of opinion1 and where the most divergent and numerous philosophic sects consequently developed1 there has always been perfect unanimity regarding the doctrine of rebirth1 and in that inextricable forest of metaphysical speculations two giant trees have always overtopped the rest3 the tree of ,karma and the tree of ,reincarnation4 ,in spite of the intentional obscurity in which we are left as to the teachings regarding rebirth from the time of the decadence of ,india1 it is no difficult matter1 with the aid of theosophy1 to discover its main points4 ,thus we find in them the return of the life-atoms#hb and animal souls#hc to existence in new physical bodies2 the rebirths of the human ,egos are indicated in their main phases2 but here1 the deliberate omission of certain points which had long to remain incomprehensible--and consequently dangerous--to the masses1 makes obscure1 and at times absurd1 certain aspects of transmigration4 ,i have heard a great ,teacher clearly explain these points to some of the most enlightened of the ,hindu members of the ,theosophical ,society1 but ,i do not feel authorised to repeat these explanations1 and so will leave this portion of the subject under a veil1 which the reader will1 with the aid of intuition1 be able to lift after reflecting on the following pages4 ,the ,sages of ancient ,india1 then1 teach three distinct phases in the return-to-birth process3 ,resurrection1 ,transmigration or ,metempsychosis and ,reincarnation properly so-called4 ,,resurrection4 ,the human body is a species of polyp colony1 a kind of coral island like those that emerge above the waves of the ,pacific1 by reason of the collective efforts of lower organisms4 ,the most numerous of the compounds of the human aggregate are known to physiology as microbes1 bacteria1 and bacilli2 but amongst them our microscopes discover only comparative monsters1 those that are to the ordinary infinitesimal organisms as the elephant is to the invisible infusorium4#hd ,each cell is a complete being2 its soul is a vital ray of the general life of our planet2 its body consists of molecules that are attracted and then repelled1 whilst the cellular soul remains immutable in the ceaseless fluctuations of its corporeal elements4 ,the molecules1 too1 are animated by a vital soul1 connected with the cellular soul1 which1 in turn1 is subordinate to a higher#he unit of the collective life of the human body4 ,the most infinitesimal of these beings--often called lives--penetrate the body freely2 they circulate in the aura#hf and in each plexus of the organism2 there they are subjected to the incessant impact of the moral1 menial1 and spiritual forces1 and become impregnated with a spirit of good or of evil1 as the case may be4 ,they enter the cells and leave them with intense rapidity1 for their cycles of activity as well as of passivity are being incessantly repeated4 ,we are all the time emanating millions of lives1 which are at once drawn into the different kingdoms of ,nature to which they carry the energies they have gathered in us2 they impress on their new organisms the tendencies we have given them1 and in this way become ferments of regeneration or of decay2 they aid or retard1 pollute or purify1 and it is for this reason that it is not a matter of indifference whether one lives in town or country1 with men or animals1 the temperate or the intemperate1 the wicked or the good4 ,the animal gains from association with human beings1 man loses from association with animals2 the disciples of the great schools of initiation1 at a certain stage of their discipline1 are carefully isolated from any inferior contact4 ,it is these subtle forces that are at play in the physical accomplishment of an action4#hg ,for material sins1 says ,manu1 one#hh passes into mineral and vegetable forms4 ,when1 at death1 the outer sheath of man disintegrates1 these life atoms are thrown back into the general surroundings of the earth1 where they are subjected to the magnetic currents around2 these currents either attract or repel them1 and thus bring about that wise selection1 which directs them to organisms in affinity with them4 ,the doctrine of metempsychosis#hi is true only for the atoms or emanations sent out by man after death or during the whole course of life4 ,the hidden meaning of the passage from ,manu1 where we read that he who slays a ,brhman enters into the body of a dog1 a bear1 an ass1 a camel1 c41 does not apply to the human ,ego1 but only to the atoms of his body1 i4e41 to the lower triad#ij and its fluidic emanations1 as ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky says1 and she adds3 ,the ,hna-yana1 the lowest form of transmigration of the ,buddhist1 is as little comprehended as the ,mah-yna1 its highest form1 and1 because ,skya ,muni--the ,buddha--is shown to have once remarked to his ,bhikkus--,buddhist monks--while pointing out to them a broom1 that it had formerly been a novice who neglected to sweep out the ,council room1 hence was reborn as a broom1767 therefore the wisest of all the world's sages stands accused of idiotic superstition4 ,why not try and understand the true meaning of the figurative statement before criticising8 ,is or is not that which is called magnetic effluvia a something1 a stuff or a substance1 invisible and imponderable though it be8444 ,the mesmeric or magnetic fluid which emanates from man to man1 or even from man to what is termed an inanimate object1 is far greater4 ,indeed1 it is 'life atoms' that a man in a blind passion throws off unconsciously4 ,let any man give way to any intense feeling such as anger1 grief1 c41 under or near a tree1 or in direct contact with a stone1 and many thousands of years after that any tolerable psychometrist will see the man and sense his feelings from one single fragment of that tree or stone that he has touched4 ,why then should not a broom1 made of a shrub1 which grew most likely in the vicinity of the building where the lazy novice lived--a shrub1 perhaps1 repeatedly touched by him while in a state of anger1 provoked by his laziness and distaste of his duty--why should not a quantity of his life atoms have passed into the materials of the future broom1 and therein have been recognised by ,buddha owing to his superhuman 7not supernatural7 powers8#ia ,such is the meaning of the ,resurrection of the body1 taught in the ,christian church in a form that is repellent to reason1 for it kills the spirit of the doctrine and leaves this latter like a corpse from which the life has gone4 ,,metempsychosis4 ,after the disintegration of the body1 the kmic#ib elements continue for some time1 us a shade#ic or a phantom1#id in the finer and invisible atmosphere2#ie then they1 in turn1 become disintegrated by the various forces of this environment1#if and are lost in the strata of matter from which they have been taken4 ,like the physical elements 7life-atoms71 they whirl about in their environment and there submit to the same law of attraction and repulsion as that which controls universal selection2 they are drawn towards the kmic elements of men and animals1 and it is here that we ought to place the list of those misdeeds1 by reason of which these elements pass into bodies of animals or men of inferior development4 ,a drunken priest becomes a worm1 says ,manu1 a stealer of corn1 a rat2 the murderer of a ,brhman1 a dog1 a tiger1 or a serpent--and this means that those elements which1 in man1 serve as a basis for the passions1 at death1 pass over into the bodies of animals that possess the same passions or experience the same needs4 ,the transmigration of human souls into the bodies of animals is still generally accepted amongst the less intelligent ,hindus2 it has contributed1 perhaps more than anything else1 to that wonderful respect for life one meets with all over ,india4 ,the thought that some ancestor or other might happen to be in the body of an animal prevents its destruction2 even the sacrifice of his life offered by a man to one of his brothers in the animal world is regarded as a sublime virtue1 and legend tells us of the ,buddha1 the ,lord of ,compassion1 giving himself up as food for a famishing tigress1 that she and her cubs might not perish of hunger4 ,,reincarnation4 ,the process of disintegration#ig which1 after disincarnation1 destroys the physical1 astral1 and mental bodies of the man leaves the ,soul--or1 to be more exact1 the causal body1 for the soul is not the causal body any more than it is any of the other human vehicles--intact4 ,indeed1 the causal body is at present the only vehicle that resists the cyclic dissolution of the human compound2 this it will be subjected to only when the divine spark which constitutes the ,soul--an eternal spark in its essence1 since it is a fragment of ,god1 and immortal as an ego1 once it has attained to individualisation1 the goal of evolution--has formed for itself a new and superior body with the substance of the finer planes above the mental2 but ages will pass before the masses of mankind reach this point4 ,after thus throwing off1 one after the other1 all its sheaths1 the ,ego finds that it has ended a life-cycle1 and is preparing to put on new bodies1 to return to reincarnation on earth4 ,on ,reincarnation properly so called1 the ,hindu scriptures are so precise and complete1 so generally accepted1 than it is unnecessary to quote from them in detail4 ,a few extracts will suffice4 ,these we will take from the ,bhagavad ,gt1 that glorious episode in the mighty civil war which shattered ,india1 and left her defenceless against the successive invaders who were to complete her fall4 ,this great epic poem introduces to us ,arjuna1 a noble prince1 about to take part in the strife4 ,the two armies1 arrayed for battle1 are on the point of engaging1 arrows have already begun to pierce the air4 ,in the opposing ranks ,arjuna sees cherished relatives1 dear friends1 and revered teachers1 whom destiny has placed in hostile array1 thus giving to the battle all the horrors of parricide and fratricide4 ,overwhelmed with grief and pity1 his heart moved to its inmost depths1 ,arjuna drops his bow on the ground and thus addresses his ,teacher1 the divine ,krishna3 ,seeing these my kinsmen arrayed1 ,o ,krishna1 eager to fight1 ,my limbs fail and my mouth is parched1 my body quivers and my hair stands on end4 ,gndva 7,arjuna's bow7 slips from my hand1 and my skin burns all over2 ,i am not able to stand1 and my mind is whirling4 ,and ,i see adverse omens1 ,o ,keshava 7hairy one74 ,nor do ,i foresee advantage by slaying kinsmen in battle4 ,for ,i desire not victory1 ,o ,krishna1 nor kingship nor pleasures2 what is kingship to us1 ,o ,govinda 7,thou who knowest all that is done by our senses and organs71 what enjoyment or even life8 ,those for whose sake we desire kingship1 enjoyments1 and pleasures1 they stand here in battle1 abandoning life and riches4 ,teachers1 fathers1 sons1 as well as grandfathers1 mothers' brothers1 fathers-in-law1 grandsons1 brothers-in-law1 and other relatives4 ,these ,i do not wish to kill1 though 7myself7 slain1 ,o ,madhusdana 7slayer of ,madhu1 a demon71 even for the sake of the kingship of the three worlds 7the habitations of men1 gods1 and semi-divine beings72 how then for earth8 444 ,i will not do battle4 ,the divine ,krishna then smiled upon his well-beloved disciple1 and said to him3 ,thou grievest for those that should not be grieved for1 and speakest words of wisdom 7words that sound wise but miss the deeper sense of wisdom74 ,the wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead4 ,nor at any time verily was ,i not1 nor thou1 nor these princes of men1 nor verily shall we ever cease to be hereafter4 ,as the ,dweller in the body seeketh in the body childhood1 youth1 and old age1 so passeth he on to another body2 the well-balanced grieve not thereat4444 ,these bodies of the ,embodied ,one1 who is eternal1 indestructible1 and boundless1 are known as finite4 ,therefore fight1 ,o ,bhrata4 ,he who regardeth ,this 7the ,dweller in the body7 as a slayer1 and he who thinketh it is slain1 both of them are ignorant4 ,it slayeth not1 nor is it slain4444 ,who knoweth ,it indestructible1 perpetual1 unborn1 undiminishing2 how can that man slay1 ,o ,prtha1 or cause to be slain8 ,as a man casting off worn-out garments1 taketh new ones1 so the ,dweller in the body1 casting off worn-out bodies1 entereth into others that are new4 ,weapons cleave ,it not1 nor fire burneth ,it1 nor waters wet ,it1 nor wind drieth ,it away4444 ,further1 looking upon thine own ,dharma1#ih thou shouldst not tremble1 for there is nothing more welcome to a ,kshattriya than righteous war4 ,here are other extracts of this wonderful teaching3 ,many births have been left behind by ,me and by thee1 ,o ,arjuna4 ,i know them all1 but thou knowest not thine1 ,parantapa4 ,he who thus knoweth ,my divine birth and action1 in its essence1 is not born again1 having abandoned the body1 but he cometh unto ,me1 ,o ,arjuna4 ,having attained to the worlds of the pure-doing1 and having dwelt there for eternal years1 he who fell from ,yoga is reborn in a pure and blessed house4444 ,there he obtaineth the complete yogic wisdom belonging to his former body1 and then again laboureth for perfection1 ,o joy of the ,kurus6 ,but the ,yog1 verily1 labouring with assiduity1 purified from sin1 fully perfected through manifold births1 he treadeth the supreme ,path4444 ,he who cometh unto ,me1 ,o ,kaunteya1 verily he knoweth birth no more4 ,the daily life of ,hindu and ,buddhist is so entirely based on ,reincarnation and on its foundation1 the law of ,causality1 that this faith gives them patience in the present and hope for the future2 for it teaches that man1 every moment he lives1 is subject to the circumstances he has created1 and that1 though bound by the past1 he is yet master of the future4 ,why cannot we1 in this troubled ,europe of ours1 accept this belief as the solution of the distressing problem of the inequality of conditions1 for to the weak in rebellion against oppression it would come as a soothing balm1 whilst the strong would find in it a stimulus to devoted pity such as wealth owes to poverty and happiness to misfortune8 ,herein lies the solution of the whole social problem4 ,,egypt4 ,if we pass from ,india to ,egypt1 the land of mystery1 we again find the world-wide doctrine of palingenesis hidden beneath the same veil4 ,according to ,egyptian teaching1 the theory of the fall of the angels was accepted2 the fallen angels were human souls#ii who had to become reincarnated till they reached a state of purification2 fallen into the flesh1 subjected to its vicissitudes and passions1 these souls had to evolve1 in successive rebirths1 until they had developed all their faculties1 obtained complete control over the lower nature1 and won back their original purity2 then this latter would no longer be the unconscious purity of youthful innocence1 but the conscious purity of mature age1 i4e41 of the soul that has known both good and evil in the course of its experiences1 has overcome the serpent of matter1 the tempter1 and voluntarily chosen the life of virtue4 ,the ,judgment of the after-life is determined by the degree of purity that has been attained2 if insufficient1 the soul returns to earth1 there to inhabit a human1 an animal1 or a vegetable form1 in accordance with its merits or demerits4 ,these lines prove that ,egyptian teaching has come down to us1 covered with gross dross and slag1 as it were1 which must be subjected to careful sifting2 when this is done1 we see that it also sets forth the transmigrations to which the elements of the various vehicles are subjected1#ajj the physical ternary#aja rises from the dead1 the animal man#ajb transmigrates2 and man1 properly so-called1#ajc reincarnates1 but the details of these processes have been so confused in such fragments of ,egyptian palingenesis as we possess that it is no easy matter to find the traces of this classification4 ,for instance4 ,herodotus tells us3 ,the ,egyptians were the first to hold the opinion that the soul of man is immortal and that when the body dies it enters into the form of an animal which is born at the moment1 thence1 passing on from one animal into another until it has circled through the forms of all the creatures which tenant the earth1 the water1 and the air1 after which it enters again into a human form and is born anew4 ,the whole period of the transmigration is 7they say7 three thousand years4#ajd ,this passage evidently refers to the resurrection of the life atoms4 ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky1 in the ,theosophist1 vol4 #d1 pages #bdd1 #bhf1 confirms this in the following words3 ,we are taught that for #cjjj years1 at least1 the 'mummy1' notwithstanding all the chemical preparations1 goes on throwing off to the last invisible atoms1 which1 from the hour of death1 re-entering the various vortices of being1 go indeed 'through every variety of organised life forms4' ,but it is not the soul1 the fifth1#aje least of all1 the sixth#ajf principle1 but the life atoms of the ,jiva1#ajg the second principle4 ,at the end of the three thousand years1 sometimes more1 sometimes less1 after endless transmigrations1 all these atoms are once more drawn together1 and are made to form the new outer clothing or the body of the same monad 7the real soul7 which they had already been clothed with two or three thousands of years before4 ,even in the worst case1 that of the annihilation of the conscious personal principle1#ajh the monad1 or individual soul1#aji is ever the same1 as are also the atoms of the lower principles1#aaj which1 regenerated and renewed in this ever-flowing river of being1 are magnetically drawn together owing to their affinity and are once more reincarnated together4444 ,certain authors have stated that belief in ,resurrection was the origin of embalming1 because it was thought that after three thousand years the soul returned to the same body1 that it immediately rose again1 when the body had been preserved1 whereas if such had not been the case1 it entered wherever it could1 sometimes even into the body of a lower creature4 ,herodotus1 however1 says that after the cycle of three thousand years the soul enters a new body1 not the mummified one1#aaa and this would lead one to imagine that there were other reasons for the process of embalming4 ,indeed1 it became general only during the decline of ,egypt2 at the beginning1 it was reserved for the hierophants alone1 with the object of allowing their physical molecular elements to pass into the still coarse bodies of the masses and help forward ordinary souls by the powerful influence of the magnetic potency with which they were charged4 ,it is also for this reason that the body of a ,yog1 in ,india1 is interred1 whilst in the case of other men cremation is the rule4 ,on the other hand1 among the multitude of beliefs left in ,egypt by degenerate traditions1 there were found some which hinted1 more or less clearly1 at occult truths1 and which might have perpetuated or generalised this practice4 ,it was supposed1 according to ,servius1 that the transmigrations#aab began only when the magnetic bond between the soul and its remains had been broken by the complete disintegration of the corpse2 consequently they did all in their power to preserve this latter4 ,this belief may readily be connected with theosophic teaching which says that the affinity existing between the visible corpse and the soul clad in its kmic 7astral7 body1 the animal soul in ,kmaloka 7,purgatory71 is capable1 in certain cases1 of detaining this soul on earth1 after its disincarnation1 and thus delaying1 for a longer or shorter period1 the disintegration of the elements of the passional body4 ,it is these elements1 not the soul1 that pass over into animal bodies1 and1 contrary to the opinions set forth in ,egyptian exotericism1 it is to the interest of the soul to free itself from terrestrial attraction and from its kmic 7astral7 vehicle1 and not to remain bound down to earth4 ,consequently1 embalming was a mistaken action1 the result of an error of doctrine1 or at all events of teachings that were incomplete1 imperfectly transmitted1 and misunderstood4 ,egypt multiplied her symbols of palingenesis4 ,resurrection--in the sense of re-birth in general--was symbolised by the toad which then became the goddess ,hiquet4 ,this animal was chosen because it lives in air and in water1#aac because it can remain imprisoned a very great number of years without either air or food#aad and afterwards come back to life4 ,g4 ,maspero1 in his ,guide du ,visiteur au ,muse de ,boulac1 tells us that the early ,christians in ,egypt had adopted this symbolism1 and that the lamps in their churches were formed in the shape of a toad1 and bore the inscription1 ,i am the ,resurrection1 in the ,greek language4 ,this goddess-toad may still be seen in the museum of ,boulac4 ,the ,scarabeus1 or beetle1#aae symbolised the personality1 the expansion of the mental substance1 projected1 so to speak1 by the higher mental body1 at each incarnation1 into the new kmic 7astral7 body2 a certain number of them were always deposited with the mummies1 and the beetle was represented standing on an ear of corn1 a symbol of the attainments acquired during the past earth life4 ,indeed1 the development of the ,ego is effected by that of the personality it sends on to the earth each incarnation2 it is the new mental body which controls the new astral and physical bodies of each incarnation1 and which is1 in very truth1 the flower and the fruit of the labour of life4 ,sacred ,egyptology tells us that the scarabeus requires to be osirified1 united to its living soul1 or ,ego1 which sent it forth4 ,i will now give the reason for this emanation4 ,when1 after disincarnation1 the purgatorial life begins1 the ,ego endeavours to throw off the kmic 7astral7 body1 to pass into the higher world--the mental plane--which is its home1 there to enjoy the delights of heaven4 ,thereupon a veritable battle begins4 ,on the one hand1 the ,ego endeavours to withdraw the mental body1 which1 at the beginning of the incarnation1 it sent into the kmic body1 and to take it to itself2 on the other hand1 the passional body#aaf--which instinctively feels its life bound to that of the mental element1 which gives it its strength1 vital activity1 and personal characteristics--tries to keep back this centre of individual life1 and generally succeeds in doing so up to a certain point4 ,when desire1 during incarnation1 has regularly gained the victory over the will1 the passional body1 or ,kma1 maintains the supremacy beyond the grave1 and the ,ego1 in endeavouring to rescue its mental projection from the kmic bonds1 yields up a more or less considerable fragment thereof1 and this fragment is restored to liberty only when the passional body of the deceased has become disintegrated by the forces of the astral world4 ,this has been called the fire of purgatory4 ,on the other hand1 when the ,ego1 during life1 has always refused the appeals of the lower nature1 it easily withdraws1 after death1 from the net of passion1 the substance it has infused therein1 and passes with this substance into that part of the mental plane which is called heaven4 ,such is the struggle that ,egypt committed to her annals when she inscribed upon papyrus or engraved upon stone the journeyings of the soul into the world of shades4 ,the soul--the mental personality--which demands osirification1 and invokes the ,ego1 its god and projector1 beseeching him to draw it to himself that it may live with him1 is the lower ,i4 ,this ,i has not exhausted the desire to live on earth2 its desire is impressed on the germs it has left in the causal body1 and brings the ,ego back to incarnation2 this is the reason it prays and desires the resurrection#aag of its living soul1 the ,ego4 ,denon1 in his ,journeyings in ,egypt1 has made known to us the ,sha-,en 7the book of metamorphoses71 written in hieratic signs and republished in ,berlin1 by ,brugsch1 in the year #ahea4 ,explicit mention is here made of reincarnations1 and it is stated that they are very numerous4 ,the third part of the ,book of the ,dead sets forth a detailed account of the resurrection of an ,osiris2 the identification of the departed one with ,osiris1 ,god of ,light1 and his sharing in the life1 deeds1 and power of the ,god2 in a word1 it is the final reintegration of the human soul with ,god4 ,the loftiest and most suggestive of ,egyptian palingenetic symbols is unquestionably that of the egg4 ,the deceased is resplendent in the egg in the land of mysteries4 ,in ,kircher's ,oedipus ,egyptiacus#aah we have an egg--the ,ego freed from its vehicles--floating over the mummy2 this is the symbol of hope and the promise of a new birth to the soul1 after gestation in the egg of immortality4#aai ,the winged globe1 so widely known in ,egypt1 is egg-shaped1 and has the same meaning2 its wings indicate its divine nature and prevent it from being confused with the physical germ4 ,easter eggs which are offered in spring1 at the rebirth of ,nature1 commemorate this ancient symbol of eternal ,life in its successive phases of disincarnation and rebirth4 ,,chald,a4 ,it is said that the ,magi taught the immortality of the soul and its reincarnations1 but that they considerably limited the number of these latter1 in the belief that purification was effected after a restricted number of existences on the soul returning to its heavenly abode4 ,unfortunately we know nothing definite on this special point in ,chaldan teaching1 for some of the most important sources of information were destroyed when the library of ,persepolis was burnt by the ,macedonian vandal1 ,alexander the ,great1 whilst ,eusebius--whom ,bunsen criticises so harshly#abj--made such great alterations in the manuscripts of ,berosus1 that we have nothing to proceed upon beyond a few disfigured fragments4#aba ,and yet ,chaldism comprises a great mass of teachings2 he whom we know as the divine ,zoroaster had been preceded by twelve others1 and esoteric doctrine was as well known in ,chalda as in ,egypt4 ,the descendants of the ,chaldans--,fire-worshippers1 ,mazdeans1 ,magi1 ,parsees--according to the names they received at different periods--have preserved the main points of palingenetic instruction up to the present1 and1 from time to time1 have set them forth in the most charming style of ,oriental poetry4 ,book #d of the great ,persian poem1 ,masnavi i ,ma'navi1 deals with evolution and its corollary1 reincarnation1 stating that there is one way of remembering past existences1 and that is by attaining to spiritual illumination1 which is the crown of human evolution and brings the soul to the threshold of divinity4 ,if your purified soul succeeds in escaping from the sea of ignorance1 it will see1 with eyes now opened1 'the beginning' and 'the end4' ,man first appeared in the order of inorganic things2 next1 he passed therefrom into that of plants1 for years he lived as one of the plants1 remembering naught of his inorganic state1 so different from this1 and when he passed from the vegetable to the animal state he had no remembrance of his state as a plant4444 ,again the great ,creator1 as you know1 drew man out of the animal into the human state4 ,thus man passed from one order of nature to another1 till he became wise and intelligent and strong as he is now4 ,of his first soul he has now no remembrance1 and he will be again changed from his present soul4 ,in order to escape from his present soul1 full of lusts1 he must rise to a thousand higher degrees of intelligence4 ,though man fell asleep and forgot his previous states1 yet ,god will not leave him in this self-forgetfulness2 and then he will laugh at his own former state1 saying3 ',what mattered my experiences when asleep1 when ,i had forgotten the real state of things1 and knew not that the grief and ills ,i experienced were the effect of sleep and illusion and fancy8' ,these lines are concise1 but they sum up the whole of evolution1 and render it unnecessary to quote at greater length from ,chaldan tradition on this point4 ,still1 those who desire other passages relating to the same doctrine may find them in the ,desatir4#abb ,,the ,,celts4 ,sacerdotal ,india--and perhaps also ,atlantis--in early times sent pioneers into the ,west to spread religious teachings amongst their energetic inhabitants2 those who settled in ,gaul and the ,british ,isles were the ,druids4 ,i am a serpent1 a druid1 they said4 ,this sentence proves that they were priests1 and also the ,atlantan or ,indian origin of their doctrines2 for the serpent was the symbol of initiation in the sacred mysteries of ,india1 as also on the continent of ,atlantis4 ,we know little of their teaching1 which was entirely oral1 though it covered so much ground that1 according to ,csar1 not less than thirty years of study were needed to become a druid4 ,the ,roman conquest dispersed them by degrees2 then it was that their disciples1 the bards1 committed to writing more or less imperfect and mutilated fragments of the teachings of their masters4 ,their triads#abc are undoubtedly akin to ,hindu teachings2 ,evolution results from the manifestation of the ,absolute1 it culminates in man1 who possesses a maximum of individualisation1 and terminates in the personal1 conscious union of the beings thus created with the ineffable ,all4 ,the ,absolute is ,ceugant2 manifestation1 or the ,universe1 is ,abred2 the divine state of freed souls is in ,gwynvyd2 these are in the three circles4#abd ,in ,ceugant there is only the ,unknowable1 the rootless ,root4 ,souls are born and develop in ,abred1 passing into the different kingdoms2 ,amwn is the state through which beings pass only once1 which means that the ,i1 when once gained1 continues for ever4 ,gwynvyd is the world of perfect and liberated souls1 eternal ,heaven1 great ,nirvna4 ,during this long pilgrimage1 the ,monad--the divine fragment in a state of incarnation--undergoes an endless number of rebirths1 in myriads of bodies4 ,i have been a viper in the lake1 said ,taliesin1 the bard#abe2 a spotted adder on the mountain1 a star1 a priest4 ,this was long1 long ago2 since then1 ,i have slept in a hundred worlds1 revolved in a hundred circles4 ,it was their faith in rebirth that gave the ,gauls their indomitable courage and extraordinary contempt of death3 ,one of their principal teachings1 said ,csar1#abf is that the soul does not die1 but passes at death into another body--and this they regard as very favourable for the encouragement of valour and for inculcating scorn of death4 ,up to a few years ago1 belief in the return of the soul to earth was still prevalent in those parts of ,brittany in which civilisation had not yet exercised its sceptical1 materialising influence2 there even existed druids--probably degenerate ones--in ,great ,britain and ,france2 in the ,sane-et-,loire district1 they seem to have been called the ,adepts of the ,white ,religion#abg2 both in them and in their ancestors1 belief in rebirth remained unshakable4 ,,ancient ,,greece 7,magna ,grcia74 ,in ,greece1 the doctrine of ,rebirths is met with in the ,orphic tradition1 continued by ,pythagoras and ,plato4 ,up to the present time1 this tradition has probably found its best interpreter in ,mr4 ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,mead1 an eminent theosophist and a scholar of the first rank4 ,we recommend our readers to study his ,orpheus1 if they desire a detailed account of this tradition4 ,its origins are lost in antiquity1 only a few obscure shreds remaining2 ,pherecydes1 however1#abh when speaking of the immortality of the soul1 refers to the doctrine of ,rebirths2 it is also presented very clearly by both ,pythagoras and ,plato4 ,according to the ,pythagorean teaching1 the human soul emanates from the ,soul of the ,world1 thus affirming1 at the outset1 the divine nature of the former4 ,it teaches subsequently that this soul assumes successive bodies until it has fully evolved and completed the ,cycle of ,necessity4#abi ,pythagoras1 according to ,diogenes of ,laertius1#acj was the first in ,greece to teach the doctrine of the return of souls to earth4 ,he gave his disciples various details of his past lives2 he appears to have been the initiate ,oethalides1 in the times of the ,argonauts2 then1 almost immediately afterwards1 ,euphorbus1 who was slain by ,menelaus at the siege of ,troy2 again he was ,hermotimus of ,clazomen1 who1 in the temple of ,juno at ,argos1#aca recognised the shield he was carrying when his body was slain as ,euphorbus1 and which ,menelaus had given as an offering to the goddess#acb2 at a later date he was ,pyrrhus1 a fisherman of ,delos1 and1 finally1 ,pythagoras4 ,in all likelihood this genealogy is not correct in every detail1 it comes to us from the disciples of the sage of ,samos1 who were not very trustworthy in their reports4 ,empedocles1 one of the early disciples of ,pythagoras1 said that he inhabited a female body in his preceding existence4 ,saint ,clement of ,alexandria quotes a few lines of his1 in which we find the philosopher of ,agrigentum teaching the general evolution of forms4 ,i1 too1 have been a boy1 a maiden1 a star1 a bird1 a mute fish in the depths of the sea4 ,iarchas1 the ,brhman chieftain1 said to the great ,apollonius3 ,in bygone ages thou wert ,ganga1 the famous monarch1 and1 at a later date1 captain of an ,egyptian vessel4#acc ,the ,emperor ,julian said that he had been ,alexander the ,great4#acd ,proclus affirmed that he had been ,nichomachus the ,pythagorean4#ace ,the works of ,plato are full of the idea of rebirth1 and if the scattered fragments of the teaching are gathered together and illumined with the torch of theosophy1 a very satisfactory ensemble will be the result4 ,souls are older than bodies1 he says in ,phdo2 they are ever being born again from ,hades and returning to life on earth2 each man has his daimon1#acf who follows him throughout his existences1 and at death takes him to the lower world#acg for ,judgment4#ach ,many souls enter ,acheron1#aci and1 after a longer or shorter period1 return to earth to be incarnated in new bodies4 ,unpardonable sins fling the soul into ,tartarus4#adj ,know that if you become worse you will go to the worse souls1 or if better to the better1 and in every succession of life and death you will do and suffer what like may fitly suffer at the hands of like4444#ada ,according to ,plato1 the period between two incarnations is about a thousand years4#adb ,man has reminiscences of his past lives that are more or less distinct2 they are manifested rather by an intuitive impression than by a definite memory1 but they form part of the individual1#adc and at times influence him strongly4 ,innate ideas are only one aspect of memory1 often it is impossible to explain them by heredity1 education1 or environment2 they are attainments of the past1 the store which the soul takes with it through its incarnations1 which it adds to during each sojourn in heaven4 ,there can be no doubt that ,plato would appear to have taught metempsychosis1 i4e41 the possibility of a human soul passing into the body of an animal3 ,men who have followed after gluttony and wantonness and drunkenness1 and have had no thought of avoiding them1 would pass into asses and animals of that sort4 ,and those who have chosen the portion of injustice and tyranny and violence will pass into wolves or hawks or kites1 and there is no difficulty in assigning to all of them places according to their several natures and propensities4#add ,under the heading of ,neoplatonism1 we shall show that1 beneath these coarse symbols1 ,plato concealed truths which it was then necessary to keep profoundly secret2 which1 even nowadays1 it is not permitted to reveal to all4 ,,old ,,testament4 ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky tells us that the ,old ,testament is not a homogeneous composition2 that ,genesis alone is of immense antiquity2 that it is prior to the time when the ,libra of the ,zodiac was invented by the ,greeks1 for it has been noticed that the chapters containing the genealogies have been touched up so as to adapt them to the new zodiac1 and this is the reason that the rabbis who compiled them twice repeated the names of ,enoch and ,lamech in the ,cain list4 ,the other parts seem to be of a comparatively recent date and to have been completed about #aej ,b4,c4 ,the first part of the ,book of ,god--as the ,scriptures were then called--was written by ,hilkiah1 jointly with the prophetess ,huldah2 this disappeared at a later date1 and ,ezra had to begin a new one which was finished by ,judas ,maccabus4 ,this was recopied some time after1 with the object of changing the pointed letters into square ones1 and in this way was quite disfigured4 ,the ,masoretes ended by mutilating it completely4 ,the result is that the text we now possess is one not more than nine hundred years old1 bristling with premeditated omissions1 interpolations1 and perverted interpretations4#ade ,by the side of this initial difficulty we find another1 quite as important4 ,almost every page of the ,old ,testament contains veiled meanings and allegories1 as is frankly confessed by the rabbis themselves4 ,we ought not to take literally that which is written in the story of the ,creation1 nor entertain the same ideas of it as are held by the vulgar4 ,if it were otherwise1 our ancient sages would not have taken so much pains to conceal the sense1 and to keep before the eyes of the uninstructed the veil of allegory which conceals the truth it contains4444#adf ,does not ,saint ,paul1 speaking of the hidden meaning of the ,bible1 say that ,agar is ,mount ,sinai8#adg ,origen and ,saint ,augustine are of the opinion that the ,old ,testament must be regarded as symbolical1 as otherwise it would be immoral2 the ,jewish law forbade anyone to read it who had not attained the age of thirty years2 ,fnelon would have liked it to be thrust away in the recesses of the most secret libraries2 the ,cardinal de ,noailles says that ,origen1 so full of zeal on behalf of the ,holy ,scriptures1 would not allow anyone to read the ,old ,testament1 unless he were firmly anchored in the practice of a virtuous life2 he affirms too that ,saint ,basilius1 in a letter to ,chilon1 the monk1 stated that the reading of it often had a harmful influence2 for the same reasons1 the ,index expurgatorius forbids the publication of the ,bible in the vulgar tongue1 and orders that no one be allowed to read it without the written permission of his confessor4#adh ,a third difficulty arises from the fact that the ,old ,testament--its dead letter and its commandments1 at all events--is no longer suitable to our own race4 ,it was intended for a nation that was composed of young souls1 at a low stage of evolution1 for whom nothing more than the rudiments of instruction were necessary1 and on whom stern rules of morality1 suitable for advanced souls1 ought not to be imposed4 ,this is why divorce1#adi polygamy1#aej slavery1#aea retaliation1 lex talionis1#aeb the blood of sacrifice#aec are instituted2 it is the reason ,god is represented as a being to be dreaded1 punishing those who do not obey him1 wicked1 jealous1 bloodthirsty4#aed ,bossuet understood all this when he said that the primitive ,hebrew race was not sufficiently advanced to have the immortality of the soul taught to it4 ,this1 too1 is the only explanation we can find for the sensual materialism of ,ecclesiastes4#aee ,consequently one need not be astonished to find that the ,old ,testament nowhere deals--directly1 at all events--with the doctrine of ,rebirth4 ,all the same1 here and there we come across a few passages that point in this direction4 ,for instance1 we read in ,genesis1 chapter #be1 regarding the birth of ,jacob and ,esau3 ,and the children 7of ,rebecca7 struggled together within her4 ,and the ,lord said unto her3 ,two nations are in thy womb1 and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels1 and the one people shall be stronger than the other people2 and the elder shall serve the younger4 ,and when her days to be delivered were fulfilled1 behold there were twins in her womb4 ,this passage has been the occasion of lengthy commentaries on the part of certain ,fathers of the ,church--more especially of ,origen4 ,indeed1 either we must acknowledge divine injustice1 creating1 without any cause1 two hostile brothers1 one of whom must submit to the rule of the other1 and who begin to strive together even before birth1 or we must hark back to the pre-existence of the human soul and to a past ,karma which had created inequality in condition4 ,david begins the ninetieth ,psalm with a verse which only a belief in reincarnation can explain3 ,lord1 thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations4444 ,the dwelling-place of the soul1 at death1 is in heaven1 whence it returns to earth when the hour of rebirth has struck2 thus1 in all generations1 that is1 from life to life1 the ,lord is our dwelling-place4 ,in ,chapter #h of the ,book of ,wisdom1 ,solomon says in more explicit language3 ,for ,i was a witty child1 and had a good spirit1 yea1 rather1 being good1 ,i came into a body undefiled4 ,this clearly points to the pre-existence of the soul and the close relation that exists between the conditions of its rebirth and the merits or demerits of its past4 ,verse #e of the first chapter of ,jeremiah is similar to verse #bc of the twenty-fifth chapter of ,genesis3 ,before ,i formed thee in the belly ,i knew thee1 and before thou camest forth out of the womb ,i sanctified thee1 and ,i ordained thee a prophet unto the nations4444 ,it is the deeds done in the past lives of ,jeremiah that accompany him on his return to earth2 ,god could not1 in an arbitrary fashion1 have conferred on him the gift of prophecy had he not acquired it by his efforts in a past life2 unless1 here too1 we altogether abandon reason and go back to a capricious or unjust--consequently altogether impossible--,god4 ,,the ,,kabala4 ,contact with the ,babylonians1 during the ,captivity1 brought about a rapid development in the ,hebrews1 who were at that time far more advanced souls than those that animated the bodies of their fathers1#aef and taught them many important details of religious instruction4 ,it was then that they learned the doctrine of rebirth and that the ,kabala came into being4#aeg ,in it the cycle of rebirths is called ,gil'gool'em#aeh or the revolving of the ,incorporeal in search of the promised land4 ,this promised land1 the ,christian ,paradise1 or ,buddhist ,nirvna1 was symbolised by ,palestine2 the soul in its pilgrimage was brought to this abode of bliss1#aei and1 according to the allegory1 the bodies of ,hebrews buried in a foreign land contained an animistic principle which only found rest when1 by the 'revolving of the ,incorporeal1' the immortal fragment had returned to the promised land4#afj ,there are other aspects from which this revolution of souls may be regarded4 ,certain ,kabalists speak of it as a kind of purgatory in which1 by means of this revolving1 the purging of the soul is brought about before it enters paradise4 ,in this connection1 ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky states that in the language of the ,initiates the words soul 7me7 and atom were synonyms1 and were frequently used for each other4 ,she says that the revolution of souls was in reality only the revolving of the atoms of the bodies which are continually transmigrating from one body to another throughout the various kingdoms of nature4 ,from this point of view1 it would seem that ,gil'gool'em is more especially the cycle of atomic transmigration3 ,resurrection4 ,the doctrine of the reincarnation of the human soul1 however1 is clearly set forth in the ,zohar3 ,all souls are subjected to the tests of transmigration2 men know not the designs of the ,most ,high with regard to them2 they know not how they are being at all times judged1 both before coming into this world and when they leave it2 they have no knowledge of the mysterious transformations and sufferings they must undergo1 or how numerous are the spirits who coming2 into this world never return to the palace of their divine ,king2 they are ignorant of the revolutions to which they are subjected1 revolutions similar to those of a stone when it is being hurled from a sling4 ,and now the time has come when the veil shall be removed from all these mysteries4444 ,souls must in the end be plunged back into the substance from which they came4 ,but before this happens1 they must have developed all the perfections the germs of which are implanted within them2 if these conditions are not realised in one existence1 they must be born again until they reach the stage that makes possible their absorption in ,god4#afa ,according to the ,kabala1 incarnations take place at long intervals2 souls completely forget their past1 and1 far from being a punishment1 rebirth is a blessing which enables men to develop and to attain to their final goal4 ,the ,essenes taught reincarnation and the immortality of the soul4 ,ernst von ,bunsen1#afb speaking of this sect1 says3 ,another marked peculiarity of the doctrine of the ,essenes was the doctrine concerning the pre-existence of souls4 ,they exist originally in the purest ether1 which is their celestial home4 ,by a natural attraction they are drawn towards the earth and are enclosed in human bodies1 as in a prison4 ,the death of the body causes the return of the soul to its heavenly abode4 ,the ,essenes can1 therefore1 not have believed in the resurrection of the body1 but of the soul only1 or1 as ,paul says1 of the 'spiritual body4' ,this is positively asserted by ,josephus4#afc ,,rome4 ,although ,rome1 above all else1 was a warlike republic1 and religion principally a ,state cult1 that allowed but slight opportunity for the outer expression of spirituality1 none the less did it inherit the beliefs of ,egypt1 ,greece1 and ,persia2 the ,bacchic mysteries1 previous to their degradation1 were a copy of the ,orphic and ,eleusinian mysteries4 ,in the reign of ,pompey1 ,mithraism1 a cult borrowed from ,persia1 was spread throughout the empire4 ,consequently1 we need not be surprised at finding the doctrine of ,rebirth mentioned by the great ,latin writers4 ,we will quote only from ,virgil and ,ovid4 ,in the speech addressed by ,anchises to neas1 his son1 the ,trojan prince deals with the life beyond death1 the tortures endured by souls in expiation of their misdeeds1 their purification1 their passing into ,tartarus1#afd into the ,elysian ,fields1#afe then their return to earth after having drunk of the river of forgetfulness4 ,in ,book ,,vi4 of the neid1 we find neas visiting the lower regions3 ,after having for a thousand years turned the wheel 7of existence71 these souls come forth in a mighty troop to the ,lethean stream to which ,god calls them that they may lose the memory of the past1 see the higher regions1#aff and begin to wish to return into bodies4 ,ovid1 in his ,metamorphoses also deals with the teaching of ,pythagoras1 his master1 on the subject of palingenesis3 ,then ,death1 so-called1 is but old matter drest ,in some new figure1 and a varied vest2 ,thus all things are but alter'd1 nothing dies1 ,and here and there th' embodied spirit flies1 ,by time1 or force1 or sickness dispossest1 ,and lodges1 when it lights1 in man or beast4 ,th' immortal soul flies out in empty space ,to seek her fortune in some other place4 ,,new ,,testament4 ,the ,new ,testament is far more explicit than the ,old1 even though we find the teachings of reincarnation indicated in only a vague1 indirect fashion4 ,all the same1 it must not be forgotten that the canonical ,gospels have suffered numerous suppressions and interpolations4 ,on the other hand1 there can be no doubt that the early ,fathers of the ,church made use of gospels that are now either lost or have become apocryphal4#afg ,it has been proved that neither ,jesus nor his disciples wrote a single word1 and that no version of the ,gospels appeared earlier than the second century4#afh ,it was at that time that religious quarrels gave birth to hundreds of gospels1 the writers of which signed them with the name of an apostle or even with that of ,jesus1 after forging them in more or less intelligent fashion4 ,celsus1 ,jortin1 ,gibbons1 and others have shown that ,christianity is directly descended from ,paganism2 it was by combining the doctrines of ,egypt1 ,persia1 and ,greece with the teachings of ,jesus that the ,christian doctrine was built up4 ,celsus silenced all the ,christian doctors of his time by supplying evidence of this plagiarism2 ,origen1 the most learned doctor of the age1 was his opponent1 but he was no more fortunate than the rest1 and ,celsus came off victorious4 ,thereupon recourse was had to the methods usual in those days2 his books were burnt4 ,and yet it is evident that the author of the ,revelation was a ,kabalist2 and the writer of the ,gospel of ,saint ,john a ,gnostic or a ,neoplatonist4 ,the ,gospel of ,nicodemus is scarcely more than a copy of the ,descent of ,hercules into the ,infernal ,regions2 the ,epistle to the ,corinthians is a distinct reminiscence of the initiatory ,mysteries of ,eleusis2 and the ,roman ,ritual1 according to ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky1 is the reproduction of the ,kabalistic ,ritual4 ,one gospel only was authentic1 the secret or ,hebrew ,gospel of ,matthew1 which was used by the ,nazareans1 and at a later date by ,saint ,justin and the ,ebionites4 ,it contained the esoterism of the ,one-,religion1 and ,saint ,jerome1 who found this gospel in the library of ,csarea about the end of the fourth century1 says that he received permission to translate it from the ,nazareans of ,beroea4 ,these considerations prove that interested and narrow-minded writers selected from the mass of existing traditions whatever seemed to them of a nature to support their spiritual views as well as their material interests1 and that they constructed therefrom not only what has come down to us as the four canonical gospels1 but also the whole edifice of ,christian dogma4 ,consequently1 we need not be surprised to find in the ,new ,testament only unimportant fragments dealing with reincarnation2 but even these are not to be despised1 for they prove that the doctrine was1 to a certain extent at all events1 known and accepted in ,palestine4 ,reincarnation in the ,gospels4 ,saint ,mark1 ,chapter #f4 v4 #ad4 ,and ,king ,herod heard of him2 and he said1 ,that ,john the ,baptist was risen from the dead4444 v4 #ae4 ,others said1 ,that it is ,elias2 and others said1 ,that it is a prophet1 or as one of the prophets4 v4 #af4 ,but when ,herod heard thereof1 he said1 ,it is ,john whom ,i beheaded2 he is risen from the dead4 ,saint ,matthew1 ,chapter #ad4 v4 #a4 ,at that time1 ,herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of ,jesus4 v4 #b4 ,and said unto his servants1 ,this is ,john the ,baptist2 he is risen from the dead4444 ,saint ,luke1 ,chapter #i4 v4 #g4 ,now ,herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him2 and he was perplexed because it was said of some that ,john was risen from the dead4 v4 #h4 ,and of some1 that ,elias had appeared2 and of others1 that one of the old prophets was risen again4 v4 #i4 ,but ,herod said1 ,john have ,i beheaded2 but who is this of whom ,i hear such things8 ,the account here given proves that the people as well as ,herod believed in reincarnation1 and that it applied1 at all events1 to the prophets and to those like them4 ,saint ,matthew1 ,chapter #af4 v4 #ac4 ,when ,jesus came into the coasts of ,csarea ,philippi1 he asked his disciples1 saying1 ,whom do men say that ,i1 the ,son of man1 am8 v4 #ad4 ,and they said1 ,some say that thou art ,john the ,baptist2 some1 ,elias2 and others1 ,jeremias1 or one of the prophets4 ,the same account is given in ,saint ,luke1 chapter #i1 verses #ah1 #ai4 ,saint ,matthew1 ,chapter #ag4 v4 #ab4 ,but ,i say unto you1 ,that ,elias is come already1 and they knew him not1 but have done unto him whatsoever they listed4 ,likewise shall also the ,son of man suffer of them4 v4 #ac4 ,then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of ,john the ,baptist4 ,he continued in ,saint ,matthew1 ,chapter #aa4 v4 #g4 ,jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning ,john1 ,what went ye out into the wilderness to see8 ,a reed shaken with the wind8 v4 #h4 ,but what went ye out for to see8 ,a man clothed in soft raiment8 ,behold1 they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses4 v4 #i4 ,but what went ye out for to see8 ,a prophet8 ,yea1 ,i say unto you1 and more than a prophet4 v4 #ad4 ,and if ye will receive it1 this is ,elias which was for to come4 ,here we have a distinct declaration3 ,reincarnation is a fact2 ,john is the rebirth of ,elias4#afi ,judging from these texts1 one might be tempted to think that reincarnation was confined to the prophets or to people of importance1 but ,saint ,john shows us that the ,jews1 though perhaps ignorant that it was a law of universal application1 recognised1 at any rate1 that it might happen in the case of any man4 ,saint ,john1 ,chapter #i4 v4 #a4 ,and as ,jesus passed by1 he saw a man which was blind from his birth4 v4 #b4 ,and his disciples asked him1 saying3 ,master1 who did sin1 this man or his parents1 that he was born blind8 v4 #c4 ,jesus answered1 ,neither hath this man sinned nor his parents2 but that the works of ,god should be made manifest in him4 ,here we are dealing with a man blind from birth1 and the ,jews ask ,jesus if he was blind because he sinned2 this clearly indicates that they were referring to sins committed in the course of a former existence#agj2 the thought is1 therefore1 quite a natural1 straightforward one1 referring to something well known to everyone and needing no explanation4 ,as one well acquainted with this doctrine of ,rebirth1 without combating it as an error or as something doubtful which his disciples ought not to believe1 ,jesus simply replies3 ,neither hath this man sinned nor his parents2 but that the works of ,god should be made manifest in him4 ,and yet it appears as though this answer must have been distorted1 as so many others have been1 otherwise it would mean that the only reason for this man's blindness was the caprice of the ,deity4 ,reincarnation in the ,apocalypse4 ,the ,apocalypse1 an esoteric book par excellence1 confirms the doctrine of ,reincarnation1 and throws considerable light on it3 ,him that overcometh will ,i make a pillar in the temple of my ,god1 and he shall go no more out4444#aga ,in another verse it is stated that to him who overcometh ,i will give the morning star4#agb ,in the language of theosophy1 this means3 ,he who has overcome the animal soul1 shall1 by mystic ,communion1 be united to the divine soul1 which1 in the ,apocalypse1 is the symbol of the ,christ3 ,i1 ,jesus1 am the bright and morning star4#agc ,another verse clearly characterises the nature and the cost of victory3 ,to him that overcometh will ,i give to eat of the hidden manna1 and ,i will give him a white stone1 and in the stone a new name written1 which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it4#agd ,the hidden manna is the ambrosia of the ,greeks1 the kyteon of the mysteries of ,eleusis1 the soma of the ,hindus1 the eucharist of the ,christians1 the sacred drink offered to the disciples at ,initiation1 which had the ,moon as its symbol1 conferred the gift of divine clairvoyance and separated the soul from the body4 ,the white stone is none other than the alba petra1 the white cornelian1 the chalcedony1 or stone of ,initiation4 ,it was given to the candidate who had successfully passed through all the preliminary tests4#age ,the ,word written on the stone is the sacred ,word1 the lost ,word which ,swedenborg said was to be sought for amongst the hierophants of ,tartary and ,tibet1 whom theosophists call the ,masters4 ,he who overcometh is1 therefore1 the disciple ready for initiation2 it is of him that a pillar in the temple of ,god will be made4 ,in esoteric language1 the column signifies ,man redeemed1 made divine and free1 who is no longer to revolve on the wheel of ,rebirths1 who shall no more go out1 as the ,apocalypse says1 i4e41 shall not again leave ,heaven4 ,if we examine the text of both ,old and ,new ,testament by the light of esoteric teaching1 the dead letter1 often absurd and at tunes repellent and immoral1 would receive unexpected illumination1 and would fully justify the words of the great rabbi1 ,maimonides1 quoted a few pages back4#agf ,origen1 the most learned of the ,fathers of the ,church1 adds in his turn3 ,if we had to limit ourselves to the letter1 and understand after the fashion of the ,jews or the people1 what is written in the ,law1 ,i should be ashamed to proclaim aloud that it was ,god who gave us such laws2 ,i should find more dignity and reason in human laws1 as1 for instance1 in those of ,athens1 ,rome1 or ,sparta4444 7,homil #g4 in ,levit47 ,saint ,jerome1 in his ,epistle to ,paulinus1 continues in similar fashion3 ,listen1 brother1 learn the path you must follow in studying the ,holy ,scriptures4 ,everything you read in the divine books is shining and light-giving without1 but far sweeter is the heart thereof4 ,he who would eat the nut must first break the shell4 ,it is because they have lost the ,spirit of their ,scriptures that the ,christians--ever since their separation from the ,gnostics--have offered the world nothing more than the outer shell of the ,world ,religion4 ,,neoplatonism4 ,the great philosophic body that formed a bridge1 as it were1 between the ,old ,world and the ,new was the famous ,school of ,alexandria1 founded about the second century of our era by ,ammonius ,saccas and closed in the year #dbi ,a4,d4 through the intolerance of ,justinian4 ,theosophical in its origin1 this school had received from ,plato the esoteric teaching of ,egypt and the ,east1 and the dogma of ,rebirth was secretly taught in its entirety1 though its meaning may have been travestied by the ignorance of the masses to whom only the grosser aspects of the teaching were given4 ,it is a dogma recognised throughout antiquity1 says ,plotinus1#agg that the soul expiates its sins in the darkness of the infernal regions1 and that afterwards it passes into new bodies1 there to undergo new trials4 ,when we have gone astray in multiplicity1#agh we are first punished by our wandering away from the path1 and afterwards by less favourable conditions1 when we take on new bodies4#agi ,the gods are ever looking down upon us in this world1 no reproach we bring against them can be justifiable1 for their providence is never-ending2 they allot to each individual his appropriate destiny1 one that is in harmony with his past conduct1 in conformity with his successive existences4#ahj ,the following is a quotation from the same philosopher1 dealing with metempsychosis1 and which1 when compared with the foregoing sentences1 appears strangely absurd4 ,we make no comment here1 as this obscure question will be dealt with a few pages farther on4 ,those who have exercised human faculties are reborn as men2 those who have lived only the life of the senses pass into animals' bodies1 especially into the bodies of wild beasts if they have given way to excesses of anger 444 those who have sought only to satisfy their lust and gluttony1 pass into the bodies of lascivious and gluttonous animals 444 those who have allowed their senses to become atrophied1 are sent to vegetate in trees 444 those who have reigned tyranically become eagles1 if they have no other vice4#aha ,porphyry says3 ,the souls that are not destined for the tortures of hell 7,tartarus71 and those that have passed through this expiation1 are born again1 and divine ,justice gives them a new body1 in accordance with their merits and demerits4#ahb ,the following remarkable lines are from ,iamblichus3 ,what appears to us to be an accurate definition of justice does not also appear to be so to the ,gods4 ,for we1 looking at that which is most brief1 direct our attention to things present1 and to this momentary life1 and the manner in which it subsists4 ,but the powers that are superior to us know the whole life of the ,soul1 and all its former lives2 and1 in consequence of this1 if they inflict a certain punishment in obedience to the entreaties of those that invoke them1 they do not inflict it without justice1 but looking at the offences committed by souls in former lives3 which men1 not perceiving1 think that they unjustly fall into the calamities which they suffer4#ahc ,proclus gave out the same teaching2 he affirmed that he had been incarnated in ,nichomachus1 the ,pythagorean4 ,in his commentary on the ,golden ,verses of ,pythagoras1 ,hierocles expresses himself thus3 ,the ways of the ,lord can be justified only by metempsychosis4#ahd ,damascius and ,hermias1 as also their masters1 proclaimed their belief in ,rebirth4 ,here a short explanation must be given of what has been said regarding transmigration or metempsychosis1 in order that all misunderstanding may be removed4 ,neither ,pythagoras nor ,plotinus nor any of the great ,teachers of the past believed in metempsychosis1 as it has been described2 all their disciples have affirmed if1 and these affirmations1 set over against a line of teaching which seems to contradict them1 because it is incomplete and intended for the less intelligent portion of society at that time1 ought to have reminded its opponents that there might be hidden reasons capable of explaining the paradox4 ,we must first remember that a veil of strictest secrecy was flung over the noblest and most sublime spiritual teachings of the day4 ,according to ,bossuet1 the teaching of the immortality of the soul seems not to have been deemed suitable for the ,hebrew race1 and1 indeed1 it is easy to understand that no double-edged truth should be taught except under conditions that would safeguard it4 ,ptolemy ,philadelphus exiled ,hegesias1#ahe whose eloquent fanaticism had caused some of his disciples to commit suicide1 at ,cyrene1 after a lesson on immortality4 ,ptolemy ordered those schools of philosophy to be closed which continued teaching this doctrine1 for in the case of a people insufficiently developed1 the instinct which binds to physical life1 and the dread of the torture that awaits guilty souls in the ,hereafter1 are preferable to doctrines of immortality deprived of the safeguards with which they should be surrounded4 ,the doctrine of ,rebirths called for even stricter secrecy than that of immortality1 and this secrecy was accorded it in ancient times2 after the coming of the ,christ1 it grew less rigorous1 and the ,neoplatonists1 though obliged to keep the esoteric teaching to themselves1 were permitted to throw light on certain points4 ,timus of ,locris1 one of the masters of ,plotinus1 hinted at the existence of a more profound doctrine in the following words3 ,just as by the threat of punishment imperfectly evolved souls are prevented from sinning1 so the transmigration of the souls of murderers into the bodies of wild beasts1 and of the souls of unchaste persons into the bodies of swine1 was taught2 and the previous punishment of these souls in the infernal regions was entrusted to ,nemesis 7,karma74 ,certain modern commentators--though imperfectly instructed in the teachings of palingenesis--have also seen that the masters of philosophy in the past could not possibly have made a mistake which less far-seeing minds would have avoided4 ,dacier#ahf says3 ,a sure token that ,pythagoras never held the opinion attributed to him lies in the fact that there is not the faintest trace of it in the symbols we have left of him1 or in the precepts his disciple1 ,lysis1 collected together and handed down as a summary of the master's teachings4 ,jules ,simon also speaks as follows regarding ,plotinus3#ahg ,here we have the doctrine of metempsychosis which ,plotinus found all around1 among the ,egyptians1 the ,jews1 the ,neoplatonists1 his predecessors1 and finally in ,plato himself4 ,does ,plato take metempsychosis seriously1 as one would be tempted to believe after reading the ,republic8 ,did he mention it only to ridicule the superstitions of his contemporaries1 as seems evident from the ,timus8#ahh ,however important ,plato may have considered metempsychosis1 it can scarcely be imagined that ,plotinus took it seriously4444 ,even granting that this doctrine were literally accepted by ,plotinus1 the question would still have to be asked whether the human soul really does dwell in the body of an animal1 or simply enters a human body1 which1 in its passions and vices1 recalls the nature of that particular animal4 ,the reasons mentioned by ,dacier and ,jules ,simon form only a trifling portion of the whole explanation1 but if they are added to the constant protests raised by the disciples of the ,masters of the ,pythagorean and ,platonic traditions1 against those who said that their instructors taught metempsychosis in all its crudeness1 they assume considerable importance1 and show that1 although the restrictions of esoteric teaching travestied by the ignorance of the masses may have caused it to be believed that the contrary was the case1 none the less the ,initiates1 from the very beginning1 denied that human transmigration into the bodies of animals ever took place4 ,on this question many of them have frequently said that it is the soul which1 in such cases1 changes its nature1 and assumes the passions of animals into which1 as is said exoterically1 it transmigrates1 though it does not enter into their bodies4 ,he who believes that he transmigrates1 after death1 into the body of a beast or a plant1 says ,hierocles1#ahi is grossly mistaken2 he is ignorant of the fact that the essential form of the soul cannot change1 that it is and it remains human1 and only1 metaphorically speaking1 does virtue make of it a god1 and vice an animal4 ,a human soul1 adds ,hermes1 cannot go back into the body of an animal2 it is preserved from such pollution1 for all time1 by the will of the gods4#aij ,mrs4 ,besant says as follows in a letter dealing with ,theosophy and ,reincarnation 7,the ,theosophist1 ,april1 #aijf73 ,even with the wealth of detail given in the ,hindu ,shstras1 thousands of facts of the invisible world are omitted1 because their statement would hopelessly bewilder the public mind4 ,if all the details are given1 ere the main principles are grasped1 hopeless confusion is caused to the beginner4 ,when an ,ego1 a human soul1 by vicious appetite or otherwise1 forms a very strong link of attachment to any type of animal1 the astral body 7,kmarpa7 of such a person shows the corresponding animal characteristics1 and in the astral world1 where thoughts and passions are visible as forms1 may take the animal shapes2 thus1 after death1 in ,pretaloka1 the soul would be embodied in an animal vesture1 resembling or approximating to the animal whose qualities had been encouraged during earth-life4 ,either at this stage1 or when the soul is returning towards reincarnation1 and is again in the astral world1 it may1 in extreme cases1 be linked by magnetic affinity to the astral body of the animal it has approached in character1 and will then1 through the animal's astral body1 be chained as a prisoner to that animal's physical body4 ,thus chained1 it cannot go onwards to ,svarga1 if the tie be set up while it is a ,preta2 nor go onwards to human birth1 if it be descending towards physical life4 ,it is truly undergoing penal servitude1 chained to an animal2 it is conscious in the astral world1 has its human faculties1 but it cannot control the brute body with which it is connected1 nor express itself through that body on the physical plane4 ,the animal organisation does not possess the mechanism needed by the human ,ego for self-expression2 it can serve as a jailor1 not as a vehicle4 ,further1 the animal soul is not ejected1 but is the proper tenant and controller of its own body4 ,s'r ,shankarchrya hints very clearly at the difference between this penal imprisonment and becoming a stone1 a tree1 or an animal4 ,such an imprisonment is not reincarnation1 444 the human ,ego cannot reincarnate as an animal1 cannot become an animal4 ,in cases where the ,ego is not degraded enough for absolute imprisonment1 but in which the astral body has become very animal1 it may pass on normally to human re-birth1 but the animal characteristic will be largely reproduced in the physical body--as witness the monsters who in face are sometimes repulsively animal1 pig-faced1 dog-faced1 c4 ,men1 by yielding to the most bestial vices1 entail on themselves penalties more terrible than they1 for the most part1 realise2 for ,nature's laws work on unbrokenly and bring to every man the harvest of the seed he sows4 ,the suffering entailed on the conscious human entity1 thus cut off from progress and from self-expression1 is very great1 and is1 of course1 reformatory in its action2 it is somewhat similar to that endured by other ,egos1 who are linked to bodies human in form1 but without normal brains--those we call idiots1 lunatics1 c4 ,idiocy and lunacy are the results of vices different in kind from those that bring about the animal servitude above explained1 but the ,ego in these cases also is attached to a form through which he cannot express himself4 ,true reason1 says ,proclus1#aia affirms that the human soul may at times find lodgment in brutes1 but that it is possible for it to live its own life and rise above the lower nature whilst bound to it by the similarity of its tendencies and desires4 ,we have never meant anything else1 as has often been proved by the reasoning in our commentaries on ,phdrus4 ,there is a note in the ,vhan#aib on a passage from ,phdrus which sheds all the light that can be shed on the question of metempsychosis2 in the space of a few lines everything is said that may be publicly revealed1 without trespassing on forbidden ground4 ,after stating that1 on returning from the internal regions1 the soul passes into the life of a beast1 and that if it were human previously1 it afterwards goes into another human body1 the note continues3 ,we must not understand by this that the soul of a man becomes the soul of a brute1 but that by way of punishment it is bound to the soul of a brute1 or carried in it1 just as dmons used to reside in our souls4 ,hence all the energies of the rational soul are absolutely impeded1 and its intellectual eye beholds nothing but the dark and tumultuous phantasms of a brutal life4#aic ,this passage contains the explanation of what might be called the metempsychosis of certain human souls at the present time2 we once heard a great ,teacher fully reveal this mystery to a chosen group of ,hindus1 but it must for some time to come remain a mystery to the western world4 ,all that can be said on the matter is that it has nothing to do with the incarnation of a human soul in the body of an animal1 but rather with a certain temporary karmic bond1 in the life ,hereafter1 between a human soul and an animal one1 a bond intended to teach many a hard lesson to the one who has brought upon himself so unpleasant an experience4 ,metempsychosis included many other facts in human evolution1 facts that were plainly taught to the disciples in the inner circles of the ancient ,schools and passed out to the confused medley of public teaching4 ,the astral body1 for instance1 of a man of an exceedingly passionate nature1 when the soul leaves the physical body1 sometimes assumes forms resembling those of the animals which represent these passions on the physical plane1 and so the disincarnate soul of an assassin has been said to pass into the body of a wild beast4 ,metempsychosis1 properly so-called1 that is to say1 the passing of a human soul into the body of a brute1 did however exist during the infancy of the human race1 when highly developed animal souls were becoming fit to enter the human kingdom4 ,the bodies of these newly-born human souls were coarse and rudimentary in their nature1 showing scarcely any difference in form and organic function from the bodies of the higher animals of that period1 for these instruments were very similar to one another4 ,the improvements subsequently effected by human bodies did not then exist2 the difference1 or distinction1 which has now widened into a gulf1 was scarcely perceptible1 and in the early incarnations of these rudimentary human souls back-slidings and falls were so frequent that some of them1 thus enfeebled1 might find it to their advantage#aid to become incarnate1 at times1 in highly-developed animal bodies4 ,but that was always an exception1 and the exception has long ago become an impossibility4 ,we think these explanations1 along with those given in other portions of this work1 will throw as much light as is permitted publicly on the subject of metempsychosis--a subject frequently discussed and one that has hitherto been so obscure4 ,such illumination as is here given is due to the teachings of theosophy4 ,,the ,,early ,,christian ,,church4 ,the documents to which we have access1 dealing with the philosophical and religious history of ,christianity in the first few centuries of our era1 are so questionable1 that we can place but faint reliance upon them1 if we would really become acquainted with the thought of that period4 ,we have already seen that the number of spurious or counterfeit productions was so great that a strange kind of sorting out1 or selection1 took place at the first ,council of ,nica1 resulting in the choice of four so-called canonical ,gospels4 ,it is evident1 too1 that the copyists1 compilers1 and translators of the period were anxious1 above all else1 to make facts and opinions agree with their preconceived ideas and personal sympathies or likings4 ,each author worked pro domo sua1 emphasising whatever fitted in with his personal views and carefully concealing what was calculated to weaken them2 so that at the present time the only clues we have to guide us out of the labyrinth consist of the brief opinions expressed by a few historians1 here and there1 on whose honesty reliance may be placed4 ,in the present chapter1 for instance1 it is no easy matter to unravel the ,truth from out of these tangled threads of personal opinions4 ,some believe that the early ,christians and the ,fathers of the ,church were reincarnationists2 others say they were not2 the texts1 we are in possession of1 contradict one another4 ,thus1 whereas ,saint ,jerome brings against ,origen the reproach of having in his book ,de ,principiis taught that1 in certain cases1 the transmigration of human souls into the bodies of animals1 was possible--as1 indeed1 seems to be the case--certain writers deny that he ever said anything on the subject4 ,these contradictory affirmations are easy to explain1 once we know that ,ruffinus1 when translating into ,latin the ,greek text of ,de ,principiis1 omitted all that referred to this question1 that the conspiracy of silence might be preserved on the matter of ,origenian transmigration4 ,at the close of his article ,origen on ,reincarnation1 in the ,theosophical ,review1 ,february1 #aijf1 ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,mead says3 ,it therefore follows that those who have claimed ,origen as a believer in reincarnation--and many have done so1 confounding reincarnation with pre-existence--have been mistaken4 ,origen himself answers in no uncertain tones1 and stigmatises the belief as a false doctrine1 utterly opposed to ,scripture and the teaching of the ,church4 ,others affirm that ,saint ,justin ,martyr believed in rebirths and even in the transmigration of human souls into animal bodies4 ,in his book ,against ,heresies1 volume #b1 chapter #cc1 the ,absurdity of the ,doctrine of the ,transmigration of ,souls is dealt with2 and in the following chapter1 the pre-existence of the soul is denied6 ,is this another instance1 like the one just mentioned1 of tampering with the writings of this ,father of the ,church8#aie ,at times an author gives two contradictory opinions on the same subject4 ,in ,tertullian's ,apology for the ,christians1 for instance1 we find the following3 ,if you can find it reasonable to believe the transmigration of human souls from body to body1 why should you think it incredible for the soul to return to the substance it first inhabited8#aif ,for this is our notion of a resurrection1 to be that again after death which we were before1 for according to the ,pythagorean doctrine these souls now are not the same they were1 because they cannot be what they were not without ceasing to be what they were4444 ,i think it of more consequence to establish this doctrine of the resurrection2 and we propose it as more consonant with reason and the dignity of human nature to believe that man will be remade man1 each person the person he was1 a human being a human being2 in other words1 that the soul shall be habited with the same qualities it was invested with in its former union1 though the man may receive some alteration in his form4444 ,the light which daily departs rises again with its original splendour1 and darkness succeeds by equal turns2 the stars which leave the world1 revive2 the seasons1 when they have finished their course1 renew it again2 the fruits are consumed and bloom afresh2 and that which we sow is not quickened except it die1 and by that dissolution rises more fruitful4 ,thus you see how all things are renewed by corruption and reformed by dying4444 ,how1 then1 could you imagine that man1 the lord of all these dying and reviving things1 should himself die for ever8 ,after such a clear and noble profession of faith1 we may well wonder if it were the same man who1 in ,de ,anima1 could have both refuted and pitilessly ridiculed the idea of rebirth1 and denied the separation of the soul from the body as well as the influence of the former upon the latter4 ,we prefer to believe that we are dealing with two writers1 or else that some literary forger1 anxious to create a diversion1 deliberately made ,tertullian responsible for this strange contradiction4 ,another reason for the difficulty in unravelling the tangled skein of the religious and philosophical teachings prevalent in the early centuries of ,christianity is the lack of precision in the language of the writers1 the loss of the key to the special vocabulary they used1 and the veils which writers who possessed some degree of initiation1 deliberately threw over teachings which could only be given to the masses in general terms4 ,there is one very important point to consider2 and this is that in the earlier centuries1 outside the circles of initiation1 there was not that precision which the present-day teaching of theosophy has given to the doctrine of ,reincarnation2 this latter1 in the mind of the people1 became confused with the doctrine of ,pre-existence1 which affirms that the soul exists before coming into the present body1 and will exist in other bodies after leaving this one4 ,this confusion has continued up to the present time1 and we find schools of spiritualism in ,england and ,america1 as well as in other countries1 teaching that existence on earth has been preceded and will be followed by a great number of existences on the invisible planes4 ,in reality1 this is the doctrine of ,rebirths1 though there is nothing precise about the teaching4 ,whether the soul has a single physical body1 or takes several in succession1 it is none the less continually evolving as it passes into material vehicles1 however subtle the matter be2 the difference is1 therefore1 insignificant1 unless we wish to enter into details of the process involved1 as was the case in the ,west in the early centuries of ,christianity4 ,did the ,fathers of the ,church teach ,pre-existence8 ,there can be no doubt on this point4 ,in a letter to ,st4 ,anastasius1 ,rufinus said that this belief was common amongst the early ,christian fathers4 ,arnobius#aig shows his sympathy with this teaching1 and adds that ,st4 ,clement1 of ,alexandria1 wrote wonderful accounts of metempsychosis2 and afterwards1 in other passages of the same book1 he appears to criticise the idea of the plurality of lives4 ,st4 ,jerome affirms that the doctrine of transmigration has been secretly taught from ancient times to small numbers of people1 as a traditional truth which was not to be divulged4#aih ,a4 ,franck quotes this passage on page #ahd of his ,kabbale2 ,huet1 too1 gives it in ,origeniana4#aii ,the same ,father proves himself to be a believer in ,pre-existence1 in his #idth ,letter to ,avitus1 where he agrees with ,origen on the subject of the interpretation of a passage from ,st4 ,paul1#bjj and says that this means that a divine abode and true repose are to be found in ,heaven1 and that there dwell creatures endowed with reason in a state of bliss1 before coming down to our visible world1 before they fall into the grosser bodies of earth4444 ,lactantius1 whom ,st4 ,jerome called the ,christian ,cicero1 though he opposed pagan doctrines1 maintained that the soul was capable of immortality and of bodily survival only on the hypothesis that it existed before the body4#bja ,nemesius1 ,bishop of ,emissa in ,syria1 stoutly affirmed the doctrine of ,pre-existence1 declaring that every ,greek who believed in immortality believed also in the pre-existence of the soul4 ,st4 ,augustine said3 ,did ,i not live in another body1 or somewhere else1 before entering my mother's womb8#bjb ,in his ,treatise1 on ,dreams1 ,synesius states that philosophy assures us that our past lives are a direct preparation for future lives4444 ,when invited by the citizens of ,ptolemais to become their bishop1 he at once refused1 saying that he cherished certain opinions of which they might not approve1 as1 after mature reflection1 they had struck deep root in his mind4 ,foremost among these1 he mentioned the doctrine of ,pre-existence4 ,dr4 ,henry ,more1 the famous ,platonist of the seventeenth century1 quotes ,synesius as one of the masters who taught this doctrine1#bjc and ,beausobre reports a typical phrase of his1#bjd ,father1 grant that my soul may merge into ,light and be no more thrust back into the illusion of earth4 ,st4 ,gregory of ,nysa says it is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified1 and if this does not take place during its life on earth1 it must be accomplished in future lives4 ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria says that1 although man was created after other beings1 the human species is more ancient than all these things4#bje ,in his ,exhortations to the ,pagans1 he adds3 ,we were in being long before the foundation of the world2 we existed in the eye of ,god1 for it is our destiny to live in him4 ,we are the reasonable creatures of the divine ,word2 therefore1 we have existed from the beginning1 for in the beginning was the ,word4444 ,not for the first time does ,he show pity on us in out wanderings4 ,he pitied us from the very beginning4 ,he also adds3#bje ,philolaus1 the ,pythagorean1 taught that the soul was flung into the body as a punishment for the misdeeds it had committed1 and his opinion was confirmed by the most ancient of the prophets4 ,as regards ,reincarnation1 i4e41 the descent of the human soul into successive physical bodies1 and even its temporary association with the physical bodies of animals1 more than one ,christian writer advocated this teaching4 ,chalcidius1 quoted by ,beausobre in the book just mentioned1 says3 ,the souls1 that are not able to unite with ,god1 are destined to return to life until they repent of their misdeeds4 ,in the ,pistis ,sophia1 a ,christian treatise on the mysteries of the divine ,hierarchies and the evolution of souls in the three worlds1 we find the doctrine of ,rebirth frequently mentioned3 ,if he is a man who 7after passing out of his body7#bjf shall have come to the end of his cycles of transmigrations1 without repenting1 444 he is cast into outer darkness4 ,a few pages earlier1 in the same work1 we find3 ,the disincarnate soul which has not solved the mystery of the breaking of the bonds and of the seals is brought before the virgin of light1 who1 after judging it1 hands it over to her agents 7receivers71 who carry it into a new body4 ,let us now see what ,origen says on the matter#bjg3 ,celsus1 then1 is altogether ignorant of the purpose of our writings1 and it is therefore upon his own acceptation of them that he casts discredit and not upon their real meaning2 whereas if he had reflected on what is appropriate#bjh to a soul which is to enjoy an everlasting life1 and on the idea which we are to form of its essence and principles1 he would not so have ridiculed the entrance of the immortal into a mortal body1 which took place1 not according to the metempsychosis of ,plato1 but agreeably to another and higher order of things4 ,the teaching of ,origen is not easy to set forth clearly1 for he is very reticent about many things1 and employs a language to which present-day philosophy cannot always find the key2 still1 the teaching seems full and complete4 ,it comprises pre-existence and even those special associations of certain human souls with animal souls1 which we have just spoken of and which form one of the chief mysteries of metempsychosis4 ,in the following words he explains the existence of souls in previous worlds3 ,the soul has neither beginning nor end4444 ,rational creatures existed undoubtedly from the very beginning in those 7ages7 which are invisible and eternal4 ,and if this is so1 then there has been a descent from a higher to a lower condition on the part not only of those souls who have deserved the change1 by the variety of their movements1 but also on that of those who1 in order to serve the whole world1 were brought down from those higher and invisible spheres to these lower and visible ones1 although against their will4 ',for the creature was made subject to vanity1 not willingly1 but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope' 7,rom41 chap4 #h1 v4 #bj72 so that both sun and moon and stars and angels might discharge their duly to the world1 and to those souls who1 on account of their excessive mental defects1 stood in need of bodies of a grosser and more solid nature2 and for the sake of those for whom this arrangement was necessary1 this visible world was also called into being4 ,this arrangement of things1 then1 which ,god afterwards appointed not being understood by some1 who failed to perceive that it was owing to preceding causes originating in free will1 that this variety of arrangement had been instituted by ,god1 they have concluded that all things in this world are directed either by fortuitous movements or by a necessary fate1 and that nothing is in the power of our own will4#bji ,is it not rational that souls should be introduced into bodies1 in accordance with their merits and previous deeds1 and that those who have used their bodies in doing the utmost possible good should have a right to bodies endowed with qualities superior to the bodies of others8#baj ,all souls will arrive at the same goal2#baa it is the will of souls that makes of them angels1 men or demons1 and their fall can be of such a nature that they may be chained down to the bodies of animals4#bab ,certain souls1 on attaining to perfect peace1 return to new worlds2 some remain faithful1 others degenerate to such a degree that they become demons4#bac ,concerning bodies1 he says3 ,the soul1 which is immaterial and invisible in its nature1 exists in no material place1 without having a body suited to the nature of that place2 accordingly1 it at one time puts off one body which was necessary before1 but which is no longer adequate in its changed state1 and it exchanges it for a second4#bad ,although metensomatosis 7re-embodiment of the soul71 i4e41 the true teaching of ,origen1 was not clearly expounded1 it considerably influenced the early ,christian philosophers1 and was favourably received up to the time of its condemnation by the ,synod of ,constantinople4 ,it appeared in most of the sects of that time and in those of the following centuries3 ,simonians1 ,basilidians1 ,valentinians1 ,marcionites1 ,gnostics1 ,manichans1 ,priscillianites1 ,cathari1 ,patarins1 ,albigenses1 ,bogomiles1 c4444 ,chivalry1 too1 in these ages of darkness and persecution1 was an instrument for the dissemination of esoteric doctrines1 including ,reincarnation4 ,the heart of this noble institution consisted of students of divine ,wisdom1 pure devoted souls who communicated with one another by means of passwords4 ,the ,troubadours were their messengers of the sacred ,teaching1 which they skilfully concealed in their songs1 carrying it from group to group1 from sect to sect1 in their wanderings4 ,sons of the teachings of the ,albigenses and of the ,manichan-,marcion tradition#bae they kept alive belief in the rebirths of the soul1 ,izarn the ,monk1 in his book ,historie d' un ,hrtique1#baf apostrophised an ,albigensian bishop in the following terms3 ,tell me what school it was in which you learnt that the spirit of man1 after losing his body1 passes into an ox1 an ass1 a sheep1 or a fowl1 and transmigrates from one animal to another1 until a new human body is born for it8 ,izarn was acquainted with only so much of the teachings of the ,troubadours as had got abroad and been distorted and misrepresented by ignorant or evil-minded persons2 still1 his criticism plainly shows traces of the teachings of palingenesis in the darkest and most blood-stained periods of the ,middle ,ages4 ,the ,inquisition put an end to the ,troubadours1 though certain of them1 ,dante and ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi1 for instance1 by reason of their popularity or the special circumstances of the case1 were left in peace4 ,in ,europe the secret teaching was continued by the ,rosicrucians2 the ,roman de la ,rose is pure ,hermetic esotericism4 ,the struggle of official ,christianity--that of the letter--against those who represented the spirit of the ,scriptures1 raged ever more bitterly1 and the idea of ,rebirth disappeared more and more from the ,church2 its sole representatives during the ,middle ,ages were ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi1 the learned ,irish monk1 ,johannes ,scotus ,erigena1 and ,st4 ,bonaventura1 the ,seraphic ,doctor4 ,at the present time there remains nothing more than a disfigured and misunderstood fragment of this idea3 the dogma of the ,resurrection of the ,body4 ,,islamism4#bag ,it has been said that the ,arabs believed in ,reincarnation before ,mohammed forbade it4 ,some1 however1 think that the ,koran was written only after the death of the ,prophet1 and that the latter committed nothing to writing1 but taught by word of mouth4 ,besides1 it is clear that ,mohammedanism is an offshoot of ,zoroastrianism and ,christianity4 ,like these1 it teaches the ,unity of the ,whole1 the divine ,presence in all creatures and things 7,ubiquity71 ,predestination1 which is only one form of ,karma1 and ,resurrection1 which expresses one phase of ,palingenesis4 ,mohammed1 like all great mystics1 had discovered or learnt many of the truths of esotericism4 ,the verses of the ,koran that refer to the ,companions of the ,cave#bah indicate that he knew more than he taught in public1 and that there may be some ground for certain ,asiatic nations holding the exaggerated belief that he was an ,avtr1#bai the tenth incarnation of the ,aum--the ,amed1 the ,nations' ,desire4#bbj ,he was a ,disciple4 ,had there not been in the heart of ,islamism a strong germ of esoteric teaching1 ,sufism could never have sprung from it4 ,the ,sufis are the saints of ,mohammedanism1 they are those who aspire after the union of the individual ,i with the cosmic ,i1 of man with ,god2 they are frequently endowed with wonderful powers1 and their chiefs have almost always been thaumaturgists4 ,the ,new ,koran1 a modern exposition of part of the secret doctrine of ,islam1 shows the correctness of this view4 ,in it we find the following passages on the subject of ,palingenesis3 ,and when his body falleth off altogether1 as an old fish-shell1 his soul doeth welt by the releasing1 and formeth a new one instead4 ,the disembodied spirits of man and beast return as the clouds to renew the young streamlets of infancy4444 ,when a man dieth or leaveth his body1 he wendeth through the gate of oblivion and goeth to ,god1 and when he is born again he cometh from ,god and in a new body maketh his dwelling2 hence is this saying3 ,the body to the tomb and the spirit to the womb4444 ,this doctrine is none other than what ,god hath taught openly from the very beginning4444 ,for truly the soul of a man goeth not to the body of a beast1 as some say4444 ,but the soul of the lower beast goeth to the body of the higher1 and the soul of the higher beast to the body of the savage1 and the soul of the savage to the man4444 ,and so a man shall be immortal in one body and one garment that neither can fade nor decay4 ,ye who now lament to go out of this body1 wept also when ye were born into it4444#bba ,the person of man is only a mask which the soul putteth on for a season2 it weareth its proper time and then is cast off1 and another is worn in its stead4444 ,i tell you1 of a truth1 that the spirits which now have affinity shall be kindred together1 although they all meet in new persons and names4#bbb ,in ,asiatic ,researches1 ,colebrooke states that the present ,mohammedan sect of the ,bohrahs believes in metempsychosis1 as do the ,hindus1 and1 like the latter1 abstains from flesh1 for the same reason4 ,thus we find the doctrine of ,reincarnation at the heart of all the great religions of antiquity4 ,the reason it has remained in a germinal state in recent religions--,christianity and ,islamism--is that in the latter ,mohammed did not attain to the degree of a ,hierophant1 and in all likelihood the race to which he brought light did not greatly need to become acquainted with the law relating to the return to earth life2 whereas in the former the real teachings of the ,christ were lost when the ,gnostics were exterminated1 and ,eusebius and ,irenus1 the founders of exoteric ,christianity1 unable to grasp the spirit1 imposed the letter throughout the religion4 ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of ,,rebirth ,,in ,,modern ,,philosophy4 ,in antiquity1 science and philosophy were scarcely anything else than parts of religion#bbc2 the most eminent scientists and the greatest philosophers alike were all supporters of the established form of religion1 whenever they did not happen to be its priests1 for the temples were the common cradle of science and philosophy4 ,no wonder1 then1 that we find these three great aspects of ,truth always hand in hand1 never opposed to or in conflict with one another through the whole of antiquity4 ,science was for the body1 philosophy for the intellect1 and religion for that divine spark which is destined to flash forth and finally become a god in the bosom of the ,world ,soul4 ,every intelligent man knew that on this tripod lay the life of the individual1 the life of society1 and the life of the world4 ,divorce between these took place only at a later date1 when the divine ,teachers had disappeared1 and mutilated traditions handed down to the nations nothing but disfigured and incomplete teachings buried beneath the ruins of temples that had been crumbling away ever since spiritual ,life had left them4 ,then followed the era of separation2 science and philosophy became debased and went their own ways1 whilst a degenerate religion reflected nothing higher than the narrow mentality of fallen ministers4 ,as this degradation continued1 there sprang into being religious wars1 monstrosities that were unknown in those times when ,divinity shed illumination and guidance on the nations by means of those mighty souls1 the ,adept-,kings3 gods1 demi-gods1 and heroes4 ,nevertheless1 ,truth never remained without her guardians1 and when apostleship had been destroyed by persecutions the sacred treasure which was to be handed down from age to age was secretly entrusted by the sages to faithful disciples4 ,thus did ,esoterism pass through fire and bloodshed1 and one of its greatest teachings1 the doctrine of ,palingenesis1 has left a stream of light in its wake4 ,now we will give a rapid sketch of it in modern times1 examining the philosophical teachings of the greatest of recent thinkers4 ,we will borrow mainly from ,walker's work on this subject1 quoting only the writers most deserving of mention1 and making only short extracts1 for all that is needed is to plant a few sign-posts to guide the student along the path4 ,in the #abhth verse of ,lalla ,rookh1 ,thomas ,moore speaks of rebirths3 ,stranger1 though new the frame ,thy soul inhabits now1 ,i've traced its flame ,for many an age1 in every chance and change ,of that ,existence1 through whose varied range1-- ,as through a torch-race1 where1 from hand to hand ,the flying youths transmit their shining brand1-- ,from frame to frame the unextinguished soul ,rapidly passes1 till it reach the goal6 ,paracelsus1 like every ,initiate1 was acquainted with it1 and ,jacob ,bhme1 the nursling of the ,nirmnakyas1#bbd knew that it was a law of ,nature4 ,giordano ,bruno--also a great ,soul--quotes from ,ovid's ,metamorphoses1 ,book #ae1 ,line #aef1 c41 as follows3 ,o mortals6 chilled by dreams of icy death1 ,whom air-blown bubbles of a poet's breath1 ,darkness and ,styx in error's gulph have hurl'd1 ,with fabled terrors of a fabled world2 ,think not1 whene'er material forms expire1 ,consumed by wasting age or funeral fire1 ,aught else can die3 souls1 spurning death's decay1 ,freed from their old1 new tenements of clay ,forthwith assume1 and wake to life again4 444 ,all is change1 ,nought perishes 444 ,orger's translation#bbe ,campanella1 the ,dominican monk1 was sent into exile on account of his belief in the successive returns of the soul to earth4 ,the ,younger ,helmont1 in his turn1 was attacked by the inquisition for leaching this doctrine in his ,de ,revolutione ,animarum1 in which he brings forward1 in two hundred problems1 all the arguments2 that make reincarnation necessary4 ,cudworth and ,dr4 ,henry ,more1 the ,platonists of ,cambridge1 were faithful believers in ,palingenesis2 whilst ,joseph ,glanvill1 in ,lux ,orientalis1 finds that there are ,seven ,pillars on which ,pre-existence rests4 ,dr4 ,edward ,beecher1 in ,the ,conflict of ,ages and ,the ,concord of ,ages1 as well as ,julius ,muller1 the well-known ,german theologian1 in ,the ,christian ,doctrine of ,sin1 warmly uphold it4 ,schelling acknowledges it in his ,dissertation on ,metempsychosis4 ,leibnitz1 in his ,monadology1 and more especially his ,theodicy1 witnessed to his belief in this doctrine4 ,had he dared to speak out his thoughts openly1 he would more effectively have advocated his ,optimism1 by the teachings of evolution and rebirths1 than by all the other arguments he advanced4 ,chevalier ,ramsey1 in ,the ,philosophical ,principles of ,natural and ,revealed ,religion1 writes3 ,the holy oracles always represent ,paradise as our native country1 and our present life as an exile4 ,how can we be said to have been banished from a place in which we never were8 ,this argument alone would suffice to convince us of pre-existence1 if the prejudice of infancy inspired by the schoolmen had not accustomed us to look upon these expressions as metaphorical1 and to believe1 contrary to ,scripture and reason1 that we were exiled from a happy state1 only for the fault and personal disobedience of our first parents4444 ,our ,saviour seems to approve the doctrine of pre-existence in his answer to the disciples1 when they interrogate him thus about the man born blind1#bbf ',master1 who did sin1 this man or his parents1 that he was born blind8' ,it is clear that this question would have been ridiculous and impertinent if the disciples had not believed that the man born blind had sinned before his corporal birth1 and consequently that he had existed in another state long ere he was born on earth4 ,our ,saviour's answer is remarkable1 ',neither hath this man sinned nor his parents1 but that the works of ,god might be manifested in him4' ,jesus ,christ could not mean that neither this man nor his parents had ever committed any sin1 for this can be said of no mortal2 but the meaning is that it was neither for the sins committed by this man in a state of pre-existence1 nor for those of his parents1 that he was born blind2 but that he was deprived of sight from his birth1 by a particular dispensation of ,providence1 in order to manifest1 one day1 the power of ,god in our ,saviour4 ,our ,lord1 therefore1 far from blaming and redressing this error in his disciples1 as he did those concerning his temporal kingdom1 answers in a way that seems to suppose with them1 and confirm them in the doctrine of pre-existence4 ,if he had looked upon this opinion as a capital error1 would it have been consonant or compatible with his eternal wisdom to have passed it over so lightly and thus tacitly authorised it by such silence8 ,on the contrary1 does not his silence manifestly indicate that he looked upon this doctrine1 which was a received maxim of the ,jewish ,church1 as the true explanation of original sin8 ,since ,god says that he loved ,jacob and detested ,esau ere they were born1 and before they had done good or evil in this mortal life1 since ,god's love and hatred depend upon the moral dispositions of the creature1 444 it follows clearly that if ,god hated ,esau1 type of the reprobate1 and loved ,jacob1 type of the elect1 before their natural birth1 they must have pre-existed in another state4 ,if it be said that all these texts are obscure1 that pre-existence is largely drawn from them by induction1 and that this belief is not revealed in ,scripture by express words1 ,i answer that the doctrines of the immortality of the soul are nowhere revealed1 least of all in the oracles of the ,old and ,new ,testament4 ,we may say the same of pre-existence4 ,this doctrine is nowhere expressly revealed as an article of faith1 but it is evidently implied in the ,wisdom of ,solomon1 by the author of ,ecclesiasticus1 by our ,saviour's silence1 by ,st4 ,paul's comparisons1 and by the sacred doctrine of original sin1 which becomes not only inexplicable1 but absurd1 repugnant1 and impossible1 if that of pre-existence be not true4444 ,the ,fifth ,general ,council held at ,constantinople pronounces anathema against all those who maintain the fabulous doctrine of pre-existence in the ,origenian sense4 ,it was not then the simple doctrine of pre-existence that was condemned by the council1 but the fictitious mixtures and erroneous disguises by which this ancient tradition had been adulterated by the ,origenites4 ,soame ,jenyns writes3 ,that mankind had existed in some state previous to the present was the opinion of the wisest sages of the most remote antiquity4 ,it was held by the ,gymnosophists of ,egypt1 the ,brhmans of ,india1 the ,magi of ,persia1 and the greatest philosophers of ,greece and ,rome2 it was likewise adopted by the ,fathers of the ,christian ,church1 and frequently enforced by her early writers2 why it has been so little noticed1 so much overlooked rather than rejected1 by the divines and metaphysicians of latter ages1 ,i am at a loss to account for1 as it is undoubtedly confirmed by reason1 by all the appearances of nature and the doctrines of revelation4 ,in the first place1 then1 it is confirmed by reason1 which teaches us that it is impossible that the conjunction of a male and female can create an immortal soul2 they may prepare a material habitation for it2 but there cannot be an immortal1 pre-existent inhabitant ready to take possession4 ,reason assures us that an immortal soul1 which will exist eternally after the dissolution of the body1 must have eternally existed before the formation of it2 for whatever has no end can never have had any beginning4444 ,reason likewise tells us that an omnipotent and benevolent ,creator would never have formed such a world as this1 and filled it with such inhabitants if the present was the only1 or even the first1 state of their existence2 for this state which1 if unconnected with the past and the future1 would seem calculated for no purpose intelligible to our understanding1 neither of good or evil1 of happiness or misery1 of virtue or vice1 of reward or punishment2 but a confused jumble of them all together1 proceeding from no visible cause and tending to no end4444 ,pre-existence1 although perhaps it is nowhere in the ,new ,testament explicitly enforced1 yet throughout the whole tenour of these writings is everywhere implied2 in them1 mankind is constantly represented as coming into the world under a load of guilt2 as condemned criminals1 the children of wrath and objects of divine indignation2 placed in it for a time by the mercies of ,god to give them an opportunity of expiating this guilt by sufferings1 and regaining1 by a pious and virtuous conduct1 their lost state of happiness and innocence4444 ,now if by all this a pre-existent state is not constantly supposed1 that is1 that mankind has existed in some state previous to the present1 in which this guilt was incurred1 and this depravity contracted1 there can be no meaning at all or such a meaning as contradicts every principle of common sense1 that guilt can be contracted without acting1 or that we can act without existing4444 ,the following is a quotation from ,hume1 the great positivist philosopher3 ,reasoning from the common course of nature1 what is incorruptible must also be ingenerable4 ,the soul1 therefore1 if immortal1 existed before our birth1 and if the former existence in noway concerned us1 neither will the latter4444 ,metempsychosis is1 therefore1 the only system of this kind that philosophy can hearken to4 7,the ,immortality of the ,soul47 ,young1 in his ,night ,thoughts 7,night the ,sixth71 has the following lines3 ,look nature through1 'tis revolution all2 ,all change1 no death4 ,day follows night2 and night ,the dying day2 stars rise1 and set1 and rise2 ,earth takes th' example 444 444 ,all1 to reflourish1 fades2 ,as in a wheel1 all sinks1 to re-ascend4 ,emblems of man1 who passes1 not expires4 ,it is not more surprising to be born twice than once2 everything in ,nature is resurrection1 said ,voltaire4 ,delormel1 ,descartes1 and ,lavater were struck with the tremendous importance of the doctrine of ,palingenesis4 ,the ,philosophy of the ,universe1 of ,dupont de ,nemours1 is full of the idea of successive lives1 as a necessary corollary of the law of progress2 whilst ,fontenelle strongly advocates it in his ,entretiens sur la ,pluralit des ,mondes4 ,it is needless to state that these ideas formed part of the esoteric teachings of ,martinez ,pasqualis1 ,claude ,saint-,martin1 and their followers4 ,saint-,martin lived in times that were too troubled for him to speak freely4 ,in his works1 however1 not a few passages are found in which there can be no doubt that reincarnation is hinted at1 to anyone able to read between the lines4 7,tableau nat41 vol4 ,i1 p4 #acf2 ,l'homme de ,dsir1 p4 #cab47 ,in his ,oeuvres ,posthumes 7vol4 ,i1 p4 #bhf7 appears this remarkable passage3 ,death ought to be looked upon only as one stage in our journey4 ,we reach this stage with tired1 worn-out horses1 and we start again with horses that are fresh and able to take us farther on our road2 all the same1 we must pay what we owe for the portion of the journey that has been traversed1 and until the account is settled1 we are not allowed to continue our way4 ,goethe writes as follows to his friend ,madame von ,stein3 ,tell me what destiny has in store for us8 ,wherefore has it bound us so closely to each other8 ,ah6 in bygone times1 thou must have been my sister or my wife 444 and there remains1 from the whole of those past ages1 only one memory1 hovering like a doubt above my heart1 a memory of that truth of old that is ever present in me4 ,ballanche1 an orthodox ,christian mystic1 says3 ,each one of us is a reincarnating being1 ignorant both of his present and of his former transformations4 7,pal4 ,sociale1 book ,,iii41 p4 #aed47 ,man is brought to perfection only by becoming a more perfect order of things1 and even then he does nothing more than bring back1 as ,plato said1 a confused memory of the state that preceded his fall4 7,essai sur les ,instit4 ,sociales1 vol4 ii41 p4 #agj47 ,this life we spend on earth1 shut in between an apparent birth and an equally apparent death1 is1 in reality1 only a portion of our existence1 one manifestation of man in time4 7,orphe1 vol4 iv41 p4 #dbd47 ,our former lives belong to astronomical cycles lost in the mighty bosom of previous ages2 not yet has it been given to us to know them4 7,orphe1 vol4 iv41 p4 #dcb47 ,balzac's ,seraphita abounds with references to the idea of successive lives3 ,all human beings spend their first life in the sphere of instincts1 in which they endeavour to discover how useless are the treasures of earth4 4444 ,how often we live in this first world4444 ,then we have other existences to wear out before we reach the path on which the light shines4 ,death is one stage on this journey4 ,constant ,savy#bbg describes as follows the conditions of immortality and a succession of lives by means of reincarnation3 ,in proportion as its soul is developed by successive lives1 the body to which it is to be united will necessarily be superior to those it has worn out2 otherwise there would be no harmony between these two elements of human existence2 the means given to the soul would bear no relation to the development of its power4 ,this body1 gifted with more perfect and numerous senses1 could not have an equal value for all4444 ,besides1 these natural inequalities are also advantageous for individual progress in another way2 the errors resulting therefrom cause truths to be discovered2 vices laid bare almost form a reason for the practice of virtue by all men1 or at all events they protect one from vice by reason of the horror they inspire2 the ignorance of some arouses the love of science in others2 the very idleness which dishonours some men inspires others with a love for work4 ,so that these inequalities1 inevitable because they are necessary1 are present in the successive lives we pass through4 ,there is nothing in them contrary to universal harmony2 rather1 they are a means for effecting this harmony1 and are the inevitable result of the difference in value that bodies possess4 ,besides1 no man remains stationary2 all advance at a more or less rapid rate of progress4444 ,when faith is born1 it is an illumination4 ,since man's immortality is one progressive advance1 and1 to effect this1 he prepares the life he enters by the life he is leaving2 since1 in short1 there are necessarily two worlds1 one material1 the other intellectual1 these two worlds1 which make up the life to come1 must be in harmonious relationship with our own4 ,man's work will1 therefore1 be a continuation of his past work4444 ,i would never believe that our intelligence1 which begins to develop in this life1 comes to a halt after such an imperfect growth1 and is not exercised or perfected after death4444 444 ,nature always advances1 always labours1 because ,god is life and he is eternal1 and life is the progressive movement in the direction of the supreme good1 which is ,god himself4 ,could man alone in the whole of nature1 man so imperfect and full of faults1 stop in his onward course1 either to be annihilated1 or suddenly1 without participating in it1 though he was created free1 find that he was as perfect as he could possibly be8 ,this is more than ,i can understand4 ,no1 when the time comes1 man will not find that his life has been useless1 a thing for mere contemplation2 he will not find that he is improved without personal participation therein1 without effort and toil on his part2 above all1 he will not be reduced to a state of nothingness4 ,he will again have a life of toil2 he will participate1 to the extent ,god has permitted him1 in the endless creations produced by divine omnipotence2 he will again love1 he will never cease to love2 he will continue his eternal progress1 because the distance between himself and ,god is infinite4 ,pierre ,leroux says3 ,if ,god1 after creating the world and all creation1 were then to abandon them1 instead of guiding them from life to life1 from one state of progress to another1 to a goal of real happiness1 he would be an unjust ,god4 ,it is unnecessary for ,st4 ,paul to say2 ',shall the thing formed say to him that formed it4 ,why hast thou made me thus8' 7,romans1 chap1 #i1 v4 #bj47 ,there is an inner voice1 doubtless coming to us from ,god himself1 which tells us that ,god cannot bring about evil1 or create in order to cause suffering4 ,now this is what would certainly happen were ,god to abandon his creatures after an imperfect1 a truly unhappy life4 ,on the other hand1 if we regard the world as a series of successive lives for each creature1 we see very well how it comes about that ,god1 to whom there is neither time nor space1 and who perceives the final goal of all things1 permits evil and suffering as being necessary phases through which creatures must pass1 in order to reach a state of happiness which the creature does not see1 and1 consequently1 cannot enjoy in so far as it is a creature1 but which ,god sees1 and which1 therefore1 the creature virtually enjoys in him1 for the time will come when it will partake of that happiness4#bbh ,in ,fourier we find the following lines#bbi3 ,where is there an old man who would not like to feel certain that he would be born again and bring back into another life the experience he has gained in the present one8 ,to affirm that this desire cannot be realised is to confess that ,god is capable of deceiving us4 ,we must1 therefore1 recognise that we have already lived before being what we now are1 and that many another life awaits us1 some in this world1 and the rest in a higher sphere1 with a finer body and more delicate senses4444 ,alphonse ,esquiros expresses himself as follows#bcj3 ,the question may well be asked whether the talents1 the good and the evil tendencies man brings with him at birth may not be the fruit of acquired intelligence1 of qualities and vices gained in one or many former existences4 ,is there a previous life the elements of which have prepared the conditions of the life now being lived by each of us8 ,people in ancient times thought so4 ,inborn dispositions1 so different in children1 caused them to believe in impressions left by previous existences in the imperishable germ of man4 ,from the time when intelligence begins to show itself in children we faintly discern a general attitude towards things1 which is very like a memory thereof4 ,it would appear that1 according to this system1 no one is unconnected with the elements he introduces into life at each birth4 ,all the same1 rebirth in humanity constitutes no more than an initial circle of tests4 ,when1 after one or several incarnations1 man has attained to the degree of perfection necessary to cause a change1 he passes to another life1 and1 in another sphere1 begins an existence of which we know nothing1 though it is possible for us to regard it as linked to the present life by the closest of bonds4444 ,the limit to the progress man must have attained to1 before entering upon another circle of tests in another sphere1 is at present unknown to us2 science and philosophy will doubtless succeed in determining this limit later on4 ,they alone are reborn to earthly flesh who have in no way raised the immortal principle of their nature to a degree of perfection that will enable them to be reborn in glory4444 ,i affirm the perpetual union of the soul to organic bodies2 these bodies succeed each other1 being born from one another1 and fitting themselves for the constitutive forms of the worlds traversed by the immortal ego in its successive existences4 ,the principle of life1 extended to divers evolutions of rebirth1 is ever for the ,creator nothing more than a continuation of one and the same state4 ,god does not regard the duration of a being as limited to the interval between birth and death2 he includes all possible segments of existence1 the succession of which1 after many interruptions and renewals1 forms the real unity of life4 ,must souls1 when they leave our globe1 put on1 from sphere to sphere1 an existence hidden from us1 whose organic elements would continually be fitting themselves for the characters and natures of the different worlds8 ,reason can come to no decision on this point4 ,only let us not forget that the soul always carries off a material germ from one existence to the next1 making itself anew1 so to speak1 several times1 in that endless ascent of lives through the worlds1 wherein it attains1 heaven after heaven1 a degree of perfection increasingly linked with the eternal elements of our growing personality4 ,it may be seen1 from what is here stated1 how vain is the hypothesis of perfect bliss following on the death of the righteous4 ,it is useless for the ,christian to soar beyond time1 beyond some limit that separates him from infinite good2 he cannot do this by a single effort4 ,god proportions his intervention and aid to the totality of the states man must pass through in the course of an indefinitely long series of existences4444 ,m4 d',orient1 an orthodox ,catholic1 writes as follows#bca3 ,in this doctrine1 so evidently based on reason1 everything is linked and held together3 the foreknowledge of ,god and the agreement thereof with man's free-will4 ,this problem1 hitherto impossible to solve1 no longer offers any difficulty1 if by it is meant that ,god1 knowing before birth1 by reason of his previous deeds1 what there is in the heart of man1 brings man to life and removes him from it in circumstances that best fit in with the accomplishment of his purposes4444 ,we see in this way how it is that ,god is the controller of all the main events that take place in the world1 for the knowledge he has of souls in former lives1 and his power to dispose of each and all in the way he pleases1 enable him to foresee events in his infinite knowledge and arrange the whole sequence of things in conformity with his plans1 somewhat as an ingenious1 skilful workman1 by the aid of various colours1 conceives of and arranges the life-like reproduction of a mosaic1 a picture1 or a piece of inlaid work4 ,we understand all his forecasts of the future1 how it was that ,daniel foretold so exactly the greatness of ,alexander and his conquests2 how ,isaiah called ,cyrus by name many centuries before these mighty conquerors appeared to spread confusion and terror over the world2 how ,god1 in order to show forth his might before the nations and spread abroad the glory of his name1 is said to have hardened ,pharaoh's heart and roused his obstinate will2 for all that was needed in order to bring to pass these various results was for ,god to call back into existence certain souls he knew to be naturally suited to his purpose4 ,this is distinctly pointed out in the passage from the apostle ,st4 ,jude1 which1 if we accept the meaning that first offers itself to the mind1 would seem positively to imply that certain souls had undergone a sentence of eternal reprobation3 ',for there are certain men crept in unawares1 who were before of old ordained to this condemnation1 turning the grace of our ,god into lasciviousness4444' ,and so there falls away and disappears the greatest difficulty in the doctrine of grace1 which consisted in explaining how it came about that ,god made some men pitiful and others hard-hearted1 without there being in him either justice or acceptance of persons2 showing pity1 says ,st4 ,augustine1 only by grace that was unmerited1 and hardening hearts only by judgment that was always just2 since evidently according to this theory it is not 7as ,origen has already said7 apart from previous merit that some are formed for vessels of honour1 and others for vessels of shame and wrath4 ,that harsh sentence pronounced upon ,judas by the ,bishop of ,hippon1 which so grievously scandalised most of the ,catholic theologians1 although only the confirmation of the quotation from ,st4 ,jude1 viz41 that the wretched man had been predestined to shed the ,saviour's blood1 will seem to be a very just one in the sense that ,god causes that already lost soul to be born again1 that demon1 as ,jesus ,christ called him1 for the very purpose of perpetrating the hateful crime4 ,consequently the most sublime mysteries of religion1 the most wonderful facts regarding the destiny of the soul1 find their natural explanation in a clear understanding of this doctrine of metempsychosis1 however strange and extraordinary it may at first appear4 ,what more striking proof can be asked for1 what stronger and more convincing reason than such agreement1 concerning matter wherein all positive proof will always1 humanly speaking1 be impossible8 ,a doctrine which meets all the facts of the case so accurately1 which explains1 without difficulty1 all the phenomena of our existence in this world1 can1 of necessity1 be nothing else than true4 ,jean ,reynaud expresses himself in these terms in ,terre el ,ciel3 ,how glorious the light that would be cast on the present order of things on earth by a knowledge of our former existences6 ,and yet1 not only is our memory helpless regarding the times that preceded birth1 it is not even conscious of the whole of the intervening period1 often playing us false in the course of a lifetime4 ,it retains absolutely nothing of the period immediately preceding birth1 and scarcely any trace of our education as children2 we might even be altogether ignorant of the fact that we were children once1 were there not around us witnesses of that time4 ,on every hand we are wrapped in a veil of ignorance1 as with a pall of darkness1 we no more distinguish the light beyond the cradle than that beyond the tomb4 ,so far as memory is concerned1 it would seem that we might be compared with a rocket such as we sometimes see flashing through the sky in the night-time1 leaving behind it a line of light1 this light never shows anything more than a limited portion of the way4 ,of like nature is memory1 a trail of light left behind on our journey2 we die1 and everything is dark around us2 we are born again1 and the light begins to appear1 like a star through the mist2 we live1 and it develops and grows1 suddenly disappears again and reappears once more2 from one eclipse to another we continue our way1 and this way1 interrupted by periods of darkness1 is a continuous one1 whose elements1 only apparently separated1 are linked to each other by the closest of bonds2 we always bear within ourselves the principle of what we shall be later on1 we are always rising higher4 ,question us on our past1 and1 like the rocket1 we reply that we are going forward1 but that our path is illumined only in our immediate neighbourhood1 and that the rest of the road is lost in the blackness of night2 we no more know from where we came than we know our destination1 but we do know that we came from below and are rising higher1 and that is all that is necessary to interest us in ourselves and make us conscious of what we are4 ,and who knows but what our soul1 in the unknown secret of its essence1 has power some day to throw light on its successive journeyings1 like those streaks of flame to which we are comparing it8 ,there are strong reasons for thinking that such is the case1 since the entire restoration of memory appears1 with good reason1 to be one of the main conditions of our future happiness4444 ,in like manner the soul1 passing from one abode to another1 and leaving its first body for a new one1 ever changing its appearance and its dwelling1 guided by the ,creator's beams1 from transmigration to transmigration1 from metamorphosis to metamorphosis1 pursues the palingenesic course of its eternal destiny4444 444 ,let us1 then1 add the teachings of metempsychosis to those of the ,gospel1 and place ,pythagoras by the side of ,jesus4444 ,andr ,pezzani concludes in the following words his remarkable book on ,the ,plurality of the ,soul's ,lives3 ,apart from the belief in previous lives1 nothing can be explained1 neither the coming of a new soul into this evil world1 the often incurable bodily infirmities1 the disproportionate division of wealth1 nor the inequality in intelligence and morality4 ,the justice of ,god lies behind the monstrous phantom of chance4 ,we understand neither what man is1 whence he comes1 nor whither he goes2 original sin does not account for the particular fate of individuals1 as it is the same for all4 ,roughly speaking1 it clears up no difficulties1 but rather adds to them the most revolting injustice4 ,once accept the theory of pre-existence1 and a glorious light is thrown on the dogma of sin1 for it becomes the result of personal faults from which the guilty soul must be purified4 ,pre-existence1 once admitted as regards the past1 logically implies a succession of future existences for all souls that have not yet attained to the goal and that have imperfections and defilements from which to be cleansed4 ,in order to enter the circle of happiness and leave the circle of wanderings1 one must be pure4 ,we have opposed error1 and proclaimed truth1 and we firmly believe that the dogmas of pre-existence and the plurality of lives are true4 ,thomas ,browne1 in ,religio ,medici1 section #f1 hints at ,reincarnation3 ,heresies perish not with their authors1 but1 like the river ,arethusa1 though they lose their currents in one place1 they rise up again in another 444 revolution of time will restore it1 when it will flourish till it be condemned again4 ,for as though there were a ,metempsychosis1 and the soul of one man passed into another1 opinions do find1 after certain ,revolutions1 men and minds like those that first begat them4444 ,each man is not only himself1 there hath been many ,diogenes and as many ,timons1 though but few of that name2 men are lived over again1 the world is now as it was in ages past2 there was none then but there hath been someone since that parallels him1 and is1 as it were1 his revived self4 ,lessing1 in ,the ,divine ,education of the ,human ,race1 vigorously opposes a ,lutheran divine who rejects reincarnation3 ,the very same way by which the race reaches its perfection must every individual man--one sooner1 another later--have travelled over4 ,have travelled over in one and the same life8 ,can he have been in one and the self-same life a sensual ,jew and a spiritual ,christian8 ,surely not that6 ,but why should not every individual man have existed more than once in this world8 ,is this hypothesis so laughable merely because it is the oldest8 ,because the human understanding1 before the sophistries of the schools had disciplined and debilitated it1 lighted upon it at once8 ,why may not even ,i have already performed those steps of my perfecting which bring to men only temporal punishments and rewards8 ,and once more1 why not another time all those steps1 to perform which the views of ,eternal ,rewards so powerfully assist us8 ,why should ,i not come back as often as ,i am capable of acquiring fresh knowledge1 fresh expertness8 ,do ,i bring away so much from once that there is nothing to repay the trouble of coming back8 ,is this a reason against it8 ,or because ,i forget that ,i have been here already8 ,happy is it for me that ,i do forget4 ,the recollection of my former condition would permit me to make only a bad use of the present4 ,and that which even ,i must forget now1 is that necessarily forgotten for ever8 ,schlosser gives expression to similar thoughts in a fine work of his3 ber die ,seelenwanderung4 ,lichtemberg says in his ,seibstcharacteristik3 ,i cannot get rid of the thought that ,i died before ,i was born1 and that by this death ,i was led to this rebirth4 ,i feel so many things that1 were ,i to write them down1 the world would regard me as a madman4 ,consequently1 ,i prefer to hold my peace4 ,charles ,bonnet is the author of a splendid work1 full of noble and lofty thoughts1 on this subject4 ,it is entitled ,philosophic ,palingenesis4 ,emmanuel ,kant believes that our souls start imperfect from the sun1 and travel through planetary stages farther and farther away to a paradise in the coldest and remotest star in our system4 7,general ,history of ,nature47 ,in ,the ,destiny of ,man1 ,j4 ,g4 ,fichte says3 ,these two systems1 the purely spiritual and the sensuous--which last may consist of an immeasurable series of particular lives--exist in me from the moment when my active reason is developed and pursue their parallel course4444 ,all death in nature is birth4444 ,there is no death-bringing principle in nature1 for nature is only life throughout4444 ,even because ,nature puts me to death1 she must quicken me anew4444 ,herder1 in his ,dialogues on ,metempsychosis1 deals with this subject more fully3 ,do you not know great and rare men who cannot have been what they are in a single human existence2 who must have often existed before in order to have attained that purity of feeling1 that instinctive impulse for all that is true1 beautiful1 and good8444 ,have you never had remembrances of a former state8444 ,pythagoras1 ,iarchas1 ,apollonius1 and others remembered distinctly what and how many times they had been in the world before4 ,if we are blind or can see but two steps before our noses1 ought we1 therefore1 to deny that others may see a hundred or a thousand degrees farther1 even to the bottom of time 4448 ,he who has not become ripe in one form of humanity is put into the experience again1 and1 some time or other1 must be perfected4 ,i am not ashamed of my half-brothers the brutes2 on the contrary1 so far as ,i am concerned1 ,i am a great advocate of metempsychosis4 ,i believe for a certainty that they will ascend to a higher grade of being1 and am unable to understand how anyone can object to this hypothesis1 which seems to have the analogy of the whole creation in its favour4 ,sir ,walter ,scott had such vivid memories of his past lives that they compelled a belief in pre-existence4 ,instances of this belief may be found in ,the ,life of ,scott1 by ,lockhart 7vol4 #g1 p4 #aad1 first edition74 ,according to ,schlegel3 ,nature is nothing less than the ladder of resurrection1 which1 step by step1 leads upward1 or rather is carried from the abyss of eternal death up to the apex of life4 7sthetic and ,miscellaneous ,works2 and1 ,the ,philosophy of ,history47 ,shelley held a firm belief in ,reincarnation3 ,it is not the less certain1 notwithstanding the cunning attempts to conceal the truth1 that all knowledge is reminiscence4 ,the doctrine is far more ancient than the times of ,plato1 7,dowden's ,life of ,shelley1 vol4 #a1 p4 #hb47 ,schopenhauer adopted the idea of ,reincarnation which he had found in the ,upanishads2 regarding this portion of his teaching1 his contemporaries and followers set up a kind of conspiracy of silence4 ,in ,parerga and ,paralipomena1 vol4 #b1 chap4 #ae1 ,essay on ,religions1 he says3 ,i have said that the combination of the ,old ,testament with the ,new gives rise to absurdities4 ,as an example1 ,i may cite the ,christian doctrine of ,predestination and ,grace as formulated by ,augustine and adopted from him by ,luther1 according to which one man is endowed with grace and another is not4 ,grace thus comes to be a privilege received at birth and brought ready into the world4444 ,what is obnoxious and absurd in this doctrine may be traced to the idea contained in the ,old ,testament1 that man is the creation of an external will which called him into existence out of nothing4 ,it is quite true that genuine moral excellence is really innate2 but the meaning of the ,christian doctrine is expressed in another and more rational way by the theory of ,metempsychosis1 common to ,brhmans and ,buddhists4 ,according to this theory1 the qualities which distinguish one man from another are received at birth1 i4e41 are brought from another world and a former life2 these qualities are not an external gift of grace1 but are the fruits of the acts committed in that other world4444 ,what is absurd and revolting in this dogma is1 in the main1 as ,i said1 the simple outcome of ,jewish theism with its 'creation out of nothing1' and the really foolish and paradoxical denial of the doctrine of metempsychosis which is involved in that idea1 a doctrine which is natural to a certain extent1 self-evident1 and1 with the exception of the ,jews1 accepted by nearly the whole human race at all times4444 ,were an ,asiatic to ask me for a definition of ,europe1 ,i should be forced to answer him3 ,it is that part of the world which is haunted by the incredible delusion that man was created out of nothing1 and that his present birth is his first entrance into life4 ,in ,the ,world as ,will and ,idea1 he also says3 ,what sleep is for the individual1 death is for the ,will 7character74 ,it flings off memory and individuality1 and this is ,lethe2 and through this sleep of death it reappears refreshed and fitted out with another intellect1 as a new being4 ,in ,parerga and ,paralipomena1 vol4 #b1 chap4 #aj1 he adds3 ,did we clearly understand the real nature of our inmost being1 we should see how absurd it is to desire that individuality should exist eternally4 ,this wish implies that we confuse real ,being with one of its innumerable manifestations4 ,the individuality disappears at death1 but we lose nothing thereby1 for it is only the manifestation of quite a different ,being--a ,being ignorant of time1 and1 consequently1 knowing neither life nor death4 ,the loss of intellect is the ,lethe1 but for which the ,will would remember the various manifestations it has caused4 ,when we die1 we throw off our individuality1 like a worn-out garment1 and rejoice because we are about to receive a new and a better one4 ,edgar ,allen ,poe1 speaking of the dim memories of bygone lives1 says3 ,we walk about1 amid the destinies of our world-existence1 encompassed by divine but ever present ,memories of a ,destiny more vast--very distant in the bygone time and infinitely awful4 ,we live out a ,youth peculiarly haunted by such dreams1 yet never mistaking them for dreams4 ,as ,memories we know them4 ,during our ,youth the distinction is too clear to deceive us even for a moment4 ,but now comes the period at which a conventional ,world-,reason awakens us from the truth of our dream 444 a mis-shapen day or a misfortune that could not be traced back to our own doings in this or in another life4444 7,eureka47 ,georges ,sand1 in ,consuelo1 sets forth the logic of ,reincarnation2 and ,g4 ,flammarion expounds this doctrine in most of his works3 ,uranie2 ,les ,mondes ,imaginaires et les ,mondes ,rels2 ,la ,pluralit des ,mondes ,habits1 etc4 ,professor ,william ,knight wrote in the ,fortnightly ,review for ,september1 #ahgh3 ,it seems surprising that in the discussions of contemporary philosophy on the origin and destiny of the soul there has been no explicit revival of the doctrines of ,pre-existence and ,metempsychosis4444 ,they offer quite a remarkable solution of the mystery of ,creation1 ,translation1 and ,extinction4444 ,stripped of all extravagances and expressed in the modest terms of probability1 the theory has immense speculative interest and great ethical value4 ,it is much to have the puzzle of the origin of evil thrown back for an indefinite number of cycles of lives and to have a workable explanation of ,nemesis4444 ,professor ,w4 ,a4 ,butler1 in his ,lectures on the ,history of ,ancient ,philosophy1 says3 ,there is internally no greater improbability that the present may be the result of a former state now almost wholly forgotten than that the present should be followed by a future form of existence in which1 perhaps1 or in some departments of which1 the oblivion may be as complete4 ,the ,rev4 ,william ,r4 ,alger1 a ,unitarian minister1 adds3 ,our present lack of recollection of past lives is no disproof of their actuality4444 ,the most striking fact about the doctrine of the repeated incarnations of the soul 444 is the constant reappearance of that faith in all parts of the world and its permanent hold on certain great nations4444 ,the advocates of the resurrection should not confine their attention to the repellent or ludicrous aspects of metempsychosis1 444 but do justice to its claim and charm4 7,a ,critical ,history of the ,doctrine of a ,future ,life47 ,professor ,francis ,bowen1 of ,harvard ,university1 writes in the ,princetown ,review for ,may1 #ahha1 when dealing with the subject of ,christian ,metempsychosis3 ,our life upon earth is rightly held to be a discipline and a preparation for a higher and eternal life hereafter4 ,but if limited to the duration of a single mortal body1 it is so brief as to seem hardly sufficient for so great a purpose4444 ,why may not the probation of the soul be continued or repeated through a long series of successive generations1 the same personality animating1 one after another1 an indefinite number of tenements of flesh1 and carrying forward into each the training it has received1 the character it has formed1 the temper and dispositions it has indulged1 in the stage of existence immediately preceding8444 ,every human being thus dwells successively in many bodies1 even during one short life4#bcb ,if every birth were an act of absolute creation1 the introduction to life of an entirely new creature1 we might reasonably ask why different souls are so variously constituted at the outset4444 ,one child seems a perverse goblin1 while another has the early promise of a ,cowley or a ,pascal4444 ,the birthplace of one is in ,central ,africa1 and of another in the heart of civilised and ,christian ,europe4 ,where lingers eternal justice then8 ,how can such frightful inequalities be made to appear consistent with the infinite wisdom and goodness of ,god8444 ,if metempsychosis is included in the scheme of the divine government of the world1 this difficulty disappears altogether4 ,considered from this point of view1 everyone is born into the state which he has fairly earned by his own previous history4444 ,we submit with enforced resignation to the stern decree2 444 that the iniquities of the fathers shall be visited upon the children even to the third and fourth generation4 ,but no one can complain of the dispositions and endowments which he has inherited1 so to speak1 from himself1 that is1 from his former self in a previous stage of existence4 ,and it matters not1 so far as the justice of the sentence is concerned1 whether the former self from whom we receive this heritage bore the same name with our present self1 or bore a different name4444 ,professor ,f4 ,h4 ,hedge1 in ,ways of the ,spirit1 and other ,essays1 p4 #cei1 maintains that3 ,whatever had a beginning in time1 it should seem1 must end in time4 ,the eternal destination which faith ascribes to the soul presupposes an eternal origin4444 ,an obvious objection1 and one often urged against this hypothesis1 is the absence of any recollection of a previous life4444 ,the new organisation with its new entries must necessarily efface the record of the old4 ,for memory depends on continuity of association4 ,when the thread of that continuity is broken1 the knowledge of the past is gone4444 ,and a happy thing1 if the soul pre-existed1 it is for us that we remember nothing of its former life4444 ,of all the theories respecting the origin of the soul this seems to me the most plausible1 and therefore the one most likely to throw light on the question of a life to come4 ,the ,spiritualists of ,europe--those belonging to the school of ,allan ,kardec1 at all events--place reincarnation in the very forefront of their teaching4 ,we may add that those of ,america do not acknowledge that the soul has more than one existence on earth1 driven1 however1 by the logic of things1 which insists on progress1 they state that there are a series of lives passed in subtler bodies on invisible planets and worlds4 ,all true philosophers have been attracted by the mystery of palingenesis1 and have found that its acceptance has thrown a flood of light on the questions that perplexed them4 ,in ,asia there are #djj millions of believers in reincarnation1 including the ,chinese1 ,tartars1 ,thibetans1 ,hindus1 ,siamese1 ,mongolians1 ,burmese1 ,cambodians1 ,koreans1 and the people of ,japan4 ,tradition has handed down this teaching even to the most savage tribes4 ,in ,madagascar1 when a man is on the point of death1 a hole is made in the roof of his straw hut1 through which his soul may pass out and enter the body of a woman in labour4 ,this may be looked upon as a stupid superstition1 still it is one which1 in spite of its degenerate form1 sets forth the doctrine of the return of souls back to evolution through earthly experiences4 ,the ,sontals1 ,somalis1 and ,zulus1 the ,dyaks of ,borneo and ,sumatra1 and the ,powhatans of ,mexico have similar traditions4 ,in ,central ,africa1 slaves who are hunchbacked or maimed forestall the hour of death by voluntary self-immolation1 in the hope of being reborn in the bodies of men who will be free and perfectly formed4 ,to sum up3 all tradition1 whether popular1 philosophical1 or religious1 is instinct with the teaching of ,rebirth4 ,,objection4 ,reincarnation and ,forgetfulness of the ,past4 ,sceptics are ever bringing forward against reincarnation the absence of all memory of past lives1 convinced that there can be no answer to this argument4 ,they do not reflect that human ignorance is a bottomless abyss1 whilst the possibilities of ,life are endless4 ,the schools of the future will smile at the claims made by those of the present1 just as the latter doubtless regard with pitying indulgence that school which1 only a few years ago1 in the person of one of its most famous members1 ,dr4 ,bouillaud1 mercilessly condemned the exponent of ,edison's invention1 because the savant1 listening to a phonograph for the first time1 could not believe that it was anything else than ventriloquism6 ,instances of this kind are sufficiently numerous and recent not to be forgotten1 in spite of the shortness of human memory4 ,in the present instance1 there are many men of science who have not yet been made sufficiently wise by experience to see that the very mystery of memory itself might furnish an explanation of that general absence of all power of recollection1 which now seems to them altogether incompatible with the doctrine of ,rebirth4 ,so as not to appear to be running away from this objection1 by dealing with it only on the surface1 we will endeavour to develop the question somewhat1 for we shall have to set forth to readers unacquainted with theosophical teachings--which alone1 up to the present1 have thrown light on these difficult subjects--certain doctrines which will be well understood by none but theosophists1 since they are incapable of proof by a simple statement thereof1 but form part1 of a long chain of teachings4 ,we will offer them simply as theories--though they are facts to us--theories that contain many an error1 it may be1 and are imperfectly stated1 though capable of widening the horizon of thought and shedding a brilliant light upon many an obscure question4 ,earnest seekers after truth1 it is hoped1 will not be disheartened by the difficulties of the subject1 but will endeavour to grasp the meaning of the following pages1 by reading them over again1 if need be4 ,first1 a few words must be said on memory in general1 next we will give a rapid sketch of what constitutes memory in atoms and molecules1 in the varied forms of the many kingdoms of nature and in human forms2 finally1 we will speak of cosmic ,memory1 that veritable ,judgment ,book which takes account of all the vibrations of the ,universe4 ,amongst beings capable of memory1 a distinction must be made between those which have not reached the stage of self-consciousness1 and those which have done so1 for memory1 properly so-called1 takes for granted an ,i4 ,that which has not an ,i can only have a memory of which it is not conscious#bcc2 the atom1 for instance1 of whose memory we shall speak later on2 that which has only a rudimentary ,i possesses only a rudimentary memory from the point of view of its bearing on the individual--such is that possessed by the souls of the lower kingdoms1 that which constitutes instinct2 to the perfect ,i alone belongs an individual memory--the human memory1 and that of beings who have attained to the superhuman stage4 ,this memory may be defined as the faculty possessed by an individualised centre of consciousness voluntarily to reproduce the vibrations it has received or generated4 ,a centre of consciousness is a form that serves1 for the time being1 as the instrument of an individualised ray of that indefinable principle called the soul4 ,but for the presence of this individual soul in a form1 this latter would remain inactive as a centre of consciousness--although active in its constituent parts#bcd--;and could it not then1 consciously1 either generate or receive vibrations on the plane from which the soul is momentarily absent--it could only transmit them2 for instance1 when a man is in a brown study1 he is not conscious in his brain1 of what is taking place on the physical plane4#bce ,the vehicles of consciousness are often numerous in a being1 and the more numerous in proportion to the degree this latter has attained in the scale of evolution4 ,the present day man possesses four bodies3 the visible1 the astral1 the mental1 and the causal4 ,they are not all equally developed1 and therefore not equally conscious1 for the clearness and intensity of consciousness depend on the decree of perfection of its vehicles1 just as the beauty of electric light depends on the perfection of the apparatus producing it4 ,the ,ego--the man--is the consciousness that is called forth by the soul in the causal body4 ,this consciousness varies in power with the development of the body that gives birth to it4 ,at first it is dim and uncertain1#bcf and acquires some degree of intensity only when it receives1 through the mental and astral vehicles1 the simple and intense vibrations of the physical body4#bcg ,in savage races1 for instance1 man possesses a definite consciousness only in his waking condition2 as soon as the soul is attached to the astral body1 externalised by sleep1 it experiences only a dim consciousness in this undeveloped vehicle4 ,in advanced races1 the astral body1 being far more developed1 brings about distinct consciousness during sleep4 ,as man evolves1 consciousness begins to function in the mental and the astral bodies1 without the assistance of the vibrations of the lower vehicles1 and when all the grades#bch of matter which compose the human constitution are thus vitalised1 man has become perfect2 he knows the ,universe because he feels it within himself--he echoes it1 so to speak1 and possesses all its powers4#bci ,in ordinary man1 the memory of events that have taken place in his waking state can be brought back by that special effort of will which sets in motion the cerebral molecules that have previously been put into vibration by these events4 ,sometimes the will1 of itself1 is powerless to recall this vibration1 either because the brain is tired or in some unfavourable condition or other2 it is then aided by bringing its automatism into play1 by endeavouring1 for instance1 to call back one constituent element of the fact desired1 a place1 sound1 scent1 person1 c1 and often in this way is brought about the vibration of the molecules that constituted the rest of the circuit1 and the fact sought for presents itself2 association of ideas is a phenomenon based on this mechanical process4 ,a third method--a far more difficult one--is also used2 the bringing of every mental effort1 to a standstill4 ,the suppression of thought1 when sufficiently complete1 brings the brain into a state of calm1 allows of the soul concentrating on the astral body whose memory is keen and only slightly subject to obstruction1 and then it often happens that the vibration of the astral memory repercusses on to the physical apparatus which suddenly remembers the thing desired4 ,on the death of the physical1 the soul acts in the astral body2 there it retains a complete memory of life on earth1 but the vibrations of the physical plane no longer reach it1#bdj these memories soon cease to occupy its attention1 and it gives itself up wholly to the impressions received from the new world into which it has entered4 ,in this first stage of the after-life1 then1 there is a kind of darkening of the memory of the past earth life--darkening1 not oblivion4 ,when the purgatorial life is at an end and the astral body disintegrates in its turn1 the soul functions in the mental body1 in the mental world4#bda ,on this new plane1 the memory of the worlds left behind continues1 though far less clearly than the memory of the physical existed in the astral world2 this is owing to the fact that1 in ordinary man1 the mental body is not sufficiently developed to constitute a complete vehicle of consciousness1 capable of registering all the vibrations that come to it2 everything in the past that has been purely the work of the astral or the physical plane then disappears from his memory2 there remain only memories that have been caused either by the mental qualities or qualities superior to these1 all the highest elements concerned with affection1 intelligence1 or art4 ,the mental world1 generally speaking1 is seen only to a small extent or not at all1 because of the incomplete development of the mental body4 ,besides1 recollections assume a new character#bdb2 every thought takes a concrete form--that of a friend1 for instance1 appears as the friend himself1 speaking and thinking1 more vivid than on the earth plane#bdc2 everything is dramatised in marvellous fashion1 and life is intense throughout the realms of paradise4 ,the mental body1 after exhausting the forces that make it up1 also dies1 and the soul is centred in the only vehicle it has left1 the causal body1 a body that is immortal1 one may say1 up to a certain point1 since the soul retains it until the time comes when it can function in a still higher and more lasting vehicle1#bdd and this happens only after millions of years4#bde ,here1 another diminution of memory takes place1 because the soul loses a large portion of its consciousness when it comes into contact with none but the vibrations of this body1 which is even more incompletely developed than the former ones1 though holding within itself all the germs of these latter4 ,the ,ego then remains apparently sunk in sleep for a varying period1 though never for very long2 then the germs in the causal body become active1 build up a new series of bodies in succession--the mental1 the astral1 and finally the physical--and the soul returns once more to incarnation4 ,it will now be understood how it comes about that a soul of average development--on entering a new cycle1 with the memory of the last cycle considerably obliterated by the loss of the physical1 astral1 and mental bodies1 sheathed in new bodies on these planes1 bodies that have nothing in common with the life of the past--is unable to impress its dim memories on to the brain2 but it will also be seen that1 with the progress of evolution1 the soul acquires ever clearer consciousness in the causal body1 in which it finally preserves the memory of the various life-cycles4 ,since1 at this stage1 it has become capable of projecting its vibrations1 voluntarily1 through the lower bodies1 it is able to transmit this memory first to the mental body1 then to the astral1 and lastly to the physical body2 when this is possible1 man1 in waking consciousness1 remembers his former lives4 ,this transmission requires a purificatory process in the vehicles and a special training of the will4 ,the matter of all the bodies--that of the brain in particular--must be refined1 its constituent elements must be subtler1 and its atoms must be fully awakened to activity#bdf2 whereupon the cerebral cell becomes capable of responding to the thought of the ,ego1 i4e41 of vibrating in harmony with the higher matter4 ,the second condition of the brain's receptivity is that this organ be brought into a state of complete rest4 ,so long as the waking consciousness is active1 the brain vibrates powerfully1 and if1 at this time1 the soul sends the brain its thought1 this latter can no more make an impression on the existing cerebral activity than a faint note could be heard amid the clash of an orchestra4 ,consequently1 man1 by the training of his will1 must have acquired the power to stop the thinking activity in the waking state1 and to centre his attention on the causal body1 the only vehicle in which he can know the facts of his past incarnations2 this done he is able1 at will1 to project on to his brain the scenes of his former lives and to imprint them thereon with greater distinctness1 in proportion to his development and training4 ,in order to avoid continued explanations1 we will deal with another side of the question1 however incomprehensible it be to such as have not studied theosophy4 ,a vehicle of consciousness is both a registering apparatus#bdg and a conductor of vibrations4#bdh ,the kinds of matter of which forms are made up are perfectly graduated2 the finest atom of the physical body is built up of the densest atoms of the astral plane1 the finest atom of the astral body is made of the densest atoms of the mental plane1 and so on4 ,each atom is linked to the one that precedes and to the one that follows it in that immense chain which stretches from the densest to the subtlest plane of the ,cosmos4 ,every vibration follows this path1 passes in all directions--in the seven#bdi dimensions of space-and terminates in the very ,centre of consciousness1 the ,logos1 ,god incarnate in the world4 ,it is then comprehensible1 even logical1 that ,god should be both conscious1 on his receptive side1 of everything that takes place in the world 7omniscient71 and should produce1 on his active side1 all the forces of the world 7omnipotent74 ,it is likewise admissible that the human soul1 when fully developed1 should find in the causal body the memory of the facts that have echoed therein1 from the time when it could function consciously in it4 ,but1 it will be asked1 how could it find1 in the causal body1 memories of existences it has not been able to register individually1 of which it has not been conscious1 those1 for instance1 that form the early stages of its evolution at a time when it was conscious only in the lower vehicles8 ,memory possesses many store-houses4 ,the vibrations of which it is composed affect the whole ,universe1 there is not a single local shock that is not felt throughout all the worlds4 ,the eternal registering of things takes place in the great centre of consciousness1 ,god1 or rather1 it exists in him1 for to him there is neither future nor past1 only one eternal present2 evolution is unceasingly accomplished#bej2 but if we look upon ourselves as finite beings1 living in the illusion of time and space1 we find that vibrating matter preserves for a longer or a shorter period the movement imparted to it4 ,the denser the substance1 which forms the medium in which vibration takes place1 the feebler the vibration2 that is why it speedily ceases on the physical plane2 it continues long1 however1 in the higher conditions of matter1 and it is there we must look for it1#bea if we would recall certain events at which we have not been present4 ,when anything exciting1 a murder1 a battle1 for instance1 has happened anywhere1 the subtler atoms of the surrounding objects receive a powerful shock and continue to vibrate for centuries4 ,those who have developed their inner senses can thus witness the scene which is continually repeating itself1 or rather1 is happening all the time4#beb ,thus1 psychometrists1#bec in presence of a portion of a fossil1 are enabled to bring back scenes that this fragment has witnessed millions of years ago4#bed ,in these cases1 the memory of the facts is connected with that of the atoms which register it2 this memory can only be recalled by coming into contact with these atoms4#bee ,there is also another memory1 midway between the unconscious memory of atoms and the conscious memory of the human soul2 that of the forms of the various sub-human kingdoms4 ,it is only slightly conscious1 for it is not individualised2 all the same1 it is precise in its nature4 ,it dwells in the vital essence of the form1 an essence taken from a collective block which supplies a portion of its substance to the individuals of the same species2 this incarnate portion of essence1 when the form disintegrates at death1 returns to the parent block1 to which it communicates the result of its experiences1 and when the latter sends out a portion of itself1 into a new form1 this tentacle1 which is1 so to speak1 the soul of the form1 is in possession of the whole of the experiences of the block4#bef ,this explains how it is that the individual members of certain hostile species know one another from birth--the chicken1 for instance1 which1 immediately it has left the egg1 trembles before the hawk hovering above in the air2 such is also the reason why a duckling plunges into water as soon as it comes to a pond1 and the same instinct impels a bird to leave its nest and trust itself to the air when fully fledged4 ,in these collective souls1 belonging to the mineral1 vegetable1 and animal kingdoms1 there can be recovered the past to which they bore witness1 when the atoms of their bodies have been dispersed and entered into new combinations4 ,when the elemental ,essence#beg has definitely split up1 and the blocks have become separate1 individualised1 human fragments1#beh each of these fragments is a causal body1 a definite1 immortal centre in the total ,centre4 ,consequently there are in man three kinds of memory3 atomic memory1 that of the atoms of his bodies2 instinctive memory of the special elemental essences which are the collective souls of his various vehicles2 and finally1 the individual memory of the centre1#bei which is one with the total ,centre from which it comes4 ,this element of unity1 this human ,i in the divine ,i1 when sufficiently developed1 is able to evoke the memory of all the events in which it has participated in the causal body1 and also the memory of those it has witnessed as a collective soul 7elemental block7 in bygone ages when active in various mineral1 vegetable1 and animal species4 ,as a centre in the great ,centre1 it can also call forth the memory of everything in the ,universe that its consciousness can grasp4#bfj ,and when1 in this long pilgrimage1 it has developed to the farthest limits of the ,universe it knows all that has been1 is now1 and is to be in this ,universe1 consequently it knows both what it has and what it has not participated in1 for everything in the ,universe has then become part of itself4 ,thus it is seen that the memory of the past is everywhere registered1 and that the difficulty a man has in bringing it back is caused by nothing more than his imperfect development4 ,once he has entered the ,strait ,gate1#bfa and his consciousness is awake on the first plane of ,unity1#bfb he becomes able to read the ,great ,book of ,nature1 in which all vibrations are kept in potentiality2 he can revive them by an effort of will1 similar to that he makes in a waking state1 when he wishes to bring back past impressions to his brain4 ,the difference lies in the fact that1 in the latter case1 being in the physical body1 he calls up the memory retained in the astral body2 whilst in the former case1 being in the causal body1 he brings memory within the influence of the buddhic body1 or even at times of higher bodies still4 ,the more the ,being grows1 and becomes able to fix his consciousness on the higher planes1 the wider extends his sphere of influence1 approaching that of divine ,consciousness4 ,it is ignorance that brings forward this objection regarding loss of memory1 ignorance of life and of death1 ignorance of the phenomena that follow the last breath of a dying man1 as well as of those preceding the first faint cry of a new-born child4 ,sceptics1 however1 might have shown a little more indulgence1 for1 as they are well aware1 ordinary memory is even now so unreliable that a man has great difficulty in recalling the whole of the thoughts that have entered his brain during the last few minutes2 he has forgotten the details of the various events of the week2 the facts of the past year have mostly vanished from his mind1 and when he comes to the end of the journey1 mere fragments of the story of his life are all that is left4 ,for all that1 he has all the time retained the notion of the identity of his ,i2 he has the same body1 the same senses1 and the same brain2 his environment is the same2 everything is there to bring about association of ideas1 to awaken memory4 ,on the other hand1 centuries have elapsed before ,rebirth takes place2 the human being has undergone the most radical changes and modifications2 everything in him that was perishable has disappeared1 and is preserved only in a germinal state4 ,the visible bodily sheath has had its atoms scattered to the four elements2 the etheric body#bfc has become separated from the physical molecules whose vital support it formed2 the body of passions and desires 7astral body7 has lived for a few years in what ,catholics call ,purgatory1 ,greeks1 ,hades1 and ,hindus1 ,kmaloka2 after which1 only germs have been left behind2 then the intelligence 7mental body7 has been dispersed in turn and endures only in a germinal state4 ,almost everything that made up the man of bygone times has disappeared1 and is now concentrated in a complex germ hidden away in the causal body and destined to develop a new personality later on1#bfd heir to the former one1 though it will not be capable of remembering events in which it took no part4 ,this is the explanation of the myth of ,lethe4 ,the soul1 in the causal body1 drinks of the river of ,life1 and from its sleep-giving draught forms the sheaths of the new incarnation1 the new bodies that altogether blot out the memory of the past2 it is1 in very truth1 a new-born babe who appears on earth4 ,the ,root-,being1#bfe however1 survives the successive wrecks of fleeting personalities1 remaining in the new man as a guide1 as the ,voice of ,conscience4 ,he is the ,watcher who strings1 as on a thread1 the numberless pearls 7personalities7 which form the inevitable cycle of human evolution1 and is able1 when fully developed1 to summon up the distant panorama of past lives4 ,for him1 nothing is lost4 ,the pioneers of the race have obtained direct proof of successive incarnations1 but apart from these rare and special instances1 ordinary individuals frequently have reminiscences and distinct memories which are not investigated1 either because they are fragmentary in their nature or are related by children4 ,in ,india1 where the natives believe in ,reincarnation1 such cases are regarded without astonishment1 and efforts are made to prove their truth by serious investigation1 whenever possible4 ,and such proof is often possible4 ,when a child dies in infancy1 before he is able to use his body intelligently and of his own free will--before being able to generate karma--the higher sheaths 7the astral and mental bodies7 are not separated into their component parts4 ,return to earth quickly takes place1 the memory of the past life exists in the astral body--which has not changed--and1 more especially during the first few years of life1 can be impressed on the new brain with tolerable ease1 if this latter is at all delicately constituted4 ,then if reincarnation takes place in the same country and in the neighbourhood of the past incarnation1 it can be proved to be true4 ,such instances do exist2 the reason they are not mentioned here is that they would add nothing to the general proofs on which stress has been laid in this work4 ,these proofs form part of universal ,law2 they cannot be separated therefrom4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ha3 ,the fifth1 or ,aryan race1 in theosophic nomenclature2 the fourth was that of ,atlantis2 the third lived on the great southern continent1 ,lemuria2 the two preceding ones were1 so to speak1 only the embryologic preparation for the following races4 ,footnote #hb3 ,the life-atoms1 infinitesimal particles which by aggregation form the human body4 ,certain of these atoms are preserved1 on the death of the body1 as germs which will facilitate the reconstruction of the physical body at the next rebirth4 ,footnote #hc3 ,the divine ,essence which animates animals1 and so1 in another sense the astral bodies of men and animals1 bodies whose particles transmigrate as do the physical atoms4 ,footnote #hd3 ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky1 ,secret ,doctrine4 ,footnote #he3 ,these words are relative2 they express differences in the evolution of souls4 ,footnote #hf3 ,the atmosphere of subtle physical elements radiating round the human body and acting in a defensive rle by preventing the penetration of unhealthy elements from the immediate surroundings4 ,footnote #hg3 ,the material sin of ,manu4 ,footnote #hh3 ,one1 here means the life atoms of a man's body4 ,footnote #hi3 ,the word is here used in a generic sense2 in the present work1 it would be more precise to replace it by the word ,resurrection4 ,footnote #ij3 ,this triad comprises the visible matter of the body1 the etheric substance1 and the life 7,prna7 which the human ether absorbs and specialises for the vitalising of the body4 ,see ,man and his ,bodies1 by ,a4 ,besant4 ,footnote #ia3 ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky1 ,the ,theosophist1 ,vol4 #d1 pages #bhg1 #bhh4 ,footnote #ib3 ,the finer elements invisible to physical eye4 ,their function is sensation1 and by their association with the human mental body incarnated in them1 they give birth to the emotions and passions1 in a word1 to the animal in man4 ,footnote #ic3 ,the ,umbra of the ,latin races4 ,footnote #id3 ,the ,kma ,rpa of the ,hindus4 ,footnote #ie3 ,the purgatory of ,christians1 the astral plane of theosophists1 and the ,kmaloka of ,hindus4 ,footnote #if3 ,by the fire of purgatory1 says the ,catholic metaphor4 ,footnote #ig3 ,see ,a4 ,besant's masterly work on ,reincarnation4 ,footnote #ih3 ,dharma is a wide word1 primarily meaning the essential nature of a thing2 hence the laws of its being1 its duty2 and it includes religious rites1 appropriate to those laws4 ,this definition1 as also the extracts quoted1 are taken from ,a4 ,besant's translation of the ,bhagavad ,gt4 ,footnote #ii3 ,human souls1 not all of them1 but only the pious ones1 are daimonic and divine4 ,once separated from the body1 and after the struggle to acquire piety1 which consists in knowing ,god and injuring none1 such a soul becomes all intelligence4 ,the impious soul1 however1 remains in its own essence and punishes itself by seeking a human body to enter into1 for no other body can receive a human soul1 it cannot enter the body of an animal devoid of reason3 divine law preserves the human soul from such infamy4 ,hermes ,trismegistus1 ,book ,i1 ,lacl3 ,hermes to his son ,tat4 ,footnote #ajj3 ,bodies4 ,footnote #aja3 ,the physical body with its etheric double1 and life 7,prna74 ,footnote #ajb3 ,the kmic body4 ,footnote #ajc3 ,the causal body4 ,footnote #ajd3 ,history4 ,book #b1 chap4 #abc4 ,footnote #aje3 ,the causal body4 ,footnote #ajf3 ,the buddhic body1 which1 in ordinary man1 is only in an embryonic stage4 ,footnote #ajg3 ,generally called ,prna1 in man4 ,jiva is the solar life which1 on being transmuted by the physical body1 becomes ,prna1 the human physical life4 ,both ,jiva and ,prna differ from each other in nature and in vibration4 ,footnote #ajh3 ,the mental body4 ,footnote #aji3 ,the causal body4 ,in annihilation--what has been called the loss of the soul--the kmic principle 7astral body7 in the course of a rather long succession of lives1 does not allow the mental body to become separated from it in purgatory2 it keeps it imprisoned up to the time of its disintegration2 the causal body reaps nothing from the incarnations1 at each re-birth it loses the forces it is putting forth in order to form the new mental body4 ,it gradually atrophies until the time comes when it is no longer fit to make use of the ordinary bodies of the race to which it belongs4 ,then it remains at rest1 whilst the mental body gradually disintegrates2 afterwards it takes up once again its series of incarnations in the imperfectly evolved bodies of primitive races4 ,this will be understood only by those who have studied theosophy4 ,footnote #aaj3 ,in this passage1 ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky alludes to the few etheric1 astral1 and mental atoms which1 at each disincarnation1 are incorporated in the causal body and form the nuclei of the future bodies corresponding to them4 ,footnote #aaa3 ,history4 ,vol4 #b1 book #b1 chap4 #abc 7already quoted74 ,footnote #aab3 ,of the elements of the personality--of the astral body1 in all probability4 ,footnote #aac3 ,the ,ego 7soul7 also lives in the air 7the symbol of heaven7 and on the earth 7whose symbol is water1 dense matter7--in heaven1 after disincarnation2 on earth1 during incarnation4 ,footnote #aad3 ,the soul is immortal and needs no food4 ,footnote #aae3 ,its name1 ,khopiroo1 comes from the root ,koproo1 to become1 to be born again 7,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky74 ,hartley says3 ,at the centre of the solar disk appears the ,scarabeus as the symbol of the soul re-uniting itself with the body4 ,the ,scarabeus is called by ,pierret the synthesis of the ,egyptian religion--type of resurrection--of self-existence--of self-engendering like the ,gods4 ,as ,tori1 or ,chepi1 the ,sun is the ,scarabeus1 or self-engenderer1 and the mystery of ,god4 ,footnote #aaf3 ,also called kmic body1 astral body1 body of desire1 etc4 ,footnote #aag3 ,reincarnation4 ,footnote #aah3 ,vol4 #c1 p4 #abd4 ,footnote #aai3 ,the causal body illumined by the divine ,essence1 which theosophy names tm-,buddhi4 ,footnote #abj3 ,he calls him the prince of lying fathers and dishonest writers4 7,egypt1 vol4 #a1 p4 #bjj74 ,footnote #aba3 ,eusebius even confesses this himself3 ,i have set forth whatever is calculated to enhance the glory of our religion1 and kept back everything likely to cast a stain upon it4 7,proeparatio ,evangelica4 ,book #ab1 chap4 #ca74 ,footnote #abb3 ,namae-,sat ,vakhshr-i-,mahabad1 also in the fourth ,journey in chap4 #d of ,jam-i-,kaikhoshru 7see ,the ,theosophist1 p4 #ccc1 vol4 #ba74 ,footnote #abc3 ,see ,bardic ,triads1 by ,e4 ,williams4 ,translated from the original ,welsh4 ,footnote #abd3 ',abred' is the circle of the migrations through which every animated being proceeds from death3 man has passed through it4 ,triad #ac4 ,transmigration is in ',abred4' ,triad #ad4 ,there are three primitive calamities in ',abred'3 the necessity of evolution 7of rebirths71 the absence of memory 7of past incarnations7 and death 7followed by rebirth74 ,triad #ah 7the words in parentheses are our own74 ,by reason of three things man is subjected to ',abred' 7or transmigration73 by the absence of the effort to attain knowledge1 by non-attachment to good1 and by attachment to evil4 ,as the result of these1 he descends into ',abred1' to the stage corresponding to his development1 and begins his transmigrations anew4 ,triad #be4 ,the three foundations of science are3 complete transmigration through every state of being1 the memory of the details of each transmigration1 the power to pass again at will through any state1 to acquire experience and judgment1 7a7 ,this comes to pass in the circle of ,gwynvyd4 ,triad #cf4 7a7 ,the liberated being has power to call up the past1 to tune his consciousness with that of every being1 to feel everything that being feels1 to be that being4 ,footnote #abe3 ,in the poem ,cad-,godden1 quoted by ,pezzani in ,la ,pluralit des ,existences de l'me1 p4 #ic4 ,taliesin is a generic name indicating a function rather than the name of an individual4 ,footnote #abf3 ,gallic ,war 7,book #b1 chap4 #f74 ,valerius ,maximus relates that these nations lent one another money which was to be paid back in the other world1 and that at ,marseilles a sweet-tasted poison was given to anyone who1 wishing to commit suicide1 offered the judges satisfactory reasons for leaving his body4 ,footnote #abg3 ,the ,mystery of the ,ages1 by the ,duchesse de ,pomar4 ,footnote #abh3 ,in ,theologia or the ,seven ,adyta4 ,footnote #abi3 ,the ,cycle of ,necessity extends from the time when the soul begins to evolve to the moment when it attains to liberation4 ,footnote #acj3 ,life of ,pythagoras4 ,book #h1 chap4 #ad4 ,footnote #aca3 ,ovid's ,metamorphoses4 ,book #ae4 ,footnote #acb3 ,all that remained of the shield was the carved ivory ornamentation1 the iron had been eaten away by rust4 ,footnote #acc3 ,philostratus1 ,life of ,apollonius of ,tyana4 ,footnote #acd3 ,philostratus1 ,life of ,apollonius of ,tyana4 ,footnote #ace3 ,marinas1 ,vita ,procli4 ,footnote #acf3 ,the ,ego1 the human soul properly so-called1 what ,egypt named the liberated intelligence which resumes its sheath of light1 and again becomes a daimon 7,maspero74 ,in antiquity the name of daimon was given to the human soul or to higher intelligences4 ,footnote #acg3 ,hades2 the ,purgatory of ,catholics2 the ,kmalka of ,hindus4 ,footnote #ach3 ,allusion to the struggle which separates the mental from the astral body in ,purgatory4 ,footnote #aci3 ,kmalka2 ,purgatory4 ,footnote #adj3 ,the subterranean hell1 the lowest world in ,purgatory4 ,footnote #ada3 ,plato's ,laws1 ,book #aj4 ,footnote #adb3 ,plato's ,republic1 ,book #aj4 ,footnote #adc3 ,they are in the causal body4 ,footnote #add3 ,phdo4 ,footnote #ade3 ,these considerations are taken from the writings of ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky1 and are also confirmed by modern criticism of biblical texts4 ,footnote #adf3 ,maimonides4 ,quoted in ,the ,perfect ,way1 by ,a4 ,kingsford and ,e4 ,maitland4 ,footnote #adg3 ,galatians1 chap4 #d1 verses #bd1 #be4 ,footnote #adh3 ,starli1 part #d1 p4 #e4 ,footnote #adi3 ,deuteronomy1 chap4 #bd1 verses #a to #d4 ,footnote #aej3 ,deuteronomy1 chap4 #ag1 verse #ag4 ,footnote #aea3 ,exodus1 chap4 #ba1 verses #b to #aa4 ,footnote #aeb3 ,exodus1 chap4 #ba1 verses #bc1 #bd1 #be4 ,footnote #aec3 ,genesis1 chap4 #i1 verses #e1 #f2 also ,leviticus1 chap4 #g4 ,footnote #aed3 ,exodus1 chapters #f1 #ab1 #ad1 #bb1 #cb1 ,footnote #aee3 ,ecclesiastes1 chap4 #c1 verses #ah1 #ai1 #bj1 #bb4 ,footnote #aef3 ,the souls of a race in its maturity are of a more advanced type than those of its infancy or old age4 ,footnote #aeg3 ,the ,kabala is the secret teaching of the ,jews2 in it lie hidden doctrines that are too profound to be taught in public4 ,footnote #aeh3 ,zohar1 #b1 #ii1 quoted in ,myer's ,qabbalah1 p4 #aih4 ,footnote #aei3 ,evolution develops the soul1 enabling it to reach its goal3 the divine state4 ,footnote #afj3 ,the force of evolution comes from ,god and ceases only when the soul is fully developed1 and has reached the promised land at the end of its pilgrimage3 the divine state4 ,footnote #afa3 ,franck1 ,la ,kabbale1 p4 #bdd1 etc4 ,footnote #afb3 ,the ,hidden ,wisdom of ,christ1 #ahfd1 vol4 #a1 p4 #ci4 ,footnote #afc3 ,de ,bell4 jud4 #b1 #aa4 ,footnote #afd3 ,one of the lowest sub-planes of ,kmaloka 7,purgatory74 ,footnote #afe3 ,the ,christian ,heaven 7,devachan of theosophy74 ,footnote #aff3 ,the earth1 which is above when compared with ,tartarus1 but not so in relation to the ,elysian ,fields2 versification imposes such strict limits on expression1 that it must have the benefit of poetic licence4 ,footnote #afg3 ,frret1 ,examen crit4 des apologistes de la relig4 chrt41 pages #ab and #ac1 ,paris1 #ahbc4 ,footnote #afh3 ,faustus4 ,footnote #afi3 ,and yet the ,gospel of ,saint ,john denies this 7chap4 #a1 v4 #ba74 ,the contradictions in the gospels are so numerous that they alone have created thousands of infidels4 ,footnote #agj3 ,stolberg expresses himself as follows on this matter3 ,this question was evidently based on the opinion that the disciples of ,jesus had formed1 that this man1 whose punishment dated from his very birth1 had sinned in a previous life4 7,histoire de ,n4 ,s4 ,jsus-,christ et de son sicle1 ,book #c1 chap4 #dc74 ,footnote #aga3 ,revelation1 chap4 #c1 v4 #ab4 ,footnote #agb3 ,revelation1 chap4 #b1 v4 #bh4 ,footnote #agc3 ,revelation1 chap4 #bb1 v4 #af4 ,footnote #agd3 ,revelation1 chap4 #b1 v4 #ag4 ,footnote #age3 ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky4 ,footnote #agf3 ,taken literally1 the ,book of the ,creation gives us the most absurd and extravagant ideas of ,divinity4 ,footnote #agg3 ,first ,ennead1 chap4 ,i4 ,footnote #agh3 ,the ,universe1 which can exist only through multiplicity4 ,footnote #agi3 ,second ,ennead1 chap4 #c4 ,footnote #ahj3 ,second ,ennead1 chap4 #h4 ,footnote #aha3 ,third ,ennead1 chap4 #d4 ,footnote #ahb3 ,concerning ,abstinence2 ,book #b4 ,footnote #ahc3 ,egyptian ,mysteries1 ,book #d1 chap4 #d4 ,footnote #ahd3 ,here1 reincarnation is meant4 ,footnote #ahe3 ,this philosopher was surnamed ,peisithanatos 7the death-persuader74 ,footnote #ahf3 ,vie de ,pythagore1 vol4 ,i1 p4 #bh4 ,footnote #ahg3 ,hist4 de l',ec4 a',alex41 vol4 ,i1 p #ehh4 ,footnote #ahh3 ,in this work1 he says3 ,the winged tribe1 that has feathers instead of hair1 is formed of innocent but superficial human beings1 pompous and frivolous in speech1 who1 in their simplicity1 imagine that the sense of vision is the best judge of the existence of things4 ,those who take no interest whatever in philosophy become four-footed animals and wild beasts4444 ,footnote #ahi3 ,commentaries on the ,golden ,verses of ,pythagoras4 ,footnote #aij3 ,hermes1 ,commentaries of ,chalcidius on the ,timus4 ,footnote #aia3 ,procli ,diadochi in ,platonis ,timum ,commentaria4 ,footnote #aib3 ,september1 #ahih1 p4 #c4 ,footnote #aic3 ,the life of the animal to which it is bound4 ,footnote #aid3 ,the instrument must be suited to the development of the artist2 too highly developed a body would be bad for a man very low down in the scale of humanity4 ,this will1 in some measure1 explain the paradoxical word here used2 the advantage there may sometimes be in putting on a rudimentary body4 ,footnote #aie3 ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,mead tells us that ,justin believed in ,reincarnation only whilst he was a ,platonist2 he opposed this teaching after his conversion to ,christianity 7,see ,theosophical ,review1 ,april1 #aijf74 ,footnote #aif3 ,does this obscure passage refer to the resurrection of the body8 ,footnote #aig3 ,adversus ,gentes4 ,we die many times1 and as often do we rise again from the dead4 ,footnote #aih3 ,hyeronim41 ,epistola ad ,demetr4444 ,footnote #aii3 ,book #b1 quest4 #f1 ,no4 #ag4 ,footnote #bjj3 ,ephesians1 ch4 #a1 v4 #d 444 he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world4 ,footnote #bja3 ,instit4 divin41 #c1 #ah4 ,footnote #bjb3 ,confessions1 ,i1 ch4 #f4 ,footnote #bjc3 ,on the ,immortality of the ,soul1 chap4 #ab4 ,footnote #bjd3 ,hist4 de ,maniche et du ,manichisme1 vol4 #b1 p4 #dib4 ,footnote #bje3 ,stromata41 vol4 #c1 p4 #dcc4 ,edition des ,bndictins4 ,footnote #bjf3 ,the words in parenthesis are by the author4 ,footnote #bjg3 ,cont4 ,cels4 ,book #d1 chap4 #ag4 ,footnote #bjh3 ,greek3 ti akolouthei4 ,footnote #bji3 ,de ,principiis1 ,book #c1 chap4 #e4 ,footnote #baj3 ,contra ,celsum1 ,book #a4 ,footnote #baa3 ,contra ,celsum1 ,book #a1 chap4 #f4 ,footnote #bab3 ,de ,principiis1 ,book #c1 chap4 #e4 ,footnote #bac3 ,de ,principiis1 ,book #d1 chap4 #e4 ,footnote #bad3 ,contra ,celsum1 ,book #g1 chap4 #cb4 ,footnote #bae3 ,e4 ,aroux4 ,les ,mystres de la ,chevalerie4 ,footnote #baf3 ,quoted by ,i4 ,cooper ,oakley in ,traces of a ,hidden ,tradition in ,masonry and ,medival ,mysticism1 a very interesting work on the sects which connect the early centuries with modern times4 ,footnote #bag3 ,see ,l',islamisme et son ,enseignement sotrique1 by ,ed4 ,bailly4 ,publications thosophiques1 ,paris1 #aijc4 ,footnote #bah3 ,chapter #ah4 ,footnote #bai3 ,islam is now awaiting the coming of the ,mahdi1 its last prophet2 prophecy says that he will be the reincarnation of ,mohammed 7,borderland1 ,april1 #aijg74 ,footnote #bbj3 ,this is the reason ,afghans still undertake pilgrimages to ,mecca4 ,footnote #bba3 ,chap4 #bb1 verses #e1 #ad1 #ae1 #ag1 #ah1 #ai1 #bj1 #da4 ,quoted by ,lady ,caithness in ,old ,truths in a ,new ,light4 ,footnote #bbb3 ,chap4 #bc1 verses #ag1 #bf1 #bg1 etc4 ,footnote #bbc3 ,by religion is here understood the devotional aspect and the scientific side of the teaching of ,truth1 i4e41 the science of the divine ,soul4 ,footnote #bbd3 ,nirmnakyas are beings who have become perfect1 and who1 instead of entering the ,nirvna their efforts have won1 renounce peace and bliss in order to help forward their human brothers in their evolution4 ,footnote #bbe3 ,o6 genus attonitum gelid formidine mortis1 ,quid ,styga1 quid tenebras1 quid nomina vana timetis1 ,materiam vatum1 falsique piacula mundi8 ,corpora sive rogus flamm1 seu tabe vetustas ,abstulerit1 mala posse pati non ulla putetis ,morte carent anim3 semperque priore relict ,sede1 novis domibus habitant vivuntque recept 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,omnia mutantur1 nihil interit 444 ,footnote #bbf3 ,s4 ,john's ,gospel1 chap4 #i1 verse #b4 ,footnote #bbg3 ,the following passages are taken from three of ,c4 ,savy's works3 ,comment4 du ,sermon sur la ,montagne 7#ahah72 ,penses et ,mditations 7#ahbi72 ,dieu et l',homme en cette ,vie et ,audel 7#ahch74 ,footnote #bbh3 ,de l',humanit1 vol4 #a41 p4 #bcc4 ,footnote #bbi3 ,thorie de l',unit ,universelle1 vol4 #b1 p4 #cjd-cdh4 ,footnote #bcj3 ,vie ,future au ,point de ,vue ,socialiste1 and ,confession d'un ,cur de ,village4 ,footnote #bca3 ,destines de l'me4 ,footnote #bcb3 ,alluding to the complete renewing of the material molecules of the body1 every seven years4 ,footnote #bcc3 ,whose consciousness1 however 7along with memory71 is at the summit of the hierarchy which is its origin4 ,footnote #bcd3 ,molecules and atoms have a particular consciousness of their own which does not cease to function when1 on the departure of the individual soul1 the body1 as such1 ceases to function4 ,footnote #bce3 ,if sufficiently developed1 however1 he can be made conscious of this in a higher vehicle4 ,footnote #bcf3 ,when man has barely entered the human stage--in primitive man4 ,footnote #bcg3 ,consciousness begins in the physical body1 its simplest instrument4 ,footnote #bch3 ,there are other vehicles above the causal body4 ,footnote #bci3 ,all the powers of the ,universe are in the divine germ1 as the tree is in its seed4 ,footnote #bdj3 ,because it no longer has a dense physical body4 ,there are exceptions to this rule1 but there is no necessity to mention them here4 ,footnote #bda3 ,the ,christian ,heaven1 the ,devachan of ,theosophy4 ,footnote #bdb3 ,this character has already appeared on the astral plane1 though not in so striking a fashion4 ,footnote #bdc3 ,unity exists on the plane of the ,ego1 and the latter sends his thought into the forms made out of his vehicles2 this will be understood only by the few1 but an explanation cannot be given at this point1 without writing a volume on the whole of theosophy4 ,footnote #bdd3 ,we are still dealing with the ordinary man4 ,footnote #bde3 ,when liberation is attained4 ,this can be effected rapidly by those who will to attain it4 ,footnote #bdf3 ,only four of the seven atomic spirill are active in this our fourth planetary ,round 7one for each ,round74 ,they can be rapidly vitalised by the will4 ,footnote #bdg3 ,when the soul is centred in it4 ,footnote #bdh3 ,the vibrations1 whether registered as they pass or not registered1 continue their course through the substance of the ,universe4 ,footnote #bdi3 ,science even now recognises four of these dimensions4 ,footnote #bej3 ,this is said in order to satisfy such as are of a metaphysical turn of mind1 and frequently prone to criticism4 ,footnote #bea3 ,when the inner senses are developed4 ,footnote #beb3 ,a question will doubtless at once rise to the minds of many readers2 how can the same atoms produce1 at once and almost eternally1 millions of different facts8 ,we will reply briefly4 ,science has been able to conceive of an explanation of a fact apparently quite as absurd--the phenomenon of the balls of ,russian platinum mentioned by ,zllner 7,transcendental ,physics1 ch4 #i7 which pass through hermetically sealed glass tubes1 and that of the ,german copper coins dropping through the bottom of a sealed box on to a slate--by accepting a fourth dimension of space4 ,who would affirm that the dimensions of space are limited to four8 ,or that the science of the immediate future will not be brought face to face with facts1 and find1 in a fifth or sixth dimension of space1 a possible explanation of the phenomenon here mentioned1 one which initiated seers can test whenever they please1 because it is a real fact8 ,still1 as these seers say1 the coarsest atoms generally register only one image1 others register fresh images1 so that in many cases there is quite a superposition of images which must be carefully examined to avoid errors4 ,footnote #bec3 ,a psychometrist is a person endowed with a very fine nervous system1 capable of repeating the delicate vibrations which act upon the inmost atoms of a body4 ,in this way1 by placing himself in presence of an object that has been in contact with some individual1 he can clearly describe the latter's physical1 moral1 and mental characteristics4 ,hitherto1 ,buchanan and ,professor ,denton have been the most remarkable psychometrists2 the experiments related in their works have been made before witnesses and permit of no doubt whatever as to the reality of this strange faculty4 ,footnote #bed3 ,instances of this are numerous in ,professor ,denton's ,the ,soul of ,things4 ,footnote #bee3 ,this memory is preserved in the first life-wave4 ,footnote #bef3 ,this is instinct1 i4e41 a semi-conscious memory1 located in the life-wave of the second ,logos4 ,footnote #beg3 ,the divine ,essence incarnated in the matter of the lower planes of the ,universe4 ,footnote #beh3 ,when the essence1 after the destruction of the form to which it gives life1 no more returns to the parent-block from which it came1 it has become individualised1 ready to enter into the human kingdom4 ,footnote #bei3 ,the memory of the third life-wave1 of the first ,logos4 ,footnote #bfj3 ,everything1 for instance1 that concerns the planes of the planetary system1 on which it has finished its evolution4 ,footnote #bfa3 ,the passing of consciousness from the causal body to the nascent buddhic body4 ,footnote #bfb3 ,the buddhic plane 7the one immediately above the mental7 is one in which the forms are so subtle that they no longer limit the ,life 7the ,soul of the ,world7 animating them4 ,this ,life comes directly into contact with the ,life which causes all forms to live2 it then sees ,unity3 it sees itself everywhere and in everything1 the joys and sorrows of forms other than its own are its joys and sorrows1 for it is universal ,life4 ,footnote #bfc3 ,this body is composed of physical matter1 and therefore belongs to the physical plane4 ,it has been given a special name1 not only because it is made of ether1 but because it can be separated from the physical body4 ,footnote #bfd3 ,the whole of the bodies3 mental1 astral1 and physical4 ,footnote #bfe3 ,the ,ego 7soul7 in the causal body4 ,,conclusion4 ,we have now come to the end of our study3 a task to which we have certainly not been equal1 so far is it beyond our powers4 ,as1 however1 we have drawn inspiration from our predecessors1 so have we also1 in our turn1 endeavoured to shed a few more rays of light on certain points of this important subject1 and indicate fresh paths that may be followed by such as enter upon this line of investigation in the future4 ,it is our most ardent desire to see this fertile soil well tilled1 for it will yield an abundant harvest4 ,mankind is dying in strife and despair2 the torrent of human activity is everywhere seething and foaming4 ,here ignorance buries its victims in a noisome den of slime and filth2 there1 the strong and ruthless1 veritable vampires1 batten on the labour and drain away the very life of the weak and helpless2 farther away1 science stumbles against the wall of the ,unknown2 philosophy takes up its stand on the cold barren glacier of intellectualism2 religions are stifled and struggle for existence beneath the age-long accumulations of the letter that killeth4 ,more now than ever before do we need to find a reason for morality1 a guide for science1 an ,ariadne's thread for philosophy1 a torch to throw light on religion1 and ,love over all1 for if mankind continues to devote the whole of its strength to the pursuit of material benefits1 if its most glorious conquests become instruments to advance selfishness1 if its progress merely increases physical wretchedness and makes moral decadence more terrible than before1 if the head continues to silence the appeals of the heart1 then divine ,compassion will have no alternative but to destroy beneath the waters of another flood this cruel1 implacable civilisation1 which has transformed earth into an inferno4 ,amongst the most pressing and urgent truths1 the most fruitful teachings1 the most illuminating doctrines1 the most comforting promises1 we have no hesitation in placing the ,law of ,rebirths in the very front4 ,it is supported by ethics1 by reason1 and by science2 it offers an explanation of the enigma of life1 it alone solves almost all the problems that have harassed the mind of man throughout the ages2 and so we hope that1 in spite of its many imperfections1 this work of ours will induce many a reader to say3 ,reincarnation must be true1 if could not be otherwise6 ,,the ,,end 99 99 99 99 99