,,elementary ,,theosophy                
,l4 ,w4 ,,rogers               ,,los    
,,angeles    ,,theosophical ,,book      
,,concern              #aiag            
,copyright               ,by            
,l4 ,w4 ,rogers              #aiag      
,,preface      ,to comprehend the       
significance of great world changes1    
before ,time has  fully done his work1  
is difficult4 ,while mighty events are  
still in  their formative period the    
future is obscure4 ,but our inability to
  outline the future cannot blind us to 
the unmistakable trend of the           
evolutionary forces at work4 ,one thing 
that is clear is that our boasted       
,christian civilization is the theater  
in which has been staged the most       
un-,christian war of recorded history   
and in which human atrocity has  reached
 a point that leaves us vaguely groping 
for a rational  explanation of it4      
,another obvious fact is that the more  
than twenty  nations involved have been 
forced into measures and methods before 

unknown and which wholly transform the  
recognized function and powers of       
governments4 ,with these startling facts
 of religious and political             
significance before us thoughtful people
 are beginning to ask if we are  not    
upon the threshold of a complete        
breaking down of modern  civilization   
and the birth of a new order of things1 
in which direct  government by the      
people throughout the entire world will 
be coincident  with the rise of a       
universal religion based on the         
brotherhood of man4    ,in such a time  
any contribution to current literature  
that will help to  clear the ground of  
misconceptions and to bring to the      
attention of  those interested in such  
things1 that set of fundamental natural 
truths  known as theosophy1 may perhaps 
be helpful4 ,whether or not the world is
  about to recast its ethical code there
 can at least be no doubt that it  is   
eagerly seeking reliable evidence that  
we live after bodily death and  that it 

will welcome a hypothesis of immortality
 that is inherently  reasonable and     
therefore satisfies the intellect as    
well as the heart4  ,those who are      
dissatisfied with the old answers to the
 riddle of  existence and demand that   
,faith and ,reason shall walk hand in   
hand1 may  find in the following pages  
some explanation of the puzzling things 
in  life--an explanation that disregards
 neither the intuitions of religion  nor
 the facts of science4    ,of course no 
pretension is made of fully covering the
 ground4 ,the book  is a student's      
presentation of some of the phases of   
theosophy as he  understands them4 ,they
 are presented with no authority        
whatever1 and are  merely an attempt to 
discuss in simple language some of the  
fundamental  truths about the human     
being4 ,no claim is made to originality 
but it is  hoped that by putting the old
 truths in a somewhat different way1    
with  new illustrations and arguments1  
they may perhaps be seen from a new     

viewpoint4 ,the intention has been to   
present elementary theosophy simply  and
 clearly and in the language familiar to
 the ordinary newspaper  reader4 ,all   
technical terms and expressions have    
been avoided and the  reader will not   
find a single foreign word in the book4 
,l4 ,w4 ,r4          ,,contents         
,i4    ,,theosophy                      
#i      ,,ii4   ,,the ,,immanence ,,of  
,,god                #ae      ,,iii4    
,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,,the ,,soul     
#bc      ,,iv4   ,,life ,,after ,,bodily
 ,,death             #bi      ,v4       
,,the ,,evolutionary ,,field            
#dc      ,,vi4   ,,the ,,mechanism ,,of 
,,consciousness      #di      ,,vii4    
,,death                                 
#ei      ,,viii4 ,,the ,,astral ,,world 
#fi      ,,ix4   ,,rebirth3 ,,its       
,,reasonableness        #ajc      ,x4   
,,rebirth3 ,,its ,,justice              
#ace      ,,xi4   ,,rebirth3 ,,its      
,,necessity             #aec      ,,xii4
  ,,why ,,we ,,do ,,not ,,remember      

#afg      ,,xiii4 ,,vicarious           
,,atonement                #aha         
,,xiv4  ,,the ,,forces ,,we ,,generate  
#ahg      ,,xv4   ,,superphysical       
,,evolution            #bje             
,,chapter ,i4    ,,theosophy            
,rediscovery is one of the methods of   
progress4 ,very much that we believe  to
 be original with us at the time of its 
discovery or invention proves  in time  
to have been known to earlier           
civilizations4 ,the elevator1 or  lift1 
is a very modern invention and we       
supposed it to be a natural  development
 of our civilization1 with its intensive
 characteristics1  until an antiquarian 
startled us with the announcement that  
it was used  in ,rome over two thousand 
years ago2 not1 of course1 as we use it1
 but  for the same purpose1 and         
involving the same principles4 ,a half  
century  ago our scientific men were    
enthusiastic over the truths of         
evolution  that were being discovered   
and placed before western civilization4 

,but  as we learn more and more of the  
thought and intellectual life of the    
,orient it becomes clear that the idea  
of evolution permeated that part  of the
 world centuries ago4 ,even the most    
recent and startling  scientific        
discoveries occasionally serve to prove 
that what we supposed  to be the        
fantastic beliefs of the ancients were  
really truths of nature  that we were   
not yet able to comprehend6 ,the        
transmutation of metals is  an example4 
,we have already gone far enough in that
 direction to show  that the alchemists 
of old were not the foolish and         
superstitious people  we supposed them  
to be4 ,we have given far too little    
credit to past  civilizations and we are
 coming to understand now that we have  
rated  them too low4 ,our modesty must  
necessarily increase as it becomes      
clearer that much of our supposed       
contribution to the world's progress  is
 not invention but rediscovery4 ,we are 
beginning to see that it is not  safe to

 put aside without careful examination  
an idea or a belief that  was current in
 the world thousands of years ago4 ,like
 the supposed folly  of the alchemists  
it may contain profound truths of nature
 that have  thus far been foreign to our
 modes of thinking4    ,theosophy is    
both very old and very new--very old    
because the principles  it contains were
 known and taught in the oldest         
civilizations1 and very  new because it 
includes the latest investigations of   
the present day4 ,it  is sometimes said 
by those who desire to speak lightly of 
it that it is  a philosophy borrowed    
from the ,buddhists1 or at least from   
the ,orient4  ,that is1 of course1 an   
erroneous view4 ,it is true that the    
,buddhists  hold some beliefs in common 
with theosophists4 ,it is also true that
  ,methodists hold some beliefs in      
common with ,unitarians1 but that does  
not show that ,unitarianism was borrowed
 from ,wesley6 ,when different  people  
study the same facts of nature they are 

likely to arrive at  substantially the  
same conclusions4 ,theosophy is based   
upon certain  truths of nature4 ,those  
who study those truths and formulate a  
belief  from them must reasonably be    
expected to resemble theosophists in    
their  views4 ,buddhism is not unique in
 resembling theosophy4 ,in the same list
  may be placed the ,vedanta philosophy1
 the ,cabala of the ,jews1 the          
teachings of the ,christian ,gnostics1  
and the philosophy of the ,stoics4  ,the
 more general charge must also be       
denied2 theosophy is not something      
transplanted from the ,orient4 ,it      
belongs to the race1 as the earth does1 
and cannot be localized1 even to a      
continent4 ,as it is taught today in    
,europe and ,america it is probably     
unknown to the masses of the ,orient1   
for the great general truths it embodies
 have here the special  application and 
peculiar emphasis required by a totally 
different  civilization4 ,but that      
theosophical principles were earlier    

known and  more widely accepted in the  
,orient is quite true4 ,that fact can in
 no  possible way lessen their value to 
us4 ,precisely the same thing is true   
of the principles of mathematics4 ,the  
science of mathematics reached          
,european civilization directly from the
 ,arabs1 but we do not foolishly        
decline to make use of the knowledge on 
that account4    ,the literal meaning of
 the word theosophy is                  
self-evident--knowledge of  ,god4 ,it   
has three aspects1 determined by the    
different ways in which the  human being
 acquires knowledge--through the study  
of concrete facts1 by  the study of the 
relationship of the individual          
consciousness to its  source1 and       
through the use of reasoning faculties  
in constructing a  logical explanation  
of life and its purpose4 ,in one aspect 
it is1  therefore1 a science4 ,it deals 
with the tangible1 with the facts and   
phenomena of the material scientist and 
makes its appeal to the evidence  of the

 physical senses4 ,in another aspect it 
is a religion4 ,it deals  with the      
relationship between the source of all  
consciousness and its  multiplicity of  
individual expressions2 with the complex
 relationships  that arise between these
 personalities2 with the duties and     
obligations  which thus come into       
existence2 with the evolution of the    
individual  consciousness and its       
ultimate translation to higher spheres4 
,in its  other aspect it is a philosophy
 of life4 ,it deals with man1 his       
origin1  his evolution1 his destiny4 ,it
 seeks to explain the universe and to   
throw a flood of light upon the problem 
of existence that will enable  those who
 study its wisdom to go forward in their
 evolution rapidly1  safely and         
comfortably1 instead of blundering      
onward in the darkness of  ignorance1   
reaping as they go the painful harvests 
of misdirected  energy4    ,while       
theosophy is distinctly a science and a 
philosophy it is not1 in  the same full 

sense1 a religion4 ,it has its          
distinctive religious  aspect1 it is    
true1 but when we speak of a religion we
 usually have in  mind a certain set of 
religious dogmas and a church that      
propagates  them4 ,theosophy is a       
universal thing like mathematics--a body
 of natural  truths applicable to all   
phases of life4 ,it sees all religions  
as  equally important1 as peculiarly    
adapted to the varying civilizations in 
which they are found1 and it presents a 
synthesis of the fundamental  principles
 upon which all of them rest4    ,from  
all of this it will be seen that there  
is a vast difference  between theosophy 
and theology4 ,theosophy declares the   
immortality of  man but not as a        
religious belief4 ,it appeals to the    
scientific facts in  relation to the    
nature of consciousness4 ,it knows no   
such word as  faith1 as it is ordinarily
 used4 ,its faith arises from the       
constancy  of natural law1 the balance  
and sanity of nature1 and the harmonious

  adjustment of the universe4 ,theosophy
 is very ancient in that it is the      
great fund of ancient wisdom about man  
and his earth1 that has come down       
through countless centuries1 reaching   
far back into prehistoric times4  ,but  
added to that hoary wisdom are the      
up-to-date facts that have been         
acquired by its most successful         
students1 who have evolved their        
consciousness to levels transcending the
 physical senses--facts which1  however1
 do not derive their authority from the 
method of their  discovery but from     
their inherent reasonableness4 ,a       
detailed discussion  of such methods of 
consciousness and the proper value to be
 placed upon  such investigations       
rightly belongs to another chapter4 ,it 
is enough now  to warn the reader       
against the error of confusing the      
pronouncements of  pseudo psychism with 
the work of the psychic scientists who  
have already  done much toward placing a
 scientific foundation beneath the      

universal  hope of immortality4         
,,chapter ,,ii4    ,,the ,,immanence    
,,of ,,god      ,the antagonism between 
scientific and religious thought was the
 cause of  the greatest controversy in  
the intellectual world in the nineteenth
  century4 ,if the early teaching of the
 ,christian ,church had not been lost   
the conflict could not have arisen4 ,the
 ,gnostic philosophers1 who were  the   
intellect and heart of the church1 had a
 knowledge of nature so true  that it   
could not possibly come into collision  
with any fact of science4  ,but         
unfortunately they were enormously      
outnumbered by the ignorant and  the    
authority passed wholly into their      
hands4 ,it was inevitable that          
misunderstanding should follow4 ,the    
gross materialization of the early      
teaching1 the superstition1 the bigotry 
and the persecution of the  ,middle     
,ages was a perfectly natural result4   
,that perverted1  materialistic view has
 come down to us1 and even now gives    

trend to the  religious thought of      
,western civilization4 ,of that         
degradation of the  early teaching the  
,encyclopedia ,britannica says3         
,the conception of ,god as wholly       
external to man1 a purely               
mechanical theory of creation1 is       
throughout ,christendom        regarded 
as false to the teaching of the ,new    
,testament as        also to ,christian 
experience4    ,it is1 indeed1 false to 
the teaching of the ,christ but if it is
 so  regarded throughout ,christendom it
 is only on the part of its  scholars2  
most certainly not by the masses of the 
people4 ,the popular  conception is     
undeniably that the relationship between
 ,god and man is  identical with that   
between an inventor and an animated     
machine4 ,it is  an absolutely          
anthropomorphic view of the ,supreme    
,being and thinks of  ,god as being     
apart from man in precisely the same    
sense that a father is  apart from his  
son4 ,it may be an exalted1 idealized   

conception of the  relationship of      
father and son but it is nevertheless   
just that  relationship1 and along that 
line runs practically all the teaching  
and  preaching of those who speak       
officially in modern religious          
interpretation4 ,emerson sought to      
counteract that popular misconception   
but he was regarded as a heretic by all 
but an infinitesimal portion of  the    
church4    ,the idea of the immanence of
 ,god is as different from the popular  
conception as noontide is different from
 midnight4 ,it is so radically          
different that one who accepts that     
ancient belief must put aside his  old  
ideas of what man is and raise him in   
dignity and potential power to  a level 
that will1 at first1 seem actually      
startling2 for it means1 in  its        
uttermost significance that ,god and man
 are but two phases of the  one eternal 
life and consciousness that constitute  
our universe6 ,the  idea of the         
immanence of ,god is that ,he is the    

universe2 that the  solar system is an  
emanation of the ,supreme ,being as     
clouds are an  emanation of the sea1 and
 that the relationship between ,god and 
man is  not merely that of father and   
son but also that of ocean and raindrop4
  ,this conception makes man a part of  
,god1 having potentially within him  all
 the attributes and powers of the       
,supreme ,being4 ,it is the idea that   
nothing exists except ,god and that     
humanity is one portion of ,him1 and    
one phase of ,his being1 as clouds are  
one expression of the waters that       
constitute the sea4 ,the immanence of   
,god is a conception of the universe    
that puts science and religion into     
perfect harmony with each other  because
 miraculous creation disappears and     
evolutionary creation takes  its place4 
,although the anthropomorphic idea of   
,god has such widespread dominion in    
,occidental thought the immanence of    
,god is plainly taught and repeatedly   
emphasized in the ,christian scriptures4

 ,for in ,him we live1 and move1  and   
have our being1 is certainly very       
explicit and admits of no               
anthropomorphic interpretation4 ,it     
could not be said that a son lives  and 
moves in his father4 ,the declaration   
presents the relationship of a  lesser  
consciousness within a greater1 and     
constituting a part of it4  ,the        
essentially divine nature of man is made
 clear in the declaration in  ,genesis  
that he is an image of ,god4 ,to say    
that the likeness is on the  material   
side would1 of course1 be absurd4 ,in   
divine essence1 in latent  power1 in    
potential spirituality1 man is an image 
of ,god1 because he is  a part of ,him4 
,the same idea is more directly put in  
the ,psalms with the  assertion1 ye are 
gods4,a ,if the idea of the immanence of
 ,god is  sound man1 as a literal       
fragment of the consciousness of the    
,supreme  ,being1 is an embryo god1     
destined to ultimately evolve his latent
 powers  into perfect expression4       

,the oneness of life was explicitly     
asserted by ,jesus in his teaching4     
,emerson's teaching of the immanence of 
,god is unmistakable in both his  prose 
and poetry4 ,there is no bar or wall1 he
 says1 in the soul where  man1 the      
effect1 ceases and ,god1 the ,cause1    
begins4 ,still more  explicitly he puts 
it3          ,the realms of being to no 
other bow2        ,not only all are     
,thine1 but all are ,thou4    ,the      
statement is as complete as it is       
emphatic4 ,not only all are ,thine1  but
 all are thou4 ,it's an unqualified     
assertion that humanity is a  part of   
,god1 as leaves are part of a tree--not 
something a tree has  created in the    
sense that a man creates a machine but  
something that is  an emanation of the  
tree1 and is a living part of it4 ,thus 
only has ,god  made man4 ,humanity is a 
growth1 a development1 an emanation1 an 
evolutionary expression of the ,supreme 
,being4    ,it is upon the unity of all 
life that theosophy bases its           

declaration of  universal brotherhood1  
regarding it as a fact in nature4 ,the  
immanence  of ,god gives a scientific   
basis of morality4 ,the theosophical    
conception  is that men are separated in
 form but are united in the one         
consciousness which is the life base of 
the universe4 ,their relationship  to   
each other is somewhat like that of the 
fingers to each other--they  are        
separate individuals on the form side   
but they are united in the  one         
consciousness that animates the hand4   
,if we imagine each finger to  possess a
 consciousness of its own1 which is     
limited to itself and  cannot pass      
beyond to the hand1 we shall have a fair
 analogy of the  unity and identity of  
interests of all living things4 ,under  
such  circumstances an injury to one    
finger would not appear to the others as
  an injury to them1 but if the finger  
consciousness could be extended to  the 
hand the reality of the injury to all   
would be apparent4 ,likewise an  injury 

to any human being is literally an      
injury to the race4 ,the race  does not 
recognize the truth of it just because1 
and only because1 of  the limitation of 
consciousness4 ,lowell put the fact     
clearly when he  said3          ,he's   
true to ,god who's true to man2         
,wherever wrong is done        ,to the  
humblest and weakest        ',neath the 
all-beholding sun1        ,that wrong is
 also done to us2        ,and they are  
slaves most base        ,whose love of  
right is for themselves1        ,and not
 for all the race4    ,he's true to ,god
 who's true to man because they are one 
life2 because  they are but different   
expressions of the one eternal          
consciousness2  because they are as     
inseparable as the light and warmth of  
the sun4 ,it  follows that being true to
 man is fidelity to ,god4    ,the       
popular idea is that people should be   
moral because that sort of  conduct is  
pleasing to the ,supreme ,being and that
 ,he will1 in the life  beyond physical 

existence1 in some way punish those who 
have broken the  moral laws4 ,it is     
belief in an external authority that    
threatens  punishment as a deterrent to 
law breaking1 as a state devises        
penalties  commensurate with offenses4  
,but the immanence of ,god represents a 
condition in which not punishments1 but 
consequences1 automatically  follow all 
violations of natural law4 ,under such a
 state of affairs it  would require no  
penalties1 but only knowledge1 to insure
 right conduct1  for it would be        
perceived that there is no possible     
escape from the  consequences of an evil
 act4    ,it is not difficult to see the
 relative value of the two systems of   
thought when put to a practical test in 
human affairs4 ,imagine an  unscrupulous
 man of great mental capacity who is    
amassing an enormous  fortune through   
sharp practices that enable him to      
acquire the earnings  of others while he
 safely keeps just within the limits of 
the law4 ,we  can point out to him that 

while he is not violating the law1 and  
cannot  therefore be prosecuted1 he is  
nevertheless inflicting injury upon     
others and consequently public opinion  
will condemn him4 ,but such a man       
usually cares nothing at all for public 
opinion and he sees no good  reason why 
he should not continue in his injurious 
work4 ,but if he can  be made to        
understand that all life is one and that
 we are so knit  together in            
consciousness that an injury to another 
must ultimately  react upon the person  
who inflicts it2 if he once clearly     
understands  that to enslave another is 
to put chains upon himself1 that to maim
  another is to strike himself1 he will 
require neither the fear of an  exterior
 hell nor the threat of legal penalties 
to induce him to follow  a moral course4
 ,he would see that his own larger and  
true self-interest  could be served only
 when his conduct was in harmony with   
the welfare of  all4 ,it is but a simple
 statement of the truth to say that the 

immanence  of ,god furnishes a          
scientific basis of morality4           
,,footnotes3    ,a ,psalms ,,lxxxii--#f4
          ,,chapter ,,iii4    ,,the     
,,evolution ,,of ,,the ,,soul      ,if  
we accept the idea of the immanence of  
,god we shall be forced to  abandon     
belief in a miraculous instantaneous    
creation of man and the  earth on which 
he exists4 ,the old1 absurd1            
unscientific1 impossible idea  that the 
race came from an original human pair   
must be replaced by the  hypothesis of  
the evolution of the soul4    ,it was   
about the fact of evolution that the    
great storm of controversy  raged       
between scientists and theologians in   
the middle of the nineteenth  century1  
and later4 ,the evolutionary truths were
 not at first well  understood4 ,they   
seemed to question or deny the existence
 of ,god4 ,deep  within humanity is     
intuitive religious belief4 ,it is a    
natural faith  that transcends all      
facts1 like the faith of a child in its 

mother4  ,because evolution was contrary
 to all preconceived ideas of the       
earth's  inception it seemed at first to
 shatter faith and destroy hope1 and    
against fact and reason itself rose the 
protest of intuition with  spiritual    
intensity4 ,people felt more than they  
reasoned and cried out  that science was
 about to destroy the belief in ,god4   
,but time has proved  that they had     
merely misinterpreted the meaning of    
evolution4 ,further  understanding has  
shown that1 instead of destroying the   
belief in ,god1  evolution has given us 
a new and better understanding of the   
whole  matter and has placed the hope of
 immortality on firmer ground than it   
previously occupied4    ,evolution is an
 established and generally accepted     
fact4 ,no educated  person now thinks of
 questioning it4 ,it is settled beyond  
dispute that  all things in the physical
 world have become what they are through
 a  long1 slow1 gradual evolution and   
that organisms the most perfect in  form

 and most complex in function have      
evolved from simpler ones4 ,the  age of 
miracle has passed and belief in miracle
 has passed so far as its  relation to  
the material world is concerned4 ,it is 
no longer necessary  to have a belief in
 an anthropomorphic ,god1 performing    
feats in defiance  of natural law1 in   
order to account for that which exists4 
,science has  reduced the cosmos to     
comprehension and shown that1 given     
nebulous  physical matter1 we can       
understand how the earth came into      
existence4    ,but why should we stop   
with the application of the laws of     
evolution to  material things8 ,only the
 outright materialist1 who asserts that 
life is  a product of matter1 can       
logically do so1 and so great an        
authority in  the scientific world as   
,sir ,oliver ,lodge has asserted that   
there is no  longer any such thing as   
scientific materialism4,b ,those who    
accept the  idea of the existence of the
 soul at all must necessarily accept the

  idea of the evolution of the soul4    
,how can consciousness possibly  escape 
the laws that evolve the media for the  
expression of  consciousness8 ,there    
must be the evolution of mind as        
certainly as there  is evolution of     
matter4 ,the material and the spiritual1
 form and life1  are inseparable4       
,indeed1 scientific progress has now    
brought us to the  point where matter1  
as such1 practically disappears and we  
are face to  face with the fact that    
matter is really but a manifestation of 
force4  ,how1 then1 is it longer        
possible to speak of the soul and not   
accept the  evolution of the soul8      
,psychology is no less a science than   
physiology4  ,the phenomena of          
consciousness are as definitely studied 
as physical  phenomena1 and it is no    
more difficult to account for a myriad  
souls  than to account for a million    
suns and their planets4 ,the scientists 
who  have taken the position that the   
universe has a spiritual side as well   

as a material side are among the most   
eminent and distinguished of the  modern
 world4 ,if evolution has produced the  
starry heavens from the  material side  
it has likewise evolved the human souls 
of our world and  others from the       
spiritual side4 ,it is no more difficult
 to understand  the one than the other4 
,from the scientific viewpoint the old  
popular belief in the creation of  the  
earth and the race by an act suddenly   
accomplished is1 of course1             
preposterous4 ,if we could know nothing 
back of the present moment and  were    
called upon to account for the world as 
we see it--with its cities1  its ships  
and railways1 its cultivated fields and 
parks--many people who  still believe in
 instantaneous creation of the soul     
would save  themselves much mental      
exertion by declaring that ,god had made
 it all as  it stands for the use and   
entertainment of man4 ,but we know that 
it is  utterly absurd to think of the   
world leaping into existence            

instantaneously--nothing existing one   
day and all trains running on time      
between ready-made cities the next1     
carrying ready-made people about4 ,it   
sounds ridiculous only because we are   
putting it in material terms1 but  in   
very truth it is less ludicrous than    
thinking of the instantaneous  creation 
of the creators of cities and railways4 
,the idea that we are a sudden creation 
is only possible because of the  very   
vague ideas of what human souls are4    
,the chief difficulty with the  popular 
notion that a human soul is as new as   
the body it inhabits is  that it is a   
vague and indefinite conception of life1
 and the moment we  begin to think      
seriously about it the weakness of the  
idea becomes  apparent4 ,such a notion  
has no relationship to the processes of 
reasoning4 ,how can one reason with a   
man who believes it possible for a  soul
 to spring into existence from the void8
 ,what is the use in  reasoning about   
the whys and wherefores when it settles 

the whole  matter to say3 ,god did it8  
,one thing that prevents us from        
believing not only that millions of     
souls were created in the twinkling of  
an eye1 but also that the world  as it  
now is was likewise suddenly created1 is
 that we happen to know  quite          
definitely the history of the world a   
little way into the past1  and that     
history affirms that the earth and all  
life on it is the  product of slow      
evolutionary growth4    ,the evolution  
of the soul places the realm of religion
 on a scientific  basis4 ,not only the  
origin of the soul but its development  
and its  destiny at once appear in a new
 light4 ,the mind is instinctively      
impressed with the dignity of the idea  
of the evolution of the soul1  which1   
with its corollary1 the immanence of    
,god1 makes the divinity of  man a fact 
in nature4      ,,footnotes3    ,b      
,raymond3 or ,life and ,death4          
,,chapter ,,iv4    ,,life ,,after       
,,bodily ,,death      ,one of the really

 remarkable facts of modern life is the 
disinclination  to accept at apparent   
value the scientific and other evidence 
there is  to prove that consciousness   
persists after the death of the physical
  body4 ,there is in existence a large  
amount of such evidence and much of  it 
is offered by scientists of the highest 
standing2 and yet the average  man      
continues to speak of the subject as    
though nothing about it had yet  been   
definitely learned4 ,it is the tendency 
of the human mind to adjust  itself very
 slowly to the truth1 as it is          
discovered4 ,sometimes a  generation    
passes away between the discovery and   
the general acceptance  of a great      
truth4 ,when we recall the intense      
opposition to the  introduction of      
steam-driven boats and vehicles1 and the
 slowness with  which the world settles 
down to any radical change in its       
methods of  thinking1 it will perhaps   
seem less remarkable that the truth     
about the  life after bodily death has  

waited so long for general recognition4 
,the evidence upon which a belief in the
 continuity of consciousness is  based  
is of two kinds--that furnished by      
physical science and that  furnished by 
psychic science4 ,together they make a  
very complete case4    ,the printed     
evidence of the first division--physical
 science--is  voluminous4 ,in addition  
to that gathered by the ,society for    
,psychical  ,research there are the     
researches and experiments by the       
scientists of  ,england1 ,france and    
,italy1 among whom are ,crookes1 ,lodge1
 ,flammarion and  ,lombroso4 ,crookes   
was a pioneer in the work of studying   
the human  consciousness and tracing its
 activities beyond the change called    
death4  ,all of that keenness of        
intellect and great scientific          
knowledge1 which  has enabled him to    
make so many valuable discoveries and   
inventions1 and  has won for him        
world-wide fame1 were brought to bear   
upon the subject1  and for a period of  

four years he patiently investigated and
  experimented4 ,many illustrated       
articles prepared by him1 fully         
describing his work1 were published at  
the time in ,the ,journal of  ,science  
of which he was then the editor4        
,three vital points in psychic research 
were established by ,sir ,william       
,crookes4 ,one was that there is psychic
 force4 ,he demonstrated its  existence 
by levitation4 ,he showed next1 that the
 force is directed by  intelligence4 ,by
 various clever experiments he obtained 
most conclusive  evidence of that fact4 
,he then demonstrated that the          
intelligence  directing the force is not
 that of living people4 ,crookes also   
went  exhaustively into the subject of  
materialization and here1 again1 he was 
remarkably successful4 ,he was the first
 scientist to photograph the            
materialized human form and engage in   
direct conversation with the  person who
 thus returned from the mysterious life 
beyond4 ,this evidence  from the camera 

must be regarded as particularly        
interesting4 ,it was  received with much
 amazement at the time1 but that was    
before we had  revised our erroneous    
ideas about the nature of matter and    
before the  day of liquid air4          
,materialization is no longer a         
startling idea1 for  that is precisely  
what liquid air is--a condensation of   
invisible matter  to the point where it 
becomes tangible and can be weighed1    
measured1  seen and otherwise known to  
the physical senses4    ,all these      
things ,sir ,william ,crookes did upon  
his own premises and under  the most    
rigid scientific conditions4 ,all the   
methods and mechanism  known to modern  
science were employed and he finally    
announced his  complete satisfaction and
 acceptance of the genuineness of the   
phenomena  observed4    ,as ,sir        
,william ,crookes was the earliest1 ,sir
 ,oliver ,lodge is the latest  of the   
famous scientists who have taken up the 
investigation of the  continuity of     

consciousness4 ,in a lecture upon the   
subject1 before the  ,society for the   
,advancement of ,science1 he declared   
not only that the  subject of life after
 physical death was one which science   
might  legitimately and profitably      
investigate but that the existence of an
  invisible realm had been established4 
,he declared the continent of an        
invisible world had been discovered1 and
 added1 already a band of  daring       
investigators have landed on its        
treacherous but promising  shores4      
,different scientists make a specialty  
of certain kinds of psychic             
investigation and while ,crookes made a 
detailed and careful study of           
materialization ,lodge has given equally
 painstaking efforts to  investigations 
by the use of that class of sensitives  
known as  mediums4 ,a medium is not     
necessarily a clairvoyant1 and usually  
is  not clairvoyant4 ,a person in whose 
body the etheric matter easily          
separates from the physical matter is a 

medium and can readily be  utilized as a
 sort of telephone between the visible  
and the invisible  planes4 ,a medium is 
an abnormal person and is a good medium 
in  proportion to the degree of         
abnormality4 ,if the etheric matter of  
the  body is easily extruded the        
physical body readily falls into the    
trance  condition and the mechanism of  
conversation can be operated by the     
so-called dead person who has           
temporarily taken possession of it4 ,in 
such cases it is not the medium who     
speaks for the living-dead              
communicator4 ,he is speaking directly  
himself1 but he may often do it  with   
great difficulty and not always succeed 
in accurately expressing  the thought he
 has in mind4 ,he may have to contend   
with other thoughts1  moods and emotions
 than his own and to those who          
understand something of  his            
difficulties it is not strange that such
 communications are  frequently         
unsatisfactory4 ,it is not often that an

 analogy can be found  that will give a 
physical plane comprehension of a       
superphysical  condition1 but perhaps a 
faint understanding may be had by       
thinking of a  party line telephone that
 any one of a dozen people may use at   
any  moment he can succeed in getting   
possession of it4 ,a listener attempting
  to communicate with one of them may   
find that several others are  constantly
 switching in1 much to his confusion4   
,if distinction of  voices due to sound 
were eliminated and then a stenographic 
record were  to be made of all words    
reaching the listener he would find that
 it  would often be fragmentary and     
trivial4 ,that would not1 however1 prove
  that the conversation did not come    
from living beings nor that there  was  
not at least one intelligent person     
among them4 ,that scientists  engaged in
 psychic research have similar          
experiences proves nothing  more4    ,it
 seems to be a common opinion that the  
evidential value of such  psychic       

communications1 even under the direction
 of a skilful scientist1  cannot be very
 great4 ,but there are ways of knowing4 
,it is not at all  difficult for the    
investigator to confine his work1 not   
only to  incidents unknown to the       
medium1 but to scientific facts which   
the  medium can not possibly comprehend4
 ,it is a matter of common knowledge    
that mediums are usually people without 
technical scientific knowledge4  ,some  
of them have some degree of education   
and some of them are  illiterate4 ,some 
of the most celebrated belong to the    
peasant class of  ,europe4    ,let us   
suppose that ,sir ,oliver ,lodge is     
about to attempt to communicate  with a 
scientist who has passed on to join the 
living dead4 ,he will ask  technical    
scientific questions that nobody but a  
scientist can answer  and that the      
medium can by no possibility even       
understand when they are  answered4 ,or 
suppose he gets a communication from the
 medium's hand  signed by a great       

author4 ,the living dead man writes a   
criticism1 let us  say1 of some new book
 and does it in his characteristic      
style1 full of  the power of keen       
analysis and sound literary judgment4   
,surely nobody  can believe that the    
medium is producing such things on her  
own account4  ,if she could do so she   
would not be earning her living as a    
medium4 ,but  the scientists do not stop
 there4 ,we often hear the expression   
cross-correspondence4 ,just what do they
 mean by that and in what way  does it  
prove the personal identity of a dead   
man who is communicating8  ,the         
principle may be illustrated by the     
hotel clerk's method4 ,sometimes  a     
guest leaves a sum of money with the    
clerk1 and he wishes to be  perfectly   
sure of his identity when he returns to 
claim it4 ,he requests  the guest to put
 his signature on a card4 ,then he tears
 the card in two1  gives him one piece  
and keeps the other4 ,that gives him a  
double proof  of identity4 ,when he     

comes for his money he must first give  
his name and  then produce the piece of 
card that fits into the ragged edge of  
the  piece the clerk has retained1 the  
two together making the whole and       
restoring the signature4 ,it's one of   
the simplest but most satisfactory      
proofs possible4 ,neither piece of that 
card alone is intelligible4 ,if  one    
piece should be lost and others should  
find it nobody could read it  or make   
anything of it4 ,nobody could guess the 
name unless he had the  other piece4 ,he
 knows only about the part he holds4 ,he
 may be a thief  and may earnestly      
desire to use what he has found to      
defraud1 but he is  helpless because he 
has only one of the two parts it        
requires to make an  intelligible whole4
 ,that is the principle involved in     
identity by  cross-correspondence4 ,part
 of a message is written through one    
medium  and part through another medium 
at another time in another place and    
neither part presents a complete        

statement or has coherence until it is  
fitted into the other part2 and that    
prevents a medium who is dishonest  from
 manufacturing a story that may be more 
or less plausible4    ,we are by no     
means wholly dependent upon scientific  
investigation for  evidence that the    
dead still live4 ,hundreds of people are
 sufficiently  sensitive to have some   
personal knowledge of the matter4 ,the  
number is  far beyond what it appears to
 be for two reasons4 ,one is that the   
average person fears ridicule and keeps 
his own counsel about his occult        
experience4 ,the other is the feeling   
that communications from departed       
relatives are too sacred and personal   
for public discussion4 ,tens of         
thousands of people have seen           
demonstrations at spiritualistic seances
  which1 while possessing little        
evidential value from the scientific    
viewpoint1 nevertheless have a          
legitimate place in the great mass of   
psychic phenomena4 ,but more convincing 

is the evidence furnished in  hundreds  
of homes where some member of the family
 acts as automatic  writer or medium4   
,the most convincing evidence is not    
always scientific evidence4 ,what can   
be more convincing than the evidence    
furnished in one's home by members  of  
the family8 ,there is much such         
evidence1 obtained both through  mediums
 and by automatic writing4    ,automatic
 writing--that is1 the control of the   
hand of a living person  to record the  
thoughts of another who has lost the    
physical body--is  perhaps one of the   
least objectionable ways in which       
communications have  come from the      
astral world1 and to it we are indebted 
for some useful  books with interesting 
accounts of the life in the unseen      
regions4 ,here1  of course1 as          
elsewhere1 discrimination must be used1 
for the wise and  foolish1 the useful   
and useless are to be found side by     
side4 ,in  accepting or rejecting1 one  
must use his common sense just as he    

does on  this plane in separating the   
valuable from the worthless4 ,in such   
matters we should not lose sight of the 
fact that the living dead are  unchanged
 in intellect and morality4 ,the genius 
here is the genius there  and the living
 fool is not different from the dead    
one4 ,it is often  those who know the   
least who are the most anxious to tell  
it and the  medium or automatic writer  
sometimes gives them the opportunity4   
,consequently we get many foolish       
communications and an enormous amount   
of commonplace platitude is delivered at
 seances4 ,but it is equally true  that 
unquestionable proof of personal        
identity is sometimes secured4    ,there
 is much valuable non-scientific        
evidence that the consciousness         
survives the loss of the physical body  
and it frequently comes from  sources   
that insure respectful attention4 ,the  
two following stories of  that kind are 
cited as corroboration of the scientific
 evidence4    ,little touches of the    

personality often constitute the most   
convincing  of all evidence4 ,it is one 
thing to show that people in general    
live  after physical death4 ,it is quite
 a different matter to establish the    
personal identity of one of them who is 
communicating1 and that is one  of the  
vital points involved4 ,w4 ,j4          
,stillman1 the eminent journalist1      
gives us some valuable evidence on      
personal identity4 ,in his earlier      
years he had studied art in ,london4    
,shortly before the death of ,turner1   
the great artist had volunteered to give
 ,stillman some advice on  painting1 but
 had not redeemed the promise at the    
time of passing away4  ,stillman had a  
friend whose daughter was mediumistic   
and he decided to  experiment4          
,immediately on beginning the seance the
 young girl was taken  possession of by 
an entity claiming to be ,turner4       
,stillman asked his  question silently1 
speaking no words1 but mentally         
requesting ,turner to  write his name4  

,the only reply was an emphatic shake of
 the head4 ,he  then asked if he would  
give some advice on painting4 ,the      
response was  another decided negative4 
,stillman felt that he was foolishly    
wasting  his time and declared the      
seance at an end4 ,but the girl sat     
silent4  ,then after a moment she slowly
 arose with the air of decrepitude1 took
 a  lithograph from the wall and went   
through the pantomime of stretching a   
sheet of paper on a drawing board1      
sharpening a pencil1 tracing the        
outline1 the washing-in of a drawing1   
etc41 and then proceeded to show a      
simple but surprising method of taking  
out the lights4 ,do you mean to  say    
that ,turner got his effects in that    
way8 asked the incredulous  young       
artist4 ,the answer was an emphatic     
affirmative4 ,stillman then  asked if   
the central passage of sunlight and     
shadow through rain in the  well known  
drawing ,llanthony ,abbey by ,turner1   
had been done in that  way and was      

answered by another emphatic            
affirmative4 ,so sure was the  young    
artist that this could not be true that 
he gave it up in disgust  and abruptly  
left4 ,a few weeks later ,stillman was  
calling upon ,ruskin  and related the   
experience4 ,ruskin1 who had known the  
celebrated dead  artist intimately1     
declared that the contrariness of the   
medium at the  beginning of the seance  
was remarkably characteristic of        
,turner4 ,but  what was much more to the
 point1 in the way of evidence1 was that
 the  drawing in question was in        
,ruskin's possession and eagerly it was 
brought down from the wall for          
examination4 ,after close scrutiny the  
great art critic and the young artist   
agreed that1 beyond dispute1 the        
drawing had been done in the way        
described4    ,such evidence has an     
added value when it comes from those who
 are  neither spiritualists nor         
professional investigators1 but who have
 the  things they doubt thrust upon them

 in such convincing manner that they    
feel impelled to record their experience
 for the enlightenment of  others4 ,in  
the last literary work,c done by ,carl  
,schurz1 we are given1  quite           
incidentally1 his testimony that at a   
seance soon after the ,civil  ,war he   
was told the future in such detail as to
 leave no possible room  for the        
explanation of coincidence4 ,it was in  
,july1 #ahfe1 when ,schurz  was on his  
way to ,washington1 whither he had been 
summoned by ,president  ,johnson1 that  
he stopped in ,philadelphia at the home 
of his friend1 ,dr4  ,tiedemann4 ,the   
doctor's daughter1 about fifteen years  
old1 could do  automatic writing4 ,as a 
matter of interest and amusement in the 
family  circle the girl gave an         
exhibition of her psychic abilities4    
,when ,schurz  was invited to ask for a 
communication he not unnaturally        
requested one  from the recently        
deceased ,president ,lincoln1 for he had
 been personally  acquainted with him4  

,the girl wrote a message purporting to 
come from  ,lincoln4 ,it related to     
politics and proved1 in time1 to have   
been an  accurate prophecy of most      
unexpected facts which would not        
transpire for  more than three years6   
,schurz lived in ,wisconsin at the time 
and had no  intention of changing his   
residence1 nor did he do so until two   
years  later4 ,the message which the    
girl wrote asserted that ,schurz would  
be  elected to the ,united ,states      
senate from ,missouri4 ,he did not      
regard  the message as authentic and    
naturally enough considered the prophecy
  absurd4 ,in #ahfg he took up his      
residence in ,st4 ,louis and in         
,january1  #ahfi1 he was elected ,united
 ,states senator by the ,missouri       
legislature4    ,so far as the          
scientific evidence is concerned1 it    
will be understood1  of course1 that no 
attempt is here made to present that4   
,the intention  is merely to call       
attention to some of the eminent        

scientists who have  done notable work  
and to mention a few of the more        
interesting  discoveries made4 ,those   
who desire to come into possession of   
the  evidence in full will find upon    
examination that it is voluminous4      
,from the viewpoint of physical science 
alone the evidence of the  continuity of
 consciousness is not only convincing   
but conclusive4 ,yet  occult science has
 much more to offer4 ,to those who have 
no personal  knowledge of the existence 
of occult faculties1 such evidence can  
be  offered only upon the inherent      
reasonableness of the statements made4  
,the truth of clairvoyance1 like all    
other truths1 must slowly win its  way  
to general acceptance4 ,while large     
numbers of people still scoff at  it1   
even as the world not so very long ago  
scoffed at hypnotism as a  fantastic    
theory with no foundation in fact1 there
 is nevertheless a  large and rapidly   
growing number who personally know the  
truth about  clairvoyance4 ,there is    

every conceivable grade of clairvoyant  
power and  some degree of superphysical 
sensitiveness is becoming rather common4
    ,there are two distinct kinds of    
clairvoyance and that which is most in  
evidence with the public is not         
calculated to inspire confidence4 ,it is
  employed almost exclusively in what is
 known as fortune telling and  is often 
practiced by those who are interested   
only in the money they  can earn by it4 
,as a matter of course1 trickery and    
fraud are found  associated with it     
among such people1 and those amongst    
them who are  both capable and honest   
suffer on account of it4    ,the fortune
 telling clairvoyant is usually one who 
was born with second  sight1 as the     
,scotch have named it1 and almost       
without an exception  they do not in the
 least understand its rationale4 ,they  
find certain  facts in their            
consciousness that could not be known to
 them by the  physical senses1 but why  
or how they get the information they do 

not  know4 ,that form of clairvoyance is
 a sensitiveness related to the         
sympathetic nervous system1 the center  
of which is the solar plexus4 ,it  has  
no relationship whatever to the mind1 no
 association with  intelligence1 and    
will often--indeed1 commonly--be        
possessed by the most  ignorant and     
uncouth4 ,it is much more common among  
,indians and negroes  than among more   
highly evolved people4 ,it is vestigial 
and will slowly  disappear from the     
race4 ,it belongs to the realm of       
emotion1 not  thought4    ,the higher   
clairvoyance1 the only true clear       
seeing1 is associated  with the         
cerebro-spinal nervous system and its   
seat is in the brain4 ,it  is not a     
natural gift,d like the other1 although 
it is latent in all  human beings4 ,it  
has been highly developed in some who   
have had the  unusual opportunity of    
long training under the direct          
supervision of  great psychic           
scientists4 ,such clairvoyants are never

 to be found among  the fortune tellers4
 ,only people with serious views of life
 and intense  devotion to human service 
would have the patience and endurance to
  undergo such training and only those  
of singular purity of life would  have  
any possibility of success4 ,such       
clairvoyants are people of keen         
intelligence4 ,by special training and  
tremendous effort1 not possible to  most
 of us1 they have pressed forward in    
evolution and attained a  development   
that the race will be many a century in 
reaching4    ,it is by the use of this  
exalted order of clairvoyance that      
invisible  realms are explored1 and     
additional knowledge is accumulated to  
the  ancient wisdom4 ,such a clairvoyant
 is not a medium4 ,the medium           
surrenders his physical mechanism for   
the use of another1 who speaks  through 
it1 and at the close of the seance the  
medium knows nothing of  what has       
occurred4 ,the clairvoyant is always in 
possession of his senses  and is fully  

aware of what is occurring4 ,he is the  
explorer and  discoverer4 ,he deals with
 the facts of the life after bodily     
death in a  different way than the      
physical scientist does but it is soon  
found by  the student that the physical 
scientist and the psychic scientist     
corroborate each other4 ,together they  
bring overwhelming evidence to  support 
the hypothesis that life is eternal2    
that the consciousness we  have at this 
moment will never cease to be2 that our 
individuality1 with  all its present    
memories1 will eternally persist2 that  
what we call  death is in reality but a 
forward step in an orderly evolutionary 
journey and an entrance upon a more     
joyous phase of life1 which is not      
remarkably different from that we live  
today4 ,the sum total of the  knowledge 
that we have gained through the combined
 work of the physical  scientists and   
the occult scientists leads us to the   
conclusion that the  death of the       
physical body means neither the         

annihilation of  consciousness nor a    
radical change in consciousness4 ,it is1
 in fact1 but  the release of           
consciousness from its confinement to   
the physical form1  as a song-bird is   
released from a cage to the joyous      
freedom of a wider  world1 where woods  
and stream and field and sky give new   
impulse to its  innate characteristics4 
,,footnotes3    ,c ,reminiscences of    
,carl ,schurz1 ,vol4 ,,iii1 p4 #aed4    
,d ,there are1 of course1 really no     
natural gifts4 ,nature does not favor   
some and ignore others4 ,when a few     
possess what others do not have1 they   
earned it by giving special attention to
 its development or as in the  case of  
the psychic sensitiveness of the        
sympathetic nervous system1 it  is      
vestigial1 and has been possessed by the
 race in earlier ages4                  
,,chapter ,v4    ,,the ,,evolutionary   
,,field      ,in a treatise on          
elementary theosophy the solar system   
may be reckoned  as our universe and we 

shall have no need of considering more  
than a  small fragment of even that4 ,it
 is septenary in constitution1 as may be
  seen in its vibrations expressed in   
color and sound4 ,beyond the seven      
colors of the prism we have only tints  
and outside the seven notes we  can get 
only overtones or undertones4 ,there are
 likewise seven planes in  the system   
but less than half of them require our  
attention1 for the  evolutionary field  
of the human soul is the three lower    
planes1 known as  the physical1 astral  
and mental4 ,when the human being has   
outgrown them  in evolution he passes on
 to superhuman evolution4    ,the word  
plane1 so often encountered in          
theosophical literature1  should perhaps
 have some definition4 ,it has a wide   
application and is  used as a synonym   
for region1 place1 sphere or world4 ,in 
referring to  the physical plane the    
term embraces all we know of earth and  
sky and  life through the physical      
senses4    ,there are seven planes in   

our solar system because of the seven   
different combinations of its ultimate  
atoms4 ,each plane consists of a        
totally different grade of matter than  
the next plane1 but all have for  their 
base the ultimate atom of the solar     
system4 ,when modern science            
discovered1 to its astonishment1 that   
the physical atom was a composite  body 
it confirmed the theosophical teaching  
that the ultimate physical  atom was not
 the final point of division4 ,theosophy
 teaches that when  the ultimate        
physical atom is disintegrated its      
particles become the  coarsest matter of
 the next plane or region above it--the 
astral plane4  ,the process repeated    
with astral matter results in driving   
its ultimate  atom from the highest     
level of the astral plane or world to   
the lowest  of the mental plane4 ,that  
scientist who said that the atom is the 
brick  of the universe stated a great   
truth1 for of its combinations all forms
  are built2 and if the idea be applied 

to the ultimate atom of the solar       
system it will then be true that of such
 bricks all the planes are  built4      
,the relationship of the planes to each 
other is that of interpenetrating       
spheres of matter4 ,the physical plane1 
consisting of the earth and its         
atmosphere1 is surrounded and           
interpenetrated by the astral plane1 or 
world1 which is an enormously larger    
globe of exceedingly tenuous  matter4   
,this vast sphere of invisible matter is
 within the earth as  well as beyond it1
 interpenetrating every atom of physical
 matter to the  earth's center4 ,its    
grossest grade of matter is so rare1 and
 its  vibrations so intense1 that they  
cannot affect the physical senses and   
therefore we remain unconscious of it   
while that matter moves freely  through 
all physical objects4 ,we are           
unconscious of its life and  activities 
for precisely the same reason that we   
know nothing of the  messages of        
intelligence carried on the vibrations  

of the wireless  telegraph1 although    
they pass through the room where we sit4
 ,we have no  sense organs with which it
 is possible to register such           
vibrations4  ,messages conveying        
intelligence of tremendous import1      
involving the  movements of vast armies1
 the fall of empires and the destinies  
of great  nations1 flow through the very
 space we occupy but we are wholly      
unconscious of them4 ,even so we remain 
blind and deaf to the stupendous        
activities of life and consciousness in 
the astral world1  notwithstanding the  
fact that it surrounds and permeates us 
while its  forms1 unseen and unfelt1    
move through the physical world as      
freely as  water flows through a sieve4 
,the mental world constitutes a region  
of our earth still more vast than  the  
astral portion of it4 ,as the astral    
sphere encloses the physical  globe1 the
 mental encompasses both1 enclosing them
 and also  interpenetrating them to the 
earth's center4 ,the term mental world  

may  seem confusing to some because we  
are accustomed to think of the mental   
and the material as being opposites4    
,the mental world1 or sphere1 or  plane1
 of theosophy1 is a world of matter1 not
 merely thought4 ,it is  matter1        
however1 of such remarkable tenuosity   
that it may properly be  called         
mind-stuff1 and in its rarest levels it 
is said to be formless  so far as the   
existence of what the physical senses   
know as form is  concerned4    ,all     
three of these worlds1 or planes--the   
physical1 astral and  mental--are1 then1
 worlds of matter1 of form1 of activity1
 of thought  and of enterprise4 ,they   
are concentric globes1 the physical     
enclosed by  the astral1 and both       
physical and astral enclosed by the     
mental4 ,within  and without all        
physical matter are both astral and     
mental matter4 ,every  physical atom is 
surrounded and permeated by astral and  
mental matter4  ,the relationship is    
precisely that which exists between the 

ether and  the lower grades of physical 
matter4    ,if the relationship of the  
three worlds--physical1 astral and      
mental--is  fully understood later      
confusion of thought will be avoided4   
,physical  language is not capable of   
fully expressing much with which        
students of  the occult must deal4      
,because there is nothing better for the
 purpose1  words must be used that      
express but a part of the truth and may 
sometimes prove misleading unless the   
constitution and relationship of  the   
three spheres is kept in mind4 ,thus1 it
 is necessary to speak of  higher and   
lower worlds1 or planes1 inner or outer1
 and of the soul  coming down into the  
material world when1 as a matter of     
fact1 no  movement in space is under    
consideration4 ,the astral is commonly  
spoken  of as an inner plane and while  
it truly is so because it can be known  
only to astral senses by a withdrawal of
 the consciousness from its  exterior1  
material body1 it is also true that the 

astral world is  outside the physical   
because it envelops it as the sea does a
 sponge4  ,we usually speak of coming   
down from higher planes to lower and    
that may  be true not only in the sense 
of changing the state of consciousness  
from higher vibrations to lower ones but
 it could mean a journey in  space from 
a point in the astral plane above the   
physical globe to a  point at its       
surface4 ,up and down are relative1 not 
absolute4 ,down  for us is toward the   
earth's center and up is the opposite   
direction4  ,a spire in the ,occident   
and a spire in the ,orient are both said
 to be  pointing upward but they are    
pointing in opposite directions4 ,on    
most  parts of the earth's surface we   
have four directions1 while at the poles
  there is1 of course1 but one          
direction--south or north1 as the case  
may  be4 ,east1 west and north disappear
 at the north pole4 ,reflection upon    
such facts leads one to at least faintly
 comprehend the possibility of  space   

itself disappearing from the inner      
planes--space as we know it4    ,the    
matter of each of the planes consists of
 seven classes4 ,we are  familiar with  
the solids1 liquids and gases of the    
physical plane1 and  to them must be    
added four grades of the ether4 ,the    
seven grades of  matter of the astral   
and mental worlds constitute an         
important part of  the mechanism for the
 soul's evolution1 for they determine   
the state of  consciousness in the life 
beyond the physical plane4 ,but a study 
of  those states of consciousness       
belongs to a later chapter4    ,a       
difficulty which the student of         
theosophy should make an early effort   
to eliminate1 is the tendency to think  
of invisible realms as unreal4 ,it      
should not be forgotten that it is only 
the limitation of the physical  senses  
that gives rise to the feeling of       
unreality beyond the visible4  ,we      
should keep in mind the fact that the   
invisible realms are composed  of matter

 as certainly as the air is matter1 or a
 stone is matter4 ,the  water in a pan  
may evaporate1 but it does not cease to 
be matter because  it has passed beyond 
the ken of the physical senses4 ,it will
 some time  condense once more and play 
its part as the liquid1 water1 or as the
  solid1 ice4 ,only when matter is in   
certain forms can we know of its        
existence through the physical senses4  
,we frequently hear people who are      
students of the occult speak of a       
deceased person as having left the      
earth4 ,but passing into the astral     
plane1 or world1 is not1 of course1     
leaving the earth4 ,both the astral     
world and the mental world are divisions
 of the earth4 ,as the atmosphere  is   
invisible and yet is a part of the      
earth's physical matter1 so the         
invisible astral and mental regions are 
other parts of the earth4 ,they  are    
properly called worlds because the      
activities in consciousness that  make  
up existence there are as remote from   

ours as though they were upon  another  
planet4 ,we have erroneously supposed   
that with the physical  senses we really
 see and know the earth1 whereas we have
 known only that  small fragment of the 
earth that consists of physical matter4 
,beyond the  limitation of our poor     
senses stretch in unsuspected grandeur  
vaster  regions of our earth1 swept by  
the vibrations of an intenser life4     
,,chapter ,,vi4    ,,the ,,mechanism    
,,of ,,consciousness      ,the soul is a
 center of consciousness within the     
all-consciousness1 or  the life of the  
solar ,logos2 an individualized portion 
of the universal  mind4 ,that fragment  
of the divine life1 with its latent     
,god-like  attributes1 is expressed     
through a mechanism of consciousness    
that is  formed of the matter of the    
various planes4 ,naturally enough it is 
expressed more fully upon the higher    
planes than upon the lower4 ,at a  very 
high level it is known as the monad4    
,when it reaches down into the  higher  

subdivisions of the mental world it is  
the ego1 a lesser  expression of the    
same divine life that pours from the    
,logos through the  monad--lesser       
because it is then functioning through  
the denser matter  of a lower level4    
,the knowledge that has been gained     
about the nature of matter in recent    
years is helpful in understanding the   
activities of consciousness4 ,the  atom 
is found to be a center of force1 and we
 are at the point where  matter1 as we  
have known it1 disappears4 ,all the     
force and consciousness  of the solar   
system is1 of course1 but the life of   
the ,logos1 and on  higher planes the   
distinctions we observe here fade out4  
,matter becomes  a very different thing 
from the matter we know4 ,the ether of  
the  physical world is almost           
inconceivably tenuous matter4 ,yet it is
 gross  when compared to the lowest     
grade of astral matter4 ,the matter of  
the  mental world is enormously rarer   
than the most tenuous matter of the     

astral world4 ,in view of these facts it
 requires no stress of the  imagination 
to understand that the matter of the    
higher planes is  responsive to the     
vibrations of consciousness4    ,the    
outraying energies of the individualized
 center of consciousness act  upon the  
matter of the plane and draw about it a 
film that slowly grows  into a vehicle  
through which consciousness can be more 
fully expressed1  and which serves as a 
point of vantage from which its         
expression can be  extended to lower    
planes4    ,the seven subdivisions of   
the mental world fall naturally into two
  groups1 composed of the three higher  
and the four lower grades of  matter4   
,the ego1 anchored in the matter of the 
two planes above the  mental world1     
descends to the upper levels of the     
mental and the vesture  of matter with  
which it clothes itself is known as the 
causal body4  ,sending its energies     
downward1 or outward1 to the lower      
levels of the  mental world1 it         

establishes itself there in what slowly 
becomes a  mental body4 ,again in the   
astral world the process is repeated and
 a  vehicle of consciousness is formed  
of astral matter4 ,the physical body  is
 the lowest and last of the vehicles to 
be formed and as it is slowly  built1 in
 the months preceding birth1 the matter 
it contains falls into  place under the 
operation of occult laws which permit no
 element of  chance to enter into its   
construction4    ,each of these bodies  
serves as a vehicle of consciousness on 
the plane  to which it belongs4 ,the    
soul is evolving simultaneously in each 
of the  worlds1 physical1 astral and    
mental1 and these various bodies enable 
it  to receive the vibrations of the    
plane they belong to and thus to be     
conscious there4 ,the mental body is the
 seat of intellectual activity4         
,thought arises as a vibration in it and
 passes through the astral body  into   
the physical brain4 ,whenever we think  
we are using the mental body4  ,the     

astral body is the seat of emotion4     
,with it we feel4 ,all emotion  passes  
from it to the physical body to be      
expressed in the material  world4 ,the  
astral world is also called the         
emotional world1 as the  mental plane is
 called the mental world4 ,the physical 
body is the soul's  instrument of       
action4 ,it attaches it to the physical 
world1 enables the  consciousness to    
contact material objects and to move and
 express on the  material plane the     
thoughts and emotions generated in the  
mental and  astral bodies4    ,another  
part of the mechanism of consciousness  
is known as the etheric  double4 ,but it
 is only a link in the chain and not a  
body through which  the soul can        
function4 ,it is composed of the etheric
 matter of the  physical world and      
connects the astral body with the       
physical body4 ,as  every atom of       
physical matter is surrounded and       
permeated by etheric  matter1 it follows
 that the physical body has its         

duplicate in etheric  matter4 ,etheric  
double is a very appropriate name since 
it is a  perfect duplicate of the       
physical body in etheric matter4 ,it    
serves the  purpose of supplying the    
life force to the nervous system and is 
the  medium through which sensation is  
conveyed4 ,the action of an anaesthetic 
drives out so much of the matter of the 
etheric double that the  connection is  
broken and sensation in the physical    
body ceases4    ,one of the difficulties
 in the way of getting a clear          
conception of the  constitution of man1 
and realizing that he is a soul         
functioning through  various vehicles of
 consciousness1 is the materialistic    
modes of thought  common to ,occidental 
civilization4 ,we are accustomed to     
thinking of the  physical body itself as
 being the man1 and if there is any     
thought at  all of the consciousness    
surviving the death of the body it is   
very  vague and indefinite as to where  
it exists and how it is expressed4 ,very

  little thinking should be necessary to
 show the absurdity of the belief  that 
the body is the man4 ,two bodies may be 
alike1 as in the case of  twins1 but the
 souls1 the real men1 may be absolutely 
unlike4 ,the real  man is superphysical4
 ,his intelligence or his stupidity1 his
 genial  disposition or his moroseness1 
his generosity or his selfishness1 are  
but the manifestations of himself       
through the body by which they are      
expressed4 ,the body itself is a mere   
aggregation of physical atoms1 as a     
planet is1 so organized that they       
constitute an instrument for a  purpose4
 ,the mass of matter constituting the   
body is a variable mass4 ,it  may       
increase or diminish greatly1 but the   
man remains unchanged4 ,there  is no    
permanent relationship between the man  
and the physical matter  which he uses  
for his vehicle of consciousness4       
,according to the  physiologists every  
atom of the body changes within a period
 of a few  years4 ,the cells wear out1  

break down and pass away to be replaced 
by  new matter4 ,not a particle of the  
physical matter that was in our bodies  
seven years ago is there now1 and none  
that is there now will remain4  ,within 
seven years1 or less1 we shall have     
bodies composed of new matter  as       
certainly as an infant's is4    ,of     
course such reconstruction of the body  
does not change its  appearance4 ,it is 
built on the same lines4 ,it is as it   
would be with  some very old cathedral4 
,as the centuries pass it must be slowly
  rebuilt4 ,the floors wear out and are 
relaid4 ,the roof serves its time  and  
is replaced4 ,the walls crumble first in
 one place and then another  until they 
have been completely reconstructed4     
,after a thousand years  has passed     
there may be none of the original       
material in the building1  yet its      
appearance is unchanged4 ,the bodies we 
have today shall have  passed away and  
will be growing in the trees and        
blooming in the flowers  in a few years4

 ,the bodies we shall then have are now 
scattered through  the world4 ,they will
 be brought together during that time   
and will come  from many parts of the   
earth4    ,the physical senses          
continually deceive us and nowhere more 
than in our  ideas about the physical   
body4 ,it is an unstable mass of matter1
 in  constant motion1 with great gulfs  
of space between its atoms4 ,emerson    
was very far ahead of his time and it   
took science a half century to  catch up
 with him and learn that he had recorded
 a fact in nature when  he wrote3       
,atom from atom yawns as far        ,as 
earth from moon1 or star from star4     
,in #aijh the ,scientific ,american     
,supplement1 commenting on our          
reconstructed ideas about matter1       
remarked that the actual mass of the    
physical body to the apparent mass was  
about one to one million6    ,if the    
physical body is merely an organized    
mass of matter1 continually  varying1   
constantly coming and going1 and having 

no permanent  relationship to the       
consciousness that functions through it1
 what reason  is there for believing    
that it is the man8 ,does it seem       
strange that the  center of             
consciousness should be able to draw    
about itself on the  higher planes      
aggregations of matter and finally to   
express itself on  the material plane   
through the mass of matter we call the  
body8 ,if that  is mysterious quite as  
miraculous things are going on          
constantly about  us unnoticed4 ,thoreau
 calls attention to the fact that we    
become so  accustomed to the marvelous  
expressions of life all about us that we
 are  oblivious of the phenomena that   
are taking place4 ,commenting on the    
magic possible to nature he says3       
,though ,i do not believe that a plant  
will spring up where        no seed has 
been1 ,i have great faith in a seed--a1 
to me1        equally mysterious origin 
for it4 ,convince me that you have      
a seed there1 and ,i am prepared to     

expect wonders4444 ,in        the spring
 of #aheg ,i planted six seeds sent to  
me from the        ,patent ,office1 and 
labeled1 ,i think1 ',poitrine jaune     
grosse1' large yellow squash4 ,two came 
up1 and one bore a        squash which  
weighed #abc pounds1 the other bore     
four1        weighing together #ahf     
pounds4 ,who would have believed        
that there was #caj pounds of poitrine  
jaune grosse in that        corner of my
 garden8 ,these seeds were the bait ,i  
used to        catch it1 my ferrets     
which ,i sent into its burrow1 my brace 
of terriers which unearthed it4444      
,other seeds ,i have which        will  
find other things in that corner of my  
garden4 ,perfect        alchemists ,i   
keep who can transmute substances       
without end1        and thus the corner 
of my garden is an inexhaustible        
treasure-chest4 ,here you can dig1 not  
gold1 but the value        which gold   
merely represents2 and there is no      
,signor ,blitz        about it4 ,yet    

farmer's sons will stare by the hour to 
see a        juggler draw ribbons from  
his throat1 though he tells them        
it is all deception4 ,surely1 men love  
darkness rather than        light4,e    
,a seed is a center of force through    
which life1 at a much lower level  than 
the human1 flows and gathers about that 
center the material mass  that serves   
the purpose of its lowly evolution4 ,at 
the human level  consciousness has      
become self-consciousness and a         
marvelously complex  mechanism is       
required to express it and serve the    
purpose of its farther  evolution4      
,this complex mechanism of              
consciousness1 composed of the various  
bodies  through which the ego expresses 
itself at different levels1 is used as a
  whole for functioning on the physical 
plane4 ,but when the ego is  functioning
 no farther down than the astral plane1 
the physical body  is1 of course1       
temporarily discarded4 ,it is then in   
the condition known  as sleep1 or       

trance4 ,sleep is the natural           
withdrawing of the  consciousness from  
the physical body4 ,when the separation 
occurs in the  case of the medium it is 
called a trance4 ,the cause of the inert
  condition of the physical body is the 
same in both cases--the withdrawal  of  
the consciousness of the ego4 ,the      
physical body is then unoccupied1  but  
the consciousness maintains magnetic    
connection with it4 ,in death  that tie 
is severed and the consciousness can    
return to the body no  more4 ,instances 
in which the apparently dead are brought
 back to life  are cases where the      
magnetic tie is not broken1             
notwithstanding there is  every         
appearance of death4    ,in form and    
feature the physical body has its exact 
duplicate in the  astral body1 and in it
 we function in the astral world        
whenever the  separation between the two
 occurs1 whether from sleep or death4   
,in sleep  the consciousness1 expressing
 itself in the astral body in the astral

  world1 may be turned dreamily inward  
or it may be turned outward and be      
vividly aware of the life and activities
 of that world4 ,but there is  small    
chance that any memory of it will come  
through into the physical  consciousness
 upon awakening4 ,occasionally1 however1
 it does occur and  then it is usually  
remembered as a very vivid dream4 ,in   
illness1 and  other abnormal conditions1
 the connection between the physical and
  astral consciousness is much closer4  
,at a comparatively high point in       
evolution the two states of             
consciousness merge4 ,the man is then   
continuously conscious1 and has a full  
memory in the physical brain of  all his
 activities in the astral world during  
the hours when the  physical body was   
asleep4    ,consciousness is1 of course1
 at its worst when expressed through the
  limitation of its lower vehicles4 ,any
 person1 whether brilliant or  stupid1  
will be much abler and keener on the    
astral plane than on the  physical1     

because in sleep1 and after death1 he   
has lost the limitations  imposed by    
physical matter4 ,but the degree of     
restriction is variable  and depends    
much upon the kind of matter of which   
the brain and body  are composed2 for   
the physical atoms vary greatly1 and as 
they come and  go in the passing years  
the body may either become purified and 
refined  or it may grow grosser and     
coarser4 ,by careful attention to food  
and  drink1 and by control of the       
emotions1 the limitations of physical   
matter may be lessened and a much higher
 and more efficient state of            
consciousness in the physical body can  
be attained4      ,,footnotes3    ,e    
,the ,succession of ,forest             
,trees4--,thoreau4          ,,chapter   
,,vii4    ,,death      ,perhaps one of  
the reasons why death is so commonly    
associated with a  feeling of fear is   
because we give so little thought to it4
 ,most people  seem never to think of   
the subject at all until death invades  

the home  and threatens some member of  
the family4 ,then terror fills the mind 
and  all but paralyzes the reasoning    
faculties4    ,such fear of death1 so   
widespread in ,occidental civilization1 
is  eloquent testimony to the           
materialism of our times4 ,it is doubt  
about  the future that causes fear of   
death4 ,only when we have a scientific  
basis for the hope of immortality will  
the awful fear of death  disappear4 ,it 
is feared because it seems like         
annihilation4 ,if people  really        
believed in a heavenly existence beyond 
the physical life they  could not       
possibly be filled with terror at the   
prospect of entering it4  ,if a man's   
religion has not given him a genuine    
confidence in a future  life1 and made  
it as much of a reality to him as this  
life is1 it has  failed to do what we   
have a right to demand of religion4 ,if 
it does not  enable him to look upon the
 face of his dead without a doubt1 or a 
fear1  there is something wrong1 either 

with his religion or with his           
comprehension of it4 ,what possible     
reason is there for fearing death8 ,a   
thing that is universal1 that comes to  
all1 can not be pernicious4 ,to  regard 
death as a disastrous thing would be an 
indictment of the sanity  of nature4    
,death is merely the close of a         
particular cycle of experience4 ,it is  
the  annihilation of nothing but the    
physical body1 in its aspect of an      
instrument of activity and a vehicle of 
the consciousness upon the  physical    
plane4 ,the atoms of the body1 drawn    
together in the human form  for         
temporary use1 are1 in death1 released  
from the cohesive force of a  living    
organism and will return whence they    
came4    ,in reality there is no such   
thing as death1 unless it be strictly   
applied to the form1 regarded as a      
temporary vehicle of consciousness4  ,as
 for the consciousness1 there is no     
death4 ,there is life in a physical     
form and life out of it1 but no such    

thing as the death1 or cessation1  of   
the individual intelligence4 ,what we   
name death is but a change in  the      
orderly evolution of life1 and it is    
only because the phenomenon is  viewed  
from the physical plane that such a term
 can be applied to it4  ,from this plane
 it is death1 or departure4 ,but looked 
at from the astral  world it is birth1  
or arrival4 ,what we call birth is the  
beginning of  the expression of the soul
 through a material body on the physical
  plane4 ,it is an arrival4 ,but from   
the astral viewpoint it is a departure  
and therefore is as logically a death   
there as departure from a  physical body
 is here4 ,so death and departure from  
one plane is simply  birth1 or arrival1 
upon another1 although it is not1 of    
course1 birth  as we know it4    ,every 
process in nature has a part to play in 
evolution and therefore  death is as    
necessary as life and as beneficial as  
birth4 ,death is the  destroyer of the  
useless4 ,there is a time when each     

human being should  die--that is to say1
 a time when the physical body has      
fulfilled its  mission and completely   
accomplished the purpose for which it   
exists4 ,to  continue life in a physical
 body beyond that point is to waste     
energy  and lose time in the            
evolutionary journey4 ,under the action 
of what we  call diseases the body      
becomes inefficient1 or through the     
gradual  breaking down of old age the   
senses grow dim and uncertain4 ,the     
consciousness can no longer be keenly   
expressed through its impaired  machine 
and it is decidedly to the advantage of 
the ego to withdraw from  it4 ,the soul 
is in the position of an artisan obliged
 to work with  broken and rusted tools4 
,good results are no longer possible4   
,it is then  that death comes1          
beneficently destroying the worn out    
instrument and  releasing the           
consciousness from its too-often painful
 situation and  permitting its escape   
into a field of unobstructed activity4  

,death is painless4 ,the breaking down  
of the body under the ravages of        
disease may cause pain1 but that belongs
 to physical life1 not death4  ,distress
 may also be caused by groundless fear  
of death4 ,but the dying  person who    
does not know that death is upon him has
 no terror1 and no  pain1 and sinks     
quietly to sleep4 ,very little          
observation will convince  one that the 
distress about a death-bed is invariably
 on the part of  surviving friends1 not 
on the part of the dying4 ,those who are
 left  behind remain within the         
limitations of the physical senses1 and 
they  are therefore separated from the  
so-called dead man1 but he is not       
separated from them4 ,it is because of  
that separation that the terror of      
death exists for them4    ,but in that  
very fact is to be seen the great       
evolutionary value of  death4 ,the      
separation it causes intensifies love as
 nothing else could  do4 ,it is only    
when our friend is gone that we begin to

 appreciate his  real value and         
comprehend how large a part he really   
played in our  existence4 ,as sudden    
silence gives the consciousness a keener
  realization of the sound that has just
 ceased1 so death1 by its  contrast1    
gives a vivid1 realistic touch to life4 
,we all know how  enormously the heart  
qualities are quickened by the death of 
a close  friend4 ,the whole nature is in
 some degree purified and spiritualized4
  ,selfishness is decreased and         
compassion expands4 ,sympathy for others
 in  distress is born1 and thus a       
decided evolutionary advance is made4   
,we  have only to reflect upon the fact 
that separation without death  produces 
the same effects in a minor key1 to     
realize the evolutionary  value of      
death4 ,in constant association we grow 
careless and  indifferent4 ,but an      
absence of a month or two enables one to
 get a truer  perspective of personal   
associations and thereafter life has new
 zest4 ,a  child regards its mother with

 a certain degree of appreciation but a 
short absence enormously increases its  
appreciation4 ,all human beings  come   
into closer and more sympathetic        
association after a period of           
separation1 and the completeness of the 
separation caused by death  renders it  
peculiarly efficacious in the           
development of the spiritual  side of   
one's nature4 ,it often requires death  
to turn attention away  from            
materialistic life4 ,frequently a family
 becomes completely absorbed  in        
material success4 ,there is no thought  
at all given to the higher  life4       
,wealth1 position1 power1 fame1 all the 
vanities of the world1 hold  them       
firmly4 ,they become completely         
self-centered4 ,then suddenly death     
enters and breaks the family circle1 and
 the transient character of all  they   
had been so strenuously striving for    
suddenly dawns upon them1 and  attention
 is turned to the nobler things of life4
 ,it is a well known  fact that great   

wars are accompanied or followed with   
widespread  spiritual awakening1 and it 
is no doubt largely because the shadow  
of  death has fallen on tens of         
thousands of households4    ,it has     
sometimes been asked by doubtful critics
 if it would not be an  improvement on  
nature's plan if the sorrow caused by   
the death of our  friends were softened 
by direct knowledge of their continued  
existence4  ,it is evidently the plan of
 nature to have the physical life and   
the  astral life normally separated at  
our present level of evolution4 ,some   
of the reasons have already been        
discussed4 ,there are undoubtedly others
  that we are incapable of              
understanding1 and still others that we 
can  readily comprehend4 ,if the higher1
 joyous life of the astral world were   
open to our consciousness1 then         
concentration upon the duties of this   
life would be difficult1 if not         
impossible4 ,our life in the physical   
body may be compared to the tasks of    

children in school4 ,they have  serious 
business before them in the acquiring of
 knowledge and the  development of the  
intellect4 ,they can best accomplish the
 work when  completely isolated from    
other phases of life4 ,introduce into   
their  work-day consciousness the joys  
of a child's existence1 the circus1 the 
military parade1 the picnic and the     
dancing parties1 and the purpose for    
which the school exists would be        
defeated4 ,to exactly the extent that   
the consciousness is withdrawn from such
 things will desirable progress  be made
 with the work of the school-room4 ,and 
so it is with the  limitation of our    
physical senses4 ,it serves a purpose4  
,but there is a point in human evolution
 where such limitation of the  senses is
 no longer of any service and may be    
transcended4 ,some people  have attained
 it4 ,they are those who have previously
 been referred to as  the psychic       
scientists1 with the higher clairvoyance
 of the  cerebro-spinal system          

developed4 ,it is an accomplishment to  
which all  may aspire4 ,none need submit
 to the separation commonly caused by   
death4  ,by hard work in co-operating   
with nature's methods of evolution and  
by a  serious and sustained effort to   
live the highest and most helpful life  
of which one is capable1 it is possible 
in time to attain a level of            
consciousness where one has personal    
knowledge that the dead still live4     
,but in the very work of rising to that 
level1 the concentration  previously    
enforced by the limitation of the       
physical senses will have  been         
acquired4    ,one of the common         
delusions about death is that some      
radical change in  the nature of a      
person then takes place4 ,this is no    
doubt due in part to  the theological   
ideas that have come down to us from the
 time of the  ,middle ,ages4 ,it is     
popularly supposed that at death one    
comes to some  sort of a judgment that  
classes him as either a saint qualified 

for  eternal bliss or a fiend fit only  
for endless torture6 ,the belief is     
based on that erroneous view of human   
nature that was common to the  melodrama
 of a past generation and that will     
possibly have eternal life  in the cheap
 novel4 ,it represented the hero as     
unqualifiedly good and  the villain as  
absolutely bad4 ,the one had no flaw of 
character and the  other had not a      
redeeming feature4 ,but human nature    
does not thus  express itself4 ,the     
spark of divine life is in all1         
notwithstanding it  is sometimes darkly 
hidden4 ,on the other hand we find no   
perfected  beings4 ,the perfect heroes  
were merely creations of an imperfect   
imagination4 ,at our halfway stage of   
evolution we find neither the           
absolutely good nor the hopelessly bad4 
,why should the change we call death    
transform a human being8 ,it is  merely 
the loss of one part of the mechanism of
 consciousness4 ,the soul1  the thinker1
 has lost connection with the physical  

world because the  physical body has    
ceased to exist4 ,the mental body and   
the astral body  remain and they enable 
him to think and feel4 ,but he can not  
think more  than he knows1 nor feel what
 he has not evolved4 ,all that has      
happened  in death is that contact with 
the material world has been lost4       
,one of the misconceptions is that death
 brings great wisdom1 and we  often hear
 of people getting into communication   
with those who have  passed on1 with the
 hope of obtaining valuable advice4 ,it 
is true that  death ushers one into a   
realm of wider consciousness and that in
 the  astral world one can see a little 
further ahead and take a few more       
things into consideration4 ,but--and it 
is a vital point--he would have  no     
better judgment in determining a course 
of action than he had while  here in the
 physical world4    ,both mentally and  
emotionally he is unchanged4 ,his grade 
of morality is  neither better nor      
worse4 ,his tolerance or narrowness     

remains what it  previously was4 ,if he 
was bigoted while here he is still      
bigoted there4  ,if he was the unevolved
 ignoramus here he remains precisely    
that in the  astral world4 ,whether     
genius or fool1 saint or villain1 he    
remains  unchanged and goes on with his 
evolutionary development1 but in a world
  where emotion is the determining      
factor4    ,death merely opens the door 
to a new and wider realm where the      
evolution  of the soul proceeds4 ,it    
would be difficult to say which is the  
greater  misfortune--the delusions that 
make death the king of terrors1 or the  
complacent belief that if death does not
 end all1 it at least brings the  soul  
to a judgment that ends all personal    
responsibility and settles  one's fate  
forever4 ,death can no more lessen      
responsibility or  transform the moral  
nature than sleep can change character  
or determine  destiny4    ,the          
theosophical conception of death is as  
consoling as it is  scientific4 ,instead

 of the fear of death it gives us       
knowledge of  continued life4 ,instead  
of doubt and despair it gives us        
confidence and  joy1 for it guarantees  
the companionship once more of those we 
have  known and loved1 and erroneously  
supposed we have lost4                  
,,chapter ,,viii4    ,,the ,,astral     
,,world      ,when the physical body    
dies there is an interval between the   
loss of  consciousness here and the     
dawning of the astral consciousness4    
,during  that interim a review of the   
life scenes takes place4 ,everything    
between  birth and death passes again   
through the consciousness1 as it thus   
pauses in the etheric double1 between   
the life activities of two worlds4      
,then peaceful unconsciousness follows1 
from which the man awakes in the  astral
 world4    ,to those accustomed to      
thinking of the dying as passing to some
 remote  heaven1 where they become      
angels1 it will perhaps sound startling 
to say  that a dead man is not aware at 

first that the change we call death has 
taken place4 ,yet that is a common      
experience4 ,nor is it at all           
remarkable that it should be so with    
many4 ,we have only to recall the  fact 
that all physical matter is surrounded  
and permeated with astral  matter to    
realize that the physical plane is      
duplicated in astral  matter4 ,not only 
the physical body of the human being    
but1 of course1  every physical object1 
has its astral duplicate4 ,the dying man
 loses  consciousness of the physical   
plane and awakes as from a sleep to the 
astral consciousness4 ,he sees then the 
exact duplicate1 in astral  matter1 of  
the familiar scenes he has left behind4 
,he sees1 too1 his  friends1 for their  
astral bodies are replicas of their     
physical forms4    ,and yet1            
notwithstanding all this there is a     
difference1 though not a  difference    
that enables him to comprehend what has 
occurred4 ,he may know  that only       
yesterday1 or what seems to him to have 

been yesterday1 he was  ill and confined
 to his bed1 and was perhaps told that  
he was about to  die2 and now he is not 
ill2 indeed1 he never felt so free from 
aches and  pains in all his life4 ,the  
pulsing energies and exhilaration of    
youth  are his again6 ,this mystifies   
him4 ,he sees his friends and naturally 
speaks to them1 but gets no reply and   
finds that he can not attract  their    
attention4 ,it must be remembered that  
he can not see their  physical bodies   
any more than they can see his astral   
body4 ,yet he truly  sees them4 ,if a   
so-called dead man and a living person  
look at the same  instant at another    
living person they will both see him1   
but the latter  sees the physical body  
while the former sees the astral body   
that  surrounds and permeates it4       
,under these circumstances it is not    
strange that the new arrival in the     
astral world is seized with a feeling of
 baffling mystery4 ,he is in full       
possession of his reasoning faculties1  

and will power1 but there is a  puzzling
 limitation to his efforts to produce   
expected results4 ,a  partial analogy   
may be found in the case of a person    
suddenly stricken  with aphasia over    
night4 ,he rises in the morning1        
dresses1 and goes  about his accustomed 
duties without the slightest suspicion  
that any  change has come to him until  
he takes up the morning paper and       
discovers that he can not read--that the
 familiar print simply means  nothing to
 him6    ,of course1 in time the living 
dead man gets adjusted to the new life4 
,he  soon meets others in the astral    
world who have been there longer and    
they1 sooner or later1 succeed in       
convincing him that he is not having  an
 exceptionally vivid dream4    ,the     
astral world1 as explained in a previous
 chapter1 has seven  subdivisions and   
the astral body contains matter         
belonging to each of  them4 ,while we   
have the physical body the matter of the
 astral body is  in rapid circulation1  

every grade of it being constantly      
represented at  the surface4 ,but when  
the connection with the material plane  
is broken1  a rearrangement of the      
matter of the astral body automatically 
takes  place 7unless it is prevented by 
an exercise of will power7 and the      
grossest grade of matter thereafter     
occupies its surface4 ,consequently  the
 consciousness of the man is limited to 
that subdivision of the  astral world   
represented by the lowest grade of      
matter which his astral  body contains  
at the time of his death4 ,this is a    
fact the importance of  which it would  
be difficult to over emphasize1 because 
his after-death  state of consciousness1
 his joy or sorrow--in short1 his       
temporary  heaven or hell1 depends upon 
his location in the astral world4       
,there are three1 and only three modes  
of death1 or release from the  physical 
body--by old age1 by disease1 or by     
violence4 ,old age is the  natural and  
desirable close of the chapter of       

physical plane experience4  ,it is most 
desirable to live to ripe old age and   
accumulate a large  harvest of          
experience4 ,to live long and actively  
is excellent fortune4  ,it is not well  
to pass into the astral world with      
strong physical  desires4 ,as old age   
comes on the desire forces subside4     
,most of that  grade of astral matter   
that is capable of expressing them has  
slowly  disappeared4 ,old age represents
 the most gradual loosening of the life 
forces from the material plane1 and that
 has many advantages4    ,release from  
the physical body by disease is next in 
order of  desirability4 ,it is a quicker
 and less complete breaking down of the 
connection with the physical world4     
,nevertheless it is a condition in      
which much progress may be made in      
getting free from physical desires1  as 
those who have had experience with      
invalids are aware4 ,desires  usually   
grow weaker with the progress of the    
disease that finally ends  in death4    

,release from the physical form by      
violence is1 of course1 the least       
desirable of the three1 not merely      
because it is violence1 but for the     
much more important reason that sudden  
death finds the man1 as a rule1  with a 
considerable amount of the lower grades 
of astral matter in his  astral body4   
,whether the death by violence is the   
result of accident1 murder1 suicide  or 
legal execution1 the astral plane       
conditions of consciousness are  alike  
unfortunate1 in that it is sudden death1
 not the manner of death1  that permits 
entry upon the astral life before the   
lower grades of  astral matter have been
 eliminated from the astral body4 ,this 
is one  reason why suicide is           
unfortunate--because it ushers the man  
into the  astral world with more of the 
matter of the lower levels in his astral
  vehicle than would be there if he had 
lived out his normal physical  life4    
,purgatory is a term often applied to   
the lowest level of the astral  world4  

,the word is well chosen because it is  
there that the moral nature  is purged  
of its impurities4 ,strong desires      
cultivated and indulged  during the life
 in the physical body are eliminated    
with the gross  astral matter through   
which alone they can be expressed and1  
freed to  that extent1 the man passes to
 the next subdivision1 and into its     
higher  state of consciousness4    ,in  
the astral life some people linger long 
on the lower levels while  others know  
them not at all1 but awaken to the      
blissful consciousness of  the higher   
subdivisions4 ,nature is everywhere     
consistent1 grouping  together people of
 a kind4 ,it is1 however1 the manner in 
which one lives  during physical life   
that determines his happiness or sorrow 
after  death4 ,the astral body1 the seat
 of the emotions1 is1 like the physical 
body1 constantly changing the matter    
that composes it4 ,an emotion of any    
kind expresses itself as a vibration in 
the matter of the astral body4  ,if it  

is a base emotion1 such as anger1       
hatred1 lust or cruelty1 it  throws into
 vibration the grossest of the astral   
body's matter1 for only  in that can it 
be expressed4 ,if it is an exalted      
emotion1 such as love1  sympathy1       
devotion1 courage or benevolence1 it    
affects only the rarer  grades of astral
 matter1 for in them only can such      
feeling be expressed4    ,with most     
people there is a constant mingling of a
 wide range of  emotions1 with a gain in
 one direction and a loss in another4   
,one who  fortunately understands the   
law of emotional cause and effect may   
make  absolutely certain of a           
comfortable sojourn upon the astral     
plane after  death4 ,he would make it a 
rule to watch his emotions and control  
them1  knowing that each time he        
indulged a gross one the vibration set  
up in  his astral body would strengthen 
and vivify the grossest grade of matter 
in it1 while pure and exalted emotions  
would strengthen the higher  grades4    

,ultimately1 the grossest grade1        
becoming atrophied for the lack  of     
activity1 would drop away from him4     
,the descriptions of purgatory given by 
the psychic scientists are  calculated  
to induce even the reckless to avoid it4
 ,if we could bring  together all the   
vilest men and women now living on the  
physical plane1  the crudest of         
murderers1 the most besotted drunkards1 
the vilest  degenerates1 the most       
conscienceless and vindictive fiends of 
every  description1 and huddle them     
together in hovels reeking with filth1  
and  let them remain without any outward
 government1 free to prey upon each     
other1 we should perhaps have a faint   
comprehension of the reality of  the    
lowest subdivision of the astral world4 
,but no physical plane  comparison can  
do it full justice1 for we must remember
 that it is the  emotional world and    
that the feelings of its inhabitants    
make its  atmosphere in a way that would
 here be impossible4 ,astral matter     

instantly and exactly reproduces        
emotion1 so that the fiend or the       
sensualist looks exactly what he feels4 
,even in the unresponsive  physical     
matter1 the evil in a man is often      
sufficiently expressed to  fill those   
who behold him with terror4 ,in the     
astral world every cruel  thought and   
hideous emotion would express itself in 
visible form and the  multitudinous     
emotions welling up in the lower level  
of the astral  world would be as a      
loathsome swarm of reptiles gliding     
through its  horrible life4 ,add to all 
that the fact that the hopeless despair 
of its  denizens gives an atmosphere of 
utter gloom and desolation1 and we have 
a hell that leaves no need of other     
torture to check the course of the      
erring soul4 ,and yet there is no       
suffering that is not self-imposed4 ,it 
is both consistent and just that a man  
should associate with his kind  and look
 upon himself in others until he grows  
sick of his own vileness  and cries out 

in agony of spirit against his own moral
 offenses4 ,it must  not be assumed that
 every person dying with considerable   
matter  belonging to the lower astral   
level still within his emotional body   
will  necessarily pass through such     
experiences4 ,it should never be        
forgotten  that we are dealing with a   
matter of the utmost complexity and that
 even  the most exhaustive description  
in print would present only a fragment  
of the truth4 ,the conditions of        
consciousness on any subplane vary as   
individuals vary4 ,some people on the   
lowest astral level are wholly          
unconscious of their surroundings4      
,another variation is that some people  
find themselves floating in darkness and
 largely cut off from others--a         
sufficiently undesirable condition1 and 
yet better than the fate of  some4 ,all 
states of astral consciousness are      
reactions from previous  good or evil   
conduct and are1 moreover1 temporary    
conditions that will  in time be left   

behind4    ,in a different way and at a 
higher level there may be suffering on  
the  astral plane that is purifying the 
nature4 ,not all offenses against       
nature's laws are of so gross a type4   
,there is the abuse of desire and  the  
violation of conscience that may result 
in various kinds of regret  and         
emotional distress4 ,a desire of a      
refined type strongly built up  upon the
 physical plane lives with an intenser  
vitality on the astral  plane after the 
physical body can no longer gratify it4 
,a glutton and a  miser have strong     
desires of a very different type4 ,each 
of them is  likely to suffer on account 
of it during the astral life4 ,they need
 not  dwell upon the lowest level to get
 a reaction from their folly in the     
physical life4 ,we can easily imagine   
the distress of the glutton in a  world 
without food4 ,there could be no        
distress because of hunger1 for  the    
astral body is not1 like the physical   
body1 renewed and maintained  by what it

 consumes4 ,but hunger and the          
gratification of the sense of  taste are
 very different things4 ,it is the      
latter that would trouble the  gormand1 
and it is said that great suffering1 as 
in the case of the  drunkard1 is his lot
 until the desire gradually disappears  
because of  the impossibility of its    
gratification4    ,the miser represents 
a subtler form of desire1 but his greed 
for gold  may be quite as intense as    
that of the glutton for sensual         
gratification4 ,the accumulation of     
money has been the dominant thought  of 
his life4 ,he has created in his mind a 
wholly false value for money  and it    
gives him real pain to part with a      
dollar of it4 ,only dire  necessity     
forces him to spend any portion of his  
hoard4 ,it is not  difficult to imagine 
his emotions when he is obliged to leave
 it behind  and see others spend it     
freely4    ,any kind of a desire that is
 related to the physical body is without
  means of gratification in the astral  

world and if such desire has been       
cultivated until it becomes strong      
enough to play an important part in     
one's life it will certainly give him   
more or less trouble after the  loss of 
the physical body4 ,whether it grows out
 of an over-refinement  and excess in a 
natural appetite1 as in the case of the 
epicure1 or is  simply an artificial    
thing that is unrelated to any natural  
demand1 as  in the case of the smoker1  
the inability to gratify the desire is  
equally distressing4 ,the suffering that
 results could hardly be judged  by what
 would follow on the physical plane when
 desire is thwarted1 for  in the astral 
life emotion expresses itself much more 
intensely4    ,all of the suffering in  
the astral world1 of whatever type1 is  
the  natural result of the thoughts1    
emotions and acts during the life on the
  physical plane4 ,the astral world is  
that part of the mechanism for man's    
evolution that brings him up with a     
sharp turn when he is moving in the     

wrong direction4 ,he is not being       
punished4 ,the injurious forces he has  
generated are simply reacting upon him4 
,this reaction1 that sets him  right1 is
 as certain as in the case of the infant
 that picks up a live  coal4 ,it is     
merely less direct1 and not so immediate
 in result1 and it  works itself out in 
a multiplicity of ways4 ,one of the     
methods of  reaction that helps to stamp
 out a fault is the automatic repetition
 of  the unpleasant consequences of     
wrong doing4 ,the murderer will serve   
for  a general illustration4 ,in the    
case of a deliberate1 premeditated and  
cruel murder1 the assassin is moved by  
such base motives as revenge or         
jealousy4 ,the results of these1 so far 
as their frightful consequences  to the 
victim are concerned1 do not in the     
least tend to deter the  assassin from  
further deeds of violence4 ,he feels    
gratified with his  success and is quite
 satisfied with himself4 ,only the      
possibility of  detection and punishment

 troubles him4 ,if they follow in due   
course they  will accomplish something  
in correcting his erroneous views of    
life4 ,but  they will not be sufficient 
to register indelibly1 in the very      
nature of  the man1 a proper sense of   
the horror of which he has been guilty4 
,such  a man can be impressed and his   
viewpoint changed only by consequences  
to  himself4 ,it is in the reaction in  
the astral life of the forces he has    
generated here that he gets the lesson  
that forces in upon his  consciousness  
the horror inseparable from murder4 ,if 
he escapes the  physical plane          
consequences of his deed he will        
nevertheless come into  contact in the  
astral world with conditions            
sufficiently horrible4 ,he  has made a  
tie with his victim that can not be     
broken until the scales  of justice are 
balanced and nature's exaction has been 
paid to the  uttermost4 ,just what form 
of retribution will follow depends1 of  
course1  on the nature of the case4 ,but

 the reaction is as certain as it is    
multiplex4 ,one of its variants is the  
gruesome experience of always  fleeing  
from the corpse of the victim1 but with 
the utter impossibility  of a moment's  
escape4 ,in the case of a murderer who  
has been  apprehended1 tried1 condemned 
and executed1 the whole of the tragedy  
and  its sequel would be1 not only lived
 over in imagination but repeated       
automatically1 in fact1 and worked out  
in full detail in the plastic  matter of
 the astral region4 ,probably few people
 have the imagination to  comprehend    
what the murderer feels of apprehension 
and fear at his trial  when his life is 
in the balance2 or what he suffers while
 hiding from  justice and making futile 
efforts to escape the pursuing officers 
of the  law2 or what his emotions are as
 his hands are tied and he steps upon   
the death trap4 ,all this is reproduced 
in the astral life1 repeatedly4  ,as one
 whose mind is completely filled with a 
subject--let us say  something that is  

the cause of much anxiety--finds it     
impossible to turn  his attention from  
it and think of other things1 or go to  
sleep1 and is  impelled against his     
desire to think the matter over and     
over1 so the  assassin is enmeshed in   
the emotion web of his crime and can not
 escape  from living and acting it all  
over and over again until a revulsion of
  feeling arouses him to full           
comprehension of the horror of his      
crime4    ,again it should be said that 
no attempt is here made to give more    
than a  very fragmentary description1   
and a few hints1 of the manner in which 
the retributory laws of nature work4 ,a 
writer on the subject should also  be   
careful that1 in pointing out the fact  
that to certain classes of  offenders   
against nature's laws severe penalties  
accrue1 the reader does  not get the    
impression that suffering is the common 
lot in the astral  life4 ,the truth of  
the matter is that people who live      
clean1 moderate  lives1 and refrain from

 generating forces that are injurious to
 others1  will know nothing whatever of 
the unfortunate side of astral          
existence4  ,in the limitations1 the    
vexations1 the physical aches and ills1 
the  poverty1 sorrow and suffering of   
the material plane1 most of us are as   
near to hell-conditions of existence as 
we ever will be4 ,the ordinary  man of  
average morality has so little of the   
matter of the lowest level  of the      
astral plane lingering in him that as a 
rule he would begin his  postmortem     
existence on the next higher            
subdivision1 which is the  counterpart  
of the earth's surface4 ,he would       
therefore have no knowledge  of the hell
 that exists on the lower level4 ,but   
that is not at all true  of those who   
live grossly and freely indulge the     
emotions of anger1  jealousy1 hatred1   
revenge1 and their kindred impulses1    
that often lead  to violent crimes4 ,it 
is possible to live the physical life so
 sanely1  usefully1 harmoniously and    

unselfishly that at the death of the    
physical  body one will pass almost     
immediately to a joyous and useful      
career in  the astral world4 ,but while 
that is quite possible the unfortunate  
fact  is that a great many people so    
color all their emotions with           
selfishness  that the astral sojourn is 
unpleasantly affected by it4 ,it is the 
emotions that determine the astral life 
and it is said that if they are         
directly selfish they bring the man into
 conditions on the astral plane  that   
are very unpleasant4    ,it must be     
expected that any idea we may form of   
the astral life will be  incomplete1 and
 inadequate to give a true conception   
what it is really  like4 ,perhaps the   
most comprehensible of the subplanes is 
that which  reproduces the physical     
landscape in astral matter4 ,there the  
average  man will begin his conscious   
astral career4 ,if we think of the world
 as  we know it here and then imagine   
all that is material to have vanished   

from it we shall gain some comprehension
 of the situation4 ,eliminate the       
necessity of providing food1 clothing   
and shelter and nearly all of the  labor
 of the race would cease4 ,the tilling  
of the soil1 the mining1 the  building1 
the manufacturing1 and the              
transportation and exchange of the      
products of field and factory1          
constitute nearly the whole of human    
activity4 ,in the astral life no food is
 required and one is clothed with       
astral matter from which garments are   
fashioned almost with the ease and      
rapidity of thought4 ,no houses are     
needed for shelter4 ,the astral body  is
 not susceptible to degrees of heat and 
cold1 and nothing there  corresponds to 
our temperatures4 ,there is no division 
of night and day1  objects being        
self-luminous and light being perpetual4
    ,if we could drop out of physical   
life all need of physical labor1        
abolish all response to heat or cold1   
the need of food and houses1 and  add   

unlimited wealth or1 to be more exact1  
give each person the power to  possess  
all that wealth can confer and much that
 it can not1 we would  have an approach 
to a conception of the astral world from
 one viewpoint4  ,each one entering the 
astral life has1 of course1 a fullness  
of liberty  and freedom from            
responsibility that is not instantly    
comprehensible to  the physical mind4   
,there is nothing whatever that he must 
do4 ,there is1  however1 plenty that he 
can do if he desires to be active4 ,on  
the  physical plane many people of      
wealth travel and amuse themselves with 
sight seeing4 ,thousands of others would
 do so if it were possible4 ,in  the    
astral world it is possible and large   
numbers of people drift  aimlessly about
 with no particular plans4 ,multitudes  
belonging to  various religious sects   
organize themselves into congregations1 
build  edifices and spend much time in  
religious services4 ,others amuse       
themselves building houses and          

constructing landscapes4 ,it is not at  
all  necessary1 but the old habits live 
and influence activities4    ,the       
average person in the astral world gives
 himself to idleness and  the enjoyment 
of the intensified emotions of the      
astral life just as the  majority of    
people would do here if it were possible
 to escape the round  of duties so      
sternly imposed by their necessities4   
,for a long time the  most of them also 
make daily visits to the homes they have
 left behind  on the physical plane4    
,those who have a strong tie of         
affection with  some member of the      
family frequently spend much time       
lingering around  and going on little   
journeys about the premises or elsewhere
 with the  loved one4 ,they understand  
that the dead person is not perceived by
 the  living one1 but nevertheless they 
desire to be near4 ,they do not have a  
full consciousness of all the living    
person is thinking and doing1 but  they 
are fully aware of the state of feeling1

 or emotion1 and whether  the living    
friend is pleasantly or unpleasantly    
affected by passing  events4    ,as the 
astral life becomes more and more       
familiar to the newly arrived           
individual he gets well settled in it   
and gradually readjusts his  viewpoint  
to a truer perspective than he has here4
 ,as time passes he is  less and less in
 touch with the affairs of the physical 
life and finally  loses consciousness of
 them altogether as he passes on to the 
higher  levels of the astral world4     
,but there are many people who have a   
more serious view of life and who  lose 
no opportunity of acquiring knowledge1  
and the astral world1 which  is called  
the hall of learning by students of the 
occult1 presents  remarkably good       
conditions to them4 ,here we are limited
 in three  dimensions of matter and     
hampered by the very narrow range of the
  physical senses4 ,in the astral world 
matter has four dimensions and new  and 
marvelous avenues of learning open      

before the student4 ,those who are  at  
all interested in music1 or art of any  
kind1 find both the field and  the      
facilities enormously extended4 ,those  
who study nature1 whether by  directly  
probing into her secrets or by cleverly 
combining her  principles into new      
processes and inventions1 have such     
opportunities as  scientist and         
discoverer has not dreamed of on this   
plane4 ,and so for  all the thoughtful  
and studious there is a life of the most
 useful and  fascinating kind in the    
astral world4    ,but it must not be    
supposed that the opportunity of        
usefulness and  progress is only for the
 studious4 ,there as here the           
opportunity for  useful work in helping 
humanity forward is boundless2 for while
 poverty  and disease have disappeared  
absolutely there is much philanthropic  
work  of other kinds to be done4 ,people
 are to be taught1 for there1 as here1  
the majority are sadly in need of       
knowledge of how to take advantage of   

nature's laws for our rapid progress1   
and how to live in harmony with  them in
 order to get the greatest happiness    
from life4 ,but the work to  be done is 
by no means confined to teaching4 ,the  
ignorance that makes  the teaching so   
necessary has brought a great many      
people into the  unfortunate condition1 
where immediate assistance is most      
urgently  needed1 and there is such a   
variety of helplessness that nobody need
 be  idle4    ,because of the false     
teaching upon the subject of life       
hereafter1 people  are bewildered when  
they become conscious in the astral     
life4 ,many have  had their minds so    
vividly impressed with the awful fate   
that awaits  those who are not saved    
before death that they fall into a state
 of  terror when at last they realize   
that death has really occurred4 ,others1
  who may or may not be haunted with any
 such absurd misconceptions1 cling  so  
tenaciously to the physical life when   
about to leave it that there is  not    

complete separation between the etheric 
double and astral body4 ,the  result is 
that the unfortunate person finds       
himself cut off from the  physical world
 and yet not arrived in the astral6     
,wrapped in a cloud of  etheric matter  
he drifts for a time in terror of the   
unknown4 ,those  among the so-called    
dead who are kindly enough to rescue the
 distressed  may come to their relief   
and give valuable assistance4           
,perhaps the commonest thing that       
engages the attention of the astral     
worker is the fear that death brings to 
most people4 ,they arrive in the  astral
 world with the feeling that everything 
is unknown and uncertain4  ,all         
preconceived ideas about the life after 
death have suddenly been  found         
unreliable and they are afraid of1 they 
know not what4 ,they want  to cling to  
anybody who knows something of the new  
world4 ,when we  remember that people   
are arriving in the astral world by the 
tens of  thousands daily1 even under    

normal conditions1 it is evident that   
all  who wish to be of service can find 
plenty to do4 ,no special knowledge of  
the astral plane is necessary4 ,common  
sense is a sufficient equipment1  in    
such simple work1 for those who desire  
to be useful instead of giving  the     
entire time to the pleasures of that    
world4 ,the work for the astral  helpers
 ranges upward in complexity1 of course1
 and there is profitable  activity for  
those with the fullest knowledge and    
skill4 ,they usually  work in well      
organized groups and render service of  
great practical  value4    ,life on the 
astral plane has its end for the same   
reason that it comes  to a close on the 
physical plane4 ,nature's purpose has   
been accomplished  and the man is ready 
to go on farther in his evolution4 ,the 
length of  the astral life varies just  
as it does in the physical world4 ,some 
physical lives are very long and        
sometimes only when five scores of      
years1 or more1 have passed does the ego

 withdraw4 ,other lives are very  short 
and scarcely well begun when they       
unexpectedly come to a close4  ,there is
 nevertheless a general average to be   
found4 ,it is at least  possible to make
 averages for different classes of      
people and to say  that a majority of   
those who are of ordinary health and    
strength are  likely to attain a stated 
age1 while it is certain that the       
majority of  those who have such1 and   
such1 a physical handicap will lose     
their  physical bodies when they are    
much younger4 ,such general rules may   
also  be applied to the astral life4    
,here a long and alert life is most     
desirable because the purpose of the    
physical plane is to gather experience  
that shall be transmuted into  wisdom on
 a higher plane4 ,it is a seed time     
against a later harvest4 ,but  the      
astral plane is1 for the vast majority  
of the race1 related to the  purgative  
process4 ,in that life the errors of the
 physical life are  largely worked out  

and desires that have grown up like     
weeds in a garden  are rooted out and   
the budding virtues are given a chance  
to grow4 ,it is  a corrective plane1    
where blunders are checked up and the   
moral  perspective is re-established4   
,naturally enough the sooner that can be
  done the better4 ,the rule of a long  
life being most desirable on the        
physical plane is1 therefore1 reversed  
on the astral plane4 ,it is the         
shortest life in the astral world that  
is the greatest prize1 and it  comes to 
those who have lived the purest and     
noblest lives while here4  ,the sooner a
 man gets through the astral world and  
begins the reaping of  his harvest on   
the mental plane1 or heaven world1 the  
better it is for  him4    ,the length of
 the astral sojourn depends primarily   
upon the durability  of the astral body 
and that1 in turn1 depends upon the kind
 of a life he  has lived here4 ,let us  
suppose that he has lived a very gross  
and  sensual life4 ,all of the emotions 

of that type that he indulged built     
more gross matter in his astral body and
 also strengthened and vivified  the    
lowest grade of matter that was already 
there4 ,let us also imagine  that he had
 an ungovernable temper and frequently  
gave way to outbursts  of fury2 further1
 that he was cruel and revengeful1      
seeking and finding  many opportunities 
of inflicting injuries upon others4     
,here we have a  case for long life on  
the lower levels of the astral world4   
,let us now consider a different type of
 man4 ,he lives peacefully and          
harmoniously with those about him4 ,he  
feels strong affection for wife  and    
children4 ,he has a host of friends     
because of his cheerful1 helpful  and   
sympathetic attitude toward others4 ,he 
lives cleanly and thinks  nobly4 ,his   
mind is kept free from trivialities and 
his tongue is never  employed in gossip4
 ,he makes a determined and persistent  
effort to  eliminate pride1 envy and    
ambition4 ,he cultivates the habit of   

thinking  first of the welfare of others
 and always last of himself--in short1  
tries hard to eliminate selfishness and 
see all things impersonally4  ,such a   
man could know nothing whatever of the  
disagreeable part of the  astral life   
and would pass quickly through even the 
higher subdivisions  and reach the      
ecstatic happiness of the heaven world4 
,from the lower subdivisions a man rises
 very gradually to the higher4 ,he      
remains on a given level so long as is  
required to eliminate the matter  of    
that level from his astral body4 ,he is 
then immediately conscious on  the next 
higher level4 ,the grosser matter falls 
away because the man has  at last       
stopped sending his life force through  
it4 ,ungratified desire  has finally    
worn itself out and he is free4 ,the    
process can be greatly  hastened or     
retarded by the man's attitude toward   
life4 ,if he foolishly  dwells upon his 
desires1 he gives new vitality and      
prolonged life to  them4 ,if he can     

resolutely turn his mind to higher      
things he hastens his  release4 ,his    
fate is in his own hands1 and he is     
fortunate indeed if he  has a knowledge 
of such matters4    ,one who dies in    
advanced years will pass more rapidly   
through the astral  world than he would 
have done had he died in the full       
strength of  manhood4 ,as the years     
accumulate the emotions that vivify the 
lowest  grades of astral matter are not 
so much in evidence and the matter in   
which they are expressed loses its      
vitality4 ,that is an additional  reason
 why it is desirable to live to old age 
in the physical world4    ,the hold that
 the material world has upon the mind is
 one of the causes  which greatly       
prolong existence in the astral world4  
,some people give  their time and       
thought so exclusively to material      
things that after  they lose the        
physical body they cannot keep the mind 
away from the life  that lies behind    
them4 ,this difficulty does not         

necessarily arise wholly  from having   
given one's energies entirely to        
personal ambition and  material         
accumulation4 ,sometimes the ruler of a 
country is so determined  to still      
manage affairs1 as far as possible1 that
 this vivid interest in  the physical   
world stretches out the period of astral
 life most  unfortunately4              
,ordinarily one's sojourn in the astral 
world is comparatively short1 if  we    
measure it in the terms of physical     
life4 ,a person who has lived here      
seventy years may have thirty or forty  
years on the astral plane4 ,but  that   
will depend not only upon how he lived  
the physical life just  closed but also 
upon his general position in human      
evolution4 ,a savage  of low type would 
have a comparatively long astral life   
while a man at  the higher levels of    
civilization would have a comparatively 
short  period there1 while the man in   
the lower levels of civilized life might
  be said to come in at about midway    

between the two4 ,but it must be        
remembered that these are very general  
estimates and that among  civilized     
peoples individuals differ enormously4  
,some will pass very  slowly and1 so far
 as lower levels are concerned1         
painfully1 through  astral life1 while  
the sojourn of others there is measured 
in minutes1  and they pass happily and  
almost instantaneously from physical    
death to  the heaven world4 ,but such   
people are the exception1 not the rule4 
,communication with those who have      
passed on into the astral world is      
possible1 but not always desirable1 for 
a number of reasons4 ,as an  evidence of
 the continuity of consciousness in the 
hands of the  scientific investigator1  
such communications have been of the    
greatest  value4 ,as a consolation to   
those who have thus come again in touch 
with  dead friends such messages have   
been of inestimable value to the        
bereaved1 particularly when they have   
been received in the privacy of  the    

family circle by some of its members4   
,for a time those who have lost  the    
physical body are usually within easy   
reach through the usual  methods        
employed for the purpose and perhaps no 
harm is done by such  communications    
unless they arouse anew the grief of    
those who have been  left behind and    
thus greatly depress the departed4 ,but 
after the living  dead get farther      
along1 and are practically out of touch 
with the  material world1 then directing
 their attention backward may be        
positively injurious to them4 ,for that 
reason careful students of the  occult  
seldom seek to obtain messages1 or at   
least do it with proper  consideration  
for all the circumstances of the        
particular case4    ,due regard for the 
interests of those who have passed on1  
as well as for  those who remain1       
requires that all the facts be given    
full weight4 ,the  truth of the matter  
is that it is our keen sense of loss    
that gives rise  to the desire for a    

message of some sort4 ,we long to once  
more get into  touch with one that seems
 to be lost to us4 ,we are not really   
thinking  much about his welfare4 ,as a 
matter of fact he has not lost sight of 
us  and does not have our sense of      
separation4 ,not only is he able to see 
us  at all times and be conscious of our
 feelings and emotions1 but during  the 
hours when we are asleep he is in the   
fullest and freest  communication with  
us and we with him4 ,on awakening we    
usually have no  memory of this and if  
we do we think it was a dream4 ,but it  
is not so  with him4 ,his memory of it  
is perfect and the result is that he has
 not  our sense of separation and loss  
at all4    ,the result of knowledge upon
 the subject1 that is readily gained by 
a  study of the researches of the       
skilled occultists1 is that one comes to
  feel that one should rest satisfied   
with the fact that we do converse  with 
the dead nightly1 and leave mediumistic 
communications to the  scientific       

investigators4 ,the natural order of    
things is that the person  who passes   
into the astral world shall in time fix 
his mind exclusively  upon the inner    
life and be completely divorced from    
physical plane  affairs4 ,that is the   
mental and emotional condition which    
permits of his  rapid passage through   
levels where he should not linger4 ,it  
is said that  to turn his attention     
backward at this time may cause him     
acute  distress4    ,a reading of the   
,christian scriptures with a knowledge  
of occultism  often throws a new light  
upon the subject4 ,an instance of this  
is to be  found in the story of the     
woman of ,endor who is visited by ,saul 
in his  quest for psychic information   
about the crisis that has been reached  
in  the affairs of his kingdom4 ,the    
woman went into trance and acted as a   
medium for a communication from ,samuel1
 who tells ,saul just what will  occur  
in the impending battle4 ,samuel's first
 words were a reproach to  ,saul4 ,why  

hast thou disquieted me to bring me     
up8,f was his greeting4  ,it is the     
language of one who is displeased4      
,drawing his attention  forcibly back to
 the material world by the strong desire
 ,saul had to  communicate with him was 
evidently distressing to the dead king1 
hence  the rebuke1 ,why hast thou       
disquieted me8    ,what is here said on 
the subject of communication1 however1  
has  reference to general principles    
only4 ,there is no intention of         
suggesting that it is always undesirable
 to communicate with those who  have    
passed over4 ,often those on the other  
side seek means of  communicating and   
they should then find the most willing  
co-operation  from this side4 ,sometimes
 one who has left the physical plane    
life has a  message of great importance 
to deliver and such a case reverses the 
general rule--he would be delayed if he 
could not communicate4 ,it  would be    
decidedly to his advantage to free his  
mind of the matter4  ,until he has done 

so he may remain in a restless condition
 and his case  falls into the category  
of what the spiritualists call earth    
bound4 ,he  may have left undone        
something that a message will set right1
 if he can  get it through1 or he may   
have secreted something that cannot be  
found  because he died suddenly and had 
no opportunity to speak of it4 ,or it   
may simply be a case of desiring to     
prove to materialistic friends the  fact
 that the so-called dead are not dead1  
and are close at hand4 ,it is  sometimes
 possible for the important information 
to come through into  physical life in  
the form of a dream by the living1 and  
thus the  recovery of valuables has     
followed4,g ,in such a case the dream is
 a  memory of facts well known in astral
 life but hidden from the waking        
consciousness by the unresponsive       
material brain4    ,it sometimes happens
 that one who thus most earnestly       
desires to  communicate but is wholly   
ignorant of how to accomplish his       

purpose  causes a good deal of          
annoyance4 ,his blundering attempts to  
use psychic  force may be wholly        
abortive and result only in meaningless 
noises1  raps1 the tumbling of books or 
dishes from shelves or the aimless      
movement of furniture4 ,annoyance is    
sometimes caused also by intention1  on 
the part of those who think it is       
humorous to play pranks4 ,it must be    
remembered that passing on to the astral
 life does not improve one's  common    
sense4 ,if while living here1 he thought
 it amusing to astonish or  delude      
somebody1 or trick a friend into        
seriously accepting some absurd         
assertion as a fact1 he still regards   
the same course as entertaining4  ,this 
accounts for many of the foolish1 and   
sometimes startling messages1  or       
answers to questions1 received at       
seances4    ,it has often been asked    
why1 if communication between the       
physical and  astral planes is possible1
 we do not receive information that     

might lead  to valuable discoveries and 
inventions4 ,the very fact that death   
does  not confer wisdom explains it in  
part4 ,but an even more important fact  
is that communication is easy with the  
lower levels and correspondingly        
difficult as the higher levels are      
reached4 ,all who have had much         
experience with seances are familiar    
with the fact that guides or  controls1 
that is1 the persons in the invisible   
realms who direct the  seance and       
frequently speak through the medium1 are
 very often ,indians  or others at a low
 level of evolution4 ,the majority of   
the inhabitants  of the astral levels   
with which communication is easy are not
 the type  capable of furnishing ideas  
of any great value4 ,it is on the higher
  levels that the man of intellectual   
power passes most of his astral  life4  
,the scientist or the inventor who has  
given so much thought to his  work that 
he has been in some degree successful   
here is not likely to  have much        

consciousness on lower levels4 ,it is   
the highest of the seven  subdivisions  
of the astral world that is the habitat 
of the person who  has followed         
intellectual pursuits1 during physical  
life1 and with that  level it is        
practically impossible for the ordinary 
medium to  communicate4    ,one of the  
objections to indiscriminate            
communication with the astral  plane    
lies in the very fact that the lowest   
class of entities are most  accessible4 
,that not only accounts for the         
commonplace messages in such  abundance1
 but it is frequently a source of actual
 danger1 especially  where people form  
circles for the purpose of rendering    
themselves more  sensitive to psychic   
influences4 ,in such cases it is common 
to accept  every message as absolute    
truth4 ,there is no doubt that as a rule
 the  astral people in charge of such a 
gathering are earnest and honest4 ,but  
they are neither all-wise nor           
all-powerful1 and it sometimes comes    

about  that some of the sitters are     
partially or wholly obsessed by astral  
entities1 and that may prove to be an   
exceedingly serious matter4 ,some       
people have thus lost their sanity and  
others their lives4    ,it is1 of       
course1 only the gross type of astral   
person who has a desire  to seize upon  
the physical body of another4 ,the      
purpose is to gratify  desires that have
 outlived the physical body4 ,the dead  
drunkard is  perhaps the commonest      
example of the obsessing entity1 and if 
the  obsession is only partial it may   
lead to nothing worse than strong and   
perhaps irresistible impulses toward    
alcoholic stimulation4 ,obsession  may1 
of course1 occur without the psychic    
door being opened  deliberately4 ,but no
 obsession is possible1 in any case1    
unless there is  something within the   
victim responsive to the moral defect of
 the  obsessing entity4    ,partial     
obsessions are rather common and there  
are frequent inquiries as  to the best  

means of treating such a case4 ,it may  
amount only to the  slight annoyance of 
astral people hanging about and refusing
 to depart  or to actual persecution4   
,in all such cases the victim is1 of    
course1 in  conscious touch and         
communication with the intruders4 ,one  
of the world's  greatest authorities on 
the subject1 who is a constant          
investigator of  the unseen regions1 has
 given detailed answer to two           
questioners1 and  what he says is of    
such practical value that it is well    
worth  reproducing4 ,the second question
 itself is enlightening as to the       
character of the obsessing entities4    
,the first inquirer asks3          ,what
 is the best way to get rid of an       
excarnate human        being who        
persists in occupying one's body8       
,the reply follows3          ,i should  
simply and absolutely decline to be so  
obsessed4        ,the best and kindest  
plan would be to have an explanation    
with the dead person1 to enquire what he

 wants and why he        makes such     
persistent attempts4 ,quite probably1 he
 may be        some ignorant soul who   
does not at all comprehend his new      
surroundings1 and is striving madly to  
get into touch again        with the    
only kind of life that he understands4  
,in that        case if matters are     
explained to him1 he may be brought to  
a happier frame of mind and induced to  
cease his        ill-directed efforts4  
,or the poor creature may have          
something on his mind--some duty        
unfulfilled or some wrong               
unrighted2 if this be so1 and the matter
 can be arranged to        his          
satisfaction1 he may then be at peace4  
,if1 however1 he proves not to be       
amenable to reason1 if in        spite  
of all argument and explanation he      
refuses to abandon        his           
reprehensible line of action1 it will be
 necessary        gently but firmly to  
resist him4 ,every man has an           
inalienable right to the use of his own 

vehicles1 and        encroachments of   
this nature should not be permitted4 ,if
        the lawful possessor of the body
 will confidently assert        himself 
and use his own willpower no obsession  
can take        place4          ,when   
such things occur1 it is almost always  
because the        victim has in the    
first place voluntarily yielded himself 
to the invading influence1 and his first
 step therefore is        to reverse    
that act of submission1 to determine    
strongly to        take matters into his
 own hands again and to resume control  
over his property4 ,it is this          
reassertion of himself that        is   
the fundamental requirement1 and though 
much help may be        given by wise   
friends1 nothing which they can do will 
take        the place of the development
 of willpower on the part of        the 
victim1 or obviate the necessity for it4
 ,the exact        method of procedure  
will naturally vary according to the    
details of the case4    ,the same       

authority answers another question on   
the same subject and he  is here dealing
 with particular entities that he has   
evidently seen3          ,i have long   
been troubled by entities who constantly
        suggest evil ideas and make use 
of coarse and violent        language4  
,they are always urging me to take      
strong drink1        and goading me on  
to the consumption of large quantities  
of        meat4 ,i have prayed          
earnestly1 but with little avail1 and   
am driven to my wits' end4 ,what can ,i 
do8    ,to this appeal the psychic      
scientist replies3          ,you have   
indeed suffered greatly2 but now you    
must make up        your mind to suffer 
no more4 ,you must take courage and make
        a firm stand4 ,the power of     
these dead people over you is           
only in your fear of them4 ,your own    
will is stronger than        all theirs 
combined if you will only know that it  
is2 if        you turn upon them with   
vigor and determination they must       

yield before you4 ,you have an          
inalienable right to the                
undisturbed use of your own vehicles1   
and you should insist        on being   
left in peace4 ,you would not tolerate  
an intrusion        of filthy and       
disgusting beings into your house on the
        physical plane2 why should you  
submit to it because the        entities
 happen to be astral8 ,if an insolent   
tramp forces        himself into a man's
 house1 the owner does not kneel down   
and pray--he kicks the tramp out2 and   
that is precisely        what you must  
do with these astral tramps4            
,you will no doubt say to yourself that 
when ,i give you        this advice ,i  
do not know the terrible power of the   
particular demons who are afflicting    
you4 ,that is exactly        what they  
would like you to believe--what they    
will try to        make you believe2 but
 do not be so foolish as to listen to   
them4 ,i know the type perfectly1 and   
mean1 despicable1        bullying       

villains they are2 they will torment a  
weak woman        for months together1  
but will fly in cowardly terror the     
moment you turn upon them in righteous  
anger6 ,i should just        laugh at   
them1 but ,i would drive them out1 hold 
not a        moment's parley with them4 
,of course1 they will bluster and       
show fight1 because you have let them   
have their own way        for so long   
that they will not tamely submit to     
expulsion2        but face them with    
iron determination1 set your will       
against them like an immovable rock1 and
 down they will go4        ,say to them3
 ',i am a spark of the divine fire1 and 
by the        power of the ,god within  
me ,i order you to depart6' ,never      
let yourself think for an instant of    
failure or of        yielding2 ,god is  
within you1 and ,god cannot fail4,h     
,probably there is no astral subject of 
more vital importance to any of  us than
 that of the right attitude of mind and 
emotion toward the living  dead4 ,it is 

commonly said that we can do nothing    
more for them when they  have passed    
away from physical plane life1 but a    
greater error could not  easily be made4
 ,the connection with us is by no means 
severed4 ,not only  are they emotionally
 in touch with us but their emotions are
 very much  keener than when they had a 
physical body through which to express  
them4  ,they are now living in the      
astral body1 the matter of which is     
enormously more responsive to emotional 
vibrations4 ,a joyous emotion  here     
would be tremendously more joyous there 
and a thing that would  produce         
depression here would be a hundred times
 more depressing there4  ,that fact     
should give pause to those who are      
inclined to think in  sorrow1 and with  
something of despair1 about their       
friends who have  passed on4 ,they are  
not far away in space and our emotions  
affect them  profoundly and instantly4  
,we are all familiar with the fact that 
moods are communicable4 ,the  person who

 is cheerful cheers up others in his    
vicinity1 while the one  who is gloomy  
spreads gloom wherever he goes4 ,it is a
 simple matter of  vibrations4 ,it is   
often within the power of a member of   
the family who  habitually has the blues
 to destroy the happiness of the entire 
household4 ,if we think of the most     
depressing effect that can be caused  by
 sorrow on the physical plane1 and then 
multiply its effectiveness by  a        
hundred1 we shall have no exaggeration  
of the astral effects of the  emotions  
we indulge in the physical body4 ,if1   
then1 the sorrow of a  weeping relative 
distresses us here it is clear that it  
must bring  really keen distress to the 
one who is the subject of such grief4   
,his  life may thus be made miserable by
 the very persons who would be the  last
 to cause him sorrow if they understood 
what they were doing4    ,we can really 
help the so-called dead and make them   
very much happier by  simply changing   
our mournful attitude toward them4 ,all 

violent  expressions of grief should be 
avoided and a determination to make the 
best of the matter should be cultivated4
 ,the situation may indeed be  bad1 but 
we make it very much worse by our       
mourning4 ,the funeral customs  of      
,occidental civilization are quite      
consistent with its materialism4 ,we    
act as nearly as possible as though we  
believe the dead are lost to us         
absolutely4 ,we make matters as gloomy  
as possible4 ,yet we are slowly         
improving4 ,not so very long ago when   
anybody died those present stopped  the 
ticking of the clock1 drew down the     
window curtains1 moved about on  tiptoe1
 and acted generally in a way calculated
 to add as much as  possible to the awe 
and the gloom4 ,we still wear somber and
 depressing  black and add all we can   
externally to our inward distress4    ,a
 more sensible attitude of mind may be  
observed at any theosophical  funeral   
and1 with growing frequency1 at the     
funerals among thinking  people4 ,a     

funeral should not be the occasion of a 
final expression of  grief1 but a       
gathering of friends who send kindly    
thoughts and helpful  good wishes to the
 comrade whose life work in the physical
 world is  finished4 ,the general       
feeling should be very much like that of
 a party  of friends who go to the pier 
to see a well loved traveler off on a   
long  journey to remote parts of the    
earth for a sojourn of many years or    
possibly a lifetime4 ,there should be   
constant thought of his welfare1  not of
 the loss to his friends4 ,grief that   
thinks of itself is an  expression of   
selfishness and is detrimental to all4  
,one should practice  self control in   
such a matter just as one would control 
a feeling of  anger under different     
circumstances4    ,naturally enough the 
control of grief when one we love has   
passed on is  none to easy4 ,but any    
degree of success is much better than no
 effort1  and will certainly help the   
one for whom we mourn4 ,much can be     

accomplished by avoiding unnecessary    
incidents that bring vividly back  the  
keen sense of loss4 ,many people indulge
 the foolish custom of  regularly       
visiting the cemetery where the body has
 been interred4 ,a  little analysis will
 show that this is only another evidence
 of our  materialistic modes of thought1
 and the custom serves to perpetuate    
emotions that should never have existed4
 ,we can not1 of course1 think  too     
often nor too tenderly of those who have
 passed on1 but we should  do nothing   
that leads us to think of them as being 
dead1 or being far  away4 ,the fact that
 they are alive and well and happy and  
near should  constantly fill the mind2  
and all of that1 in nearly all cases1   
will be  perfectly true if we do not    
foolishly destroy their peace of mind   
with  our selfish sorrow4               
,occasionally a hint on the subject     
comes from the astral plane people      
themselves4 ,in the recent book,i by    
,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 on his  experiments

 in psychic research1 there is a message
 from his son1 who  was killed in       
battle1 agreeing to attend the family   
,christmas dinner and  to occupy the    
chair placed for him1 provided they will
 all refrain from  gloomy thoughts about
 him6 ,no one who is informed on the    
subject of  emotional reaction on the   
astral body1 after the loss of the      
physical  body1 could be surprised by   
the conditions named by the young man4  
,the advocates of cremation have a      
strong argument in the fact that the    
preservation of the body for a time1    
whether in a tomb or a grave1 tends  to 
keep grief alive4 ,when the body is     
reduced to ashes the delusion that  the 
body is somehow the man seems to have   
less of a material basis4  ,visits to a 
tomb or grave are unfortunate1 not alone
 because they renew  grief through      
thinking upon it and thus cause great   
distress to those  for whom we mourn1   
but also because the environment of a   
cemetery is one  of the worst possible  

for the sorrowing4 ,it is a dismal park 
of  concentrated griefs where each      
mourner accentuates the emotional       
distress of all others4 ,there is but   
one sensible attitude to take  toward   
those we have lost by death--to think of
 them as living a joyous1  busy life and
 at least calling on us daily even      
though most of us are  not sensitive    
enough to be conscious of the fact4 ,we 
should try to  realize the truth of the 
matter and then readjust our habits to  
fit the  facts4 ,the average person who 
is afflicted with the erroneous ideas   
still so common1 is doing an enormous   
amount of injury and bringing into  the 
lives of the very people he loves a     
depression of which he little  dreams1  
and which he can change to vivid        
pleasure by always thinking  cheerfully 
of them and sending them daily thoughts 
of serenity and  peace4                 
,,footnotes3    ,f #a ,samuel           
,,xxviii--#ae4    ,g ,ch4 #c1 ,dreams   
and ,premonitions4--,l4 ,w4 ,rogers4    

,h ,the ,inner ,life4--,leadbeater1     
,vol4 ,i4 p4 #dhc4    ,i ,raymond3 or   
,life and ,death4--,lodge4              
,,chapter ,,ix4    ,,rebirth3 ,,its     
,,reasonableness      ,life is the most 
elusive thing with which science has to 
deal but we  have learned much about    
both life and matter in recent years1   
and it is  a noteworthy fact that the   
more we learn the thinner become the    
ranks of  the materialists4 ,the only   
scientist of note who still declares his
  philosophy of materialism is ,haeckel1
 and of him a brother scientist has     
written1 ,he is1 as it were1 a surviving
 voice from the middle of the           
nineteenth century2 and1 referring to   
,haeckel's almost deserted ground  in   
the scientific world1 he declares that  
his voice is as the voice of  one crying
 in the wilderness1 not as the pioneer  
or vanguard of an  advancing army1 but  
as the despairing shout of a            
standard-bearer1 still  bold and        
unflinching1 but abandoned by the       

retreating ranks of his  comrades as    
they march to new orders in a fresh and 
more idealistic  direction4    ,thus is 
the old ground of scientific materialism
 being deserted by all  progressive     
scientists4 ,while we do not yet know a 
great deal about  life1 science has gone
 far enough to permit a grasp of facts  
and  principles from which conclusions  
may be logically drawn and working      
hypotheses constructed4 ,sir ,oliver    
,lodge1 who is president of one of the  
great ,english ,universities1 and ranks 
as one of the world's most eminent      
scientists1 speaking of his conception  
of life1 says that ,it is  dependent on 
matter for its phenomenal               
appearance--for its manifestation  to us
 here and now1 and for all its          
terrestrial activities2 but  otherwise  
,i conceive that it is independent1 that
 its essential  existence is continuous 
and permanent1 though its interactions  
with  matter are discontinuous and      
temporary2 and ,i conjecture that it is 

subject to a law of evolution--that a   
linear advance is open to  it--whether  
it be in its phenomenal or in its occult
 state4,j    ,later in the same work he 
expresses the opinion that life is      
something  outside the scheme of        
mechanics--outside the categories of    
matter and  energy2 though it can       
nevertheless control and direct material
  forces4444    ,in closing his volume  
on ,life and ,matter this distinguished 
scientist  says3          ,what is      
certain is that life possesses the power
 of        vitalizing the complex       
material aggregates which exist on      
this planet1 and of utilizing their     
energies for a time to        display   
itself amid terrestrial surroundings2   
and then it        seems to disappear or
 evaporate whence it came4 ,it is       
perpetually arriving and perpetually    
disappearing4 ,while it        is here1 
if it is at a sufficiently high level1  
the        animated material body moves 
about and strives after many            

objects1 some worthy1 some unworthy2 it 
acquires thereby a        certain       
individuality1 a certain character4 ,it 
may realize        itself1 moreover1    
becoming conscious of its own mental and
        spiritual existence2 and it then
 begins to explore the ,mind            
which1 like its own1 it conceives must  
underlie the        material            
fabric--half displayed1 half concealed1 
by the        environment1 and          
intelligible only to a kindred spirit4  
,thus the scheme of law and order dimly 
dawns on the nascent        soul1 and it
 begins to form clear conceptions of    
truth1        goodness1 and beauty2 it  
may achieve something of permanent      
value1 or a work of art or of           
literature2 it may enter the            
region of emotion and may evolve ideas  
of the loftiest        kind2 it may     
degrade itself below the beasts1 or it  
may        soar till it is almost       
divine4          ,is it the material    
molecular aggregate that has of its own 

unaided latent power generated this     
individuality1 acquired        this     
character1 felt these emotions1 evolved 
these ideas8        ,there are some who 
try to think that it is4 ,there are     
others who recognize in this            
extraordinary development a             
contact between this material frame of  
things and a        universe higher and 
other than anything known to our        
senses2 a universe not dominated by     
physics and chemistry2        but       
utilizing the interactions of matter for
 its own        purpose2 a universe     
where the human spirit is more at home  
than it is among these temporary        
collocations of atoms2 a        universe
 capable of infinite development1 of    
noble        contemplation and of lofty 
joy1 long after this        planet--nay1
 the whole solar system--shall have     
fulfilled        its present sphere of  
destiny1 and retired cold and           
lifeless upon its endless way4    ,such 
a conception of life carries us very far

 from the old popular view  of the      
origin of the race1 but it is a         
conception that brings science  and     
religion into perfect agreement and will
 enable us to understand  human         
evolution and explain facts in life that
 would otherwise remain                 
incomprehensible4    ,the pre-existence 
of the soul1 as a part of universal     
life1 was taught  and commonly accepted 
in the early ,christian period4 ,if we  
accept the  fact of evolution at all1   
and are not materialists1 there is no   
escape  from the belief of the          
pre-existence of the soul4 ,indeed1 not 
even  materialism can save one from the 
necessity of accepting the              
pre-existence of the individualized     
consciousness that we call a human      
being4    ,let us consider the human    
infant as we see it at birth4 ,whence   
came  it--how can we account for it in a
 universe of law and order8 ,we can     
understand it from the physical side4   
,its tiny body is a concourse of        

physical atoms with a prenatal history  
of a few months4 ,but its mind1  its    
consciousness1 its emotions1 what of    
them8 ,the average man replies  that    
,god made them and they constitute the  
soul4 ,but how and when were  they made8
 ,even the material part of this infant 
did not spring  miraculously and        
instantaneously into existence4 ,how    
much less possible  is it that the soul 
did so6 ,if we say ,god made it we have 
explained  nothing4 ,but it is not      
necessary to deny that ,god creates the 
soul in  order for us to move toward an 
understanding of how the soul came to   
be4  ,it is only necessary to say that  
the process of its creation was         
evolutionary4 ,nobody denies that the   
earth was created by evolution1         
although men may differ in opinion on   
the matter of a divine  intelligence    
guiding its evolutionary development4   
,the same principle  must apply to the  
human intelligence4    ,lodge wrote     
,life and ,matter as a reply to         

,haeckel's ,riddle of the  ,universe1   
which presented the latter's philosophy 
of materialism4 ,but  ,lodge did more   
than demolish ,haeckel's premises and   
leave him with not  an inch of          
scientific ground to support his theory4
 ,the ,english  scientist raised        
questions that have not been answered1  
and cannot be  answered1 by the         
scientific materialist4 ,he points out  
that the  materialist's philosophy has  
no explanation for the extraordinary    
rapidity of development1 which results  
in the production of a fully  endowed   
individual in the course of some        
fraction of a century4,k    ,with those 
two dozen words ,lodge leaves the       
scientific materialist  speechless2 for 
all scientists are evolutionists1 and it
 is impossible  to account for the      
extraordinary rapidity of development by
 the laws  of evolution4 ,it is well    
known that the evolutionary age of      
anything  depends upon its complexity4  
,a simple form is comparatively young   

while  a complex one has a long         
evolutionary history behind it4 ,the    
earth is  simple compared to a human    
being4 ,if1 then1 it has required ages  
to  evolve the earth to its present     
stage how long did it take to evolve the
  wonderfully complex mental and        
emotional nature of the human being that
  inhabits the earth8 ,and thus ,lodge  
bottles ,haeckel up on his own  premises
 and shows that the very evolutionary   
principles to which the  ,german        
scientist appeals demolish his theory6  
,he practically says to  ,haeckel1 ,your
 philosophy1 sir1 fails to show how it  
is possible for the  vacuous mind of the
 infant to evolve into the genius of the
 philosopher  in thirty or forty years4 
,in other words1 if the infant is       
nothing but  the form we see it would be
 utter absurdity to say that that mass  
of  matter can evolve a high grade of   
intelligence within a few years when  it
 takes centuries to make a slight       
evolutionary gain4    ,look at an infant

 the day it is born4 ,study its face4   
,one might as well  search the surface  
of a squash for some indication of      
intelligence4 ,but  wait only a little  
while and you shall have evidence not   
merely of  intelligence but of emotions 
possible only to the highest order of   
life4  ,clearly1 here is not something  
evolved within a brief period from a    
mass  of material atoms4 ,such a theory 
would be as unscientific as the popular 
belief in miraculous creation at which  
the scientific materialist  scoffs4 ,the
 swift change from the vacuity of the   
infant mind to the  intellectual power  
of the adult in the fraction of a       
century is not  the creation of         
something but its manifestation--the    
coming through  into visible expression 
of that which already exists4 ,the soul1
 the  consciousness1 the real man1      
consisting of the whole of the mental   
and  emotional nature1 which has been   
built up through thousands of years of  
evolution1 is coming once more to       

rebirth1 to visible expression in a     
material body4    ,the body is1 of      
course1 but the new physical instrument 
of the old  soul--an instrument1 as     
certainly as the violin is the          
instrument and a  vehicle for the       
musician's expression4 ,at every turn   
our materialistic  conceptions mislead  
us and prevent the perception of        
nature's truth4 ,it  is because we think
 of the body as being actually the      
person1 that it  seems improbable that  
an old soul has entered the infant body4
 ,we think  of the power and            
intelligence of an old soul and then    
look at the baby  and find no indication
 of such things4 ,but that is only      
because the baby  body is such a new and
 undeveloped instrument that it is at   
first  useless and only slowly can it be
 brought under control of the soul and  
made to express its intelligence and    
power4 ,the body is a growing           
instrument1 not a completed one4    ,let
 us suppose that musical instruments    

grow as physical bodies do4  ,suppose   
there was a time when the piano was     
keyless1 as a baby is  toothless4       
,suppose that sounding boards have a    
period of immaturity and  that the whole
 mechanism of the instrument is in a    
state that can only  be characterized as
 infantile4 ,if a master musician       
attempts to play on  such a piano his   
performance would by no means be an     
indication of his  ability4 ,a competent
 critic who could hear the performance  
but not see  the musician would promptly
 declare that no really great musician  
was  touching the keys4 ,and that is    
precisely the mistake we make in        
assuming  that the immature body of an  
infant is capable of expressing the     
intellectual power of the old soul1 or1 
to put it differently1 denying  that a  
returned1 old soul is in possession of  
the infant body simply  because there is
 no physical plane evidence of the fact4
 ,if pianos  slowly grew to maturity    
then only when the instrument was mature

 could  the master musician give a      
practical demonstration of his skill2   
and  only when the physical body has    
reached its maturity can the soul that  
is using it fully express itself4    ,in
 the early years of the physical body   
the soul is only very partially         
expressed through it4 ,the entrance of  
the consciousness into the  physical    
world is slow and gradual4 ,it is       
somewhat like the growth of a  plant1   
very gradual1 but the analogy is not a  
good one1 for a plant is  very little   
like a human body4 ,it is impossible to 
find a material  equivalent of the      
dawning of consciousness on the physical
 plane4  ,beginning about four and a    
half months before the birth of the     
physical  body and continuing for a     
period of several years the soul1 or    
consciousness1 is engaged in the process
 of anchorage in the physical  world4   
,for a long time the center of          
consciousness remains above the         
material plane and during the early     

years of childhood the consciousness  is
 divided between the astral and physical
 worlds1 with the result that  the child
 is often somewhat confused and brings  
fragments of astral  consciousness into 
physical life4 ,when the physical body  
is about seven  years old the           
consciousness may be said to be centered
 on the physical  plane1 but only when  
the body and brain of the soul's new    
instrument are  mature has the          
opportunity come for the fullest        
expression4    ,some of the difficulties
 commonly associated in the mind with   
the  thought of the pre-existence and   
rebirth of the soul will disappear if   
we do not lose sight of the fact that   
the soul is a center of  consciousness1 
which is always consciousness somewhere1
 but which very  gradually shifts its   
focus from plane to plane4 ,its         
permanent home is in  that body of filmy
 matter drawn about the ego in the      
higher levels of  the heaven world4     
,from that point it sends energies      

outward and draws  about itself in the  
lower levels of the mental world a body1
 or vehicle  of consciousness1 that is  
not permanent but which will serve the  
purpose  of functioning for a period on 
that plane4 ,downward again the energies
  are sent1 building about the center of
 consciousness on the astral plane  a   
temporary body of astral matter1        
temporary in the same sense that the    
physical body is temporary1 and which   
shall serve the consciousness in  the   
astral1 or emotional world1 during the  
whole of the physical plane  life and   
for some time afterward4 ,still outward1
 or downward1 the soul  sends its       
energies till the material world is     
reached1 when it begins to  function    
partially1 and very feebly1 through the 
infant physical body4    ,for the time  
being the soul's evolution lies on the  
physical plane where  certain lessons   
are to be learned4 ,after the early     
years of childhood  are over the        
consciousness is firmly anchored here1  

where the chief work  is to be done1    
during the hours of the waking          
consciousness4 ,during  sleep the ego   
temporarily lays aside the physical body
 and functions in  the astral body in   
the astral world4 ,the material body    
sleeping here is  merely a deserted and 
empty vehicle1 magnetically connected   
with the  soul1 and awaiting its return4
    ,as childhood1 youth1 maturity and  
old age pass1 complex experiences  come 
to the soul thus functioning here4      
,other souls functioning through        
physical bodies are encountered and     
various relationships are  established4 
,out of the complexity of social1       
business1 religious and  political      
activities the soul gets a large and    
varied experience4 ,sooner  or later the
 death of the physical body closes the  
chapter4 ,the  gathering of such        
experience has ceased1 not because the  
soul has  acquired all possible physical
 world knowledge1 but because its       
instrument of consciousness here has    

worn out4    ,death cuts the soul off   
from its physical plane connection and  
the  center of its consciousness is then
 shifted to the astral plane4 ,there    
the purgative process goes forward1 as  
explained in a previous chapter4  ,as   
that proceeds the soul gradually gets   
free from one grade of astral  matter   
after another and with the loss of each 
the man becomes conscious  on a higher  
level4 ,the physical body is lost       
suddenly but the matter of  the astral  
body gradually wears away until there is
 so little left that  the soul has lost 
connection with the astral world also4  
,this means that  the center of         
consciousness has shifted to the mental 
plane1 or heaven  world1 where the man  
will function on the lower levels4      
,there in the mental world1 functioning 
through the vehicle of mental  matter1 a
 very important process goes on4 ,the   
heaven world life is a  harvest time in 
which assimilation of experience takes  
place4 ,the  consciousness there deeply 

broods over the experiences of life and 
extracts the essence from them which is 
transmuted into faculty and  power for  
future greater expression4 ,it is thus  
that the soul grows in  wisdom and power
 through its long evolution4    ,when   
the heaven life is finished1 when the   
harvest of experience has  been threshed
 out and the net gain has been built    
into the enduring  causal body1 the     
mental body1 like the astral1 has been  
completely  dissipated4 ,the end of a   
cycle of experience--of a day in the    
evolutionary school--has come and the   
physical1 astral and mental bodies  have
 all perished4 ,nothing remains but the 
soul1 the real man1 the ego1            
functioning through the causal body     
which persists4 ,from that the ego      
again sends the forces outward1 in the  
first activity toward rebirth1  first   
forming a new mental body by drawing    
about itself the matter of  the lower   
levels of the mental plane1 then        
securing a new astral body on  the      

astral plane and finally taking         
possession of another infant body in    
process of formation on the physical    
plane1 into which it will in due  course
 be reborn4    ,the period between these
 successive appearances of the soul in a
  succession of physical bodies varies  
greatly and depends on a number of      
things4 ,the length of time spent upon  
the astral plane has already been       
discussed4 ,the time spent in the heaven
 world depends upon the mental  and     
moral forces generated during the       
physical and astral life4 ,if there  is 
a great harvest of experience it will   
require a longer time to  transmute it1 
while1 of course1 one who has thought   
little and loved but  little will have a
 shorter period there1 for it is the    
heart and head  forces that have their  
culmination in the mental world4 ,the   
question is  a rather complex one and   
other factors come into play1 including 
the  intensity of the heaven world life4
 ,in general terms1 however1 it can be  

said that the heaven life of the        
ordinarily intelligent person will      
commonly be a period several times the  
length of his combined physical  and    
astral life4 ,some people will have only
 two or three hundred years  between    
incarnations while others may have six  
or seven centuries and  still others a  
much longer period4    ,in getting a    
right understanding of the subject of   
rebirth1 or  reincarnation1 it is       
necessary to keep in mind the fact that 
the soul1  or center of individualized  
consciousness1 is the man and that the  
physical body is merely an instrument he
 uses for a number of years2  that the  
causal body is his permanent body for   
the whole of human  evolution2 that the 
mental plane is his home plane and that 
from there  he sends forth successive   
expressions of himself into these lower 
planes4 ,with such facts before us there
 should be no confusion of  thought     
about the successive personalities of an
 individual4 ,yet we  sometimes hear    

people speak of the absurdity of        
supposing that a person  can be one man 
in one incarnation and another man at a 
later rebirth4 ,of  course no such thing
 occurs4 ,an individual remains the same
 individual  forever4 ,but1 objects the 
critic1 may ,i not have been ,mr4       
,jones1 in  ,england six hundred years  
ago1 whereas ,i am now certainly ,mr4   
,brown1 in  ,america at this moment8 ,if
 so is that not a case of being two     
individuals8    ,it is certainly not a  
case of being two individuals4 ,it is a 
case of  one individual being expressed 
through a physical body six hundred     
years  ago in ,england1 dying from it1  
spending a fairly long period in the    
astral plane and heaven world1 and then 
again expressing himself through        
another physical body in ,america at the
 present time4 ,the confusion of        
thought on the part of the questioner   
arises from thinking of the  physical   
body as being the man4 ,but it is no    
more the man than the  clothing he      

wears4 ,it is true that he is known at  
one period as ,jones  and at another as 
,brown1 but that no more affects his    
individuality than  the assumption of an
 alias by a fleeing criminal changes    
him4 ,the name  applies exclusively to  
the physical body1 or personality1 as   
distinguished from the individuality4   
,that body is but the temporary         
clothing of the soul4 ,let us suppose   
that a man's name were applied to  his  
clothing and changed with his clothing  
as it does with his body4 ,we  might    
then know him as ,mr4 ,lightclothes in  
the summer and as ,mr4  ,darkclothes in 
the winter1 but neither the change of   
clothing or name  would in the least    
degree make him somebody else4 ,the     
majority of women  change their names in
 each incarnation4 ,a man may know a    
certain woman  as ,miss ,smith when she 
is a slip of a girl1 free from care and 
with  little serious thought of life4   
,twenty years later she may be ,mrs4    
,brown1 his wife1 a thoughtful matron1  

the mother of children4 ,she has        
changed her name and greatly changed in 
character1 too1 but she is the  same    
individual4    ,it seems probable that a
 person may change quite as much between
  infancy and old age as between one    
incarnation and the next4 ,even the     
difference between a youth of twenty    
years who is an artist and the same  man
 at three score and ten who has given   
forty years to scientific study  and    
research1 may be enormous1 but the      
individuality is1 of course1  identical4
 ,it has rapidly evolved and greatly    
improved1 and that is just  what occurs 
to the soul by repeated rebirths--steady
 evolutionary  development of the       
eternal individual4    ,the             
reincarnating process by which the soul 
evolves is somewhat  analogous to the   
growth of a young physical body4 ,the   
process consists  of alternating periods
 of objective and subjective activity4  
,how does  the body of a child grow8 ,it
 consumes food1 the objective activity4 

,it  then digests and assimilates it1   
the subjective activity4 ,these periods 
must alternate or there can be no       
growth1 because neither alone is the    
complete process4 ,the one is the       
complement of the other4 ,so it is in   
the evolution of the soul by            
reincarnation4 ,the experience of life  
is  the food on which the soul grows4   
,the physical plane existence is the    
objective period in which the food is   
gathered4 ,at death the man passes  into
 the invisible realms where the         
subjective process is carried on4 ,he   
digests and assimilates his experiences 
and the gist is stored in the  causal   
body and its growth includes an actual  
increase in size1 just as  in the case  
of the child's physical body4    ,the   
same law governs mental and moral growth
 as it operates in our  daily affairs4  
,a young man is in college4 ,how does   
his intellect grow8  ,by precisely the  
same process of alternating periods of  
objective and  subjective activity4 ,in 

the class room the instructor puts a    
mathematical problem on the blackboard  
and explains it4 ,with the outward      
senses of sight and hearing1 aided by   
pencil and notebook1 the student        
gathers the food for mental growth4     
,this period of objective activity      
comes to an end and he then retires to  
the privacy of his room and there  the  
subjective period begins4 ,he deeply    
thinks over the problem4 ,his  material1
 the food for mental growth1 is only a  
few notes that serve to  keep the       
experience in his mind4 ,at first all   
that they signify is not  obvious1 but  
as he turns the various points over and 
over in his mind  their significance    
becomes clearer and fuller4 ,it is the  
subjective  process of digestion4       
,little by little new light dawns in the
 student's  mind4 ,finally he has       
complete comprehension of the           
mathematical  principles involved1 and  
the process of assimilation is finished4
 ,this  subjective period is the        

complement of the objective period and  
they  must go on alternating or         
intellectual growth will stop4 ,when the
  process of digestion and assimilation 
is finished the student must  return to 
the classroom for further mental food   
and when he arrives it  is by virtue of 
the fact that he did digest the previous
 lesson that he  is able to take a      
higher and more difficult one4 ,and     
precisely so it is  with the            
reincarnating soul4 ,in the interval    
between incarnations it so  assimilates 
the experiences of the last physical    
life that it comes to  rebirth with     
added abilities which enable it to take 
higher and more  difficult lessons than 
it could previously master4    ,in the  
case of both physical growth by eating  
and mental growth by  instruction there 
is no possible escape from the law of   
alternating  periods of objective and   
subjective activity4 ,when the child has
  digested and assimilated a meal there 
is but one possible thing that can      

follow--return to his source of supply  
for another meal4 ,when the  student has
 digested and assimilated the lesson    
given to him the only  possibility of   
further mental growth lies in his return
 to the  class-room for more material4  
,and so it is with the human soul in its
  work of evolving its latent powers and
 possibilities4 ,there is no other  road
 forward but the cyclic one that brings 
it back to the physical life            
incarnation after incarnation1 but      
always at a higher point than it        
previously touched4 ,the very hunger of 
the child that insures its return  to   
the table for more food is analogous to 
the desire of the soul for  sentient    
expression that brings it to rebirth4   
,these alternating periods with the     
element of constant return are found    
everywhere in the economy of nature4    
,all her evolutionary expressions  are  
cyclic4 ,but the cyclic movement is not 
in closed circles4 ,it  represents a    
spiral4 ,the evolutionary ladder that   

the soul climbs is a  winding stairway4 
,in its upward progress it makes many   
rounds but it is  always mounting and   
never returns to the same point4 ,in    
each cycle1 that  is made up of the     
journey from the heaven world through   
the astral  plane1 into the physical and
 then back through the astral plane into
 the  heaven world1 it touches each of  
them at a higher point1 or in a higher  
state of development1 than it had       
previously attained4 ,each rebirth      
finds it abler here to gather a larger  
harvest of experience and each  return  
to the mental plane1 or heaven world1   
finds it abler to digest  and assimilate
 its experiences1 and to comprehend more
 of the realities  of the life of its   
home plane4    ,this round1 or cycle1   
through the physical1 astral and mental 
regions1  is a continuous progressive   
journey of the soul which began away    
back at  the dawn of mind in man and    
will continue until he is the perfected 
mental and moral being4 ,at each        

incarnation here he gathers experience  
in proportion to his alertness and to   
the opportunities his previous  lives   
have made for him4 ,he learns to help   
others1 to be sympathetic1 to  be       
tolerant4 ,such activities will give him
 pleasure in the astral life  and joy   
and wisdom in the mental region1 or     
heaven world4 ,but he also  does some   
evil things4 ,he makes enemies1 he      
generates hatred and he  injures others4
 ,this will give him distress in the    
astral life and no  results for soul    
growth or general progress in the heaven
 world4 ,if he  does an equal amount of 
good and harm his progress will be slow4
 ,if he  does much good and little evil 
his progress will be rapid and his      
existence happy4 ,if he is a man of     
great energy1 and no very great moral   
development1 and selfishly does much    
wrong1 he will suffer much in the       
astral life4    ,it often puzzles the   
student of elementary theosophy to be   
told that  the soul passes through the  

purgation of the astral plane and goes  
on  into the heaven world only to return
 to another incarnation and later to    
again enter the astral purgatory4 ,why1 
it is asked1 must one who has  thus been
 purified be again purified8 ,the astral
 reactions are the  results of the      
blunders made in each incarnation4 ,each
 of us in any  given incarnation creates
 by his wrong doing the purgatory that  
awaits  him after death4 ,if he does no 
wrong there cannot possibly be any      
reaction4 ,as a matter of occult fact   
the average good man will find the      
astral plane life a happy existence and 
will soon pass on to the  blissful      
heaven world4 ,as for the evil doer the 
suffering relates only  to his evil     
deeds4 ,let us say he has committed     
murder4 ,when the reaction  of the evil 
force he has generated is over and he   
passes on into the  heaven plane it does
 not mean that he is incapable of future
 evil4 ,it  means that he has probably  
learned thoroughly the lesson that it is

 very  foolish to take life4 ,but there 
are many other lessons he has not       
learned4 ,when he passes into the heaven
 world he leaves all evil behind  him4  
,he is as one who puts his shoes aside  
to enter a temple4 ,the astral  body1   
like the physical1 has perished and it  
is the freed soul that  enters the      
heaven world4 ,but when he returns      
through the astral plane to             
reincarnation he is clothed again in    
astral matter and this new astral  body 
is exactly representative of his        
attainments in evolution4 ,in his       
coming incarnation he will have other   
physical plane experiences and  learn   
other lessons4 ,the next time probably  
he will not kill1 but  perhaps he will  
cheat and steal or be a drunkard4 ,these
 errors will  react upon him in the     
astral life that follows4 ,in a coming  
incarnation  he will be wise enough to  
be temperate and neither cheat nor      
steal2 but  perhaps he will be a gossip 
and work much evil through slander4     

,this in  turn will bring its pain4 ,and
 so in time he will learn to generate no
  evil force at all but to live in good 
will and helpfulness toward  everybody4 
,then his progress will be rapid indeed1
 his life on all  planes will be happy  
and the painful part of human evolution 
will be  over4    ,the purpose of       
evolution is no less obvious than the   
fact of evolution4  ,evolution is an    
unfolding process in which the latent   
becomes the active  and the inner life  
is more and more fully expressed in     
outer form4 ,the  development and       
improvement in form keeps pace with the 
necessities of  the unfolding life4 ,in 
the lowest levels of the animal kingdom 
the form  is but a cell4 ,but as the    
life comes into fuller and fuller       
expression1  limbs for locomotion and1  
in due course1 the organs for hearing1  
and  seeing1 and the other mechanism of 
the developing consciousness1 are       
evolved4 ,in the human kingdom the      
vehicle of consciousness comes to its   

highest possible form and then evolution
 goes on in the perfecting of  the      
physical form4 ,in the process of       
continually changing the matter of  the 
body it is possible for the brain to be 
constantly improved and the  whole body 
to grow more and more sensitive and     
gradually to become a  better and truer 
expression of the evolving life within4 
,in each  incarnation the physical body 
thus improves4 ,the evolution of life   
and  form keep pace4 ,ultimately        
perfection of form1 as well as          
perfection of  intellect and morality1  
will be reached and human evolution will
 be  finished4    ,the purpose of       
evolution1 then1 is clear4 ,man is a god
 in the  making--not actually1 but only 
potentially a god1 a being to whom all  
wisdom1 perfect compassion and unlimited
 power are possible2 and by the  process
 of evolution he changes the latent into
 the active4 ,he is at  first only an   
individualized center of consciousness  
within the  ,all-,consciousness1 a mere 

fragment of the divine life4 ,his       
relationship  to ,god is something like 
that of a seed to its plant1 a product  
of it  that has latent within it all the
 characteristics of the plant and the   
power to become a plant4 ,it is not a   
plant and neither is man a god2 but     
when it has sent out a sprout and taken 
root in the soil it is a plant  in the  
making2 and when the human being has    
begun to evolve his latent  spiritual   
qualities he is a god in the making4    
,the theosophical view is  that man is  
essentially divine4    ,critics         
sometimes ask why1 if man is originally 
divine1 it is necessary  for him to pass
 through any evolutionary process4      
,divinity here  indicates merely the    
essential nature of the human being1 not
 his  possession of either knowledge or 
power or any degree of spiritual        
perfection4 ,it is as though we should  
say that the infant son of a great  king
 is royal4 ,the word royal1 like the    
word divine1 indicates a  relationship4 

,the baby royalist is not a king4 ,but  
he is a king in the  making4 ,he has    
much to learn4 ,he must be educated in  
statecraft and he  must evolve          
diplomacy4 ,after much experience and   
development he will1 in  time1 be       
capable of ruling an empire4 ,at present
 this helpless infant  bears little     
resemblance to a king4 ,nevertheless1 on
 the day of his  birth he was as much   
royal as he will ever be4 ,in the same  
sense the  divinity of man represents   
potential possibilities rather than an  
obvious fact of the moment4 ,man is an  
embryo god and1 in time1 he shall       
evolve faculties and powers that his    
present limited consciousness can  not  
even comprehend4 ,he is not an ephemeral
 creature of physical origin  that lives
 a brief span to catch a glimpse of     
immortality and perish1  but the        
deathless son of the living ,god1 and by
 right divine he walks  the upward way  
of eternal life4    ,some people appear 
to accept evolution as a matter of      

course1 in a  general way1 but they     
appear unwilling to admit that the race 
has really  made any evolutionary       
progress4 ,even scientific men have     
sometimes  expressed doubt whether the  
world is growing better4 ,in a newspaper
  interview an ,english scientist was   
quoted as saying a few years ago that   
the race is just as wicked today as at  
any time within recorded history4  ,but 
if he was correctly reported it must    
have been a hasty expression of  opinion
 which a little deliberation would have 
led him to revise4 ,it is  true that    
things are still bad enough but they are
 certainly enormously  better than they 
were some centuries ago4 ,to say that   
the world is full  of crime and violence
 proves nothing2 nor does even the fact 
that a  civilized nation has reverted to
 the wartime practices of savage life   
furnish real ground for a pessimistic   
view4 ,what we have to do in            
determining whether there has been any  
racial progress in morality is to  take 

as our standard of measurement something
 that tests the collective  conscience4 
,how does the world of today view war   
and how did the world  in the day of    
,caesar regard it8 ,there is plenty to  
shock us now but the  very fact that it 
does shock us is the best evidence of   
moral progress4  ,atrocities were       
expected and taken as a matter of course
 some centuries  ago4 ,they are not the 
rule now but the rare exception and     
those guilty  of them are likely to make
 their name a by-word among nations4    
,well  within the era of recorded       
history the usages of nations' condemned
  prisoners of war to become slaves for 
life4 ,now the rule is to feed and      
clothe them and at the close of the     
conflict to send them home4 ,a simple   
thing like public sports may be used as 
a measure of public morals4 ,they  show 
what the collective conscience approves4
 ,in these days there is  very little of
 brutality in public sports4            
,professional pugilism still  lingers1  

but barely lingers1 in the most         
enlightened nations4 ,in less           
progressive countries like ,spain and   
,mexico bull fighting is popular4  ,that
 is about all we can say against modern 
popular entertainment4 ,but  if we look 
backward to the ,roman period we find a 
cruelty in public  sports that is       
comparatively shocking4 ,gladiators were
 compelled to  fight to the death and   
offenders were devoured by starving wild
 beasts  and it all made a ,roman       
holiday4 ,such sports would1 of course1 
be  utterly impossible anywhere in the  
world today4 ,but at that time they     
were matters of course in the life of   
the world's greatest empire4 ,the  fact 
that the race has evolved morally and   
that the collective  conscience marks a 
higher point on the ethical thermometer 
than in the  past is too obvious for    
argument4    ,now1 how is that          
evolutionary progress to be accounted   
for8 ,it will not  do to say that the   
,christian religion has wrought the     

change because1  splendid as are the    
teachings of the ,christ1 the world has 
not accepted  them and shaped its       
civilization by them4 ,if it had done so
 the world  war would have been         
impossible4 ,not only have the so-called
 ,christian  nations wrangled and fought
 over commercial spoils through all     
their  history but class has been       
arrayed against class and every gain in 
either personal liberty or economic     
improvement has been wrested by  force  
from those who profited by the          
misfortunes of others4 ,in other  words1
 the particular improvements that should
 have been brought about  by religion   
were compelled1 not freely volunteered4 
,all religious  teaching helps but1     
allowing all we reasonably may for the  
influence of  ,christianity1 we are     
still unable to account for the change  
in the  common conscience of the race1  
an evolutionary gain that has been going
  steadily on since long1 long before   
the coming of the ,christ4 ,how then    

shall we account for it8    ,if the     
hypothesis of reincarnation is sound the
 progress of the race in  morality      
becomes simple4 ,the majority of the    
great groups of souls that  constituted 
the civilized nations in the time when  
,rome was mistress of  the world have   
had several incarnations in that time   
and in each sojourn  on the astral plane
 have had the severe lesson of the      
painful reaction  from cruelty to       
others4 ,thus does nature gradually     
change the cruel man  to the merciful   
man4 ,in every incarnation the soul     
grows more humane as  well as more      
intelligent4 ,all of the lessons learned
 in any incarnation  are carried forward
 into the next life1 and thus compassion
 grows until  there is ultimately       
perfect sympathy with all suffering4    
,both the  progress of the soul and of  
the race are comprehensible from the    
viewpoint of reincarnation4    ,except  
by that hypothesis how is it possible to
 explain such  evolutionary progress8   

,those who do not believe in the        
pre-existence of  the soul and hold that
 it is in some way brought into being at
 the time  of conception or birth1 are  
put in the very illogical position of   
saying  that the reason why the world is
 better now than it was in the ,roman   
period is because it pleases ,god to    
create a better kind of souls now  than 
he created then6    ,the tendency of    
large groups of people1 tribes or       
nations1 to act in a  way that imitates1
 or nearly duplicates1 what has been    
done centuries  before by other tribes  
or nations1 is such a common phenomenon 
that it  has given rise to the          
declaration that history repeats itself4
 ,the fact  of reincarnation shows why  
it repeats itself4 ,a nation like the   
,romans1  or the ,carthaginians1 are    
bound together in the subtle ties that  
are  formed by the intimate             
relationships of constant association4  
,the group  tends to persist and the    
members of it are largely drawn together

 and  regrouped in the following        
incarnations4 ,all have evolved beyond  
the  level of the previous centuries but
 the general traits and tendencies      
remain and the same general policies are
 likely to shape the national  affairs4 
,there comes a time in the existence of 
the great group1 or  nation1 when the   
old environment will no longer serve for
 its further  collective evolution as   
well as some other country4 ,the        
majority then  reincarnate elsewhere and
 the old country comes gradually to be  
inhabited by a different great group of 
souls4 ,hence the remarkable  difference
 in the people of a given nation in     
different periods4 ,compare  ,rome in   
the time of ,caesar to ,rome late in the
 ,middle ,ages1 or compare  the mighty  
civilization of ancient ,egypt with     
modern ,egypt4 ,it is  high-class egos  
that make a great nation and when a     
country has no more  lessons to teach   
them1 or rather when another country    
will serve as a  better environment for 

their further progress1 they return in  
rebirth to  the more advantageous spot  
on the earth1 and a different set of    
souls  come into possession of the      
abandoned environment4 ,the valley of   
the  ,nile1 that was once the home of an
 energetic people with a flourishing    
civilization would not now serve such a 
purpose4 ,the center of virile          
civilization has shifted to central and 
northern ,europe because only  that     
environment1 in full touch with the     
great commercial stream of the  economic
 world1 can serve the purpose4 ,as the  
world is today what could  a pushing1   
energetic1 up-to-date group of souls do 
if born into ,egypt8  ,nothing but leave
 it4 ,so they are not reincarnated      
there1 but other  souls that are at the 
point in evolution where the primitive  
life of an  isolated country will give  
the simpler lessons they must acquire1  
inherit the abandoned environment4 ,as  
an individual moves continually  onward 
in each return to incarnation to        

professional and business  environments 
that will enable him to put into effect 
all the new skill  and wisdom he has    
gained1 so a nation goes on to greater  
and greater  opportunities4 ,souls that 
made the greatness of ,greece and       
,carthage and  ,rome are now making the 
greatness of ,europe and ,america4 ,such
 facts  explain many things that have   
seemed puzzling4 ,how1 for example1 was 
it  possible for the world's greatest   
civilization to spring up suddenly in   
,europe from barbarous peoples8 ,when   
,rome declined--declined because her    
people largely reincarnated             
elsewhere--,europe was inhabited by     
slightly  civilized hordes4 ,to assume  
that since then1 in a few centuries--a  
mere  passing moment in the great lapse 
of time required for race               
evolution--the civilization today could 
arise1 would be to ignore the           
fundamentals of evolution4 ,but when we 
understand that great groups of  old    
souls incarnate in the strong physical  

bodies which the more  primitive peoples
 could bring into the world1 the mystery
 of the rapid  rise of a great          
civilization in ,europe is solved4      
,the principle of rebirth holds also    
with the animal kingdom at a high  level
 in it4 ,the last phase of evolution in 
the animal kingdom is the               
individualizing of the consciousness4 ,a
 particularly intelligent cat or  dog1  
for example1 may be just finishing      
animal evolution and will be  reborn at 
the lowest human level4 ,previous to its
 individualization it  evolves in a     
group with others of its kind1 animated 
by a common  ensoulment that has not    
reached the level of complete           
self-consciousness4 ,at that group-soul 
stage the experience of each  animal in 
the group adds to the knowledge of all4 
,this theosophical  teaching on one of  
nature's most interesting facts enables 
us to  understand many things that would
 otherwise remain mysterious4 ,instinct 
has never been explained by science4    

,some of its best known expressions  are
 altogether mysterious4 ,why does a     
young wild animal hide from the  enemies
 of its kind but not from friends1 when 
it has never seen either8  ,a quail a   
day old will fall upon its side with a  
chip or small stone or  bit of grass    
firmly clutched in its tiny claws to    
hide its body1 and  remain perfectly    
motionless at the approach of a human   
being1 but will  take no alarm at the   
passing of a squirrel or a rabbit4 ,how 
does a young  chick know the difference 
between a crow and a hawk8 ,and why1 in 
remote  places like the antarctic       
regions1 are both young and old birds   
and  animals unafraid of man8 ,the      
group-soul is a clear and simple        
explanation of all such phenomena4 ,the 
youngest have the knowledge of  the     
oldest because they are attached to the 
same group-soul1 or source  of          
consciousness4 ,the young quails of this
 season come back to rebirth  from the  
group-soul that is the storehouse of the

 experiences of the  quails that were   
killed by men in past seasons1 and thus 
all young  things know the common enemy4
 ,in the remote regions referred to the 
killing proclivities of the human being 
have not become known and there  is no  
instinct to warn4    ,an excellent bit  
of evidence on the subject of the       
group-soul is the  fact1 often          
chronicled but not explained1 that when 
telephone or  telegraph lines are built 
in new countries the birds fly against  
the  wires and are killed by thousands1 
the first season4 ,but when the next    
season's birds are hatched they are wise
 and avoid the wires6 ,if the           
group-soul were not a fact in nature it 
would naturally require a long  time for
 wire education4 ,no such sudden        
adjustment would be possible4           
,reincarnation represents continuous    
evolution with no waste of time or  loss
 of energy4 ,death is not the sudden    
break in the life program that  the     
popular belief pictures it4 ,the common 

view of death is as erroneous  as the   
common view of birth4 ,if death were    
what most people believe it  to be it   
would constitute a blunder of nature--an
 irrational  interruption of orderly    
development4 ,in nature's economy there 
is  conservation of energy and no loss  
can arise through the change called     
death4 ,if the popular belief that at   
death we go far away to a totally       
different kind of existence were sound  
then death would usually mean an        
enormous waste4 ,a young man is educated
 for some particular work1  engineering1
 architecture or statecraft1 and        
graduates only perhaps to  die soon     
afterward4 ,all that time and energy    
spent in getting such an  education     
would be largely lost either if death   
ends all1 or is the  last he will know  
of the material world4 ,but nature does 
not thus  blunder4 ,her law of          
conservation is always operative4 ,all  
the skill and  wisdom acquired will be  
brought back in rebirth and will be used

 in the  future incarnations4    ,a     
child in school is a fair analogy for a 
soul in evolution4 ,the child  cannot   
get an education in a term nor in a     
year4 ,he must return often to  the same
 school1 after the rest of regular      
vacations4 ,he may use new  books with  
higher lessons but he returns           
periodically to the same  environment4  
,continuous attendance would be as      
unthinkable as finishing  his education 
in a single term4 ,in evolution the soul
 returns  periodically to the physical  
world1 or plane1 for the same reasons4  
,continuous life here until all material
 experience is gained would be          
impossible4 ,aside from the need of the 
double process of acquiring and         
digesting experience the physical body  
would become a hindrance to  evolution4 
,within certain limits the physical     
brain can respond to the  requirements  
of the growing soul1 but a new body is  
in time an absolute  necessity to       
further evolution4    ,if we give a     

little thought to the evolutionary      
progress the ordinary  person must make 
to raise him to mental and moral        
perfection1 the  absurdity of a single  
lifetime becomes apparent4 ,consider1 a 
moment1  intellectual perfection4 ,it   
would mean a development of the mind to 
the  point of genius in many directions4
 ,if we combine into one mind the       
attainments of the mathematical genius1 
the musical genius1 the  inventive      
genius1 the statecraft genius1 and so on
 until every line of  intellectual      
activity is included1 we then have only 
the perfect mental  man4 ,on the moral  
side we must add to that the combined   
qualities of the  saints4 ,then we have 
the perfected human being1 with nothing 
more to be  learned from incarnation    
here4 ,his further evolution belongs to 
superphysical realms4    ,in trying to  
comprehend the evolution of the soul1   
that slowly changes  it life after life 
from the savage to the civilized state  
and finally  raises it to perfection1 it

 is helpful to observe how this great   
work  corresponds to the smaller cycle  
of a single incarnation4 ,a great       
character in history begins with        
helpless infancy4 ,steadily he          
progresses1 unfolding new power at each 
step4 ,he passes through the  graded    
schools1 slowly acquiring elementary    
lessons4 ,college follows  with higher  
and more difficult mental acquirements4 
,then he enters  professional life and  
begins to use his intellect with more   
and more  initiative4 ,he moves on into 
public life with increased duties and   
responsibilities4 ,from one post of     
honor he rises to another with          
increasing ability and mastery1 until at
 last he is the head of a nation  and   
has become a world figure4 ,even so it  
is in the evolution of the  soul4 ,life 
by life we rise1 evolving new powers and
 virtues amidst every  increasing       
opportunities and responsibilities4 ,in 
one incarnation we  have conditions that
 evolve courage4 ,in another we are     

thrown into  situations that develop    
tolerance4 ,in still another we acquire 
patience  and balance4 ,in all of these 
incarnations we steadily evolve         
intellect  and strengthen all previously
 acquired virtues4 ,in each life we find
  the new conditions that are necessary 
for the exercise of our added  abilities
 and1 ultimately1 with the powers1 the  
spiritual insight and  the ripened      
wisdom of the gods themselves1 we move  
forward to higher  fields of evolution4 
,,footnotes3    ,j ,life and ,matter1   
,lodge1 p4 #aai1 #abj4    ,k ,life and  
,matter4--,lodge1 p4 #aba4              
,,chapter ,x4    ,,rebirth3 ,,its       
,,justice      ,no matter how much we   
may differ in our view of the           
relationship between  ,god and man there
 is general agreement about the         
attributes of the  ,supreme ,being4 ,all
 ascribe to him unlimited power1 wisdom1
 love and1 of  course1 the perfection of
 all those desirable qualities we see in
 human  beings4 ,the theosophical view  

is that all we know in man of power1    
wisdom1 love1 justice1 beauty1 harmony1 
et cetera1 are faint but actual         
manifestations of the attributes of the 
deity4 ,all who are not  materialists1  
denying the existence of a ,supreme     
,being1 will agree that  the wisdom and 
justice of ,god must be perfect4 ,it    
would be illogical and  inconsistent to 
limit or qualify ,his attributes4       
,either ,he is all-wise  and absolutely 
just1 or else the materialist is right4 
,we cannot have a  deity at all unless  
,he represents perfect justice4         
,another point on which all but the     
materialists must agree is that         
creation is so ordered that the common  
welfare of humanity is best  served by  
just the conditions of life that        
surround us4 ,nothing is  different from
 what it should be unless it is because 
of man's failure  to do what he should  
do for his own welfare4 ,if it were     
otherwise what  would become of the     
argument that an omniscient ,god has    

ordered it as it  is8 ,if1 then1 things 
are as they should be in the truest     
interests of  man1 and we find things in
 life that1 according to our views of   
creation1 are not right and just1 it    
necessarily follows that the views  we  
hold are erroneous4    ,the popular     
belief is that human beings constitute a
 special creation2  that whenever a baby
 is born ,god creates a soul or         
consciousness for  that body and that   
after a life of many years1 or a few    
days1 or a few  minutes1 as the case may
 be1 the body dies and the consciousness
 goes to  dwell in remote regions for   
ever and ever4 ,if the person lived a   
good  life and also believed in the     
current religion he will be saved and   
will be eternally happy4 ,if he did not 
live a good life but finally  believed  
before death he will be saved anyway and
 be just as happy as  though he had     
lived right from the start4 ,if he did  
live a good life1  but was not born with
 the ability to believe easily1 he will 

be lost and  will be eternally          
miserable4 ,according to this theory of 
special  creation ,god makes people of  
all sorts4 ,none of them can help being 
what  they are created4 ,some are wise  
and some are foolish4 ,those who are    
smart enough to find the way of         
salvation will finally have heaven added
  to their original gift of wisdom4     
,those who are not smart enough to find 
it will finally have hell added to their
 original lack of sense4 ,this is  what 
some people are pleased to call divine  
justice6    ,it will hardly do to argue 
that the possibility that all may at    
last be  happy in an endless heaven1    
makes it unimportant that there are     
inequalities now4 ,the majority of the  
theologians do not admit that such  a   
state awaits the whole of the human     
race1 and the comparatively few  who do 
believe it will hardly venture to assert
 that present justice can  be determined
 by future happiness4 ,even if we       
positively knew that  eternal bliss     

awaited everybody after the close of    
this physical life  how could that make 
it just that one person shall be born a 
congenital  criminal and another shall  
be born a poet and philosopher8 ,how    
could it  make it right that one is born
 to life-long illness1 suffering and    
poverty1 while another inherits both    
wealth and a sound physical body8  ,not 
even the certainty of future happiness  
would be compensation for  present      
inequalities4 ,but why should there be  
any such inequalities if  ,god          
represents unlimited power and perfect  
justice8 ,why should there be  any      
poverty when1 if ,he really created the 
soul itself instantaneously1  ,he can as
 certainly create any necessary         
condition for the soul8 ,why  poverty   
and disease and suffering at all8 ,there
 must be a better answer  to such       
questions than that it pleased ,god to  
have it so4 ,it is surely  little better
 than blasphemy to suggest that any kind
 of hard conditions  for man are        

pleasing to the deity4    ,to hold that 
any future condition of happiness can   
make present justice  out of the truly  
terrible inequalities of life1 would be 
much like a  millionaire who has two    
sons giving one of them all the         
advantages of  wealth1 travel1 skilled  
instructors and special care1 while the 
other  was permitted to wear rags and go
 hungry4 ,if the neglected son asked why
  he was thus treated while his brother 
was most carefully provided for1  the   
father might reply with some            
indignation1 ,you are to have plenty in 
the future6 ,my will is so drawn that   
when ,i die my great wealth will be     
equally divided between you and your    
brother4 ,you will then be a            
millionaire with more money than you can
 possibly spend4 ,so don't be  foolish  
about your hardships now4 ,learn to     
starve like a gentleman6 ,the  father's 
position in such a case would be just as
 reasonable as that of  those who think 
a heaven hereafter can justify an       

earthly hell now4    ,now let us take   
some of the particular facts of life    
that puzzle us and  test them with the  
hypothesis of special creation1 and also
 with the  hypothesis of reincarnation1 
and see which can really explain them in
 a  satisfactory manner4 ,we will take  
some facts of real life4 ,in a          
,massachusetts prison there is an old   
man whose name became familiar to  many 
of us in our youth4 ,he was then known  
as ,jesse ,pomeroy1 the boy  murderer4  
,the present generation scarcely knows  
him4 ,but forty years or  more ago he   
was talked about by all the newspapers4 
,for the crime of  murdering his        
playmates the boy was sent to prison for
 life4 ,why did  ,pomeroy become a noted
 criminal in childhood8 ,if the theory  
of special  creation is sound he was    
created and put in the world to fit     
himself for  a future heaven4 ,but he   
was created in such fashion that he was 
deficient in moral perception and he    
began life with an act that led to  his 

expulsion from society4 ,if ,god created
 this soul as we first knew  him why was
 he not created with the moral balance  
of a law-abiding  citizen so that he    
could have lived long and peacefully in 
civilized  society and have been        
prepared for heaven at death8 ,what     
could have been  the purpose of giving  
him a brain that could not think soundly
 and a  conscience that welcomed murder8
 ,that leads us inevitably to the       
question1 ,why are criminals created at 
all8 ,why are idiots created8 ,the      
deeper we look into the facts of life   
the more unsatisfactory does the  theory
 of special creation become because we  
find a thousand things that  contradict 
it and show its inconsistency4 ,if the  
purpose of ,god was to  create a heaven 
to be enjoyed by those who reach it we  
cannot see why ,he  should create a     
humanity the majority of which is       
incapable of ever  attaining it4 ,if ,he
 creates them as they come into the     
world at birth  why are not all of them 

created wise and kind8 ,why must most of
 them  blunder through life1 making all 
sorts of mistakes1 bringing suffering   
to others by their unkindness or cruelty
 and only1 in the end1 to pass  from a  
life of failure to eternal punishment   
for that failure8 ,there is  no reason1 
no justice1 no sanity in such a theory4 
,now let us turn to the explanation of  
reincarnation4 ,according to that1      
,pomeroy has had many past incarnations 
and will have many more4 ,like all  the 
rest of us he came up from primitive    
man4 ,we have all learned the  lessons  
of civilized life slowly by experience  
like children acquiring  lessons from   
their books4 ,the majority have come    
along well and  developed a fair share  
of intellect in dealing with life's     
problems1  and some degree of sympathy  
for others4 ,some have evolved rapidly  
like  hard working pupils and they are  
called geniuses4 ,some have lagged      
behind and have learned very little4    
,they are like the truants at school    

who have broken the rules and run away  
from their lessons4 ,these  laggards of 
the human race are the dullards and the 
criminals1 who have  moved so slowly    
incarnation after incarnation1 or are so
 much younger in  evolution1 that they  
are now bringing savage traits into our 
present  civilized life4                
,reincarnation not only explains who and
 what the criminal is but it also       
explains away the hell with which       
special creation threatens him4 ,no     
hell awaits him except that which he has
 created himself by what he has  done4  
,by the law of cause and effect all the 
cruelty and suffering he  has inflicted 
will react upon him to his sorrow1 but  
will also serve for  his enlightenment4 
,in his next incarnation the kind of    
body he will have  and the environment  
in which he will live will be determined
 exactly by  the thoughts and emotions  
and acts of this and past incarnations4 
,he  will therefore neither go to a     
heaven for which he is not fitted nor to

  a hell which he does not justly       
deserve4 ,he will simply come back in   
another physical body and have a chance 
to try it again1 but he will  have to   
make the trial under the conditions     
which his conduct has  merited4    ,and 
what of the idiot8 ,according to special
 creation we cannot possibly  explain   
him4 ,it would be blasphemous to believe
 that ,god creates a  mindless man4 ,if 
one soul is given a mind and another is 
not1 and for no  reason whatever1 it is 
the most monstrous injustice that ever  
forced  itself upon the understanding of
 man6 ,think for a moment of the        
difference between the idiot and the    
normal person4 ,the man of sound  mind  
has before him the opportunity of       
progress1 of mental and moral           
development4 ,the avenues of business   
and professional life are open  before  
him4 ,he is free to try his powers and  
win his way4 ,wealth1 power  and fame   
are all possible for him4 ,all the joys 
of social life may be  his4 ,think of   

him surrounded by his family and        
friends1 successful1  satisfied1 happy1 
and then think of the life of the idiot4
 ,language  cannot express the horror of
 the contrast6 ,if there were no other  
explanation of life than that of special
 creation it would change the  world    
into the hopeless hell of a mad-house4  
,again reincarnation saves  us from     
either blasphemy or madness4 ,the idiot1
 like the congenital  cripple1 differs  
from the normal man only in the body1   
which is the  instrument of the soul4   
,deformity of the body is a limitation  
of the ego  who functions through it4 ,a
 withered arm1 a club foot1 a deformed  
back1  in this incarnation are results  
of unfortunate causes which that soul   
has generated in past lives4 ,in idiocy 
the malformation is in the brain4  ,of  
course this is not an accident4 ,there  
is no element of chance which  places   
the limitation in one body where it     
causes but little trouble and  in       
another where it prevents mental        

activity and thus produces idiocy4  ,in 
each case it is the exact working out of
 the law4 ,the body of the  idiot is the
 physical plane representation of a soul
 that has made a  serious blunder in the
 past1 possible by limiting another with
 cruel  restraint1 and the gross misuse 
of his intellect and power in that way  
has operated to prevent his using it at 
all in the present life4 ,but  such     
limitations belong to the outer planes4 
,it is the form that limits  and when   
the form perishes the limitation        
disappears4 ,as with the  criminal no   
hell is needed to punish the idiot4 ,he 
has made his own hell  by his mistake in
 the past and in this incarnation he    
must live in it  and expiate his        
blunder4 ,perhaps it may seem to some   
that since the  idiot is incapable of   
realizing the life of the normal person 
the  situation represents no real       
misfortune for him4 ,but idiocy on the  
physical plane does not mean idiocy in  
the soul4 ,even from the astral  plane  

the ego may keenly feel the horror of   
functioning for a lifetime  through such
 a physical body1 as one here would feel
 the anguish of  incarceration in a     
dungeon4    ,the criminal and the idiot 
are striking illustrations of the       
failure of  the theory of special       
creation to satisfactorily explain the  
facts of  life4 ,but if we turn to the  
other extreme and consider the most     
fortunate people in the world we shall  
find there1 too1 precisely the  same    
failure to explain4 ,by the hypothesis  
of special creation we find a  gross    
injustice done to the soul born an      
ignoramus4 ,yet we find others          
possessing enough intelligence for      
several people4 ,in the case of         
,macaulay we have the evidence in his   
own handwriting in a letter the  date of
 which proves his age1 that he was      
reading ,greek and ,latin and  studying 
mathematics deeply when seven years old4
 ,there are many other  cases of the    
remarkable display of talents in        

childhood1 but a single  instance will  
serve for all4 ,it is all the better as 
an illustration  because it is a        
contemporaneous case and the facts are  
known to scores  of living people4 ,it  
is recorded of ,william ,james ,sidis1  
of ,brookline1  ,massachusetts1 that at 
six years of age he entered a grammar   
school and  in six months had completed 
the work of seven grades4 ,at the age of
  seven he had gone so far with his     
mathematical studies that his father1   
,professor ,boris ,sidis1 could be of   
little assistance to him4 ,he worked    
out the most abstruse and difficult     
problems with the greatest ease and     
invented new systems of computation     
which attracted much attention4 ,when   
eight years old he entered the          
,brookline ,high ,school and in six     
weeks  had completed the mathematical   
course and began writing a book on      
astronomy4 ,he then took up the study of
 ,french1 ,german1 ,latin and  ,russian4
 ,on leaving school he took up          

mathematics as a specialty and  invented
 a system of logarithms based on the    
number #ab instead of #aj4  ,this was   
inspected by several well known         
mathematicians who pronounced  it       
perfect in every detail4 ,he applied for
 admission to ,harvard  ,university but 
the authorities refused his petition on 
account of his  youth1 only1 since he   
could have passed the examination with  
ease4 ,he  tried again the next year and
 was again refused on the same ground4  
,but  at eleven years of age1 having    
passed the entrance examination for the 
,massachusetts ,institute of            
,technology1 he was judged to know      
enough of  chemistry and kindred        
subjects to make him eligible for       
admission to the  ,harvard medical      
school4 ,he then entered upon a special 
course at ,harvard  because the ordinary
 course in college was far below the    
abilities of  this boy of eleven years4 
,professor ,james1 of ,harvard1 the     
famous  psychologist1 has pronounced him

 the greatest mental marvel he ever     
knew4 ,it is said the young prodigy     
could recite pages of ,shakespeare  from
 memory at an age when the ordinary boy 
is learning his alphabet4    ,in the    
same city where young ,sidis was born we
 find the idiot4 ,did ,god  create them 
both as they were born or did they come 
up to their present  difference of      
mental equipment through a process of   
evolution that  accounts for it all     
satisfactorily8 ,if the theory of       
special creation is  sound why did not  
the idiot get at least a little of the  
intellect that  ,sidis could so easily  
have spared8 ,if they are the work of   
special  creation it is impossible to   
find reason or justice in such terrible 
inequalities4 ,but if reincarnation is  
,god's method of creation the           
explanation of the difference between   
them becomes simple4 ,sidis is not  only
 an old soul but evidently one who has  
worked hard in past lives1  throwing off
 the lassitude of the dense bodies and  

evolving the power of  will that enabled
 him to triumph over obstacles1         
conquering all the  enemies of          
intellectual progress and thus earning  
the fine physical body  and brain he now
 possesses4 ,his present abilities are  
but the sum total  of the energies he   
has put forth in the past4    ,the      
theory of special creation does not     
explain the facts of life4 ,it  lacks   
justice1 it lacks harmony and it lacks  
consistency4 ,it is not in  accord with 
natural law4 ,nature knows no such thing
 as special creation4  ,to believe in   
special creation is to ignore all       
scientific facts and  principles4 ,on   
the other hand reincarnation is in      
harmony with science  and with natural  
law4 ,reincarnation is evolution and    
every kingdom of  nature develops       
through evolution4 ,the difference      
between the shriveled  wild grain that  
struggles with the rock and soil for    
life enough to  barely reproduce itself1
 and the plump wheat of the cultivated  

fields  that feeds the world1 is the    
work of evolution4 ,the wild stalk      
produced  the seed and from that seed   
came a better stalk4 ,the better stalk  
produced a still better kernel and from 
that better kernel sprang a  superior   
stalk to yield a higher grade of wheat  
than any of its  predecessors4 ,the     
stalk sprouts from the ground1 matures1 
stores all its  gain of growth within   
the seed and perishes4 ,but from the    
seed springs  its reincarnated form1 to 
repeat the process that changes poor to 
good1  good to better and better into   
best4 ,and thus it is with the          
reincarnating soul4 ,as the almost      
worthless grain through many seasons  is
 slowly changed to perfect worth1 the   
soul is by that same law of  evolution  
slowly changed through many incarnations
 from the chaos of  savage instincts to 
the law and order of the moral world4   
,each  incarnation yields some          
improvement4 ,as the seed sprouts within
 the  darkness of the soil and1         

perishing there1 attains its full       
results in  the higher realm of sun and 
air1 drawing from the soil that which1  
stored within the grain1 gives power to 
reproduce its better self1 so  the soul 
strikes anchorage in the lower planes   
and draws from its varied  experiences  
that which1 transmuted after the body's 
death1 gives the  power to return with  
greater life4    ,attempts have been    
made to find some explanation of the    
mental and moral  inequalities that     
exist at birth4 ,in the earlier days of 
the study of  evolution it was usually  
asserted that the human being inherits  
his  mentality and morality from his    
parents4 ,but even if that were true the
  injustice of one being born a genius  
and another a fool would remain4 ,it  is
 the fact of inequality that constitutes
 the injustice1 and it is of  no        
importance whether it comes about       
through heredity or otherwise4 ,but  as 
a matter of fact heredity is confined to
 the physical side of  existence4 ,as   

more and more is learned by observation 
the old theory of  mental and moral     
heredity has lost ground until it can be
 said that it  now has no recognition in
 the scientific world4 ,nobody is better
  qualified to speak upon the subject   
than those with practical  experience4  
,dr4 ,a4 ,ritter1 of the ,stanford      
,university ,children's ,clinic1  that  
has large numbers of defective children 
in charge1 treating no less  than       
sixteen hundred in a single year1 says3 
,as to the definite causes of the       
prevalence of defective        types1 ,i
 cannot speak with finality or          
assurance4 ,i do not        agree with  
social or educational doctrinaires who  
assign        the causes definitely to  
liquor1 poverty1 infectious             
diseases1 or other social or moral      
shortcomings4 ,the        greatest minds
 of the world are hesitant in theorizing
        about this4 ,there are a complex
 of causes which explain        many of 
these cases1 but no generalization fits 

absolutely4        ,we may find a case  
which is not traceable to any of these  
conditions--a case in which the         
antecedents would promise        a      
perfectly normal child1 and yet we are  
confronted with a        defective      
child4 ,on the other hand1 bright1      
normal        children1 even children of
 superior intelligence sometimes        
spring from such conditions4,l    ,a    
little reasoning about the facts        
concerning both genius and idiocy  will 
make it clear that neither is inherited4
 ,if it were true that  genius is       
inherited society would present a       
different appearance4 ,there  would be  
famous families of geniuses living in   
the world1 in music1 in  poetry1 in     
warfare1 in invention1 in art1 if genius
 were inherited4 ,the  fact is that it  
is difficult to find even two geniuses  
in any family4  ,the ,caesars1          
,napoleons1 ,edisons1 ,lincolns1        
,wagners1 ,shakespeares1 stand  alone   
with neither great ancestors nor great  

descendants4 ,we search in  vain for    
great ancestors for such men2 but if the
 theory of mental  heredity were sound  
we should know their ancestors for      
precisely the  same reason that we know 
them4    ,heredity1 then1 does not      
explain whence genius comes2 and if     
anybody had  really traced genius from  
father1 or grandfather1 to son or       
grandson1 we  should still have no      
explanation of what genius is4 ,we could
 then only  regard it as the result of  
some strange chance2 yet the scientist  
knows  that laws of nature contain no   
such element4 ,but the only reason why  
genius appears so incomprehensible is   
because we have not looked at it  in the
 light of nature's truth4 ,we have      
erroneously assumed that this is  the   
only life we live on the physical plane1
 and therefore the time is  too short   
for the evolution of genius4 ,a man can 
become an expert in one  lifetime but   
not a genius4 ,but if we give him many  
incarnations to  develop along certain  

lines he can become a genius of a given 
type4 ,the  soul that works strenuously 
at building up a certain faculty through
  many incarnations naturally develops  
qualities in the causal body that  shine
 out brilliantly upon its return to a   
physical body and we have the  genius4  
,we evolve our mentality and morality1  
and there could be no  justice in life  
if it were otherwise4    ,there is no   
element of chance in getting a new      
physical body in the next  incarnation4 
,the body is the material expression of 
the self4 ,it is as  much the product of
 the self as the rose is of the bush1   
the apple of  the tree1 or the tulip of 
the bulb4 ,the musician can no more get 
a body  suitable to the blacksmith than 
the rose bush can produce an apple4 ,we 
do not get bodies by lottery1 like      
destitute people drawing clothing by    
numbers which might result in grotesque 
misfits4 ,we do not get bodies at  all1 
we evolve them1 and in each incarnation 
the new body expresses all  the soul has

 come to be up to that point in its     
evolution4 ,such a view  of life has a  
basis of absolute justice4 ,every soul  
gets exactly what  it has earned4       
,the common belief in ,occidental       
civilization is that we live here for   
only sixty or seventy years and that    
then1 when we die1 we pass on to  live  
eternally somewhere else1 and that the  
whole of eternity1 whether  it is filled
 with pleasure or is horrible with pain1
 is made to depend  on how we spent     
those few years of the physical life6   
,such a fate would  be unfair and       
unjust4 ,if a schoolboy is incorrigible 
for a term it would  not be fair to     
condemn him to lose all opportunity of  
getting an  education4 ,we would give   
him another chance at the following     
term4    ,a little incident of          
disobedience from home life will        
illustrate the  point involved4 ,a      
quinine capsule was lying on the table4 
,a  three-year-old boy reached for it4  
,his mother called across the room1     

,don't eat that1 dearie1 it isn't candy4
 ,but in a spirit of reckless  mischief 
he hurried it into his mouth and quickly
 chewed it up6 ,it was a  very          
disagreeable but salutary lesson for the
 little fellow4 ,it is an  example of   
nature's methods4 ,she is always        
consistent1 and has a  balanced         
relationship between cause and effect4  
,but suppose in this case  we throw her 
consistency aside as those who believe  
that eternal results  will follow       
temporal effects are obliged to do4 ,an 
ordinary lifetime  compared to eternity 
is somewhat like that instant of        
disobedience  compared to eighty years1 
but the illustration is not adequate    
because  eternity never ends4 ,as nearly
 as the principle can be applied it     
would  be by saying to the child1       
,because you were disobedient for a     
second  of time you shall taste quinine 
for eighty years6 ,if that punishment is
  injustice what must we call the       
infliction of an eternity of pain as the

  result of the errors committed in a   
lifetime8    ,any hypothesis of         
existence that does not take into       
consideration the  welfare of humanity  
is a false hypothesis4 ,what plan can   
better serve  the common welfare than a 
chance to redeem a failure8 ,when a     
prisoner is  condemned for a crime we do
 not deprive him of opportunities4 ,we  
give  him every possible chance to      
improve his character4 ,god cannot be   
less  just or merciful than man4        
,rebirth is a new chance4 ,every        
incarnation is  another opportunity4    
,if the popular idea of an eternal      
heaven and hell is sound1 and there be  
few who find the narrow way1 the time   
will come when the majority of  the race
 will have used their one opportunity of
 a brief lifetime1 and  have failed4 ,if
 that were really true1 it is easy to   
imagine what they  would do with another
 opportunity if they had it6 ,how long  
should  opportunity be given8 ,just as  
long as it will be used1 and to deprive 

anybody of it when he is eager to redeem
 past errors is to ignore the           
principles of human welfare4 ,therefore 
such a plan cannot be the true  one4    
,john ,j4 ,ingalls personified          
opportunity and wrote3          ,master 
of human destinies am ,i6               
,fame1 ,love and ,fortune on my         
footsteps wait2           ,cities and   
fields ,i walk2 ,i penetrate            
,deserts and seas remote1 and passing by
           ,hovel and mart and palace1  
soon or late           ,i knock unbidden
 once at every gate4        ,if         
sleeping1 awake2 if feasting1 rise      
before           ,i turn away4 ,it is   
the hour of fate1           ,and they   
who follow me reach every state         
,mortals desire1 and conquer every foe  
,save ,death2 but those who doubt or    
hesitate1        ,condemned to failure1 
penury and woe1           ,seek me in   
vain and uselessly implore2           ,i
 answer not and ,i return no more4      
,that is true enough from one viewpoint 

and profitably emphasizes the           
importance of promptly acting when the  
time for action arrives4 ,but  there is 
another truth to be expressed on the    
subject and it is well  done by ,walter 
,malone1 who says3          ,they do me 
wrong who say ,i come no more1          
,when once ,i knock and fail to find you
 in2        ,for every day ,i stand     
outside your door1            ,and bid  
you awake and rise to fight and win4    
,wail not for precious chances passed   
away2            ,weep not for golden   
ages on the wane2        ,each night ,i 
burn the records of the day1            
,at sunrise every soul is born again4   
,laugh like a boy at splendors that are 
sped2            ,to vanished joys be   
blind and deaf and dumb2        ,my     
judgments seal the dead past with its   
dead1            ,but never bind a      
moment yet to come4        ,though deep 
in mire1 wring not your hands and weep1 
,i lend my arm to all who say1 ,i can4  
,what a magnificent view of human       

evolution6 ,no ultimate failure possible
  because there is always another       
chance4 ,the failure of one incarnation 
made good by the sincere efforts of the 
next4 ,all the faults and               
frailties--the shadow blots of the      
past--vanishing in the light of a       
higher wisdom that has been won4 ,no    
endless hell1 no eternal torment2  not  
even the ghosts of vanished chances to  
haunt the mind2 but only the  insistent 
voice of immortal ,opportunity1 urging  
us to wake and rise to  strive and win6 
,,footnotes3    ,l ,interview in ,san   
,francisco ,examiner1 ,march #e1 #aiaf4 
,,chapter ,,xi4    ,,rebirth3 ,,its     
,,necessity      ,there are apparently  
but three ways in which anybody has     
attempted to  explain the origin of the 
race4 ,if two of these are shown to be  
impossible we have no course open to us 
but to accept the one which  remains4   
,one of the three theories is that of   
the materialist4 ,another  is the common
 belief that ,god created an original   

human pair and  continues to create     
souls for babies4 ,the third hypothesis 
is that of  the evolution of the soul4  
,the materialist's position seems to be1
 briefly1 that the forces of  nature1   
with no directive intelligence1 are     
sufficient to account for  man as we see
 him2 that a continuing consciousness in
 the human being is  a delusion2 that   
immortality is a vain dream and that    
humanity has  neither a past nor a      
future4 ,yet the very facts of science  
to which the  materialist appeals       
contradict such conclusions4    ,this   
materialistic belief regards the human  
body as a self-sufficient  machine whose
 brain generates thought4 ,but the      
savage has a completely  evolved        
physical body with eyes1 ears and other 
organs like our own4 ,his  brain under  
the microscope shows no trace of        
difference in its material  constitution
 from the brain of civilized man4       
,indeed1 his physical body  is not only 
as complete a machine as ours but is    

likely to be materially  sounder4 ,why1 
then1 if the brain produces thought1    
does not this savage  produce the       
thoughts of a philosopher8 ,if there is 
no directing soul  back of the brain1   
why the marvelous difference in the     
product of the  two brains8             
,materialists go too far in the         
assumption that they can explain the    
phenomena of life4 ,they can talk       
learnedly about it but they must stop   
short of the source of life4 ,everything
 about anatomy and physiology  they     
know1 but the life that flows through   
the human machine remains  unexplained4 
,they can trace the circulation of the  
blood from the heart  through the       
arteries1 from the arteries across to   
the veins1 from the  veins back to the  
heart1 but the greatest mind the race   
has produced  cannot say what makes the 
heart beat4 ,life has not been explained
 and  cannot be explained from the      
materialist's viewpoint4 ,every human   
being  is a miracle4 ,a fingernail is a 

mystery of evolution4 ,it is formed from
  the same food that makes the flesh and
 it will continue to be formed          
regardless of the variety or quality of 
the food4 ,why do certain  particles    
become flesh or nails8 ,who can draw the
 division line between  them8 ,with     
marvelous instruments and wondrous skill
 science has explored  and mapped and   
charted the tabernacle of clay1 but it  
cannot throw a  single ray of light upon
 the intelligence that animates it4     
,materialism fails sadly enough in that 
direction1 but still worse as a         
satisfactory interpretation of the      
panorama of the life about us4 ,it is  a
 philosophy of the gloomiest fatalism4  
,it holds that we simply chance  to be  
that which we are2 that we are what we  
are merely because of  fortuitous       
chemical and mechanical combinations4   
,had the combinations  chanced to be    
something different we should not be in 
existence4 ,chance  is the king of the  
materialist's world4    ,according to   

this theory all abilities are the gifts 
of nature and all  lack of them is the  
blind award of chance4 ,no credit       
whatever is due to  anybody for what he 
is1 nor can anybody be logically blamed 
for his  deficiencies4 ,all are like men
 who1 with closed eyes1 draw something  
from a bag under compulsion4 ,it is not 
to the credit of one that he got  a     
prize nor to the discredit of another   
that he drew a blank4 ,this  hypothesis 
holds that recently we were not and that
 presently we shall  cease to be2 that  
we appear by chance1 live our brief     
period1 suffer or  enjoy as it may      
happen and then pass to the oblivion of 
eternal silence2  that all the thought1 
all the toil and the striving1 all the  
effort and  endurance were for nothing1 
and accomplished nothing4 ,such a       
philosophy  will not long survive the   
progress of our age4 ,it lacks the      
balance of  nature's principle of       
conservation4 ,it lacks the completeness
 of  universal law4 ,it lacks the       

element of justice that is enthroned in 
every human consciousness and without   
which life would be a meaningless       
mockery and the world a chaos of        
despair4    ,but the materialist's      
philosophy has no monopoly of bad points
 or  undesirable beliefs4 ,the old      
popular idea of a mechanical creation is
  equally at war with both fact and     
reason4 ,that belief is that ,god       
created the world as men build houses1  
and added the human beings as men       
furnish their houses when built4 ,it is 
the belief that ,he is still  making    
souls as fast as bodies are being born  
in the world1 that these  souls begin   
their existence at birth1 live here but 
one life and then  pass on into either  
endless bliss or eternal pain4    ,this 
idea differs from materialism in the    
matter of a governing  intelligence and 
on immortality but it is remarkably like
 it in other  ways4 ,like materialism it
 is fatalistic because it makes man the 
helpless subject of resistless power4   

,it merely puts an intelligent  force as
 first cause where the materialist      
postulates blind force4    ,the         
materialist says that all human         
characteristics are the gift of  nature 
while according to the popular belief   
they are the gifts of ,god4  ,in either 
case one class of human beings gets     
abilities that they have  not earned and
 others get defects that they do not    
deserve4 ,the  intellectual man is      
favored without reason and the fool is  
handicapped  without mercy4 ,some come  
into the world with salvation assured by
 being  well born while others are      
foredoomed to failure4 ,predestination  
goes  logically with such ideas4        
,happily the world has long been growing
 away from the once wide-spread  belief 
in predestination because it is too     
shocking to the modern sense  of        
justice4 ,but is the world at the same  
time catching the point that if  there  
is but one life on earth and the soul is
 created at birth1 then  the very       

essence of predestination remains1      
because some are created  with the      
wisdom to attain salvation and others   
are created without it8    ,if the soul 
has no pre-existence it can have no     
responsibility at the  time of birth4   
,neither can it have any merit4 ,one is 
born with a sound  mind and moral       
insight4 ,these qualities may lead to   
salvation but the  man has done nothing 
to earn them4 ,another is born with     
cruel and  vicious tendencies and poor  
intellect4 ,he may therefore miss       
salvation1  but if he had no            
pre-existence he can have done nothing  
to deserve such  a start in life4 ,if we
 are really here for the first time then
 justice  can be done only by giving us 
equal equipment at the start and equal  
opportunities afterward4    ,think for a
 moment of the sweeping difference      
between human beings at  birth4 ,there  
is every degree of vice and virtue from 
the savage to the  saint and every      
mental variation from the fool to the   

philosopher4 ,if  ,god really creates   
the soul at birth1 then one is created  
wise and kind  though he did nothing to 
earn it4 ,another is created vicious and
  depraved4 ,he did nothing to deserve  
it4 ,one is showered with natural  gifts
 to which he is not justly entitled4    
,another is blighted with a  stupidity  
he did nothing to incur2 and we are     
asked to believe that ,god  made them   
thus6 ,such a belief is contrary to     
reason and to justice4    ,it is easy to
 see why1 in this old view of the       
relationship between ,god  and man1     
salvation was to be by faith4 ,it was   
impossible for a person to  be saved by 
his merit because1 if his qualities were
 given to him by ,god  at birth1 he had 
no merit4 ,his very ability to          
comprehend spiritual  truth and his     
moral strength to resist temptation1    
were conferred upon  him1 not earned by 
him4 ,if this popular view is sound1    
human beings  should be neither praised 
nor censured4 ,they are simply human    

automata  operated by such degree of    
mental and moral ability as ,god chose  
to  assign to them4 ,if this be true1   
genius should have no credit for its    
accomplishments1 indolence no frown of  
disapproval1 cowardice no lash of       
condemnation1 tolerance no need of      
praise1 cruelty no rebuke1 virtue no    
applause and heroism no fame for its    
selfless sacrifice4 ,and yet this       
absurd and illogical belief lingers in  
the minds of millions of people4  ,it is
 believed because it always has been    
believed4    ,if materialism is an      
impossible philosophy1 then the popular 
belief that  the soul is created at     
birth is also impossible4 ,it is a      
theory that  encumbers its belief in    
immortality with conditions that destroy
 justice  and defy logic4 ,that old form
 of belief has outlived its day4 ,it was
  possible at any time only because     
there was too little information and1   
like the old belief that the world was  
flat1 it must yield place to the  newer 

knowledge4 ,the truth of evolution is   
the stanchest friend of  religion4 ,it  
is the foundation on which may be built 
a scientific belief  in a ,supreme      
,being1 a rational faith in immortality 
and a brotherhood of  man that has a    
basis in nature itself4 ,the very idea  
that was hastily  thought to be         
destructive of a belief in ,god and     
heaven and immortality  is rapidly      
becoming the most important witness to  
the truth of them all4  ,while it is    
true that in the earliest days of       
evolution the most eminent  scientists  
were agnostic1 it is equally true that  
today the most eminent  scientists of   
the world believe in the existence of   
the soul1 and in its  immortality1 and  
base that belief upon scientific        
grounds4    ,what is the essence of the 
facts of evolution and how does it give 
evidence against materialism and for    
immortality8 ,evolution is an  orderly  
unfolding from the single to the        
diversified1 from the simple to  the    

complex1 in which process life evolves  
by passing from lower to  higher forms  
and storing within itself the gist of   
the experiences  gained in each4    ,one
 of the vital facts that evolution      
establishes is that slow building  is   
the order of creation4 ,the horse is an 
example4 ,he is traced backward  with   
certainty to a small creature that      
resembles him very little  indeed4 ,ages
 were required to evolve the horse into 
his present  intelligence and utility4  
,another profoundly important fact in   
evolution  is the continuity of life    
from body to body4 ,the butterfly is    
frequently  used as an illustration1 but
 the principle holds with all the higher
  order of insects like ants1 flies and 
bees4 ,in the metamorphosis of the      
caterpillar we have a phenomenon so     
common that most people have  personally
 observed it4 ,watch1 in imagination1   
its transformation that  contradicts    
materialistic philosophy4 ,the worm is a
 physical body  occupied by an evolving 

life or intelligence4 ,its physical body
 perishes  and becomes part of the dust 
of the street4 ,the life enters the     
grave of  the chrysalis4 ,the scientist 
takes that chrysalis1 packs it in an ice
  house and leaves it frozen for a      
number of years4 ,now a mere frost will 
kill either caterpillar or butterfly1   
but when the chrysalis is removed  from 
the ice and brought into a higher       
temperature the triumphant life  emerges
 in the form of the butterfly4 ,this    
phenomenon proves that life  does       
survive the loss of the body4 ,the body 
of the caterpillar is dead  and has     
turned to dust years ago1 but the       
caterpillar that lived in it  is not    
dead4 ,it now lives again in the        
physical world in a physical  body of a 
higher type4    ,here1 in an order of   
existence almost infinitely below man1  
we have an  individual life existing in 
a physical form1 passing from it and1   
after  a number of years1 taking        
possession of another form and living in

 that4  ,who can admit such continuity  
of life for the insect and deny it for  
man8 ,can there be a deathless something
 in a worm and not in a human  being8   
,even without the mass of physical      
evidence that exists upon the  subject  
the logic of nature would lead us to    
confident conclusions4 ,the  knowledge  
of evolution which science has so far   
accumulated leads to  four natural      
inferences4 ,one is that man is         
immortal4 ,another is that he  has1 like
 all creatures1 slowly evolved to what  
he now is4 ,a third is  that both life1 
and the forms it uses1 are evolving     
together1 and the  fourth is that lower 
orders evolve into higher and           
continually higher  ones4 ,the human    
soul evolves from the savage to the     
saint--from animal  instincts to the    
self-sacrifice of martyrs and heroes4   
,we cannot escape  the conclusion that  
the race has evolved1 is evolving and   
will continue  to evolve until mental   
and moral perfection has been attained4 

,if neither the theory of the           
materialist nor the popular notion that 
the  soul is created at birth is        
satisfactory1 we have only reincarnation
  left as a working hypothesis2 and if  
we accept the evolution of the soul  as 
a natural truth1 then reincarnation     
becomes a necessity in explaining  the  
known facts of life4    ,but there are  
some students of life who appear to     
refuse the hypothesis  of reincarnation 
while wishing to accept the idea of the 
evolution of  the soul4 ,but how would  
that be possible8 ,if the soul is       
evolving it is  under the necessity of  
developing by the laws of growth4 ,they 
were  discussed in ,chapter ,,ix4       
,those who desire to put their ideas    
about the soul and its immortality  into
 harmony with the facts of evolution    
sometimes ask why it would not  be      
possible for the soul to leave the      
material plane forever at the  death of 
the physical body and then pursue its   
evolution on higher  planes4 ,in the    

vast universe there must be opportunity 
for all possible  development1 it is    
argued4    ,but why go on into other    
regions when the lessons here have not  
been  learned8 ,that would be a         
violation of nature's law of the        
conservation  of energy4 ,the average   
human being is in the elementary grades1
 with  scores of incarnations ahead of  
him before he will be in a position even
  to take advantage of his opportunities
 and thus make fairly rapid  progress4  
,to talk of going on to higher planes   
for further evolution is  like proposing
 that a child shall leave the           
kindergarten and enter the  university4 
,we are evolving along two lines1 the   
mental and moral1 and a little          
consideration of the matter will make   
clear two important points--that  we    
have much to learn and that the physical
 plane is wonderfully  arranged for our 
instruction4 ,we have conditions here   
for developing  mentality that do not   
exist on higher planes4 ,the absolute   

necessity of  procuring food is an      
example4 ,death is the penalty for      
failure to obtain  it4 ,hunger was the  
earliest spur to action at the lowest   
level of  evolution and even now at our 
high point of attainment it is one of   
the  chief factors of racial activity4  
,in providing the necessities of life   
and in gratifying our multitude of      
desires mentality is developed4         
,business and professional life rests   
upon these physical plane  necessities  
and1 engaged in solving the problems of 
civilization1 the  race evolves         
intellect4 ,such problems do not1 of    
course1 exist on higher  planes4        
,while the mentality is thus being      
pushed along in evolution by our        
material necessities1 the heart         
qualities are developed by the family   
ties in a way that could not be done    
elsewhere4 ,in the nature of things  the
 entrance of the soul to the physical   
plane is attended with  helplessness4   
,from the beginning it must have        

material necessities or  die1 and yet it
 can do nothing in its new infant body4 
,again1 as a rule1  long before it      
leaves the physical plane old age has   
once more rendered  it helpless4 ,thus  
every human being must depend on the    
assistance of  others at two critical   
periods of each incarnation4 ,the help  
it  receives1 in infancy and old age1 it
 pays back to the race1 in the care  of 
both the helpless young and the helpless
 old1 when it is in the vigor  of mature
 physical life4 ,it is obvious that such
 experience develops the  qualities of  
sympathy and compassion as no phase of  
business life could4  ,the relationship 
of parent and child1 husband and wife1  
evolves the  heart qualities in a way   
that would be impossible in the totally 
different environment of higher planes4 
,naturally enough1 each plane has  a    
specific work to do in the soul's       
evolution4 ,we can no more learn in  the
 highest planes the lessons the material
 world is designed to teach  us than a  

pupil can acquire a knowledge of        
mathematics from his lessons  in        
geography4 ,hence the necessity for a   
periodical return to this life  until   
its experiences have developed in us the
 qualities we lack4    ,not only has    
each plane its special adaptability to  
particular needs of  the soul in its    
evolution1 but the two kinds of physical
  bodies--masculine and                 
feminine--through which the soul        
functions1 afford  special advantages   
for acquiring the lessons of life4 ,the 
soul on its  home plane is1 of course1  
sexless4 ,sex1 as we know it1 is a      
differentiation arising from the soul's 
expression on lower planes4 ,all        
characteristics of the soul itself1 like
 intelligence1 love1 or  devotion1 are  
common to both sexes4    ,the ego       
functioning through the masculine body  
has the opportunity of  certain         
experiences that would be impossible in 
the feminine body1  while1 of course1   
the feminine form enables the ego to get

 experience  that could not be known    
through the masculine body4 ,a          
consideration of  the widely different  
experiences of fathers and mothers1 sons
 and  daughters1 will show how true this
 is4 ,the lessons obtained in the       
masculine body are largely those of the 
head while in the feminine form  they   
are lessons of the heart4    ,when the  
ego puts forth its energies and begins  
descent into lower  planes for another  
incarnation it is apparently beginning a
 cycle of  experience in which either   
mentality or spirituality shall be the  
dominant note for that incarnation1 and 
probably for several others4 ,if  it is 
to evolve for the time being through    
those experiences related to  objective 
activity1 with intellect as the guiding 
factor1 the masculine  body can best    
serve the purpose4 ,but if the dominant 
note is to be  spirituality1 rather than
 mentality and the soul is1 for the     
time1  moving along the line of the     
heart side--the subjective1 the         

intuitive--then the feminine body is the
 better vehicle in which such           
experience can be obtained4 ,but to say 
that mentality is the dominant  factor  
of masculine incarnation does not at all
 mean that men have a  monopoly of the  
reasoning faculty4 ,nor does the fact   
that other souls  are being expressed   
through the feminine body mean that they
 have a  fundamental spiritual          
advantage4 ,some women are better       
reasoners than  some men1 while some men
 are more spiritual than some women4    
,what it  does mean is that a certain   
ego can express intellect better through
 a  masculine body and intuition better 
through a feminine body4    ,our        
ordinary language confirms the truth of 
the statement that men  normally express
 more the head qualities and women more 
the heart  qualities4 ,we speak of men  
as being reasoners and of women as being
  intuitional and depending upon their  
impressions4 ,the soul in the  masculine
 body is for the time being getting     

experiences of the outer1  objective    
activities4 ,he is the home builder and 
protector1 the bread  winner1 the battle
 fighter4 ,the soul in the feminine body
 is1 for the  time1 getting experience  
along the line of the inner1 subjective 
life4  ,she is the wife and mother1 and 
her lessons are of the heart rather than
  the head4    ,as we study nature we   
are more and more impressed with her    
wonderful  mechanism for the evolution  
of the soul4 ,it soon becomes clear to  
the  student that every individual is1  
in each incarnation1 thrown into        
precisely the circumstances required for
 the greatest possible progress  of that
 particular ego4 ,if the qualities of   
initiative and courage1 for  example1   
are to be developed1 the masculine body 
admirably serves the  purpose1 while if 
sympathy and compassion need stimulation
 the feminine  form is wonderfully      
effective for that kind of progress4 ,it
 requires  little reasoning to see that 
the soul would not continue to incarnate

 in  one sex indefinitely4 ,it must     
develop all its inner qualities4 ,both  
intellect and compassion must reach     
perfect expression4 ,such a             
consummation can1 of course1 be best    
attained by alternating sex             
experiences4 ,but here again there is   
wide latitude in the operation of  the  
law4 ,the rule seems to be that         
ordinarily there are not less than      
three nor more than seven successive    
incarnations in one sex1 and then  the  
ego begins to express itself through a  
body of the other sex4 ,by  that rule it
 would commonly be for a period of from 
a few hundred years  to some thousands  
of years1 that the ego expresses itself 
through one  sex before it changes to   
the other4 ,one case is mentioned by the
 occult  investigators in which for     
about thirty thousand years a certain   
ego had  expressed itself only through  
the masculine form4 ,at least no trace  
of a  feminine incarnation could be     
found during that time4    ,the         

necessity for rebirth becomes clearer   
and clearer as we study the  nature of  
the human being and the inherent divine 
qualities he is  unfolding4             
,reincarnation is the method of         
evolution at the human level4  ,only by 
physical plane experience can man's     
potential powers be aroused  and so     
tremendous is the evolutionary work to  
be done that only a mere  fragment of it
 can be accomplished in an ordinary     
lifetime4 ,the absolute  necessity of   
many rebirths is obvious4               
,,chapter ,,xii4    ,,why ,,we ,,do     
,,not ,,remember      ,the loss of      
memory between incarnations and the     
failure to now recall  any of our       
experiences previous to the present     
physical plane life has  sometimes been 
cited as a negative kind of evidence    
against the  hypothesis of rebirth4 ,the
 point could not be made1 however1 by   
one who  has studied the matter because 
close scrutiny will show that the loss  
of  memory is a necessary part of       

reincarnation4 ,the fact that we do not 
remember is in perfect harmony with the 
principles of evolution4 ,indeed1  the  
close student of the subject would be   
very much surprised if we  could        
normally remember1 because he does not  
get far until he sees1 not  only why we 
do not remember past incarnations but   
why we should not  remember them4       
,the very nature of the evolutionary    
work to be done by reincarnation        
necessitates a sacrifice of memory4 ,one
 useful purpose of the  confinement of  
consciousness in matter1 through the use
 of a physical  body1 is that it narrows
 the scope of consciousness and thereby 
increases its efficiency4 ,the          
consciousness of the ego sweeps over a  
vast range1 forward and backward1       
including all past incarnations4 ,but   
the limitation of matter which compels  
consciousness to be expressed  through a
 physical body1 focuses the attention on
 the evolutionary work  immediately in  
hand4 ,the brain becomes the instrument 

of consciousness  but also1 fortunately1
 the limitation of consciousness4 ,if   
there were  not loss of memory our minds
 would now range over the adventures of 
thousands of years in the past4 ,it     
would encompass a vast drama with       
countless loves and hates1 of many lives
 filled with pathos and tragedy4  ,to   
thus distract the mind from the present 
life would retard our  progress4 ,when  
one is alone and in a secluded place one
 can think better  and accomplish more  
than when in the midst of turbulent     
scenes and  throngs of people4 ,when    
there is less to think about the        
thinking is  more effective4 ,it is     
necessary to restrict the consciousness 
and limit  the mind to the present life 
in order to get the most satisfactory   
results4 ,the same truth is embodied in 
that old saying that whoever is  jack of
 all trades is master of none4          
,concentration alone can produce        
satisfactory results4 ,if we would      
master the lessons of this life we  must

 not take other lives within the field  
of consciousness4 ,the very  process of 
reincarnation is a coming out of the    
general into the  particular1 with the  
consequent narrowing of consciousness4  
,we should keep in mind the fact that   
our true and permanent life is in  the  
causal body1 and on the mental plane1   
and that there1 alone1 is  unbroken     
memory possible4 ,the descent into      
matter in each incarnation is  also     
beyond reach of the brain memory1 of    
course4 ,getting new bodies is  the     
working out of natural law even as      
instinct works in animals4 ,the  whole  
animal kingdom1 lacking the reasoning   
power of man1 nevertheless  adapts means
 to ends with unerring accuracy and with
 a depth of wisdom  that is beyond our  
comprehension4 ,and so is human         
evolution directed by  impelling forces 
that are unknown to our waking          
consciousness4 ,but our  waking         
consciousness is only a small part of   
our consciousness--that  fragment of it 

that can be expressed through the       
physical brain4 ,the  physical brain is 
a limitation of consciousness1 and      
therefore of  memory1 as certainly as a 
mountain range is a limitation of sight 
and  prevents one's knowing what lies   
beyond it4 ,in higher realms we do know 
our wider life and vaster consciousness 
that includes the memory of our  past   
incarnations4 ,but when we come downward
 into another incarnation it  is as     
though we were descending in a narrow   
vale within mountain ranges  that stand 
between us and the wider world4 ,memory 
is dependent on things  not within the  
control of the will4 ,memory often fails
 to establish  facts which we wish to   
recall4 ,we know1 for example1 the name 
of a  certain person4 ,there is no doubt
 that we know it and yet it is          
impossible to remember it at will4      
,tomorrow it will flash upon us1 but  we
 cannot remember it now1 try as we may4 
,now1 if memory fails to  produce its   
record even when we have a mental       

picture of just how that  person looks1 
and know just where we have met him1 it 
is certainly not  remarkable that with  
no such immediate connection with our   
last  incarnation we fail to recall it4 
,it was perhaps in another part of the  
world1 and in another civilization1 and 
is separated from us by the long        
interval between incarnations4 ,of      
course memory likewise fails to  produce
 that record4 ,but all of our past      
experiences are within the  soul1 just  
as the records of all of the experiences
 of this life are in  the mind whether  
we can connect them with the present    
moment or not4    ,but it may be asked  
why it is that1 if we do not remember   
events that  have occurred in past lives
 and people we have seen before1 we do  
not at  least now have a knowledge of   
the facts previously familiar to us4    
,what  the soul gains from incarnation  
to incarnation is not concrete facts but
  something higher and far more         
valuable4 ,it gains the essence of facts

  which gives the understanding of their
 true relationship2 and this is  the    
thing we call good judgment or          
common-sense4 ,a man does not succeed   
in business because he knows a lot of   
facts1 but because he knows what  to do 
with the facts4 ,an encyclopedia is full
 of facts but it cannot run  a business4
 ,every theorist and dreamer is loaded  
with facts4 ,the  successful man is the 
one with balance and judgment4    ,it   
might seem on first thought that one who
 has been a carpenter in a  previous    
incarnation should have no need to learn
 the name and use of a  saw1 or one who 
has been a skillful penman to learn     
slowly to hold the  pen and fashion the 
letters4 ,but we must remember that the 
old soul is  now breaking in a new      
physical instrument with which to       
express itself  and that while it will  
be able to use all the skill it has     
previously  evolved1 its full expression
 must await the time when the new       
instrument  has been brought into       

responsive action4    ,the situation    
might be fairly illustrated by the case 
of a stenographer  who is still using   
the original typewriter1 in some remote 
corner of the  earth1 and who has not   
even seen or heard of any of the        
remarkable  improvements made in such   
machines in the last thirty years4 ,if  
his old  machine were suddenly taken    
from him and a model of the present year
  were put in its place1 it is obvious  
that he could at first make little  use 
of it--not because he has no knowledge  
but because he must become  accustomed  
to the new machine before he can express
 himself through it4  ,it would have    
mechanism and appliances that he could  
not immediately  manage4 ,let us imagine
 also that all the characters are in a  
foreign  language which must be mastered
 before the machine can be used4 ,but   
the  difficulties are not great enough  
yet for a fair illustration4 ,we must   
also suppose that it is a living thing1 
with moods and emotions1 and  that it   

must pass through stages of growth      
comparable to infancy and  youth4 ,under
 these handicaps it would be certain    
that the stenographer  would appear to  
have very little knowledge and to       
possess little skill4  ,yet as a matter 
of fact it is merely the conditions that
 temporarily  prevent him from          
expressing his wisdom and skill4    ,the
 gist of knowledge gained in the past   
represents skill that has no  dependence
 whatever upon brain memory4 ,if a man  
should suffer a lapse of  memory1 as    
sometimes happens1 and wander about     
unable to give his name  or place of    
residence1 such loss of memory does not 
prevent him using  any skill he may have
 evolved4 ,if he is an athlete he may   
not know in  what gymnasium he evolved  
his great strength1 but he can use it   
just as  effectively regardless of the  
absence of memory4    ,one who has been 
a skillful penman brings all his skill  
to the new  incarnation but of course   
the new body must be trained to hold the

 pen  and form the letters4 ,every      
public school teacher knows that one    
child  will quickly learn that and soon 
become a competent penman while another 
can by no possibility exhibit skill in  
that particular art4 ,the reason  is    
that one has previously evolved his     
skill and the other has not1 and  may   
not1 for several more incarnations4     
,it is sometimes objected that by the   
hypothesis of reincarnation we are      
required to go over the same ground     
again and again and learn what we  have 
previously learned4 ,but the criticism  
has no foundation in fact4  ,there is   
undoubtedly some necessary              
recapitulation in the early part of  the
 incarnation1 just as there may be in   
the early part of a school  term4 ,but  
in the main we are thrown into new      
conditions which are  calculated to     
develop additional faculties4 ,we return
 to the same  material world but we find
 it with a higher form of civilization  
than  when we were here before4 ,never  

before have we who are now here seen a  
civilization like this1 with its age of 
iron and steam and electricity1  with   
its marvelous opportunities for         
developing the mechanical faculty  in   
human nature4 ,and that is another bit  
of evidence of the beauty and  utility  
of the evolutionary scheme4 ,we come    
back always to greater  opportunities   
than we have yet known4    ,it is not   
only clear that the failure to remember 
the past has nothing  to do with our    
ability to use the skill and wisdom we  
have previously  evolved but it is      
equally obvious that it is the best of  
good fortune  that we cannot remember   
the past4 ,if we could do so that memory
 would  keep alive the personal         
antagonisms of past reincarnations4     
,nobody will  deny that we have plenty  
of them in this incarnation or that the 
world  would be the better if we could  
bury some of the present antagonisms in 
a like oblivion4 ,if all quarreling     
neighbors were to suddenly lose  memory 

of their feuds it would be an undeniable
 advantage to everybody  concerned4     
,nature's wisdom in veiling the past    
from us can be understood by  observing 
the pernicious effects of remembering   
too long the blunders  people make in   
this incarnation4 ,take the case of a   
very young man who  has charge of his   
employer's money and who1 finding       
himself pressed for  ready cash1 makes  
the grave mistake of borrowing a hundred
 dollars  without his employer's        
knowledge and consent4 ,the young man   
really  believes he is borrowing it and 
knows just where the money is to come   
from to replace it soon1 and he thinks  
nobody but himself will ever know       
anything about it4 ,but to his          
consternation the money that was due him
  in a few days cannot be collected in  
time and an unexpected examination  of  
his books leads to his arrest for       
embezzlement4 ,he is convicted1  sent to
 prison for a year1 and returns a marked
 man4 ,thoughtless  society closes its  

doors against him4 ,he seeks employment 
in vain4  ,nobody wants an ex-convict4  
,he explains that he had no criminal    
intent  and that he really was guilty of
 only an indiscretion and that he paid  
back the money later4 ,but the world is 
too busy to listen4 ,it sees only  the  
court record1 and that was against him4 
,the public forgets1 or never  knows1   
the extenuating circumstances4 ,but it  
never forgets two  things--the verdict  
of guilty and the prison4 ,the young man
 would almost  give his life for a      
chance to wipe it all out1 but it is    
impossible4 ,it  stands against him for 
life4 ,but nature is wise4 ,she does not
 permit our  vicious traits to extend   
their injury too far4 ,if we could      
remember from  incarnation to           
incarnation that man's misfortune might 
afflict him for  thousands of years4    
,but by the wise plan of closing all    
accounts at the  end of each incarnation
 the mischief of remembering the        
blunders of  others comes to an end4 ,in

 the next incarnation all start with    
clear  records again4    ,one of the    
objections that one sometimes hears     
against reincarnation is  that it seems 
to separate us for long periods1 if not 
forever1 and that  even when we meet    
those we have previously known and      
loved1 there is no  memory of the past4 
,the answer to the first point is that  
the separation  is wholly on the lower  
planes and that the time spent on the   
higher  planes is often twenty times    
that given to the lower4 ,separation is1
 of  course1 unavoidable on the physical
 plane1 even where people live  together
 in the same home4 ,the average man     
spends most of the day at  his office   
and sleeps about eight hours during the 
twenty-four4 ,he is  really separated   
from his family most of the time4 ,but  
there is no such  separation on higher  
planes and there is spent most of the   
whole period  of evolution4 ,the second 
point--that we do not now have the      
pleasure of  knowing that our friends   

are those we knew and loved before--is  
not an  important one4 ,what is really  
important is that we again have them4   
,if  the ties of affection have been    
strong between us in the past there will
  be instant friendship when we meet for
 the first time in this  incarnation4   
,those with strong heart ties are       
certain to be drawn into  very close    
association life after life4 ,it has    
been observed through the               
investigations that egos have been      
husband and wife1 or parent and  child1 
again and again4 ,the probability of    
such close relationships  depends upon  
the strength of the ties of affection4  
,but if such real  bond between the     
souls is lacking the mere fact that they
 now have  family relationships is no   
guarantee of such future intimate       
association4 ,when two souls have strong
 ties arising out of past  association  
the failure to remember that incarnation
 does not in the  least weaken the ties4
 ,but it does mercifully hide the past  

contentions  that are to be found in    
nearly all lives4    ,the failure to    
remember previous incarnations will be  
more clearly  understood if we now give 
some thought to the fact that the       
personality  here on the material plane 
is only a fragment of the whole         
consciousness  of the soul4 ,as we come 
down into lower planes from the mental  
world  each grosser grade of matter     
through which the ego expresses itself  
is a  limitation of consciousness4 ,on  
the astral plane each of us1 whatever he
  may be here1 is more alive and enjoys 
an actual extension of  consciousness4  
,on the mental plane he has enormously  
greater wisdom than  here1 with a still 
further extension of consciousness that 
is quite  beyond the present            
comprehension of the brain intelligence4
    ,to put it differently1 the ego     
really does not come into incarnation at
  all4 ,it merely sends outward a ray   
from itself--a mere fragment of  itself1
 as a man might put his hand down into  

the water of a shallow  stream to gather
 bits of ore from which gold can be     
obtained4 ,so the ego  puts a finger1   
only1 down into denser matter to get the
 general  experience that can be        
transmuted into the gold of wisdom and  
skill4  ,that finger of the ego1 that we
 know as the personality1 gathers the   
experience and then it is withdrawn into
 the ego4 ,during the incarnation  the  
personality has been animated by only a 
little of the ego's vast  intelligence  
and that is why it blunders so often4   
,but1 veiled in dense  matter1 not much 
of the ego's consciousness can reach it4
    ,the relationship between the ego   
and the personality may be illustrated  
by that which exists between the brain  
consciousness and that of the           
finger-tip4 ,the difference1 of course1 
is great4 ,the finger tip cannot  see of
 hear or taste or smell4 ,it is limited 
to one sense--touch4 ,but it  is a form 
of consciousness1 and it can get        
experience and pass it on to  the brain 

consciousness4 ,a man may be addressing 
an audience and see  some substance on  
the table before him4 ,it may be sand or
 sugar4 ,without  interrupting his      
lecture he can put down his finger and  
get at the truth  about the matter4 ,the
 finger-tip gets the information and    
passes it on  to the brain              
consciousness4 ,meantime there has been 
no pause in the  discourse4 ,not a      
phrase nor a word nor the shading of a  
thought has been  missed4 ,the          
intellectual life went on in its        
completeness while the ray  of          
intelligence sent down in the finger-tip
 got and reported the fact as  it was4  
,just so the life of the ego--the true  
self of each of us--goes  forward on its
 home plane while the personality here  
gropes for its  harvest of experience4  
,some of those experiences will be      
painful to the  personality1 and the    
event will seem tragic here1 but it will
 be a  passing incident to the ego4 ,in 
the illustration just used the substance

  on the table may prove to be neither  
sand nor sugar1 but tiny bits of  glass4
 ,some of the sharp points may penetrate
 the finger and pain  follows4 ,to the  
finger-tip consciousness it is a        
blinding flash of  distress that is     
overwhelming4 ,but to the brain         
consciousness it is a  trivial incident4
 ,and thus it is with most of our       
painful experiences  here4 ,they do a   
useful work in our evolution and they   
are trifling  incidents to the          
consciousness of the ego4    ,the       
personality finishes its work and       
perishes1 in the sense that it is  drawn
 up and incorporated in the ego4 ,most  
people identify themselves so  fully    
with the personality that its loss seems
 like a tragedy to them4  ,but that     
feeling will trouble them no longer when
 the ego is understood  to be the real  
self4 ,we might say that the            
relationship between the ego  and the   
personality is like that between man and
 child4 ,childhood will  perish but only

 to be merged into manhood4 ,when we    
look at that  transformation from the   
viewpoint of the man it is quite        
satisfactory4  ,but if looked at from   
the viewpoint of the child it may look  
appalling4  ,if you should say to your  
son of three summers1 ,my child1 the    
time will  come when all these beautiful
 toys will be broken and lost and your  
little playmates will see you no more1  
you might cause him much  distress4 ,it 
would seem to his limited child         
consciousness nothing less  than a      
tragic destruction of what makes life   
worth while4 ,but when he  reaches      
manhood he will look back with a smile  
to the trivial things of  those early   
days4 ,if there is something in his     
childhood of real1  permanent value1 it 
will persist in manhood4 ,all the       
trivial and  transient will have        
disappeared and he will be pleased that 
it is so1  for manhood is the real life 
of the personality as the ego is the    
real  self4    ,as the memory of        

childhood lives in the brain of the man1
 so the memory  of all the hundreds of  
incarnations persists in the causal body
 and is  an eternal possession of the   
ego4 ,when we are sufficiently evolved  
to  raise the consciousness to the level
 of the causal body1 while still  living
 on the physical plane1 as some people  
are now able to do1 we  shall thus      
temporarily recover the memory of past  
lives4 ,when that time  comes1 however1 
the soul is sufficiently advanced to use
 such wider  knowledge without injury to
 itself or others4          ,,chapter   
,,xiii4    ,,vicarious ,,atonement      
,back of the old doctrine of vicarious  
atonement is a profound and  beautiful  
natural truth1 but it has been degraded 
into a teaching that  is as selfish and 
brutal as it is false4 ,the natural     
truth is the  sacrifice of the solar    
,logos1 or the deity of our system4 ,the
 sacrifice  consists of limiting        
,himself in the matter of manifested    
worlds and it  is reflected in the      

sacrifice of the ,christ and other great
 teachers who  use their vast           
consciousness through a physical brain  
for the helping of  the world4 ,compared
 to the descent of such supermen into   
mundane spheres  a mere physical death  
is a trifling sacrifice indeed4    ,the 
help that such great spiritual beings   
have given mankind is  incalculable and 
altogether beyond what we are able to   
comprehend4 ,but  for such sacrifice the
 race would be very1 very far below its 
present  evolutionary level4 ,but to    
assume that such sacrifices relieve man 
from  the necessity of developing his   
spiritual nature or in any degree       
nullify his personal responsibility is  
false and dangerous doctrine4  ,nobody  
more than the theosophist pays to the   
,christ the tribute of the  most        
reverent gratitude4 ,he also holds with 
,st4 ,paul that each must  work out his 
own salvation4    ,the belief in special
 creation arose in that period of our   
history when  our ancestors knew little 

of nature4 ,modern science was then     
unborn and  superstition filled the     
western world4 ,now that we do know the 
truths of  nature1 now that we know that
 creation is a continuous process that  
is  still going on1 it is time to       
abandon the old conceptions and bring   
religious beliefs and scientific        
principles into harmonious              
relationship4    ,wherever it touches   
the practical affairs of life the old   
idea of  special creation and special   
salvation fail to satisfy our sense of  
justice and of consistency4 ,intuitively
 we know that any belief that is  not in
 harmony with the facts of life is a    
wrong belief4 ,the idea of  special     
creation is not only inconsistent with  
the facts as science has  found them1   
but it does not give us a sound basis   
for moral development4  ,having started 
with the false idea of the special      
creation of the soul1  which brings it  
into the world free from personal       
responsibility1 it  became a necessity  

to invent a special salvation to give   
any semblance  of justice at all4       
,now the vital point against this plan  
of salvation is that it denies the      
soul's personal responsibility and      
teaches that whatever the offenses      
against ,god and nature have been1 they 
may be cancelled by the simple  act of  
believing that another suffered and died
 in order that those sins  might be     
forgiven4 ,it is the pernicious doctrine
 that wrong doing by one  can be set    
right by the sacrifice of another4 ,it  
is simply astounding  that such a belief
 could have survived the ,middle ,ages  
and should  continue to find millions   
who accept it in these days of clearer  
thinking4 ,but it seems that when people
 are taught a thing in childhood  the   
mind accepts it then without reasoning  
and afterwards vaguely  regards it as   
one of the established facts without    
thinking further of  it at all4 ,but    
upon reflection we see at once the      
impossibility of its  being true4 ,we   

hear of a lingering practice in a remote
 province of  ,china1 whereby a man     
convicted of a crime is permitted to    
hire a  substitute to suffer the penalty
 in his stead4 ,the law must have its   
victim and its supremacy must be upheld4
 ,we laugh at that and know well  enough
 that punishing the unfortunate         
substitute1 who sacrifices himself  to  
obtain a sum of money that will provide 
for his family1 cannot  regenerate the  
offender4 ,indeed1 we see clearly that  
his willingness to  shift the           
responsibility for his crime upon       
another only sinks him  farther into    
iniquity4 ,the only person who can gain 
in moral strength is  the one who makes 
the sacrifice4    ,let us suppose that  
that system of vicarious atonement for  
wrong doing  were to be adopted         
generally4 ,then every murderer who had 
the means  would escape the consequences
 of his crime4 ,every burglar who was   
successful enough to have the cash on   
hand could elude prison4 ,every         

pickpocket could hire a substitute to   
suffer for him and thus continue  his   
criminal career4 ,every embezzler would 
have the money to purchase  freedom4    
,every corruptionist would be safe4     
,every thief could laugh at  the law4   
,it would make a mockery of justice4 ,it
 would place a premium  upon crime and a
 handicap upon honesty and virtue4      
,however bad the  dishonest might be it 
would make them worse4 ,it would        
necessarily lower  the standard of their
 morality by shifting the burden of     
their sins to  others4 ,it would destroy
 personal responsibility1 and personal  
responsibility is the basis of sound    
morals and the foundation of  civilized 
society4    ,yet that is precisely the  
sort of thing that goes with the belief 
in  special creation and special        
salvation--the teaching that we are not 
responsible for our sins and that by    
believing that another assumed them  and
 died for us we can escape the results  
of our wrong doing and thus be  saved4  

,what are we to be saved from8 ,from    
nothing but ourselves4 ,from  our       
selfishness1 from our capacity to do    
evil1 from our willingness to  inflict  
pain1 from our lack of sympathy with all
 suffering and from the  heartlessness  
that is willing to let others suffer in 
order that we may  escape4 ,salvation   
must necessarily mean capacity to enjoy 
heaven4 ,the  man who is willing to     
purchase bliss by the agony of another  
is unfit  for heaven and could not      
recognize it if he were there4 ,what do 
we think  of a person here who shifts   
his sins upon another and while that    
other  suffers he goes free and enjoys  
the fruits of his baseness8    ,a heaven
 that is populated with those who see in
 vicarious atonement a  happy           
arrangement for letting them in         
pleasantly and easily would not be      
worth having4 ,it would be a heaven of  
selfishness and that would be no  heaven
 at all4 ,a real heaven can be composed 
only of those who have  eliminated      

selfishness2 only of those who want to  
help others instead of  trying to dodge 
the consequences of their own acts2 only
 of those who  are manly and womanly and
 generous and just and true4 ,nothing   
less than  a recognition of personal    
responsibility can lead to a heaven like
 that4  ,yet the theory of special      
salvation ignores it1 waves it aside--in
 fact  denies it6    ,reincarnation     
represents personal responsibility and  
therefore absolute  justice4 ,it shows  
that1 not merely in all the vast future1
 but also in  this life and in every    
life1 and all the time1 our degree of   
happiness  depends upon our present and 
past course4 ,if reincarnation were     
generally understood it would           
necessarily raise the average of        
morality4  ,it furnishes a deterrent for
 the evil doer and a tremendous         
incentive  for the man who desires to   
obey natural law and be happy4 ,it shows
 the  one that there is no possible     
escape from evil deeds2 that he must    

return life after life to associations  
and environments determined by  the good
 or the ill he has done2 that he can no 
more escape from his  evil deeds than he
 can escape from himself2 that he must  
ultimately  suffer in turn the pain of  
every blow and the humiliation of every 
insult he has inflicted upon others4 ,it
 assures the man of good  intentions and
 right desires that every good deed     
shall rise up in the  future to bless   
him2 that all whom he has helped shall  
become his  helpers hereafter2 that even
 his good intentions that failed in     
their  purpose through mistaken         
judgment1 shall bring him joy in the    
future4    ,what a splendid thing it is 
to know that every thought and act adds 
permanent value to the character2 that  
all we learn in any life becomes  an    
eternal possession2 that we can add to  
our intellect1 to our insight1  to our  
compassion1 to our wisdom1 to our power1
 as certainly and  definitely as a man  
can add to his bank account or permanent

  investments2 that whatever we may be  
in this incarnation we can return  again
 stronger and wiser and better4    ,the 
hypothesis of reincarnation shows our   
inherent divinity and the  method by    
which the latent becomes the actual4    
,instead of the ignoble  belief that we 
can fling our sins upon another it makes
 personal  responsibility the keynote of
 life4 ,it is the ethics of self-help4  
,it is  the moral code of self-reliance4
 ,it is the religion of self-respect4   
,think of the utility as well as of the 
common-sense of a scheme of  salvation  
that really saves us because it evolves 
us2 that never denies  us a chance to   
retrieve an error2 that gives us an     
opportunity to right  every wrong2 that 
brings us back life after life until all
 enemies have  been changed to friends2 
until all accounts are closed and       
balanced2  until all our powers have    
been evolved1 until intellect has become
  genius2 until sympathy has become     
compassion and the last moral battle    

has been fought and won4                
,,chapter ,,xiv4    ,,the ,,forces ,,we 
,,generate      ,every human being is   
constantly generating three classes of  
forces1 and  they determine the kind of 
life he will lead here1 the degree of   
success  or failure that will           
characterize it1 and the state of his   
consciousness  on the inner planes after
 the death of his physical body4 ,the   
law of  rebirth brings us back to       
incarnation1 but it is the law of action
 and  reaction under which we evolve    
while here4    ,the three classes of    
energies which we generate are those of 
thought1  desire and action4 ,they      
belong1 in the order named1 to the      
mental world1  the astral world and the 
physical world4 ,all people are         
constantly  thinking and desiring and1  
with varying degrees of energy1 are     
putting  thought and desire into action4
 ,these forces sent out into the worlds 
of  thought1 emotion and action1 produce
 certain reactions1 or consequences1    

and to them the man is bound until      
justice is done and the soul has        
learned its evolutionary lesson4        
,that thought and desire are forces as  
certainly as electricity is1 the        
student of the occult well knows1 but   
the world is not quite yet at the  point
 where the fact is generally accepted4  
,that1 however1 is the  history of all  
human progress4 ,when ,franklin began   
his experiments with  electrical force  
almost nobody believed there was any    
such thing in  existence4 ,yet today we 
use it to carry our messages1 run our   
trains and  drive our machinery4 ,had   
anybody predicted all that at the time  
of the  first experiments he would have 
been considered extraordinarily foolish4
  ,what the world accepts or rejects at 
any particular time usually has  very   
little to do with the facts4 ,the       
general public can be expected to  come 
trailing along1 about a half century    
late1 with its acceptance and  approval4
 ,thought is a force or telepathy and   

hypnotism would be  impossible4 ,both   
have been scientifically demonstrated4  
,the mental body grows by the process of
 thinking4 ,the force generated in      
thinking reacts in the production of    
greater faculty for thinking1 so  that  
we literally create our mental          
abilities4 ,the activities of thought   
change the mental body into a better and
 constantly better instrument  through  
which the ego can express itself4 ,but  
our thoughts also affect  others and we 
thereby make ties with them that must   
work out sooner or  later in associated 
experience4    ,desires generate a kind 
of energy that plays a most important   
role in  the drama of human evolution4  
,the law operates to bring together the 
desirer and the object that aroused the 
desire4 ,for the soul can only  judge   
the wisdom of its desires by observing  
the result of gratifying  them4 ,thus do
 we acquire discrimination4 ,it is      
usually a strong desire  nature that    
brings trouble of various kinds and yet 

the force of desire  it is that pushes  
all evolution onward4 ,through          
experience the soul  finally learns to  
control desire1 to raise lower desires  
into higher  ones and thus ultimately to
 attain non-attachment and liberation4  
,actions are the physical expression of 
thoughts and desires and1 as we  are    
constantly simultaneously thinking1     
desiring and acting1 very  complex      
results arise4 ,in the multitudinous    
activities of life we set up            
relationships with other souls1 some of 
the results of which reach far  into the
 future4 ,the average man1 with no      
knowledge of the laws under  which he is
 evolving1 is usually making both       
friends and foes for future             
incarnations and is often unwittingly   
laying up pain and sorrow for  himself  
that a little occult knowledge would    
enable him to avoid4 ,every  injury that
 he inflicts will return to him1 though 
not necessarily in  kind4 ,nature does  
not punish4 ,she merely teaches and     

knows nothing of  retaliations4 ,her    
great concern seems to be that all souls
 shall get on  in evolution and when a  
lesson is learned her purpose appears to
 be  accomplished4    ,the forces we    
generate in each incarnation shape and  
determine the next  and succeeding ones4
 ,our friends1 our families1 our        
business associates1  our nation1 are   
determined by what we have thought and  
felt and done in  the past and by the   
lessons it is necessary we shall learn4 
,our wealth  or poverty1 our fame or    
obscurity1 our strength or frailty1 our 
intelligence or stupidity1 our good or  
bad environment1 our freedom or         
limitations1 all grow out of the        
thoughts and emotions and acts in the   
past4 ,from their consequences there is 
no possibility of escape4    ,but that  
does not mean that we are the helpless  
slaves of fate from  which there is no  
release4 ,we who generated the forces   
can neutralize  them4 ,we can undo      
anything we have done4 ,it only means   

that for a time  we must work within the
 self-imposed limitations created by a  
wrong  course in the past4    ,those who
 are interested in the long-time        
discussion over free-will and           
determinism have often been impressed   
with the remarkably strong  arguments   
that can be marshaled by each side to   
the controversy4 ,either  side1 when    
presented alone1 appears to be          
conclusive4 ,the explanation  lies in   
the fact that each is right1 but only to
 a certain point4 ,both  free will and  
necessity are factors and when the      
theosophical viewpoint  is understood   
the apparent contradiction disappears4  
,we are temporarily  bound1 but we did  
the binding1 by the desires we indulged 
and the  emotions we freely harbored in 
the past4    ,the condition of temporary
 restraint in which we now find         
ourselves may  be likened to that of a  
party of gold hunters who go into       
,alaska to  locate mines4 ,they are all 
aware that in that remote northern      

country  navigation closes very early   
and that after the last boat leaves     
there  is no possibility of getting out 
of that region until navigation opens   
again in the next season4 ,some of them 
are discreet and reach the  landing in  
ample time4 ,others are careless4 ,they 
continue their search  for gold a little
 too long1 and arrive at the river a day
 too late4 ,the  boat has sailed and    
they must become prisoners of the ice   
king4 ,it's a  great misfortune but they
 alone are responsible4 ,they cannot    
escape from  ,alaska for many months but
 within ,alaska they are absolutely     
free4 ,they  can build a cabin and      
either waste the time with idle games or
 seriously  think and study4 ,they are  
limited but free within the limitation1 
and  the limitation itself was of their 
own making4 ,it is precisely so with  us
 in the environment of the present      
incarnation and with our various        
fortunes4 ,we made them and1 when the   
forces with which we did it are         

exhausted1 we shall be free4 ,meantime  
we can do much toward modification  and 
improvement4    ,the reactions from the 
forces we generate naturally do us exact
 justice  just because they are         
reactions4 ,we reap precisely what we   
sow4 ,the  reaction may sometimes seem  
harsh but consideration of the matter   
from  all points of view will show that 
mercy as well as justice is always a    
factor4 ,let us consider the method by  
which nature changes recklessness  into 
caution4 ,a man is careless1 we will    
say1 about lighting a cigar and         
throwing the burning match down wherever
 it may happen to fall4 ,he may  go on  
doing that a long time with no serious  
result1 yet all careful  people know    
that he is a source of danger4 ,some    
time ago a newspaper  told the story of 
such a man1 who passed along the street1
 lighted a  cigaret and carelessly flung
 the flaming match from him4 ,a nurse   
was  passing with her charge in its tiny
 carriage4 ,the match fell on some of   

the light1 airy wraps of the infant and 
they burst into a blaze4 ,before  the   
fire could be extinguished the child was
 so badly burned that it  died the next 
day4    ,the moment such a case is      
stated we realize the necessity of      
something  that will cure the man of    
such fatal carelessness4 ,he is a menace
 to the  lives and property in his      
vicinity4 ,no law1 however1 can be      
invoked4 ,he  had no criminal intent but
 he is none the less dangerous for that1
 as  the incident proved4 ,we are       
helpless1 however1 to prevent his       
continued  carelessness4 ,but nature is 
not helpless4 ,under the law of action  
and  reaction he must reap as he has    
sown4 ,it may be in the latter part of  
this incarnation1 or it may be in a     
following one1 but sooner or later  his 
carelessness will react and he will lose
 his physical body in pain  and distress
 and come to know personally just what  
his recklessness  means4 ,in the        
reaction1 a part only of which is on the

 physical plane1  he gets the experience
 that is necessary to set him right4    
,the folly of  his course is so driven  
in on his consciousness that he is      
changed from  the careless man to the   
careful man4 ,in no other way could his 
cure be  brought about4    ,it may be   
said that if a misfortune comes to us as
 the result of our  wrong thinking and  
acting in a past life we can now know   
nothing of its  cause and therefore we  
cannot profit by the reaction4 ,but     
while we do  not know in the limited    
consciousness of the physical brain the 
soul  does know and in the wider        
consciousness the lesson is registered4 
,the principles of justice are never    
violated in teaching the soul its       
evolutionary lessons4 ,nothing can come 
to a man that he does not merit  and    
that which often looks like a misfortune
 is only the beneficent  working of the 
law seen from an angle that makes it    
illusory4 ,but1 it  may be objected1 how
 does theosophy see beneficent working  

of the law  in the burning of a theater 
where a score of people lose their      
lives1  including several children8 ,how
 can theosophy explain that8    ,how can
 it be explained by those who hold that 
the soul is created at  birth8 ,if ,god 
really brings the soul into its original
 expression in an  infant body1 why does
 he throw it out again in a few years1  
or even  months8 ,what can be the       
purpose8 ,it would be difficult indeed  
to explain  the death of children if the
 soul were created at birth4 ,but let us
 look  at it from the theosophical      
viewpoint4 ,the child is an old soul    
with a  young body4 ,hark back to the   
case of the man whose carelessness      
caused  the death of the baby in its    
carriage4 ,he1 and others like him1 are 
again in incarnation and in the burning 
theater they get the reaction of  the   
unfortunate forces they have generated4 
,but why so many in some  catastrophes8 
it may be asked4 ,a principle is not    
affected by the number  involved4 ,if we

 can see justice in the death of one    
person we can see  justice in the death 
of a hundred4 ,it is simply class       
instruction4  ,people of a kind have    
been drawn together4    ,we should not  
forget that we see only a small fragment
 of any such case  from the physical    
plane4 ,we form an opinion1 however1 on 
that inadequate  survey and are quick to
 declare our opinion of the justice or  
injustice  involved4 ,but our verdict   
depends wholly upon a viewpoint4 ,let us
  suppose1 for example1 that a man      
strolls down the street and that1 as he 
turns a corner1 he suddenly comes upon a
 little tragedy of life4 ,a young  man  
is lying on the ground1 battered and    
bleeding1 while two others  stand over  
him4 ,what would the average man1 coming
 suddenly on the scene  say8 ,he would  
probably indignantly blurt out ,the     
ruffians6 and he  would be inclined to  
assist the man who was down4 ,but let us
 suppose  that he had been a moment     
earlier4 ,he would then have been in    

time to  turn around the corner with the
 other men and would have seen him rush 
upon a defenseless woman1 push her down1
 snatch her purse and dash away1  but1  
fortunately1 in the direction of the men
 who assaulted and stopped  him4 ,had   
the last arrival seen the entire affair 
he would have reversed  his opinion and 
said that the thief got what he         
deserved4 ,and so it is  in our         
inadequate physical plane view of what  
we call a calamity4 ,it may  appear to  
involve an injustice1 but only because  
we do not see the  entire transaction4  
,those who study the occult laws that   
shape human destiny may learn to  use   
them for their rapid progress and for   
insuring a comfortable1 as  well as     
spiritually profitable1 life journey4   
,but before we can work successfully    
within the law we must know that the    
law really exists4 ,most people seem    
either to believe there is no law  that 
will certainly bring them the results of
 their good or evil  thoughts and acts  

or that if there is such a law they can 
in some way  dodge it and escape the    
consequence1 and so we see them go along
  through life always doing the selfish 
thing or the thoughtless thing4  ,they  
misstate facts1 they engage in gossip1  
they harbor evil thoughts1  they have   
their enemies and hate them1 they scheme
 to bring discomfort  and humiliation   
upon those whom they dislike4 ,and then1
 when the harvest  from this misdirected
 energy is ripe and they are misled by  
the  falsehoods of others to their loss 
and injury1 when they fall into the     
company of schemers and are swindled1   
when a false story is started  about    
them1 when--through no fault of the     
moment--they are plunged into           
discomfort and humiliation1 they merely 
call it so much bad luck and go  blindly
 on with their generation of wrong      
forces that will in due time  bring     
another enforced reaping of pain4       
,there is a law that regulates the      
pleasure and pain of daily life as      

certainly as there is a law that guides 
the earth in its orbit about the  sun4  
,that law of action and reaction is just
 as constant1 accurate and  immutable as
 the law of gravity that keeps our feet 
upon the ground  while we come and go   
and think nothing at all about it4      
,there is something almost terrifying in
 the immutability of all natural  laws  
and their utterly impersonal aspect4    
,they are the operation of  forces      
which1 in themselves1 are not related to
 what we call good and  bad4 ,they      
simply are4 ,the law of gravity will    
illustrate the point4 ,it  operates with
 no consideration whatever for character
 or motives4 ,it  holds all people1 good
 and bad alike1 firmly upon the earth   
while it  whirls through space4 ,if a   
saint and a fiend stumble over a        
precipice1  it will hurl them both to   
the bottom with perfect impartiality4   
,if the  fiend1 who may just have       
murdered a victim1 is more cautious than
 the  saint and avoids the precipice1   

the law has not favored him4 ,he has    
merely reaped the reward of his         
alertness in spite of his bad morals4   
,the saintly man may have come fresh    
from some deed of mercy but the law  of 
gravity takes no account of that4 ,when 
he stepped over the precipice1  and was 
dashed to death1 he paid the penalty of 
carelessness regardless  of his         
benevolence4 ,there is profound wisdom  
in the words ,god is no  respecter of   
persons1 for1 of course1 all natural    
laws are but the  expression of the     
divine will4    ,but this immutability  
of natural law is not in the least      
terrifying when  we come to look more   
closely at it4 ,on the contrary it is   
within that  very immutability that     
divine beneficence and compassion are   
hidden4 ,it  is only by the constancy if
 the changeless law that we can         
calculate  with absolute certainty and  
surely attain the results at which we   
aim4  ,it is because of the certainty   
that the doing of evil brings pain and  

the doing of good yields a return of    
happiness that we can control           
circumstances and determine destiny4    
,why should there be such a law         
operating in the mental and moral realm8
  ,because only thus can we evolve4 ,we 
must not only change from ignorance  to 
wisdom but from selfishness to          
compassion1 from wrong doing to  perfect
 harmlessness4 ,how would that be       
possible without the law of  cause and  
effect1 without action and reaction     
which brings pleasure for  righteousness
 and pain for evil deeds8 ,only under   
such a law can we  learn what is the    
right and what is the wrong thing to do4
 ,if it is  agreed that we are souls1   
that evolution is a fact1 and that      
perfection  is the goal of the human    
race1 then the necessity for the law of 
action  and reaction is as obvious as   
the reason for a law of gravity4    ,the
 existence and operation of this law of 
cause and effect are set  forth         
repeatedly in the ,christian scriptures4

 ,with what measures ye  mete it to     
others it shall be measured to you1 is  
certainly explicit4  ,in ,proverbs,m we 
have this definite declaration3 ,whoso  
diggeth a pit  shall fall therein1 and  
he that rolleth a stone1 it shall return
 upon  him4 ,of course the language is  
figurative4 ,no writer of common sense  
would assert that every time a workman  
digs a pit he shall tumble into  it nor 
that whenever anybody rolls a stone it  
will roll back upon him6  ,we dig pits  
in the moral world whenever we undermine
 the character of  another with a false 
story1 whether we originate it or merely
 repeat it1  and into such a pit we     
shall ourselves fall1 in the reaction of
 the law4  ,we have loosened and set    
rolling the stones of envy and hatred   
and they  shall return to crush us down 
to failure and humiliation in the       
reaction  that follows4 ,we have        
ignorantly generated evil forces under  
the law  when we could have used it for 
our success and happiness4    ,judge    

not1 that ye be not judged1 is another  
statement of the law of  action and     
reaction4 ,it is not an assertion that  
we should not judge  because we are not 
qualified nor because we may ignorantly 
wrong  another with such a judgment4 ,it
 is an explicit statement that the      
consequence of judging others is that   
we1 in turn1 shall be judged4 ,if  we   
criticize1 we shall be criticized4 ,if  
we condemn others for their  faults and 
failures1 we shall be condemned4 ,if we 
are broad and tolerant  and remain      
silent about the frailties of others we 
shall be tolerantly  regarded by others4
    ,all of us who have studied the     
subject find in our daily lives the     
evidence of the truth of such ,biblical 
declarations4 ,we know perfectly  well  
that anger provokes anger and that      
conciliation wins concessions1  while   
retaliation keeps a feud alive4 ,we know
 that retort calls out  retort1 while   
silence restores the peace4 ,in these   
little things it is  usually within the 

power of either party to the trouble to 
have peace  instead of turmoil--just a  
matter of self control4 ,but in the     
larger  events it is not always so4     
,they are not invariably within our     
immediate  control because they are     
often the results of causes generated in
 the  past which we can no longer       
modify4 ,and this brings us to a wider  
view  of this law of cause and effect4  
,if we look at the life history of an   
individual as it stretches out from     
birth to death it presents a remarkable 
record of events that appear to  have no
 logical relationship to each other4 ,in
 childhood1 there may have  been either 
great happiness or great sorrow and     
suffering regardless of  the qualities  
of character we are considering1 and    
there is nothing in  the present life of
 the child to explain either4 ,the child
 itself may be  gentle and affectionate 
and yet it may be the recipient of gross
 abuse  and cruel misunderstanding4 ,in 
maturity we may find still greater      

mysteries4 ,invariably there are mingled
 successes and failures1  pleasures and 
pains4 ,but when we come to analyze them
 we fail to find a  satisfactory reason 
for them4 ,we see that the successes    
often arrive  when they are not         
warranted by anything that was done to  
win them1 and  for the want of any      
rational explanation we call it good    
luck4 ,we also  observe that sometimes  
failure after failure comes when the man
 is not  only doing his very best but   
when all of his plans will stand the    
test  of sound business procedure4      
,baffled again we throw logic to the    
winds  and call it bad luck4    ,luck is
 a word we use to conceal our ignorance 
and our inability to  trace the working 
of the law4 ,suppose we were to ask a   
savage to explain  how it is that a few 
minutes' time with the morning paper    
enables one to  know what happened      
yesterday in ,london4 ,he knows nothing 
of reporters  and cables and presses4   
,he cannot explain it4 ,he cannot even  

comprehend  it4 ,but if he is a vain    
savage and does not wish to admit his   
ignorance  he might solemnly assert that
 the reason we know is because we are   
lucky2 and he would be using the word   
just as sensibly as we use it6    ,if by
 luck we mean chance1 there is no such  
thing in this world4 ,chance  means     
chaos and the absence of law4 ,from the 
magnificent1 orderly  procession of a   
hundred million suns and their world    
systems that wheel  majestically through
 space down to the very atom1 with all  
of its  electrons1 the universe is a    
stupendous proclamation of the          
all-pervading presence of law4 ,it is a 
mighty panorama of cause and  effect4   
,there is no such thing as chance4      
,what then is good luck8 ,we know that  
people do receive benefits which  they  
apparently have not earned4 ,there      
simply cannot be a result without  a    
cause4 ,they have earned it in other    
lives when the conditions did not       
permit immediate harvesting of the      

results of the good forces generated    
and ,nature is paying the debt and      
making the balance of her books at a    
later period4 ,it may be in the case of 
one that some specific act is           
attracting its reward1 or it may be in  
the case of another that he is  nearing 
the point in evolution where he no      
longer desires things for  himself1 only
 to discover that nature fairly flings  
her treasures at his  feet4 ,he has put 
himself in harmony with evolutionary    
law--with the  divine plan1 and nature  
withholds nothing4    ,when we eliminate
 chance1 then1 we are forced to seek the
 cause of  unexplained good or bad      
fortune beyond the boundaries of this   
life  because there is nothing else we  
can do4 ,we have results to explain and 
we know they do not come from causes    
that belong to this life4 ,they must  of
 necessity arise from causes generated  
in a past life4    ,now the moment we   
get away from the narrow view that we   
began existence  when we were born1 all 

the mysteries about us disappear and we 
can fall  back on natural law and       
logically explain everything4 ,why does 
one  person begin life with a good mind 
while another is born with small  mental
 capacity8 ,because one worked hard at  
life's problems in past  incarnations   
while the other led a butterfly         
existence and merely amused  himself4   
,why does one move serenely through     
trying circumstances always  maintaining
 a cheerful view of life while another  
loses control of his  temper at the     
slightest annoyance and wears himself   
out with the  trifling vexations of     
existence8 ,only because one has for a  
long period  practiced self control     
while the other has never given a       
thought to the  matter4 ,why is one so  
thoughtful of others that he wins       
universal love  and admiration while    
another is so self centered that he     
makes no true  friends at all8 ,again   
past experience explains it4 ,the one   
has studied  the laws of destiny and    

lived by them while the other has not   
yet even  learned of their existence4   
,putting aside the old belief that the  
soul is created at birth1 and  keeping  
in mind the newer and scientific view   
that we have all lived  many lives      
before1 all the difficulties and        
perplexities at once  disappear4 ,we are
 no longer puzzled because we find in a 
man's life some  good fortune when he   
has apparently done nothing to deserve  
it1 for we  see that he must have set   
the forces in motion in a previous life 
which  now culminate in this result4 ,we
 are no longer mystified because        
apparent causeless misfortunes befall   
him for we know that in the nature  of  
things he did generate the causes in the
 past4 ,a single incarnation  has the   
same relation to the whole of the soul's
 evolution that a single  day has to one
 incarnation4 ,as the days are separated
 by the nights and  yet all the days are
 related by the acts which run through  
them1 so the  incarnations are separated

 by periods of rest in the heaven world 
and  yet all the incarnations are       
related by the thoughts and acts running
  through them4 ,what a man does in his 
youth affects his old age1 and  what we 
did in our last incarnation is affecting
 the present one4 ,the  one is no more  
remarkable than the other4 ,as we mould 
old age by youth  so we are shaping the 
coming incarnation by this one4 ,before 
we shall be  able to see the utter      
reasonableness of the truth that what we
 are now  is the result of our past we  
must have a clear understanding of the  
relationship between the soul and the   
body4 ,the physical body in each        
incarnation is the material expression  
of the soul1 of its moral power  or     
weakness1 of its wisdom or ignorance1 of
 its purity or its grossness1  just as  
one's face is1 at each moment the       
expression of one's thought  and emotion
 in physical matter4 ,every change of   
consciousness registers  itself in      
matter4 ,a man has emotions4 ,he feels a

 thrill of joy and his  face proclaims  
the fact4 ,he becomes angry1 and the    
change from joy to  anger is registered 
in physical matter so that all who see  
his face are  aware of the change in his
 consciousness1 which they cannot see4  
,these  are passing changes like        
sunshine and shadow and they are obvious
 to  all4 ,but we know that as the years
 pass the constant influence of         
consciousness moulds even physical      
matter into permanent form4 ,a soul of  
sunny disposition finally comes to have 
benevolent features while one of  morose
 tendency as certainly has a face of    
settled gloom4 ,nobody can  contact the 
soul of another with any physical sense 
we possess yet  nobody has the slightest
 doubt of his ability to distinguish    
between a  sunny1 peaceful soul and a   
soul that is not in harmony with life4  
,we  know the difference only because   
consciousness moulds matter4 ,but this  
is merely the surface indication4       
,consciousness is continually           

influencing matter and the major part of
 its work is not visible to us4  ,what  
the consciousness is1 the body becomes4 
,whether we are now  brilliant or       
stupid1 comely or deformed1 is the      
result of the activities  of            
consciousness1 and the very grain of the
 flesh and the shape of the  physical   
body are the registrations in matter of 
what we1 the soul1  thought and did in  
the past4    ,consider a specific thing 
like deformity and we shall begin to see
 just  why and how it may have come     
about4 ,if in a past life a person was  
guilty of deliberate cruelty to another1
 and on account of it suffered  great   
mental and emotional distress afterward1
 it would be no remarkable  thing if the
 mental images of the injuries inflicted
 on his victim are  reproduced in       
himself4 ,in idiocy we have apparently  
merely a distorted  brain so that the   
consciousness cannot function through   
it4 ,might not  that distortion of the  
physical brain easily be the result of  

violent  reaction from cruelties in a   
past life8 ,the consciousness that can  
be  guilty of cruelty is seeing things  
crooked--out of proportion4 ,otherwise  
it could not be cruel4 ,this distortion 
in consciousness must register a        
corresponding distortion in matter1 for 
the body is the faithful and  accurate  
reflection of that consciousness4 ,it is
 just because the body  is the true and 
exact expression of the consciousness in
 physical matter  that the palmist and  
phrenologist can sometimes give us such 
remarkable  delineations of character4  
,the record is there in hand and head   
for  those who can read it4    ,this    
broader outlook on the life journey1    
extending over a very long  series of   
incarnations1 gives us a wholly         
different view of the  difficulties with
 which we have to contend and of the    
limitations which  afflict us4 ,it at   
once shows us that in the midst of      
apparent injustice  there is really     
nothing but perfect justice for         

everybody2 that all good  fortune has   
been earned2 that all bad fortune is    
deserved1 and that each  of us is1      
mentally and morally1 what he has made  
himself4 ,masefield put  it well when he
 wrote3          ,all that ,i rightly   
think or do1            ,or make or     
spoil or bless or blast1        ,is     
curse or blessing justly due            
,for sloth or effort in the past4       
,my life's a statement of the sum       
,of vice indulged or overcome4          
,and as ,i journey on the roads         
,i shall be helped and healed and       
blessed4        ,dear words shall cheer1
 and be as goads            ,to urge to 
heights as yet unguessed4        ,my    
road shall be the road ,i made4         
,all that ,i gave shall be repaid4      
,have we ever heard of a plan more just1
 of a truth more inspiring8 ,it is      
surely a satisfying thought that every  
effort shall give increased power  of   
intellect2 that all kindly thought of   
others is a shield for our own          

protection in time of need2 that every  
impulse of affection shall ripen  into  
the love of comrades2 that all noble    
thinking builds heroic  character1 with 
which we shall return1 in some future   
time1 to play to a  still noble part in 
the world of men4      ,,footnotes3     
,m ,proverbs1 ,,xxvi1 #bg4              
,,chapter ,,xv4    ,,superphysical      
,,evolution      ,if we accept the idea 
of evolution at all we cannot escape the
  conclusion that there is superphysical
 evolution4 ,the belief that man is  the
 highest intelligence in the universe1  
except ,god himself1 would be  utterly  
inconsistent with evolutionary facts and
 principles4 ,evolution  is a continuous
 unfolding from within1 and it is only  
the limitation of  our senses that leads
 us to set limitations to it4 ,the one  
great life of  the universe expresses   
itself in myriad forms and at           
innumerable levels  of development4 ,one
 of those levels is humanity4 ,but as   
certainly as our  consciousness has     

evolved to its present stage it shall go
 on to higher  ones4    ,orderly        
gradation is clearly nature's method of 
expression4 ,a  continuous1 unbroken    
line of life reaches downward from man4 
,its  successive stages are seen in the 
animals1 the reptiles1 the insects and  
the microbes4 ,even the great kingdoms  
into which the biologist divides  life  
fade into each other almost             
imperceptibly and it becomes difficult  
to say where the vegetable kingdom stops
 and the animal kingdom begins4  ,just  
as that continuous chain of life runs   
downward from man it must  also rise    
above him until it merges in the        
,supreme ,being4 ,there must            
necessarily be the higher as well as the
 lower products of evolution4  ,man is  
merely one link in the evolutionary     
chain4 ,the human level is the  point   
where consciousness has become          
completely individualized and is        
capable of turning back upon itself and 
studying its own inner  processes4      

,the thought of ,occidental civilization
 has been sadly fettered with           
materialism4 ,it has scarcely dared to  
think beyond that which could be        
grasped with the hands4 ,the physical   
senses were its outposts of             
investigation4 ,what could not be seen  
or heard or felt had no existence  for  
it4 ,modern science explored the        
material universe and perfected its     
methods until the vast panorama of      
worlds could be intimately studied1  and
 its illimitable scope and colossal     
grandeur be somewhat  comprehended4 ,but
 there was no study of life comparable  
to the vast  stretch of worlds2 for     
material science had made the remarkable
 blunder  of assuming that the last word
 on the nature of matter had been said4 
,then came the startling discoveries    
that revolutionized the accepted  views 
of matter1 that proved that the         
supposedly indivisible atom was a       
miniature universe1 a tiny cosmos of    
force4 ,the old theories about  matter  

had to be thrown aside4 ,they were as   
much out of date as the  belief that the
 earth is flat4 ,stripped of technical  
terms of expression  the revised view of
 matter is1 substantially1 that it is   
the lowest  expression of life2 and now 
modern science is turning tardy         
attention to  a study of the life side  
of the universe4 ,the moment that is    
done the  sense of consistency and the  
law of correspondence compel us to      
postulate a gradation of intelligences  
rising above man as man does  above the 
insects4    ,the scientific mind        
instantly grasps the inherent           
reasonableness of the  existence of     
superphysical beings4 ,writing on the   
subject of energy1  ,nicola ,tesla says3
          ,we can conceive of organized 
beings living without        nourishment
 and deriving all the energy they need  
for the        performance of their life
 functions from the ambient             
medium4999999 ,there may be 999999      
individualized material systems         

of beings1 perhaps of gaseous           
constitution1 or composed of            
substance still more tenuous4 ,in view  
of this        possibility--nay1        
probability--we cannot apodictically    
deny        the existence of organized  
beings on a planet merely        because
 the conditions on the same are         
unsuitable for the        existence of  
life as we conceive it4 ,we cannot even1
 with        positive assurance1 assert 
that some of them might not be          
present here in this our world1 in the  
very midst of us1        for their      
constitution and life manifestation may 
be such        that we are unable to    
perceive them4,n    ,alfred ,russell    
,wallace1 who was called the grand old  
man of science1  wrote in one of his    
latest books3          ,i think we have 
got to recognize that between man and   
the        ultimate ,god there is an    
almost infinite multitude of            
beings working in the universe at large1
 at tasks as        definite and        

important as any we have to perform on  
earth4        ,i imagine that the       
universe is peopled with spirits--that  
is1 with intelligent beings with powers 
and duties akin to        our own1 but  
vaster4 ,i think there is a gradual     
ascent from        man upward and       
onward4    ,while the scientist1 still  
lacking the absolutely conclusive       
evidence1  goes only to the point of    
asserting that it is reasonable and     
probable  that supermen exist1 the      
occultist asserts it as a fact within   
his  personal knowledge4,o ,so we have  
the direct testimony of the  occultists1
 the endorsement of the scientists as to
 its probability1  and1 perhaps the most
 important of all1 the inherent         
reasonableness of  the idea4    ,the    
relationship of the supermen1 or great  
spiritual hierarchy1 to the  human race 
is that of teachers1 guardians and      
directors4 ,they  superintend human     
evolution4 ,but this does not mean in   
the very least  the relationship that is

 expressed in the term spirit guides so 
frequently use by the spiritualist4     
,that is a totally different thing4     
,they seem to imply that the spirit     
guide gives direct instructions or      
orders to the person known as a medium4 
,if we were all thus controlled  and    
directed what would become of free will8
 ,evolution can proceed only  if we use 
our initiative in the affairs of life4  
,if we were to be  directed by the      
wisdom and will of others we would not  
evolve at all4 ,we  would be merely     
automata directed by others1 and no     
matter how great  they were we could    
never thus develop our judgment and     
self-reliance4 ,it  is not thus that the
 great spiritual hierarchy directs human
 evolution4  ,it is1 in part1 by working
 with mankind en masse and bringing     
mental and  moral forces to play upon   
them1 thus stimulating latent spiritual 
forces  from within4 ,it is also by     
directly1 or indirectly placing ideals  
instead of commands before the race4 ,in

 another direction it is actual         
superintendence1 or administration1 or  
teaching1 in a way that does not        
interfere with one's initiative or will4
 ,if the soul is to evolve it  must have
 liberty--even the freedom to make      
mistakes4    ,it is sometimes asked why1
 if the supermen exist1 those who are in
  incarnation do not come out into the  
world and give us ocular evidence  of   
the fact4 ,it is pointed out that they  
could speedily convince the  world by a 
display of superphysical force4 ,but    
they are probably not in  the least     
interested in convincing anybody of     
their existence4 ,they  are interested  
in raising the general level of         
morality1 of course1  but such an       
exhibition would not make people morally
 better4 ,the work of  the supermen can 
best be done from higher planes than the
 physical4 ,as  for the very small      
number of the supermen who take physical
 bodies to  better do their special     
work1 they can best accomplish it from  

secluded  places2 and if they sometimes 
have reason to come out into the        
seething  vibrations of our modern      
civilization it is easy to understand   
that they  would not be conspicuously   
different from other men1 to the        
ordinary  observer4    ,it is from the  
spiritual hierarchy that come all the   
religions of the  world4 ,there the     
question may arise1 ,then why do they   
differ so  greatly8 ,because the peoples
 to whom they are given differ greatly4 
,the  difference of temperament and     
viewpoint between the ,orient and the   
,occident is enormous4 ,we are evolving 
along the outer1 the objective1  and our
 civilization represents the material   
conquest of nature4 ,they  are evolving 
the inner1 the subjective4 ,in the      
,orient the common trend  of            
conversation is philosophical1 just as  
in the ,occident it is  commercial4     
,such different types of mind require   
somewhat different  statements of       
ethics1 but the fundamental principles  

of all religions  are identical4        
,when a new era in human evolution      
begins a ,world ,teacher comes into     
voluntary incarnation and founds a      
religion that is suited to the          
requirements of the new era4 ,humanity  
is never left to grope along  alone4    
,all that it can comprehend and utilize 
is taught it in the  various religions4 
,world ,teachers1 the ,christs and      
saviours of the race1  have been        
appearing at propitious times since     
humanity began existence4    ,most      
readers will probably agree that a      
,world ,teacher known as the  ,christ   
did come and found a religion nearly two
 thousand years ago4 ,why  do they think
 so8 ,they reply that ,god so loved the 
world that he sent  his ,son1 the       
,christ1 to bring it light and life4 ,if
 that is true how can  we avoid the     
conclusion that ,he1 or his             
predecessors1 must have come  many a    
time before8 ,the belief that ,he came  
but once is consistent only  with the   

erroneous notion that ,genesis is       
history instead of allegory1  and that  
the earth is about six thousand years   
old6 ,science has not  determined its   
age but we know that it is very old1    
indeed4 ,many eminent  scientists have  
made rough estimates1 taking into       
consideration all that  we have learned 
from astronomy1 geology and archeology4 
,phillips1 the  geologist1 basing his   
calculations upon the time required for 
the  depositions of the stratified      
rocks1 put the minimum age at           
thirty-eight  million years and the     
maximum age at ninety-six million years4
 ,sir  ,george ,darwin1 basing his      
calculation wholly upon astronomical    
data1  puts the earth's age at a minimum
 of fifty-six million years4 ,joly      
arrived at his estimate by a calculation
 of the time required to produce  the   
sodium content of the ocean1 and        
concluded that the age of the earth  is 
between eighty million and one hundred  
million years4 ,sollas is said  to have 

made careful study of the matter and he 
finds the minimum to be  eighty million1
 and the maximum age to be one hundred  
and fifty million  years4 ,but perhaps  
the most exhaustive study of the matter1
 and that  made by the use of the later 
scientific knowledge1 was by ,bosler1 of
 the  ,french scientists4 ,he bases his 
calculations upon the radio-activity of 
rocks and arrives at a minimum earth age
 of seven hundred and ten  millions of  
years4 ,thus it will be observed that as
 our knowledge grows  the estimated age 
of the earth increases4    ,in the face 
of such facts what becomes of the       
assertion that ,god so  loved the world 
that he sent ,his ,son to help ignorant 
humanity about two  thousand years      
ago--but never before8 ,what about the  
hundreds of  millions of human beings   
who lived and died before that time8    
,did ,he  care nothing for them8 ,did   
,he give his attention to humanity for a
  period of only two thousand years and 
neglect it for millions of years8  ,two 

thousand years1 compared to the age of  
the earth1 is less than an  hour in the 
ordinary life of a man4 ,does anybody   
believe that ,god1 in  his great        
compassion1 sent just one ,world        
,teacher for that brief period8  ,what  
would we say of a father who gave one   
hour of his whole life to his  child and
 neglected him absolutely before and    
after that8 ,countless  millions of the 
people who lived and died prior to the  
coming of the  ,christ were very much   
like ourselves4 ,they belonged to       
ancient  civilizations that often       
surpassed our own in many desirable     
characteristics4 ,they were educated and
 cultured in their time and  fashion4   
,they were fathers and sons and mothers 
and daughters and  husbands and wives1  
with the same kind of heart ties that we
 have4 ,what  of them8 ,were they       
permitted to grope in the moral         
wilderness without a  ,teacher or a ray 
of light8 ,of course the idea is        
preposterous4 ,if ,god so  loved the    

world that ,he sent his ,son two        
thousand years ago ,he sent ,him1  or   
some predecessor1 very many times       
before4 ,by the same token ,he will     
come again4 ,the only logical escape    
from such a conclusion is in the        
materialist's belief that ,he never came
 at all4    ,all religions crystalize1  
become materialized1 and lose their     
spiritual  significance4 ,that is       
precisely what has happened to the      
various great  religions of the modern  
world1 including ,christianity4 ,it is  
no longer  the dynamic thing in the     
lives of the people it once was4 ,that's
 why a  world war was possible4 ,the    
fault is not with the teachings of the  
,christ4 ,the trouble is that the world 
has not lived by them4 ,we need a       
restatement of the old teachings in the 
terms of modern life that shall  again  
make it a living force in the lives of  
men4 ,it is when the ,world  ,teacher is
 most needed that he comes2 and when has
 the need been greater  than now8 ,the  

world war has demonstrated the failure  
of so-called  ,christian civilization4  
,we have seen the highest type of that  
civilization revert to the law of the   
jungle1 deliberately disregard  the     
usages of civilized warfare1 and commit 
atrocities that would shame  barbarians4
 ,we surely need no further proof that  
the ,christian religion  has not        
accomplished all that the spiritual     
hierarchy had a right to  hope for1 and 
that the coming of the ,christ again is 
a necessity4    ,but the spiritual      
hierarchy sends its great ambassadors   
only when the  time is propitious1 only 
when the world is ready to listen4      
,perhaps such  an event can never be    
predicted in terms of time1 but only in 
those of  conditions4 ,when the strength
 of the nations is spent1 when the slain
  totals appalling numbers1 when few    
homes of high or low degree are  without
 their terrible sacrifice1 when the     
heart of the race is filled  with       
anguish1 when famine and disease have   

done their awful work1 and  humanity    
fully realizes what the reaction from   
greed1 lust1 cruelty and  revenge       
actually means1 the world will be ready 
to listen as it never  listened before1 
and after that we may reasonably expect 
the ,christ to  again appear to         
re-proclaim the ancient truth in terms  
of modern life4    ,the supermen are not
 myths nor figments of imagination4     
,they are as  natural and comprehensive 
as human beings4 ,in the regular order  
of  evolution we shall reach their level
 and join their ranks while younger     
humanities shall attain our present     
estate4 ,as the supermen rose we1  too1 
shall rise4 ,our past has been          
evolution's night4 ,our present is its  
dawn4 ,our future shall be its perfect  
day4 ,think of that night from  which we
 have emerged--a chaos of contending    
forces1 a world in which  might was the 
measure of right1 a civilization of     
scepter and sword1 of  baron and serf1  
of master and slave4 ,that1 we have left

 behind us4  ,think of the grey dawn    
that our civilization has reached--the  
dawn of a  public conscience1 of        
individual liberty1 of collective       
welfare1 of the  sacredness of life1 but
 with armed force still dominant1 with  
war the  arbiter of national destiny1   
with industrial slavery still lingering1
  with conflict between the higher      
aspirations and the lower desires still 
raging--a world of selfishness masked by
 civilized usage1 a world of  veneered  
cruelty and refined brutality4 ,in all  
that we now live4 ,but  think of the    
coming results of evolution6--an era in 
which love shall  replace force1 when   
saber and cannon shall be unknown1 when 
selfish  desires shall be transmuted    
into noble service1 when1 finally1 we   
shall  finish the painful period of     
human evolution and join the spiritual  
hierarchy to direct the faltering steps 
of a younger race4      ,,footnotes3    
,n ,the ,conservation of ,energy1       
,nicola ,tesla1 ,century ,magazine1     

,june  #aijj4    ,o ,an ,outline of     
,theosophy1 ,c4 ,w4 ,leadbeater1 pp4    
#f-ab4          ,transcriber's ,note3   
,the following corrections were made3   
p4 #f3 pretention to pretension 7no     
pretension is made7    p4 #ab3 ,an to   
,in 7,in another aspect it is a         
religion47    p4 #ab3 thesosophy to     
theosophy 7,while theosophy is          
distinctly a science7    p4 #ac3        
discusison to discussion 7,a detailed   
discussion of such methods7    p4 #af3  
nevertheelss to nevertheless 7is        
nevertheless just that  relationship7   
p4 #ag3 explicilt to explicit 7is       
certainly very explicit7    p4 #ai3     
period to semi-colon 7who's true to     
man27    p4 #cd3 communciating to       
communicating 7dead man who is          
communicating87    p4 #ce3 extra 'the'  
removed 7more convincing than the       
evidence7    p4 #df-dg3 envelopes to    
envelops 7because it envelops it7    p4 
#fc3 oftens to often 7often requires    
death7    p4 #gd3 repreduces to         

reproduces 7exactly reproduces emotion7 
p4 #hb3 consciouness to consciousness   
7finally loses consciousness7    p4 #hc3
 of to or 7or by cleverly combining7    
p4 #hf3 strengthend to strengthened     
7strengthened and vivified7    p4 #hi3  
slight to sight 7has not lost sight of  
us7    p4 #ia3 communciate to           
communicate 7had to communicate with    
him7    p4 #ia3 communcation to         
communication 7subject of communication7
    p4 #ib3 communciate to communicate  
7desires to communicate7    p4 #ic3     
influnces to influences 7sensitive to   
psychic influences7    p4 #id3 persist  
to persists 7who persists in occupying7 
p4 #ie3 confidenty to confidently 7will 
confidently assert himself7    p4 #if3  
close quote added 7,what can ,i do87    
p4 #ajc3 missing comma added 7,while we 
do not yet know a great deal about      
life1 science7    p4 #aje3 perect to    
perfect 7perfect agreement7    p4 #aji3 
extra 'and' removed 7new and            
undeveloped7    p4 #aae3 thoughtul to   

thoughtful 7a thoughtful matron7    p4  
#aag3 methematical to mathematical 7a   
mathematical problem7    p4 #abj3 ,if to
 ,it 7,it often puzzles7    p4 #aba3    
from to form 7highest possible form7    
p4 #abd3 missing apostrophe added 7of   
nations' condemned prisoners7    p4     
#abh3 extra 'to' removed 7civilization  
today could arise7    p4 #abi3 two      
erroneously reversed lines corrected    
7consciousness4 ,the  young quails of   
this season come _/ they are attached to
 the same  group-soul1 or source of7    
p4 #ach3 crminal to criminal 7a noted   
criminal7    p4 #adb3 possesing to      
possessing 7we find others possessing7  
p4 #adf3 blockquote formatted to match  
others in text    p4 #aeh3 meed to need 
7no need of praise7    p4 #aha3         
incalcuable to incalculable 7is         
incalculable and altogether  beyond7    
p4 #ahe3 responsibilty to responsibility
 7personal responsibility and           
therefore7    p4 #aia3 hapen to happen  
7may happen to fall7    p4 #aia-aib3    

extinquished to extinguished 7,before   
the fire could be  extinguished7    p4  
#aic3 beneficient to beneficent         
7beneficent working of the law7    p4   
#aic3 phsical to physical 7from the     
physical plane7    p4 #aie3 mistate to  
misstate 7misstate facts7    p4 #aif3   
atain to attain 7and surely attain7     
p4 #bjc3 idocy to idiocy 7,in idiocy we 
have7    p4 #bjd3 ,maesfield to         
,masefield 7,masefield put it well7     
p4 #bjd3 blest to blessed 7,i shall be  
helped and healed and blessed47    p4   
#bjg3 appodictically to apodictically   
7cannot apodictically deny7    p4 #bji3 
superman to supermen 7small number of   
the supermen7    p4 #bji3 it to is 7it  
is easy to understand7    p4 #baa3      
calcualations to calculations 7,he bases
 his calculations upon7    p4 #bab3     
chrystalize to crystalize 7,all         
religions crystalize7    p4 #bac3       
embassadors to ambassadors 7sends its   
great ambassadors7    ,irregularities in
 hyphenation 7e4g4 wide-spread vs4      

widespread1  class-room vs4 classroom7  
and variant spellings 7e4g4 cigaret7    
have not  been corrected4