A
SERIES OF
Lessons in Gnani
Yoga
THE
NINTH LESSON METEMPSYCHOSIS
As we have said in our last
lesson, while the Yogi Teachings
throw an important light upon the
Western theory of Evolution, still
there is a vital difference
between the Western scientific
teachings on the subject and the
Eastern theories and teachings.
The Western idea is that the
process is a mechanical, material
one, and that "mind" is a
"by-product" of Matter in its
evolution. But the Eastern
Teachings hold that Mind is under,
back of, and antecedent to all the
work of Evolution, and that Matter
is a "by-product" of Mind, rather
than the reverse.
The Eastern Teachings hold that
Evolution is caused by Mind
striving, struggling, and pressing
forward toward fuller and fuller
expression, using Matter as a
material, and yet always
struggling to free itself from the
confining and retarding influence
of the latter. The struggle
results in an Unfoldment, causing
sheath after sheath of the
confining material bonds to be
thrown off and discarded, as the
Spirit presses upon the Mind, and
the Mind moulds and shapes the
Matter. Evolution is but the
process of birth of the
Individualized Spirit, from the
web of Matter in which it has been
confined. And the pains and
struggles are but incidents of the
spiritual parturition.
In this and following lessons we
shall consider the "Spiritual
Evolution, of the race--that is
the Unfoldment of Individualized
Spirit--just as we did the subject
Physical Evolution in the last two
lessons.
We have seen that preceding
Spiritual Evolution, there was a
Spiritual Involution. The Yogi
Philosophy holds that in the
Beginning, the Absolute meditated
upon the subject of Creation, and
formed a Mental Image, or
Thought-Form, of an Universal
Mind--that is, of an Universal
Principle of Mind. This Universal
Principle of Mind is the Great
Ocean of "Mind-Stuff" from which
all the phenomenal Universe is
evolved. From this Universal
Principle of Mind, proceeded the
Universal Principle of Force or
Energy. And from the latter,
proceeded the Universal Principle
of Matter.
The Universal Principle of Mind
was bound by Laws imposed upon it
by the mental-conception of the
Absolute--the Cosmic Laws of
Nature. And these laws were the
compelling causes of the Great
Involution. For before Evolution
was possible, Involution was
necessary. We have explained that
the word "involve" means "to wrap
up; to cover; to hide, etc."
Before a thing can be "evolved,"
that is "unfolded," it must first
be "involved," that is "wrapped
up." A thing must be _put in_,
before it may be taken out.
Following the laws of Involution
imposed upon it, the Universal
Mental Principle involved itself
in the Universal Energy Principle;
and then in obedience to the same
laws, the latter involved itself
in the Universal Material
Principle. Each stage of
Involution, or _wrapping-up_,
created for itself (out of the
higher principle which in being
involved) the wrapper or sheath
which is to be used to wrap-up the
higher principle. And the higher
forms of the Material Principle
formed sheaths of lower forms,
until forms of Matter were
produced far more gross than any
known to us now, for they have
disappeared in the Evolutionary
ascent. Down, down, down went the
process of Involution, until the
lowest point was reached. Then
ensued a moment's pause, preceding
the beginning of the Evolutionary
Unfoldment.
Then began the Great Evolution.
But, as we have told you, the
Upward movement was distinguished
by the "Tendency toward
Individualization." That is, while
the Involuntary Process was
accomplished by Principles as
Principles, the Upward Movement
was begun by a tendency toward
"splitting up," and the creation
of "individual forms," and the
effort to perfect them and build
upon them higher and still higher
succeeding forms, until a stage
was reached in which the Temple of
the Spirit was worthy of being
occupied by Man, the
self-conscious expression of the
Spirit. For the coming of Man was
the first step of a higher form of
Evolution--the Spiritual
Evolution. Up to this time there
had been simply an Evolution of
Bodies, but now there came the
Evolution of Souls.
And this Evolution of Souls
becomes possible only by the
process of Metempsychosis
(pronounced _me-temp-si-ko-sis_)
which is more commonly known as
Reincarnation, or Re-embodiment.
It becomes necessary at this point
to call your attention to the
general subject of Metempsychosis,
for the reason that the public
mind is most confused regarding
this important subject. It has the
most vague ideas regarding the
true teachings, and has somehow
acquired the impression that the
teachings are that human souls are
re-born into the bodies of dogs,
and other animals. The wildest
ideas on this subject are held by
some people. And, not only is this
so, but even a number of those who
hold to the doctrine of
Reincarnation, in some of its
forms, hold that their individual
souls were once the individual
souls of animals, from which state
they have evolved to the present
condition. This last is a
perversion of the highest Yogi
Teachings, and we trust to make
same plain in these lessons. But,
first we must take a look at the
general subject of Metempsychosis,
that we may see the important part
it has played in the field of
human thought and belief.
While to many the idea of
Metempsychosis may seem new and
unfamiliar, still it is one of the
oldest conceptions of the race,
and in ages past was the accepted
belief of the whole of the
civilized race of man of the
period. And even today, it is
accepted as Truth by the majority
of the race
The almost universal acceptance of
the idea by the East with its
teeming life, counterbalances its
comparative non-reception by the
Western people of the day. From
the early days of written or
legendary history, Metempsychosis
has been the accepted belief of
many of the most intelligent of
the race. It is found underlying
the magnificent civilization of
ancient Egypt, and from thence it
traveled to the Western world
being held as the highest truth by
such teachers as Pythagoras,
Empedocles, Plato, Virgil and
Ovid. Plato's Dialogues are full
of this teaching. The Hindus have
always held to it. The Persians,
inspired by their learned Magi,
accepted it implicitly. The
ancient Druids, and Priests of
Gaul, as well as the ancient
inhabitants of Germany, held to
it. Traces of it may be found in
the remains of the Aztec, Peruvian
and Mexican civilizations.
The Eleusinian Mysteries of
Greece, the Roman Mysteries, and
the Inner Doctrines of the Cabbala
of the Hebrews all taught the
Truths of Metempsychosis. The
early Christian Fathers; the
Gnostic and Manichaeans and other
sects of the Early Christian
people, all held to the doctrine.
The modern German philosophers
have treated it with the greatest
respect, if indeed they did not at
least partially accept it. Many
modern writers have considered it
gravely, and with respect. The
following quotations will give an
idea of "how the wind is blowing"
in the West:
"Of all the theories respecting
the origin of the soul,
Metempsychosis seems to me the
most plausible and therefore the
one most likely to throw light on
the question of a life to
come."--_Frederick H. Hedge._
"It would be curious if we should
find science and philosophy taking
up again the old theory of
metempsychosis, remodelling' it to
suit our present modes of
religious and scientific thought,
and launching it again on the wide
ocean of human belief. But
stranger things have happened in
the history of human
opinions."--James Freeman Clarke.
"If we could legitimately
determine any question of belief
by the number of its adherents,
the ---- would apply to
metempsychosis more fitly than to
any other. I think it is quite as
likely to be revived and to come
to the front as any rival
theory."--_Prof. Wm. Knight_.
"It seems to me, a firm and
well-grounded faith in the
doctrine of Christian
metempsychosis might help to
regenerate the world. For it would
be a faith not hedged around with
many of the difficulties and
objections which beset other forms
of doctrine, and it offers
distinct and pungent motives for
trying to lead a more Christian
life, and for loving and helping
our brother-man."--_Prof. Francis
Bowen_.
"The doctrine of Metempsychosis
may almost claim to be a natural
or innate belief in the human
mind, if we may judge from its
wide diffusion among the nations
of the earth, and its prevalence
throughout the historical
ages."--_Prof. Francis Bowen_.
"When Christianity first swept
over Europe, the inner thought of
its leaders was deeply tinctured
with this truth. The Church tried
ineffectually to eradicate it, but
in various sects it kept sprouting
forth beyond the time of Erigina
and Bonaventura, its mediaeval
advocates. Every great intuitional
soul, as Paracelsus, Boehme, and
Swedenborg, has adhered to it. The
Italian luminaries, Giordano Bruno
and Campanella. embraced it. The
best of German philosophy is
enriched by it. In Schopenhauer,
Lessing, Hegel, Leibnitz, Herder,
and Fichte, the younger, it is
earnestly advocated. The
anthropological systems of Kant
and Schelling furnish points of
contact with it. The younger
Helmont, in _De Revolutione
Animarum_, adduces in two hundred
problems all the arguments which
may be urged in favor of the
return of souls into human bodies
according to Jewish ideas. Of
English thinkers, the Cambridge
Platonists defended it with much
learning and acuteness, most
conspicuously Henry More; and in
Cudsworth and Hume it ranks as the
most rational theory of
immortality.
Glanvil's Lux Orientalis devotes a
curious treatise to it. It
captivated the minds of Fourier
and Leroux. Andre Pezzani's book
on _The Plurality of the Soul's
Lives_ works out the system on the
Roman Catholic idea of
expiation."--E.D. WALKER, in
"_Re-Incarnation, a Study of
Forgotten Truth_."
And in the latter part of the
Nineteenth Century, and this the
early part of the Twentieth
Century, the general public has
been made familiar with the idea
of Metempsychosis, under the name
of Re-incarnation, by means of the
great volume of literature issued
by The Theosophical Society and
its allied following. No longer is
the thought a novelty to the
Western thinker, and many have
found within themselves a
corroborative sense of its truth.
In fact, to many the mere mention
of the idea has been sufficient to
awaken faint shadowy memories of
past lives, and, to such, many
heretofore unaccountable traits of
character, tastes, inclinations,
sympathies, dislikes, etc., have
been explained.
The Western world has been made
familiar with the idea of the
re-birth of souls into new bodies,
under the term of
"Re-incarnation," which means "a
re-entry into flesh," the word
"incarnate" being derived from the
words "_in_," and "_carnis_,"
meaning flesh--the English word
meaning "to clothe with flesh,"
etc. The word Metempsychosis,
which we use in this lesson, is
concerned rather with the "passage
of the soul" from one tenement to
another, the "fleshly" idea being
merely incidental.
The doctrine of Metempsychosis, or
Re-incarnation, together with its
accompanying doctrine, Karma, or
Spiritual Cause and Effect, is one
of the great foundation stones of
the Yogi Philosophy, as indeed it
is of the entire system of systems
of Oriental Philosophy and
Thought. Unless one understands
Metempsychosis he will never be
able to understand the Eastern
Teachings, for he will be without
the Key. You who have read the
_Bhagavad Gita_, that wonderful
Hindu Epic, will remember how the
thread of Re-Birth runs through it
all.
You remember the words of Krishna
to _Arjuna_: "As the soul, wearing
this material body, experienceth
the stages of infancy, youth,
manhood, and old age, even so
shall it, in due time, pass on to
another body, and in other
incarnations shall it again live,
and move and play its part."
"These bodies, which act as
enveloping coverings for the souls
occupying them, are but finite
things--things of the moment--and
not the Real Man at all. They
perish as all finite things
perish--let them perish." "As a
man throweth away his old
garments, replacing them with new
and brighter ones, even so the
Dweller of the body, having
quitted its old mortal frame,
entereth into others which are new
and freshly prepared for it.
Weapons pierce not the Real Man,
nor doth the fire burn him; the
water affecteth him not, nor the
wind drieth him nor bloweth him
away. For he is impregnable and
impervious to these things of the
world of change--he is eternal,
permanent, unchangeable, and
unalterable--Real."
This view of life gives to the one
who holds to it, an entirely
different mental attitude. He no
longer identifies himself with the
particular body that he may be
occupying, nor with any other body
for that matter. He learns to
regard his body just as he would a
garment which he is wearing,
useful to him for certain
purposes, but which will in time
be discarded and thrown aside for
a better one, and one better
adapted to his new requirements
and needs. So firmly is this idea
embedded in the consciousness of
the Hindus, that they will often
say "My body is tired," or "My
body is hungry," or "My body is
full of energy," rather than that
"I am" this or that thing. And
this consciousness, once attained,
gives to one a sense of strength,
security and power unknown to him
who regards his body as himself.
The first step for the student who
wishes to grasp the idea of
Metempsychosis, and who wishes to
awaken in his consciousness a
certainty of its truth, is to
familiarize himself with the idea
of his "I" being a thing
independent and a part from his
body, although using the latter as
an abiding place and a useful
shelter and instrument for the
time being.
Many writers on the subject of
Metempsychosis have devoted much
time, labor and argument to prove
the reasonableness of the doctrine
upon purely speculative,
philosophical, or metaphysical
grounds. And while we believe that
such efforts are praiseworthy for
the reason that many persons must
be first convinced in that way,
still we feel that one must really
feel the truth of the doctrine
from something within his own
consciousness, before he will
really believe it to be truth. One
may convince himself of the
logical necessity of the doctrine
of Metempsychosis, but at the same
time he may drop the matter with a
shrug of the shoulders and a
"still, who knows?" But when one
begins to feel within himself the
awakening consciousness of a
"something in the past," not to
speak of the flashes of memory,
and feeling of former acquaintance
with the subject, then, and then
only, does he begin to believe.
Many people have had "peculiar
experiences" that are accountable
only upon the hypothesis of
Metempsychosis. Who has not
experienced the consciousness of
having _felt the thing
before_--_having thought it some
time in the dim past? Who has not
witnessed new scenes that appear
old, very old? Who has not met
persons for the first time, whose
presence awakened memories of a
past lying far back in the misty
ages of long ago? Who has not been
seized at times with the
consciousness of a mighty
"oldness" of soul?
Who has not heard music, often
entirely new compositions, which
somehow awakens memories of
similar strains, scenes, places,
faces, voices, lands, associations
and events, sounding dimly on the
strings of memory as the breezes
of the harmony floats over them?
Who has not gazed at some old
painting, or piece of statuary,
with the sense of having seen it
all before? Who has not lived
through events, which brought with
them a certainty of being merely a
repetition of some shadowy
occurrences away back in lives
lived long ago? Who has not felt
the influence of the mountain, the
sea, the desert, coming to them
when they are far from such
scenes--coming so vividly as to
cause the actual scene of the
present to fade into comparative
unreality. Who has not had these
experiences--we ask_?
Writers, poets, and others who
carry messages to the world, have
testified to these things--and
nearly every man or woman who
hears the message recognizes it as
something having correspondence in
his or her own life. Sir Walter
Scott tells us in his diary: "I
cannot, I am sure, tell if it is
worth marking down, that
yesterday, at dinner time, I was
strangely haunted by what I would
call the sense of preexistence,
viz., a confused idea that nothing
that passed was said for the first
time; that the same topics had
been discussed and the same
persons had stated the same
opinions on them. The sensation
was so strong as to resemble what
is called the mirage in the desert
and a calenture on board ship."
The same writer, in one of his
novels, "Guy Mannering," makes one
of his characters say: "Why is it
that some scenes awaken thoughts
which belong as it were, to dreams
of early and shadowy
recollections, such as old Brahmin
moonshine would have ascribed to a
state of previous existence. How
often do we find ourselves in
society which we have never before
met, and yet feel impressed with a
mysterious and ill-defined
consciousness that neither the
scene nor the speakers nor the
subject are entirely new; nay,
feel as if we could anticipate
that part of the conversation
which has not yet taken place."
Bulwer speaks of "that strange
kind of inner and spiritual memory
which so often recalls to us
places and persons we have never
seen before, and which Platonists
would resolve to be the unquenched
consciousness of a former life."
And again, he says: "How strange
is it that at times a feeling
comes over us as we gaze upon
certain places, which associates
the scene either with some dim
remembered and dreamlike images of
the Past, or with a prophetic and
fearful omen of the Future. Every
one has known a similar strange
and indistinct feeling at certain
times and places, and with a
similar inability to trace the
cause." Poe has written these
words on the subject: "We walk
about, amid the destinies of our
world existence, accompanied by
dim but ever present memories of a
Destiny more vast--very distant in
the bygone time and infinitely
awful. We live out a youth
peculiarly haunted by such dreams,
yet never mistaking them for
dreams. As memories we know them.
During our youth the distinctness
is too clear to deceive us even
for a moment. But the doubt of
manhood dispels these feelings as
illusions."
Home relates an interesting
incident in his life, which had a
marked effect upon his beliefs,
thereafter. He relates that upon
an occasion when he visited a
strange house in London he was
shown into a room to wait. He
says: "On looking around, to my
astonishment everything appeared
perfectly familiar to me. I seemed
to recognize every object. I said
to myself, 'What is this? I have
never been here before, and yet I
have seen all this, and if so,
then there must be a very peculiar
knot in that shutter.'" He
proceeded to examine the shutter,
and much to his amazement the knot
was there.
We have recently heard of a
similar case, told by an old lady
who formerly lived in the far West
of the United States. She states
that upon one occasion a party was
wandering on the desert in her
part of the country, and found
themselves out of water. As that
part of the desert was unfamiliar
even to the guides, the prospect
for water looked very poor indeed.
After a fruitless search of
several hours, one of the party, a
perfect stranger to that part of
the country, suddenly pressed his
hand to his head, and acted in a
dazed manner, crying out "I know
that a water-hole is over to the
right--this way," and away he
started with the party after him.
After a half-hour's journey they
reached an old hidden water-hole
that was unknown even to the
oldest man in the party. The
stranger said that he did not
understand the matter, but that he
had somehow experienced a
sensation of _having been there
before_, and knowing just where
the water-hole was located. An old
Indian who was questioned about
the matter, afterward, stated that
the place had been well known to
his people who formerly travelled
much on that part of the desert;
and that they had legends relating
to the "hidden water-hole,"
running back for many generations.
In this case, it was remarked that
the water-hole was situated in
such a peculiar and unusual
manner, as to render it almost
undiscoverable even to people
familiar with the characteristics
of that part of the country. The
old lady who related the story,
had it direct from the lips of one
of the party, who regarded it as
"something queer," but who had
never even heard of
Metempsychosis.
A correspondent of an English
magazine writes as follows: "A
gentleman of high intellectual
attainments, now deceased, once
told me that he had dreamed of
being in a strange city, so
vividly that he remembered the
streets, houses and public
buildings as distinctly as those
of any place he ever visited. A
few weeks later he was induced to
visit a panorama in Leicester
Square, when he was startled by
seeing the city of which he had
dreamed. The likeness was perfect,
except that one additional church
appeared in the picture. He was so
struck by the circumstance that he
spoke to the exhibitor, assuming
for the purpose the air of a
traveller acquainted with the
place, when he was informed that
the church was a recent erection."
The fact of the addition of the
church, seems to place the
incident within the rule of
awakened memories of scenes known
in a past life, for clairvoyance,
astral travel, etc., would show
the scene as it was at the time of
the dream, not as it had been
years before.
Charles Dickens mentions a
remarkable impression in his work
"Pictures from Italy." "In the
foreground was a group of silent
peasant girls, leaning over the
parapet of the little bridge,
looking now up at the sky, now
down into the water; in the
distance a deep dell; the shadow
of an approaching night on
everything. If I had been murdered
there in some former life I could
not have seemed to remember the
place more thoroughly, or with
more emphatic chilling of the
blood; and the real remembrance of
it acquired in that minute is so
strengthened by the imaginary
recollection that I hardly think I
could forget it."
We have recently met two people in
America who had very vivid
memories of incidents in their
past life. One of these, a lady,
has a perfect horror of large
bodies of water, such as the Great
Lakes, or the Ocean, although she
was born and has lived the greater
part of her life inland, far
removed from any great body of
water, She has a distinct
recollection of falling from a
large canoe-shape vessel, of
peculiar lines, and drowning. She
was quite overcome upon her first
visit to the Field Museum in
Chicago, where there were
exhibited a number of models of
queer vessels used by primitive
people. She pointed out one
similar in shape, and lines, to
the one she remembers as having
fallen from in some past life.
The second case mentioned is that
of a married couple who met each
other in a country foreign to
both, on their travels. They fell
in love with each other, and both
have felt that their marriage was
a reunion rather than a new
attachment. The husband one day
shortly after their marriage told
his wife in a rather shamed-faced
way that he had occasional flashes
of memory of having held in his
arms, in the dim past, a woman
whose face he could not recall,
but who wore a strange necklace,
he describing the details of the
latter. The wife said nothing, but
after her husband had left for his
office, she went to the attic and
unpacked an old trunk containing
some odds and ends, relics,
heirlooms, etc., and drew from it
an old necklace of peculiar
pattern that her grandfather had
brought back from India, where he
had lived in his younger days, and
which had been in the family ever
since. She laid the necklace on
the table, so that her husband
would see it upon his return. The
moment his eyes fell upon it, he
turned white as death, and gasped
"My God! _that's the necklace!_"
A writer in a Western journal
gives the following story of a
Southern woman. "When I was in
Heidelberg, Germany, attending a
convention of Mystics, in company
with some friends I paid my first
visit to the ruined Heidelberg
Castle. As I approached it I was
impressed with the existence of a
peculiar room in an inaccessible
portion of the building. A paper
and pencil were provided me, and I
drew a diagram of the room even to
its peculiar floor. My diagram and
description were perfect, when we
afterwards visited the room. In
some way, not yet clear to me, I
have been connected with that
apartment. Still another
impression came to me with regard
to a book, which I was made to
feel was in the old library of the
Heidelberg University. I not only
knew what the book was, but even
felt that a certain name of an old
German professor would be found
written in it. Communicating this
feeling to one of the Mystics at
the convention, a search was made
for the volume, but it was not
found. Still the impression clung
to me, and another effort was made
to find the book; this time we
were rewarded for our pains. Sure
enough, there on the margin of one
of the leaves was the very name I
had been given in such a strange
manner. Other things at the same
time went to convince me that I
was in possession of the soul of a
person who had known Heidelberg
two or three centuries ago."
A contributor to an old magazine
relates, among other instances,
the following regarding a friend
who remembers having died in India
during the youth of some former
life. He states: "He sees the
bronzed attendants gathered about
his cradle in their white dresses:
they are fanning him. And as they
gaze he passes into
unconsciousness. Much of his
description concerned points of
which he knew nothing from any
other source, but all was true to
the life, and enabled me to fix on
India as the scene which he
recalled."
While comparatively few among the
Western races are able to remember
more than fragments of their past
lives, in India it is quite common
for a man well developed
spiritually to clearly remember
the incidents and details of
former incarnations, and the
evidence of the awakening of such
power causes little more than
passing interest among his people.
There is, as we shall see later, a
movement toward conscious
Metempsychosis, and many of the
race are just moving on to that
plane. In India the highly
developed individuals grow into a
clear recollection of their past
lives when they reach the age of
puberty, and when their brains are
developed sufficiently to grasp
the knowledge locked up in the
depths of the soul. In the
meantime the individual's memory
of the past is locked away in the
recesses of his mind, just as are
many facts and incidents of his
present life so locked away, to be
remembered only when some one
mentions the subject, or some
circumstance serves to supply the
associative link to the apparently
forgotten matter.
Regarding the faculty of memory in
our present lives, we would quote
the following from the pen of
Prof. William Knight, printed in
the Fortnightly Review. He says:
"Memory of the details of the past
is absolutely impossible. The
power of the conservative faculty,
though relatively great, is
extremely limited. We forget the
larger portion of experience soon
after we have passed through it,
and we should be able to recall
the particulars of our past years,
filling all the missing links of
consciousness since we entered on
the present life, before we were
in a position to remember our
ante-natal experience. Birth must
necessarily be preceded by
crossing the river of oblivion,
while the capacity for fresh
acquisition survives, and the
garnered wealth of old experience
determines the amount and
character of the new."
Another startling evidence of the
proof of Metempsychosis is
afforded us in the cases of
"infant prodigies," etc., which
defy any other explanation. Take
the cases of the manifestation of
musical talent in certain children
at an early age, for instance.
Take the case of Mozart who at the
age of four was able to not only
perform difficult pieces on the
piano, but actually composed
original works of merit. Not only
did he manifest the highest
faculty of sound and note, but
also an instinctive ability to
compose and arrange music, which
ability was superior to that of
many men who had devoted years of
their life to study and practice.
The laws of harmony--the science
of commingling tones, was to him
not the work of years, but a
faculty born in him. There are
many similar cases of record.
Heredity does not explain these
instances of genius, for in many
of the recorded cases, none of the
ancestors manifested any talent or
ability. From whom did Shakespeare
inherit his genius? From whom did
Plato derive his wonderful
thought? From what ancestor did
Abraham Lincoln inherit his
character--coming from a line of
plain, poor, hard-working people,
and possessing all of the physical
attributes and characteristics of
his ancestry, he, nevertheless,
manifested a mind which placed him
among the foremost of his race.
Does not Metempsychosis give us
the only possible key? Is it not
reasonable to suppose that the
abilities displayed by the infant
genius, and the talent of the men
who spring from obscure origin,
have their root in the experiences
of a previous life?
Then take the cases of children at
school. Children of even the same
family manifest different degrees
of receptivity to certain studies.
Some "take to" one thing, and some
to another. Some find arithmetic
so easy that they almost absorb it
intuitively, while grammar is a
hard task for them; while their
brothers and sisters find the
exact reverse to be true. How many
have found that when they would
take up some new study, it is
almost like recalling something
already learned. Do you student,
who are now reading these lines
take your own case. Does not all
this Teaching seem to you like the
repetition of some lesson learned
long ago? Is it not like
remembering something already
learned, rather than the learning
of some new truth? Were you not
attracted to these studies, in the
first place, by a feeling that you
had known it all before,
somewhere, somehow? Does not your
mind leap ahead of the lesson, and
see what is coming next, long
before you have turned the pages?
These inward evidences of the fact
of pre-existence are so strong
that they outweigh the most
skillful appeal to the intellect.
This intuitive knowledge of the
truth of Metempsychosis explains
why the belief in it is sweeping
over the Western world at such a
rapid rate. The mere mention of
the idea, to many people who have
never before heard of it, is
sufficient to cause them to
recognize its truth. And though
they may not understand the laws
of its operation, yet deep down in
their consciousness they find a
something that convinces them of
its truth. In spite of the
objections that are urged against
the teaching, it is making steady
headway and progress.
The progress of the belief in
Metempsychosis however has been
greatly retarded by the many
theories and dogmas attached to it
by some of the teachers. Not to
speak of the degrading ideas of
re-birth into the bodies of
animals, etc., which have polluted
the spring of Truth, there are to
be found many other features of
teaching and theory which repel
people, and cause them to try to
kill out of the minds the glimmer
of Truth that they find there. The
human soul instinctively revolts
against the teaching that it is
bound to the wheel or re-birth,
_willy-nilly_, compulsorily,
without choice--compelled to live
in body after body until great
cycles are past. The soul, perhaps
already sick of earth-life, and
longing to pass on to higher
planes of existence, fights
against such teaching. And it does
well to so fight, for the truth is
nearer to its hearts desire. There
is no soul longing that does not
carry with it the prophecy of its
own fulfillment, and so it is in
this case. It is true that the
soul of one filled with earthly
desires, and craving for material
things, will by the very force of
those desires be drawn back to
earthly re-birth in a body best
suited for the gratification of
the longings, desires and cravings
that it finds within itself. But
it is likewise true that the
earth-sick soul is not compiled to
return unless its own desires
bring it back. Desire is the key
note of Metempsychosis, although
up to a certain stage it may
operate unconsciously. The sum of
the desires of a soul regulate its
re-birth. Those who have become
sickened of all that earth has for
them at this stage of its
evolution, may, and do, rest in
states of existence far removed
from earth scenes, until the race
progresses far enough to afford
the resting soul the opportunities
and environments that it so
earnestly craves.
And more than this, when Man
reaches a certain stage, the
process of Metempsychosis no
longer remains unconscious, but he
enters into a conscious knowing,
willing passage from one life to
another. And when that stage is
reached a full memory of the past
lives is unfolded, and life to
such a soul becomes as the life of
a day, succeeded by a night, and
then the awakening into another
day with full knowledge and
recollection of the events of the
day before. We are in merely the
babyhood of the race now, and the
fuller life of the conscious soul
lies before us. Yea, even now it
is being entered into by the few
of the race that have progressed
sufficiently far on the Path. And
you, student, who feel within you
that craving for conscious
re-birth and future spiritual
evolution, and the distaste for,
and horror of, a further blind,
unconscious re-plunge into the
earth-life--know you, that this
longing on your part is but an
indication of what lies before
you. It is the strange, subtle,
awakening of the nature within
you, which betokens the higher
state. Just as the young person
feels within his or her body
strange emotions, longings and
stirrings, which betoken the
passage from the child state into
that of manhood or womanhood, so
do these spiritual longings,
desires and cravings betoken the
passage from unconscious re-birth
into conscious knowing
Metempsychosis, when you have
passed from the scene of your
present labors.
In our next lesson we shall
consider the history of the race
as its souls passed on from the
savage tribes to the man of
to-day. It is the history of the
race--the history of the
individual--your own history,
student--the record of that
through which you have passed to
become that which you now are. And
as you have climbed step after
step up the arduous path, so will
you, hereafter climb still higher
paths, but no longer in
unconsciousness, but with your
spiritual eyes wide open to the
Rays of Truth pouring forth from
the great Central Sun--the
Absolute.
Concluding this lesson, we would
quote two selections from the
American poet, Whitman, whose
strange genius was undoubtedly the
result of vague memories springing
from a previous life, and which
burst into utterances often not
more than half understood by the
mind that gave them birth. Whitman
says:
"Facing West from California's
shores, Inquiring, tireless,
seeking what is yet unfound, A, a
child, very old, over waves,
toward the house of maternity, the
land of migrations, look afar,
Look off the shores of my Western
sea, the circle almost circled:
For starting Westward from
Hindustan, from the vales of
Kashmere, From Asia, from the
north, from God, the sage, and the
hero, From the south, from the
flowery peninsulas and spice
islands, Long having wandered
since, round the earth having
wandered, Now I face home again,
very pleased and joyous. (But
where is what I started for so
long ago? And why is it yet
unfound?)"
* * * * *
"I know I am deathless.
I know that this orbit of mine
cannot be swept by a carpenter's
compass; And whether I come to my
own to-day, or in ten thousand or
ten million years,
I can cheerfully take it now or
with equal cheerfulness can wait."
* * * * *
"As to you, Life, I reckon you are
the leavings of many deaths. No
doubt I have died myself ten
thousand times before."
* * * * *
"Births have brought us richness
and variety, and other births have
brought us richness and variety."
* * * * *
And this quotation from the
American poet N.P. Willis:
"But what a mystery this erring
mind?
It wakes within a frame of various
powers
A stranger in a new and wondrous
world.
It brings an instinct from some
other sphere,
For its fine senses are familiar
all,
And with the unconscious habit of
a dream
It calls and they obey.
The priceless sight
Springs to its curious organ, and
the ear
Learns strangely to detect the
articulate air
In its unseen divisions, and the
tongue
Gets its miraculous lesson with
the rest,
And in the midst of an obedient
throng
Of well trained ministers, the
mind goes forth
To search the secrets of its new
found home."
