Jinarajadasa - How We Remember Our Past Lives PDF

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C.
Jinarajadasa
How We Remember Our Past Lives

and Other Essays on Reincarnation by C. Jinarajadasa
The Theosophical Publishin House! "dyar! Chennai#$adras%! &ndia '(( ()( *irst +dition Published in ,-,.
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How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa HOW WE REMEMBER O R P!"# L$%E"
"mon the many ideas which have li htened the burden o3 men! one o3 the most serviceable has been that o3 Reincarnation. &t not only e9plains why one man is born in the lap o3 lu9ury and another in poverty! why one is a enius and another an idiot! but it also holds out the hope that! as men now reap what they have sown in the past! so in 3uture lives the poor and wretched o3 today shall have what they lac:! i3 so they wor: 3or it! and that the idiot may! li3e a3ter li3e! build up mentality which in 3ar;o33 days may 3lower as enius. When the idea o3 reincarnation is heard o3 3or the 3irst time! the student naturally supposes that it is a Hindu doctrine! 3or it is :nown to be a 3undamental part o3 both Hinduism and 4uddhism. 4ut the stran e 3act is that reincarnation is 3ound everywhere as a belie3! and its ori in cannot be traced to &ndian sources. We hear o3 it in 3ar;o33 "ustralia & 1ee The Northern Tribes of Central Australia, by 4aldwin 1pencer < *.=. =illen! ,-(6! pa e ,>.! et seq.' and there is a story on record o3 an "ustralian abori ine who went cheer3ully to the allows! and replied on bein ?uestioned as to his levity @ATumble down blac:; 3ellow! jump up white 3ellow! and have lots o3 si9pences to spendBA &t was tau ht by the 7ruids o3 ancient =aul! and Julius Caesar tells us how youn =auls were tau ht reincarnation! and that as a conse?uence they had no 3ear o3 death. =ree: philosophers :new o3 itC we have Pytha oras tellin his pupils that in his past lives he had been a warrior at the sie e o3 Troy! and later was the philosopher Hermotimus o3 =alDomenae. &t is not utterly un:nown to Christian teachin ! i3 we ta:e the simple statement o3 Christ! when ?uestioned whether John the 4aptist was +lijah or +lias reborn@ E&3 ye will receive it! this is +lias which was 3or to come!A and He 3ollows up the statement with the si ni3icant words@ EHe that hath ears to hear! let him hear.A &n later Jewish tradition! the idea is :nown! and the Talmud mentions several cases o3 reincarnation. There are many to whom reincarnation appeals 3orcibly! and 1chopenhauer does but little e9a erate when he says@ E& have also remar:ed that it is at once obvious to everyone who hears o3 it 3or the 3irst timeA. 1ome believe in the idea immediatelyC it comes to them li:e a 3lash o3 li ht in thic: dar:ness! and the problem o3 li3e is clearly seen with reincarnation as the solution. Others there are who row into belie3! as each doubt is solved and each ?uestion answered There is one! and only one! objection which can lo ically be brou ht a ainst reincarnation! i3 correctly understood as Theosophy teaches it. &t lies in the ?uestion@ E&3! as you say! & have lived on earth in other bodies! why donFt & remember the pastGA /ow i3 reincarnation is a 3act in /ature! there surely will be enou h other 3acts which will point to its e9istence. /o one 3act in /ature stands isolated! and it is possible in divers ways to discover that 3act. 1imilarly it is with reincarnationC there are indeed enou h 3acts o3 a psycholo ical :ind to prove to a thin:er that reincarnation must be a 3act o3 /ature and not a theory. &n answerin the ?uestion why we do not remember our past lives! surely the 3irst necessary point is to as: ourselves what we mean by EmemoryA. &3 we have some clear ideas as to the mechanism o3 memory! perhaps we may be able to understand why we do not #or do% ErememberA our past days or lives. /ow! brie3ly spea:in ! what we usually mean by memory is a summin up. &3 & remember today the incidents o3 Pa e )
How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

my cuttin my 3in er yesterday! there will be two elements in my memory@ 3irst the series o3 events which went to produce the pain ; the misadventure in handlin the :ni3e! the cut! the bleedin ! the sensorial reaction in the brain! the esture and so onC and second! the sense o3 pain. "s days pass! the causes o3 the pain recede into the periphery o3 consciousness! while the e33ects! as pain! still hold the centre. Presently! we shall 3ind that even the memory o3 the pain itsel3 recedes into the bac: round! leavin behind with us not a direct memory as an event! but an indirect memory as a tendency H a tendency to be care3ul in the handlin o3 all cuttin implements. This process is continually ta:in placeC the cause is 3or otten #thou h recoverable under hypnosis 3rom the subconscious mind%! while the e33ect! transmuted into tendency! remains. &t is here that we are specially aided by the brain. We are apt to thin: o3 the brain as a recorder o3 memory! without realiDin that one o3 its most use3ul 3unctions is to wipe out memories. The brain plays the dual 3unction o3 rememberin and 3or ettin . 4ut 3or our ability to 3or et! li3e would be impossible. &3 each time we tried to move a limb! we were to remember all our in3antile e33orts at movement! with the hesitation and doubt and perhaps even pain involved! our consciousness would be so overwhelmed by memories that the necessary movement o3 the limb would certainly be delayed! or not made at all. 1imilarly! it is with every 3unction now per3ormed automatically! which was once consciously ac?uiredC it is because we do 3or et the process o3 ac?uirin ! that we can utiliDe the 3aculty resultin there3rom. This is what is continuously ta:in place in consciousness with each one o3 us. There is a process o3 e9chan e! similar to copper coins o3 one denomination bein chan ed to silver coins o3 smaller bul: representin them! then into old coins o3 smaller wei ht still! and later ban: notes representin their value! and last o3 all to a piece o3 paper! a che?ue! whose intrinsic worth is nil. Iet we have but to write our si nature on the che?ue! to put into operation the whole medium o3 e9chan e. &t is a similar process which ta:es place with all our memories o3 sensations! 3eelin s and thou hts. These are severally rouped into cate ories! and transmuted into li:es and disli:es! and 3inally into talents and 3aculties. /ow we :now that as we mani3est a li:e or disli:e! or e9hibit any capacity! we are rememberin our past! thou h we cannot remember one by one in detail the memories which contributed to ori inate the emotions or 3aculty. "s & write these words in +n lish on this pa e! & must be rememberin the 3irst time & saw each word in a readin boo:! and loo:ed up its meanin in a dictionary as & prepared my home lessonsC but it is a :ind o3 transmuted memory. /evertheless! & do remember! and but 3or those memories bein somewhere in my consciousness #whether in touch with some brain cells or not is not now the point % & should not be able to thin: o3 the ri ht word to e9press my thou ht! nor shape it on this paper so that the printer will reco niDe the letters to set them up in print. *urthermore! we :now as a 3act that we do 3or et these causative memories one by oneC it would be 3oolish i3! as & write a particular word! & were to try to call up the memory o3 the 3irst time & saw it. The brain is a recordin instrument o3 such a :ind that! thou h it re isters! it does not obey consciousness when it desires to unroll the record! e9cept in certain abnormal cases. The desire to remember is not necessarily 3ollowed by remembrance! and we have to ta:e this 3act as it is. Here it is that 4er son has very luminously pointed out that Ewe thin: with only a small part o3 the pastC but it is with our entire past! includin the ori inal bent o3 our soul! that we desire! will! and act.A Clearly then it would be useless to try to remember our past lives by the mere e9ercise o3 the mindC thou h thou ht can remember somethin o3 the past! it is only a 3raction o3 the whole. 4ut on the other hand! let us but feel or act! and then at once our 3eelin or action is the resultant o3 all the 3orces! o3 the past which Pa e 5

have conver ed on our individuality. &3! there3ore! we are to trace the memories o3 our past lives in our present normal consciousness! we must note how we 3eel and act! e9pectin to recover little o3 such memories in a mere mental e33ort to remember. +very 3eelin and act! then! can be slowly traced to its component parts o3 impressions 3rom without and reactions 3rom within. 1o much is this the case with each one o3 us! that we can construct 3or ourselves what has been anotherJs past! as we watch that other 3eel and act! provided he does both in an average 3ashion. 4ut i3 he mani3ests a mode that is not the avera e mode o3 thou ht or 3eelin ! then he becomes incomprehensible to us and needs e9planation. 1ince! then! the avera e 3eelin s and actions can be readily e9plained as the result o3 avera e e9periences! unusual 3eelin and actions must be e9plained as havin an unusual causation. &3 the present writer were to deliver a lecture in +n lish in &ndia! where so many can spea: +n lish! each o3 his listeners would ta:e 3or ranted that he had been to school and colle e! without perhaps en?uirin 3urther when and where. 4ut were he! instead o3 spea:in +n lish! to spea: &talian! than at once each listener would be curious to :now how and when that 3aculty o3 spea:in &talian had been rown. *urthermore! i3 an &talian were present in the audience! then jud in 3rom the spea:erFs phrasin and intonation! he would :now that the spea:er must have lived in &taly! or must have spent a considerable time amon &talians. Wherever there is any mani3estation o3 3eelin or action K as indeed! too! o3 some e9pressions o3 thou ht K which has somethin o3 the ?uality o3 the expert! then we must postulate 3or that 3aculty a slow rowth throu h e9periences! which are the result o3 e9periments alon that particular line. /ow each one o3 us has many ?ualities o3 an avera e :ind! as also a 3ew o3 an e9pert :ind. The 3ormer we can account 3or by e9periences common to all. Let us e9amine some o3 the latter! and see i3 we can account 3or them on any other hypothesis than that o3 reincarnation. /ow one o3 the principal thin s which characteriDes men is their li:es and disli:es. 1ometimes these mi ht be called rational! that is! they are such li:es and disli:es as an avera e individual o3 a particular type mi ht be said normally to possess at his sta e in evolution. We can account 3or these normal li:es and disli:es! because they are such as we ourselves mani3est under similar conditions. 4ut suppose we ta:e the case o3 an e9traordinary li:in ! such as is termed Elove at 3irst si ht.A Two people meet in the seemin 3ortuitous concourse o3 human events! sometimes! it may be! comin 3rom the ends o3 the earth. They :now nothin o3 each other! and yet ensues the curious phenomenon that as a matter o3 3act the do :now a reat deal o3 each other. Li3e would be a happy thin i3 we could o out with deep a33ection to all whom we meetC but we :now we cannot! 3or it is not in our nature. Why then should it be in our nature to E3all in loveA with a particular individualG Why should we be ready to sacri3ice all 3or this person whom! in this li3e at least! we have met but a 3ew timesG How is it that we seem to :now the inner wor:in s o3 his heart and brain 3rom the little which he reveals at our conventional intercourse at the be innin G E *allin in loveA is indeed a mysterious psycholo ical phenomenon! but the process is 3ar better described as bein dra ed into love! since the individual is 3orced to obey and may not re3rain. /ow there are two lo ical e9planations possible@ one is the ribald one o3 the sco33er! that it is some 3orm o3 hysteria or incipient insanity! due it may be to Ecomple9esAC the other is that! in this pro3ound oin 3orth o3 one individual as an e9pert in 3eelin towards another! we have not at 3irst meetin but the last o3 many! many meetin s which too: place in past lives. Where or when were these meetin s is o3 little conse?uence to the loversC indeed Rudyard 8iplin has su ested in his E*inest 1tory in the WorldA that it is only in order that we mi ht not miss the delicious sensation o3 3allin in love with our beloved! that the Pa e 6

:indly =ods have made us drin: o3 the river o3 3or et3ulness be3ore we returned to li3e on earth a ain. The principal thin to note! in this emotional mood o3 bein in love! is that the 3riendship is not as one that be ins! but as one that is continuedC and in that psycholo ical attitude o3 the two lovers we have the remembrance o3 past lives! when they met and loved and sacri3iced 3or each other. /ot dissimilar to this unusual li:in which constitutes 3allin in love! is the unusual disli:in which is not so very rare in human e9perience. Certain normal disli:es we can readily account 3orC but ta:e the case o3 two individuals meetin 3or the first time! it may be :nowin nothin even by hearsay o3 each other! and then we have sometimes the stri:in phenomenon o3 one o3 the two drawing back 3rom the other! not outwardly by esture! but inwardly by a 3eelin or an intuition. &n all such cases o3 drawin bac:! the curious thin is that there is no personal 3eelin C it is not a violent 3eelin o3 E& do not li:e youA! but 3ar more an impersonal state o3 mind where almost no 3eelin mani3ests! and which may be paraphrased into E&t is wise to have little to do with you.A 1ometimes we 3ollow this intuition! but usually we brush it aside as unjust! and then turn to understandin our ac?uaintance with the mind. /ot in3re?uently! it then 3ollows that we be in to li:e him! perhaps even love him. We 3or et our E3irst impressionA! or we put it aside as mere irrational impulse. /ow there are many such revulsions that are purely irrational impulses! but there is a residue o3 cases where a3ter;events show that the disli:e was not an impulse but an intuition. *or it may happen! a3ter years have passed o3 intercourse with out 3riend! that suddenly without any warnin he! as it were! stabs us in the bac: and deals us a mortal blowC and then in our rie3 and humiliation we remember that 3irst impression o3 ours! and wish that we had 3ollowed it. Whence came this 3irst impressionG Reincarnation o33ers a solution! which is that the injured had su33ered in past lives at the hands o3 his injurer! and that it is the memory o3 that su33erin which 3lashes into the mind as an intuition. $ore stri:in still are those cases where there e9ist at the same time both li:e and disli:e! both love and resentment. & well remember a lady describin her attitude to a 3riend to whom she was pro3oundly attached in the 3ollowin words @ E& love him! but & despise himBA & wonder how many wives say this daily o3 their husbands! or husbands o3 their wives. Why should there be this incomprehensible jumble o3 contradictory 3eelin sG The clue is stri:in ly iven by W.+. Henley in his well;:nown poem@ Or ever the :ni htly years were one With the old world to the rave! & was a :in in 4abylon! "nd you were a Christian slave. The poet oes on to tell us how the :in Esaw and too:!A and toyed with the maid and! as is a manFs way! 3inally cast her aside. Iet she loved him well! but! heart;bro:en at his treatment! committed suicide. /ow it is obvious that the irl dies 3ull o3 both love and resentment! and since what we sow we reap! each o3 Pa e .

the two in the rebirth reaps in emotional attitude the result o3 past causes. *or! this time the man loves a ain! and desires to possess herC she too loves him in return! and yet does not permit him to have his heartFs desire. 1o the lover cries out @ The pride & trampled on is now my scathe! *or it tramples me a ainC The old resentment last li:e death! *or you love! and yet you re3rainC & brea: my heart on your hard un3aith! "nd & brea: my heart in vain. Henley sees with is poetic vision that the present situation between the two cannot remain the same throu hout eternityC there must be a true lovin and understandin o3 each other at the lon lastC and so the poem ends with the manFs pride in his past! and resi nation in the present! with a hint o3 some ood 3rom a past which need not be EundoneA as o3 no worth at all. Iet not 3or an hour do & wish undone The deed beyond the rave When & was a :in in 4abylon "nd you were a vir in slave. There can only be one endin ! that o3 the 3airy tale! since it needs must be a universe where there is but One who loves! that! JourneyFs end in loverFs meetin . +very wise manFs son doth :now. We have been so 3ar been considerin the mani3estations o3 an individualFs emotional nature! and it is obvious that! because o3 his own e9periences! he will be able to understand the emotions o3 others! so lon as such emotions are in the main li:e what he has :nown. 4ut what o3 those individuals who thorou hly understand such e9periences as have not come to themG 1ha:espeare understands the wor:in o3 a womanJs heart and mind! and! too! all the intricate mental and emotional processes o3 the traitor C 7ic:ens :nows how the murderer 3eels a3ter committin the crime. *urthermore! some i3ted men and women! when e9periencin emotions! eneraliDe 3rom them to what is e9perienced by all! while one not so i3ted! thou h Eonce bittenA is not Etwice shyA! nor is made appreciably wiser by the same e9perience comin to him over and over a ain. The i3ted 3ew! on the other hand! will 3athom the universal ?uality in a sin le e9perience! and they will anticipate 3rom it many e9periences o3 li:e natureC 3or themselves! and sometimes 3or others too! they will state their e9periences! reducin them as it were to al ebraical 3ormulae! and each 3ormula includin one eneral statement all particular cases. Their thou hts and 3eelin s are li:e aphorisms! with the transmutation o3 many e9periences into one +9perience.
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/ow! to eneraliDe 3rom our individual emotions is as rare a i3t as to ori inate a philosophy 3rom the particular thou hts which we ain about thin s. Iet it is this eneraliDation 3rom particular emotions that is characteristic o3 a poet! and the more universal are his eneraliDations! the reater is he as a poet. Why then should an individual here and there have this wonder3ul ability o3 seein particular men as representatives o3 types! and particular emotions as e9pression o3 universal emotionsG We say that such a man is a enius! but the word enius merely describes but does not e9plain. There are eniuses in every department o3 li3e ; reli ion! poetry! art! music! statesmanship! the drama! in war and in commerce! and in many other phases o3 li3e. These eniuses are characteriDed by many abnormal ?ualitiesC they are always men o3 the 3uture and not o3 their day and each enius is a law iver to 3uture enerations in his own department o3 activityC and above all! they live emotionally and mentally in wide eneraliDations. Whence comes this wonder3ul abilityG One e9planation o33ered is Heredity. 4ut how 3ar does heredity really e9plain eniusG "ccordin to the ordinarily accepted theory o3 heredity! each eneration adds a little to a ?uality brou ht 3rom the eneration be3ore! and then transmits it to the ne9tC this in turn adds a little! and passes on the total o3 what it has received! plus its own contributionC and so on eneration a3ter eneration! till we arrive at a particular eneration! and to one individual o3 it! in whom the special ?uality in some mysterious way ets concentrated! and that individual is thereby a enius. "ccordin to this popular theory! some remote ancestor o3 1ha:espeare had a 3raction o3 1ha:espeareFs enius! which he transmitted throu h heredity to his o33sprin C this o33sprin then! :eepin intact what was iven him by his parent! added to the stoc: 3rom his own e9periences! and then passed on both to his childC and so on in successive enerations! each eneration treasurin what was iven to it 3rom all previous enerations! and addin somethin o3 its own be3ore transmittin it to the ne9t. 1ha:espeare then is as the torrent 3rom a reservoir which has slowly been dammed up! but bursts its sides when the pressure has passed beyond a certain point. 1uch a conception o3 heredity is based upon the assumption that what an individual ac?uires o3 3aculty! as a result o3 adaptability to his environment! is passed on to his o33sprin . 1uch indeed is the conclusion that the 7arwinian school o3 biolo ists came to! 3rom their analysis o3 what happens in /ature. 4ut biolo ical research durin the last twenty;3ive years! has been lar ely directed to testin the validity o3 the theory o3 the transmission o3 ac?uired characteristics. /ot only has not one indisputable instance been 3ound! but all e9periments in breedin and crossin ! on the other hand! accumulate proo3s to the contrary. The new school o3 biolo ists :nown as the $endelians have there3ore come to theories about heredity which are not only novel but startlin . "ccordin to them! structural characteristics! upon which must depend the mental and moral capacities o3 an individual! e9ist! in every ancestor in their 3ulnessC and 3urther! they must all have been in the 3irst spec: o3 livin matter. /othin has been added by evolution to this ori inal stoc: o3 capacities in protoplasm. +very enius whom the world has :nown or will :now e9isted potentially in it! thou h he had to wait millions o3 years be3ore there arose the appropriate arran ement o3 the E enetic 3actorsA to enable him to appear as a enius on the evolutionary sta e. /ature has not evolved the comple9 brain structure o3 1ha:espeare out o3 the rudimentary brains o3 the mammalsC that comple9ity e9isted Ein a pin;head o3 protoplasmA. /ature has not evolved the eniusC she has merely released him 3rom the 3etters which bound him in the primordial protoplasm! by eliminatin ! eneration a3ter eneration! such enetic 3actors as inhibited his mani3estation. 4ateson sums up these modern theories when he says@
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& have con3idence that the artistic i3ts o3 man:ind will prove to be due not to somethin added to the ma:eup o3 an ordinary man! but to the absence o3 3actors which in the normal person inhibit the development o3 these i3ts. They are almost beyond doubt to be loo:ed upon as H Ereleases o3 powers normally suppressed. The instrument is there! but it is stopped down.A #Presidential "ddress! 4ritish "ssociation! ,-,6%. Time alone will show how 3ar the $endelian conception will need to be modi3ied by later discoveriesC but it is 3airly certain already that the older 7arwinian conception o3 heredity is untenable! and that i3 a man is a enius he owes very little to the intellectual and emotional achievements o3 his ancestors. &3! however! we admit with the $endelians that a enius is EreleasedA merely by the removal o3 the inhibitin 3actors! and is not the result o3 slow accumulations! we still leave the ori inal mystery unsolved! and that is to e9plain the synthetic ability o3 the enius. We are there3ore no nearer really e9plainin the nature o3 enius alon $endelian lines than alon the 7arwinianC the theories o3 science merely tell us under what conditions enius will or will not mani3est! but nothin more. The only rational theory o3 enius! which accepts scienti3ic 3acts as to heredity and also e9plains what enius is! comes 3rom the conception o3 reincarnation. &3 we hold that an individual is a soul! that is an imperishable and evolvin + o! and mani3ests throu h a body appropriate to his sta e o3 rowth and to a wor: which he is to do in that body! then we see that his emotional and mental attributes are the results o3 e9periences which he has ained in past lives. 4ut since he can e9press them only throu h a suitable body and brain! these must be o3 such a :ind as /ature has by heredity selected 3or such use. The mani3estation o3 any capacity! then! depends on two indispensable 3actorsC 3irst! an + o or consciousness who has developed the capacity by repeated e9periments in past livesC and second! a suitable instrument! a physical body o3 such a nature structurally as ma:es possible the e9pression o3 that capacity. When there3ore we consider the ?uality o3 enius! i3 on the one hand the enius has not a body 3ashioned out o3 such enetic 3actors as do not inhibit his enius! he is Estopped downA! to use 4atesonFs simile! and his enius is unreleased. 4ut on the other hand! i3 /ature were to produce a thousand bodies that were not Estopped downA! we should not ipso facto have a thousand eniuses. Two lines o3 evolution must there3ore conver e! be3ore there can mani3est any ?uality that is not purely 3unctional. The 3irst is that o3 the evolution o3 an indestructible Consciousness! which continually e9periments with li3e and slowly becomes e9pert therebyC and the second is the evolution o3 the physical structure! which is selected by heredity to respond to a iven stimulus 3rom within. &3 with this is clue as to what is happenin in /ature! we e9amine the various eniuses whom the world has produced! we shall see that they are rememberin their past lives as they e9hibit their enius. Ta:e 3or instance! such a enius as the youn violinist! $ischa +lman! who a 3ew years a o be an his musical careerC he was then but a lad! and yet even at that a e he mani3ested marvellous technical ability. /ow we may perhaps le itimately account 3or this technical ability alon $endelian lines! as bein due to a rare con3luence o3 enetic 3actorsC but by no theory o3 physical heredity can we e9plain what surprised the most e9actin o3 musical critics ; $ischa +lmanFs interpretation o3 music. *or it is just in this interpretation that a music lover can see the soul o3 the per3ormer! whether that soul is a bi one or a little! whether the per3ormer has :nown o3 li3e super3icially or has touched li3eJs core. /ow $ischa +lmanFs interpretation! absolutely spontaneous as it was! and un;imitated 3rom a teacher! was that o3 a man and not that o3 a boy. Little wonder that many a critic was puDDled! or that the musical critic o3 the London aily Telegraph should write as 3ollows@
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Rain beat noisily upon the roo3 and thunder roared and rattled! but $ischa +lman went calmly on with his prescribed Pa anini and 4ach and Wieniaws:i. Calmly is the word! be it noted! not stolidly. We have had stolid wonder;children on our musical plat3ormsC $ischa is not one o3 them. 0pon his 3ace! as he plies the bow! rests a reat peace! and only now and then! with a more decided e9pression! does he lower his chee: upon the instrument! as thou h he would receive 3rom it the impulse o3 its vibrations and to it communicate his own soul;beats. The marvel o3 this boy does not lie in his e9ecution o3 di33icult passa es. &3 it did! perhaps we should award it but per3unctory notice! seein that amon the children o3 our eneration there are so many who play with di33icult passa es much as their predecessors did with marbles. We have one beyond mere de9terity with bowin and 3in erin ! and can say! in the spirit o3 one o3 old time! that 3rom the babe and suc:lin comes now the per3ection o3 such praise as lies within the compass o3 a violin.A "s:ed to account 3or this K to e9plain why $ischa +lman layin chee: to wood! reveals the insi ht and 3eelin o3 a man who has risen to the hei hts and plumbed the depths o3 human li3e K we simply ac:nowled e that the matter is beyond us. We can do no more than speculate! and! perhaps! hope 3or a day in which the all;embracin science o3 an a e more advanced than our own shall discover the particular brain 3ormation! or adjustment! to which in3ants owe the powers that men and women vainly see:. Those powers may be the Wordsworthian Eclouds o3 loryA! brou ht 3rom another world. &3 so! what a brilliant birth must that o3 $ischa +lman have beenB The boy was heard in a wor: by Pa anini and another Wieniaws:i! both ood thin s o3 their meritricious :ind! and both irradiated! as we could not but 3ancy! by the unconscious enius which shines ali:e on the evil and the ood! ma:in the best o3 both. 0pon the mere e9ecution o3 these wor:s we do not dwell! pre3errin the charm o3 the moments in which the music lent itsel3 to the mysterious emotion o3 the youth3ul player! and showed! not the painted visa e o3 a mounteban:! but the 3ace o3 an an elB &3 alon the lines o3 reincarnation we suppose that $ischa +lman is a soul who in his past lives has in truth Mrisen to the hei hts and plumbed the depths o3 human li3eA! then we have a reasonable e9planation 3or his enius. There is re3lected in each interpretation the summin up o3 his past e9periences! and he can throu h his music tell us o3 a manFs sorrow or a manFs joy! because as a man in past lives he has e9perienced both! and retains their memory in emotional and intellectual eneraliDations. This e9planation 3urther joins hands with science! because the reincarnation theory o3 enius implies the need by the musical soul o3 a body with a musical heredity! which has been EselectedA by evolution and built up by appropriate enetic 3actors. Reincarnation alone e9plains another enius who must remain a puDDle accordin to all other theories. 8eats is :nown in +n lish poetry as the most E=ree:A o3 all +n landJs poetsC he possessed by nature that uni?ue 3eelin 3or li3e which was the treasure o3 the =ree: temperament. &3 he had been a =ree: scholar and steeped in the traditions o3 =ree: culture! we mi ht account 3or this ani!a naturaliter "raeca o3 the =ree:;less 8eats.A 4ut when we consider that 8eats had Elittle Latin and less =ree:!A and be an li3e as a sur eonFs apprentice and a medical student! we may well wonder why he sin s not as a Christian poet should! but as some =ree: shepherd born on the slopes o3 $ount +tna. The wonder! however! at once ceases i3 we presume that 8eats is the reincarnation o3 a =ree: poet! and that he is rememberin his past lives as he reverts to =ree: ways o3 thou ht and 3eelin . With reincarnation as a clue! it is interestin to see how a little analysis enables us to say where in the Pa e -

past an individual must have lived. &n the culture o3 +urope and "merica! there are three main types o3 Ereversion!A to Rome! to =reece! and to &ndia. "nyone who has studied Roman institutions and the Roman conception o3 li3e 3inds little di33iculty in notin how the +n lish temperament is lar ely that o3 ancient Rome in a modern arbC the values! 3or instance in writin history! o3 such historians as =ibbon! $acaulay! Hume! are practically the same as those o3 Roman historians! 1allust! Tacitus! Livy! and the restC whereas i3 we ta:e the *rench historians we shall 3ind them scarcely at all Roman in temperament! and 3ar more a:in to =ree:. The e?uation Tennyson N 2ir il is certainly not 3ar;3etched to those who :now the ?uality o3 both poets. We 3ind the reversion to =reece very clearly in such writers as =oethe! 1chiller and Lessin . Why should these writers have proclaimed to =ermany with unbounded enthusiasm the messa e o3 Ebac: to =reeceA! e9cept that they :new 3rom their own e9perience in past lives what =ree: culture had still 3or menG *or what is enthusiasm but the sprin in 3orward o3 the soul to e9perience a 3reshness and a deli ht in li3e which it has :nown elsewhere! and whose call it reco niDes a ainG These men o3 enthusiasm! these pioneers o3 the 3uture! are otherwise than sports or 3rea:s o3 /atureC let us but thin: o3 them as reincarnated souls rememberin in their enthusiasm their past lives! and they become not sports but the 3irst;3ruits o3 a lorious humanity that is to be. Who that has studied Platonism has not been reminded o3 Platonic conceptions when readin +mersonG Thou h +merson has not the ori inality nor the darin o3 Plato! yet he is truly E=ree:AC it does not re?uire such a reat 3li ht o3 the ima ination to see him as some "le9andrian 3ollower o3 Plato. How natural then too! that +merson! a3ter enterin the Christian ministry to ive his messa e! should 3ind himsel3 unable to do it as a Christian minister! and should stri:e out a path 3or himsel3 as an essayist to spea: o3 the World; 1oulB "nd who that has studied &ndian philosophies does not reco niDe old 2edantin philosophers in 8ant! *ichte! He el! and a 4uddhist philosopher in 1chopenhauer! all revertin to their philosophic interests o3 past lives! and utterin their ancient convictions more brilliantly than be3oreG Wherever the deeper layers o3 a manFs bein are o33ered to the world in some creation throu h philosophy! literature! art or science! there may we note tendencies started in past lives. *or the pa eant o3 the manFs li3e is not planned and achieved in the 3ew brie3 years which be in with his birth! and he that :nows o3 reincarnation may note readily enou h where the parts o3 the pa eant were composed. Reincarnation! as it a33ects lar e roups o3 individuals! is a 3ascinatin study to one with an historical bent o3 mind. & have mentioned that the +n lish race as a whole is lar ely a reincarnation o3 the ancient RomanC but here and there we 3ind a sprin:lin o3 =ree:s in men li:e 4yron! Rus:in! $atthew "rnold! and in those +n lishmen and women who have the =ree: 3eel 3or li3e! and hemmed in by +n lish tradition are as stran ers in a stran e land. Let such a return =ree:! wherever he be born this li3e! but o to 1outh &taly or to =reece! and he will be in to remember his past li3e in the instinctive 3amiliarity which he will 3eel with the hidden spirit o3 tree and la:e and hill. "s none but a =ree: can! he will 3ind a joy in the sunshine! in the lemon roves and vineyards and water3alls! which in a =ree: land ive the messa e o3 /ature as in no other land. Others there are who! born last li3e in the $iddle " es somewhere in +urope! perhaps in &taly or 1pain o3 =ermany! where they re;visit the land o3 their 3ormer birth! will have a stran e 3amiliarity with the thin s that pass be3ore them. &n stri:in ways! they read into the li3e o3 the people! and understand the why o3 Pa e ,(

thin s. To some! this mysterious sense o3 recollection may be stron est in + ypt! or &ndia! or JapanC but wherever we have the intuitive understandin o3 3orei n people! we have one mode o3 rememberin our past lives. &t is in the characteristic intellectual attitude o3 the *rench that we see the reincarnation o3 much that was developed in later =reece. The *rench intellectual clarity and dispassionate :eenness to see thin s Eas they areA #whether they brin material bene3its or not% are typically =ree:. "nd perhaps! could we :now more 3ully o3 the li3e o3 the Phoenicians! we should see them reborn in the =ermans o3 today. Then the commercial rivalry between +n land and =ermany 3or the capture o3 the mar:ets o3 the +ast would be but the rebirth o3 the ancient rivalry between Rome and Cartha e 3or the mar:ets o3 the $editerranean. "n eruption o3 =ree: e os is 3airly evident in the 0nited 1tates o3 "merica. On the Paci3ic Coast especially! there are many men and women o3 the simple =ree: temperament o3 the pre;Periclean a e! and yet their ancestors were not in3re?uently /ew +n land Puritans. &t is in "merica too! that we have the 1ophists o3 =reece in 3ull stren th in the E/ew Thou htA writers who sprin up in that land month a3ter month. &n them we have the same characteristics as had the 1ophists o3 =reece whom Plato denounced K much sound sense and many a use3ul wrin:le! an independence o3 landmar:s and traditions! an unbounded con3idence in their own panacea! and a ivin o3 their messa e o3 the 1pirit E3or a consideration.A The lac: o3 distinction in their minds! when in =reece! between 1ophism and Wisdom returns in the twentieth century as a con3usion between the /ew Thou ht ideas o3 the 7ivine Li3e and the real li3e o3 the 1pirit. Let us hope that as the 1ophists helped to brin in the =olden " e o3 =reece! so the E/ew Thou ht;ersA are the 3orerunners o3 that True Thou ht that is to dawn! which is neither old nor new. Here and there in &ndia we 3ind one who is distinctly not Hindu. *or the most part! the modern Hindus seem scarce to have been in other lands in their late incarnationsC but now and then a man or woman is met with 3or whom the sacrosanct institutions o3 orthodo9y have no meanin ! and who ta:es up western ideas o3 pro ress with avidity. 1ome o3 these are E+n land;returned!A in this present incarnation! and we can thus account 3or their mentality. 4ut when we 3ind a man who has never le3t &ndia! who was reared in strict orthodo9y! and yet 3i hts with enthusiasm 3or 3orei n ways o3 thou ht! surely we have here a E+urope;returnedA e o! 3rom =reece or Rome or 3rom some other o3 the many lands o3 the West. We must not 3or et to draw attention to the e os 3rom =reece who have returned to +urope to usher in the a e o3 art. To one 3amiliar with =ree: sculpture and architecture! it is not di33icult to see the =ree: artists reborn in the &talian masters o3 paintin and architecture. The cult is no lon er that o3 Pallas "thene and the =odsC there is now the 2ir in $ary and the saints to ive them their heavenly crowns. Whence did the &talian masters ain their surety o3 touch! i3 not 3rom a past birth in =reeceG &t is stri:in ! too! how the Romans! who e9celled in portraiture! should be reborn in the +n lish school o3 portrait painters! =ainsborou h! Reynolds! Lawrence and the rest. /or must we 3or et the band o3 =ree:s who li:e an inundation swept over the +liDabethan sta e! $arlowe! 4eaumont! *letcher! Peele! Johnson! and the rest ; are they not pa ans thinly veiled in +n lish arbG They 3elt li3e in un;+n lish modesC they 3elt 3irst and then thou ht out the 3eelin . The =ree:! is ever the =ree:! whatsoever the lan ua e which is iven him to spea:! and his touch in literature and art is not easily veiled.
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1tron impressions made on the consciousness in a past li3e o3ten appear in the present in some curious mood or 3eelin . 1ometimes! 3ears o3 creepin thin s! 3ires! cuttin implements! etc.! are thus to be accounted 3or! thou h sometimes these EphobiasA may only be sub;conscious reminders o3 this li3e. &n the cases where we have no sub;consciousness o3 the present body appearin ! there is sure to have been some shoc:! resultin it may be! in a violent death! in a past li3e. The a3ter e33ects appear now in some uncontrollable 3ear! or in discom3ort in the presence o3 the object which caused the shoc:. $ore stran e is the attitude o3 one individual towards another which is brou ht over 3rom a past li3e. 1ometimes one sees the stran e si ht o3 a irl o3 ten or twelve ta:in care o3 her mother in a maternal way! as thou h the positions were reversed! and almost as i3 she had the onerous duty o3 brin in up her mother in the way she should o. O3 a deeper psycholo ical nature is it when! as sometimes happens! a wi3e mated to a husband who causes her su33erin ! 3inds charity towards him possible only when she loo:s on him not as her husband but as her son. Here we have a reminiscence o3 a li3e when he was indeed her child! and his better nature came out towards her in the relation which he bore to her then. " rather humorous instance o3 a past recollection is 3ound when there has been between the last li3e and this a chan e o3 se9 o3 the body. &n the West especially! where there is a more mar:ed di33erentiation temperamentally between the se9es than in the +ast! not in3re?uently the irl who disli:es playin with dolls! who deli hts in boyFs ames! and is a pronounced tomboy! is really an e o who has just ta:en up a body o3 the se9 opposite to that with which he has been 3amiliar 3or many lives. $any a irl has resented her s:irts! and it ta:es such a irl several years be3ore she 3inally resi ns hersel3 to them. 1ome women there are! on whose 3ace and mode o3 carria e the last male incarnation seems still 3airly visibly portrayed. " similar thin is to be seen in some men! who brin into this li3e traces o3 their habits o3 thou ht and 3eelin when last they had womenJs bodies. " consideration o3 the many psycholo ical puDDles & have enumerated will show us that! as a matter o3 3act! people do remember somethin o3 their past lives. Truly the memory is indirect! only as a habit or a mood! but it is nevertheless memory o3 the past. /ow most people who are willin to accept reincarnation as a 3act in li3e naturally as: the ?uestion@ E4ut why donFt we remember fully GA To this there are two answers! the 3irst o3 which is@ E&t is best 3or us not to remember directly or 3ully! till we are ready 3or the memoriesA. We are not ready 3or remembrance so lon as we are in3luenced by the memories o3 the past. Where 3or instance! the memory is o3 a pain3ul event! up to a certain point the past not only in3luences our present but also our 3uture! and both in a harm3ul wayC and there3ore! so lon as we have not one beyond the sphere o3 in3luence o3 the past! our characters are wea:ened and not stren thened by remembrance. Let us ta:e an e9treme case! but one typical nevertheless. 1uppose that in the last li3e a man has committed suicide as the easiest way out o3 his di33iculties. "s he dies! there will be in his mind much mental su33erin ! and especially he will lac: con3idence in his ability to weather the storm. The suicide does not put an end to his su33erin ! 3or a3ter death it will continue 3or some time more acutely still! till it slowly e9hausts itsel3. There will be a puri3ication throu h his reat su33erin ! and when it ends there will be in him a :eener vision and a 3uller response to the promptin s o3 his hi her nature. When! then! he is reborn! he will be born with a stron er conscience! as the result o3 his su33erin s. 4ut he will still retain the lac: o3 con3idence in his ability! because nothin has happened a3ter his death to alter that. Con3idence can be ained only by masterin circumstance! and it is 3or that very purpose that he has returned. /ow sooner or later! he will be con3ronted with a situation similar to that be3ore he 3ailed in the last li3e. "s di33iculties crowd around him in the new li3e! once more there will be the old stru le. The 3act Pa e ,)

o3 committin suicide will now come as a tendency to suicide once a ain! as a resi nation to suicide as the easiest way. 4ut on the other hand! the memory o3 the su33erin a3ter the last suicide will also return in a stron er ur e o3 conscience that this time the solution must not be throu h suicide. &n this condition o3 mental strain! when the man is bein pulled on one side by his past and on the other by his 3uture! i3 he were to :now! with vivid memory! how he had committed suicide in the past in a li:e situation! the probabilities are that he would be in3luenced by his past action! and that his lac: o3 con3idence would be intensi3ied! with suicide as a result once a ain. *or et3ulness o3 the nerve;rac:in details o3 the past enables him to 3i ht now more man3ully. We little realiDe how we are bein domineered over by our past. &t is indeed a blessin 3or most o3 us that the :indly =ods draw a veil over a record which! at our present sta e o3 evolution! cannot be anythin but deplorable in many ways. Only so lon as we identi3y ourselves with our past! that past is hidden 3rom us! e9cept in indirect modes as 3aculties and dispositions. 4ut the direct memory will come! i3 we learn to dissociate our present selves 3rom our past selves. We are ever the *uture! not the past@ and when we can loo: at our past K o3 this li3e 3irst! and a3ter! o3 that o3 other lives K without heat! impersonally! in perspective as it were! li:e a jud e who has no sense o3 identity with the 3acts be3ore him 3or jud ment! then we shall be in to remember! directly! the past in detailH but till then! as Tennyson truly says @ We ran in down this lower trac: The path we came by! thorn and 3lower! &s shadowFd by the rowin hour. Lest li3e should 3ail in loo:in bac:. The second reason 3or our not directly rememberin our past lives is this @ H the E & E who as:s the ?uestion! EWhy donFt & rememberGA has not lived in the past. &t is the 1oul who has lived! not this E & E with all its limitations. 4ut is not this E & E that 1oulG With most people not at all! and this 3act will be evident i3 we thin: over the matter. The avera e man or woman is scarcely so much a 1oul as a bundle o3 attributes o3 se9! creed! and nationality. 4ut the 1oul is immortal! that is! it has no sense o3 diminution or deathC it has no idea o3 time! which deludes it to thin: that it is youn ! wastes away! and rows oldC it is neither man nor woman! because it is developin in itsel3 the best ?ualities o3 both se9esC it is neither Hindu! nor 4uddhist! nor Christian! nor $uslim! because it lives in One 7ivine Li3e and assimilates that Li3e accordin to its temperamentC it is not &ndian! nor +n lish! nor "merican! 3or it belon s to no country! even thou h its outermost sheath! the physical body! belon s to a particular raceC it has no caste nor class! 3or it :nows that all parta:e o3 One Li3e! and that be3ore =od there is neither 4rahmin nor 1hudra! Jew nor =entile! aristocrat nor plebeian. &t is this 1oul which puts out a part o3 itsel3! a Personality! 3or the period o3 a li3e! Eas a mere subject 3or rave e9periment and e9perienceA. Throu h a persona! a Emas:A o3 a babe! child! youth or maid! man or woman! bachelor! spinster or householder! old man or old woman! it loo:s out into li3e! and! as it observes! eliminates the distortin bias which its outer sheath ives. &ts personalities in the past have been Lemurian or "tlantean! Hindu or Roman or =ree:! and it selects the best out o3 them all and discards the rest. "ll literatures! sciences! arts! reli ions and civiliDations are its school and play round! its wor:shop and study. &ts patriotism is 3or an indivisible Humanity! and its creed is to co;operate with Pa e ,5

E=odFs plan! which is +volution.A &t is this 1oul who has had past lives. How much o3 this 1oul are we! the men and women who as: the ?uestion! EWhy donFt we remember our past livesGA The ?uestioner is but the personality. The body o3 that personality has a brain on whose cells the memories o3 a past li3e have not been impressed C those memories are in the 7ivine $an who is o3 no time! o3 no creed! and o3 no land. To remember the 1oulFs past lives! the brain o3 the personality must be made a mirror onto which can be re3lected the memories o3 the 1oul. 4ut be3ore those memories can come into the brain! one by one the various biases must be removed K o3 mortality! o3 time! o3 se9! o3 color! o3 caste. 1o lon as we are wrapped up in petty thou hts o3 an e9clusive nationalism! and in narrow belie3s o3 creeds! so lon do we retain the barriers which e9ist between our hi her selves and our lower. "n intellectual breadth and a lar er sympathy! Ewithout distinction o3 race! creed! se9! caste or color!A must 3irst be achieved! be3ore there brea:s! as throu h clouds! 3lashes o3 our true consciousness as 1ouls. There is no swi3ter way to discover what we are as &mmortals out o3 time than by discoverin what is our Wor: in time. Let but a man or woman 3ind that Wor: 3or whose sa:e sacri3ice and immolation are serenest contentment! then slowly the lar er consciousness o3 the 1oul descends into the brain o3 the personality. With that descent be ins the direct memory o3 past lives. "s more and more the personality presses 3orward! desirin no li ht but what is su33icient 3or the ne9t step on his path to his oal o3 wor:! slowly one bias a3ter another is burnt away in the 3ire o3 puri3ication. Li:e as the sun dissipates more clouds the hi her it rises! so it is 3or the li3e o3 the personalityC it :nows then! with such conviction as the sun has about its own nature when it shines! that Ethe soul o3 man is immortal! and its 3uture is the 3uture o3 a thin whose rowth and splendor have no limit.A Then come bac: the memories o3 past lives. How they come those who live the li3e :now. There are many :inds o3 :nowled e use3ul 3or man! but none reater than the :nowled e Ethat evolution is a 3act! and that the method o3 evolution is the constant dippin down into matter under the law o3 adjustment.A This :nowled e is 3or all who see:! i3 they will but see: ri htlyC and the ri ht way is to be a 4rother to all men! Ewithout distinction o3 race creed! se9! caste or color.
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How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa #HE %$"$O( O) #HE "P$R$#
The history o3 humanity is the history o3 ideas! and the sta es throu h which men have risen 3rom sava e to civiliDed are distin uishable one 3rom the other by the in3luence o3 certain reat doctrines. "mon these teachin s which have moulded civiliDations! the idea o3 +volution stands out as heraldin a new era in the world o3 thou ht. Considered at 3irst as o3 mere academic interest! soon it was reco niDed as o3 practical value! today it is :nown as necessary in the understandin o3 every problem in every department o3 bein . /evertheless it is a 3act that the doctrine o3 evolution is a theory a3ter all. /o one has lived lon enou h to see su33icient lin:s in the evolutionary chain to attest that the char es postulated as havin ta:en place did so actually occur! and that the chain is not a 3ancy but a 3act. Iet evolution is accepted by all as a dynamic idea! 3or li:e a ma ic wand it per3orms wonders in the world o3 thou ht. &t marshals the hetero eneous or anisms o3 nature into orderly roups! and 3rom inanimate atom to protoplasm! 3rom unicellular or anism to multi;cellular! 3rom invertebrate to vertebrate! 3rom ape to man! one ascendin scale o3 li3e is seenC H "nd strivin to be man! the worm $ounts throu h all the spires o3 3orm Iet none can say that evolution is an a reeable 3act to contemplate! 3or there is a ruthlessness in /atureFs methods which is appallin . 0tterly cruel and waste3ul she seems! creatin and per3ectin her creatures only to prey on each other! eneratin more than can live in the 3ierce stru le 3or e9istence. ERed in tooth and claw with ravinA! she builds and un;builds and builds a ain! one;pointed only in this! that a type shall survive! rec:less o3 the pleasure or pain to a sin le li3e. $en themselves! proud thou h they be in a 3ancied 3reedom o3 thou ht and action! are nothin but pawns in a ame she plays. The more 3ully evolution is understood 3rom such 3acts as scientists have so 3ar athered! the more justi3iably can men say! with Omar! o3 their birth! li3e and death@ &nto this 0niverse! and #hy not :nowin ! /or #hence! li:e Water ; willy;nilly 3lowin ! "nd out o3 it! li:e Wind alon the Waste & :now not #hither! willy;nilly blowin . O3 course this attitude does not represent that o3 the majority o3 men. $illions o3 men believe in a Creator! and that E=odFs in his heaven! "llFs ri ht with the worldBA 4ut it is no e9a eration to say that their optimism continually receives rude shoc:s. /o man or woman o3 sensibility can loo: about him and not a ree with TennysonJs comparison o3 li3e to a play @H "ct 3irst! this +arth! a sta e to loomFd with woe Iou all but sic:en at the shi3tin scenes "nd yet be patient. Our Playwri ht may show &n some 3i3th "ct what this wild drama means. Pa e ,.

4oth the idea o3 +volution and the idea o3 7ivine =uidance! as each is at present conceived! 3ail to satis3y 3ully the needs o3 men 3or an inspirin view o3 li3e. The 3ormer indeed shows a splendid pa eant o3 /ature! but it has no messa e to individual man! e9cept to ma:e the most o3 his brie3 day o3 li3e! and stoically resi n himsel3 to e9tinction when /ature shall have no 3urther use 3or him. The latter spea:s to menJs hearts in allurin accents o3 a power that ma:eth 3or ri hteousness! but it sees =od as e9istin only in the aps o3 that pitiless cosmic order which science reveals. &t is obvious! there3ore! that any philosophy which postulates an inseparable relation! between =od and evolution! between /ature and man! is worthy o3 e9amination! and this is the view o3 li3e which Theosophy propounds! in the li ht o3 one reat idea. This idea is that o3 the +volution o3 Li3e. Just as modern science tells us o3 a ceaseless chan e o3 3orms 3rom protoplasm to man! so Theosophy asserts that there is! pari passu! a chan in ! rowin li3e. This li3e does not ori inate in the 3orms! thou h we see it associated with themC and o3 it Theosophy says that 3irst! it is indestructible! and second! that it evolves. &t is indestructible! in the sense that when an or anism is destroyed! nevertheless all is not destroyed! 3or there remains a li3e which is still conscious. &3 a rose 3ades and its petals crumble and 3all to dust! the life o3 that rose has not there3ore ceased to beC that li3e persists in /ature! retainin in itsel3 all the memories o3 all the e9periences which it ained arbed as a rose. Then in due course o3 events! 3ollowin laws which are comprehensible! that li3e animates another rose o3 another sprin ! brin in to its second embodiment the memories o3 its 3irst. Whenever! there3ore! there seems the death o3 a livin thin ! crystal or plant! animal or man! there always persists an indestructible li3e and consciousness! even thou h to all appearance the object is li3eless! and processes o3 decay have be un. *urther! this li3e is evolvin ! in e9actly the same way that the scientist says that an or anism evolves. The li3e is at 3irst amorphous! and responds but little to the stimuli 3rom withoutC it retains only 3eeble memories o3 its e9periences which it ains throu h its successive embodiments. 4ut it passes 3rom sta e to sta e! throu h more and more comple9 or anisms! till slowly it becomes more de3inite! more diverse in its 3unctions. "s the outer 3orm evolves 3rom protoplasm to man! so evolves too the li3e ensoulin it. "ll /ature! visible and invisible! is the 3ield o3 an evolution o3 li3e throu h successive series o3 evolvin 3orms. The broad sta es o3 this evolvin li3e are 3rom mineral to ve etable! 3rom ve etable to animal! and 3rom animal to man. The doctrine o3 a li3e that evolves throu h evolvin 3orms answers some o3 those ?uestions which puDDle the biolo ist today. $any a 3act hitherto considered outside the domain o3 science is seen as illustrative o3 new laws! and e9istin aps are brid ed over to ma:e the doctrine o3 evolution more lo ical than ever. &t 3urther shows /ature as not waste3ul! and only seemin ly cruel! 3or nothin is lost! since every e9perience in every 3orm which was destroyed! in the process o3 natural selection! is treasured by the li3e today. The past lives in the present! to attest that /atureFs purpose is not death crushin li3e! but li3e ever triumphant over death to ma:e out o3 stoc:s and stones immortal men. &n each human bein is seen this same principle o3 an imperishable evolvin li3e. *or man is an individual li3e and consciousness! an immortal soul capable o3 livin apart 3rom the body which we usually call Ethe man.A &n each soul! the process o3 evolution is at wor:. "t his entrance on e9istence as a soul! he is 3eeble and chaotic in his consciousness! va ue and inde3inite in his understandin o3 the meanin o3 li3e! Pa e ,'

and capable only o3 a narrow ran e o3 thou ht and 3eelin . 4ut he too evolves! 3rom inde3inite to de3inite! 3rom simple to comple9! 3rom chaos to order. $anFs evolution is by successive mani3estations in bodies o3 3lesh! passin at the death o3 one body to be in li3e once more in another new one. &n this passa e! he carries with him the memory o3 all e9periences which he has ained in the past behind him. This aspect o3 the evolution o3 li3e as it a33ects men is called Reincarnation. "s all processes o3 /ature are intelli ible on the hypothesis o3 an evolution o3 or anisms! so all that happens to men becomes comprehensible in the li ht o3 reincarnation. "s evolution lin:s all 3orms by species and enus! 3amily and order! class and roup! sub;:in dom and :in dom! into one unbrea:able chain! so reincarnation binds all human e9periences into one consistent philosophy o3 li3e. How reincarnation e9plains the mysteries around us and inspires us! we shall now see. &ma ine with me that e9istence is symboliDed by a mountain! and that millions are climbin to its summit. Let many days be needed be3ore a traveler comes to his oal. Then! as he climbs day a3ter day! the perspective o3 thin s below him and above him will chan eC new si hts will reet his eyes! new airs will breathe around himC his eyes will adjust themselves to new horiDons! and step by step objects will chan e shape and proportion. "t last! on reachin the summit! a vast panorama will e9tend be3ore him! and he will see clearly every part o3 the road which he climbed! and why it dipped into this valley and circled that cra . Let this mountain typi3y e9istence! and let the climbers up its sides be men and women who are immortal souls. Let us now thin: 3or a moment o3 travelers at the mountainFs base! who are to climb to its summit. We :now how limited must be their horiDon! and how little they can see o3 the lon path be3ore them. Let such travelers typi3y the most bac:ward o3 our humanity! the most sava e and least intelli ent men and women we can 3ind today. "ccordin to reincarnation! these are child;souls! just enterin into e9istence! in order to under o evolution and to be made into per3ect souls. To understand the process o3 evolution let us watch one o3 them sta e by sta e as he climbs the mountain. The 3irst thin which we shall note is that this child;soul mani3ests a duality. *or he is soul and bodyC as a soul he is 3rom =od! but as a body he is 3rom the brute. The Lord let the house o3 a brute to the soul o3 man "nd man said! E"m & your debtorGA "nd the Lord H E/ot yet@ but ma:e it as clean as you can! "nd then & will let you a better.A The body which he occupies has in rained in it a stron instinct o3 sel3;preservation stamped upon it by the 3ierce stru le 3or e9istence o3 its animal pro enitorsC he himsel3! as a soul comin 3rom =od! has intuitions as to ri ht and wron ! but as yet hardly any will. The body demands 3or its preservation that he be sel3;assertive and sel3ishC lac:in the will to direct his evolution! he acts as the body impels.
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#HE %$"$O( O) #HE "EP!R!#E* "EL) Hence at this earliest sta e o3 the soul! his vision o3 li3e as he climbs is that o3 the separated sel3. E$ine! not yoursA is his principle o3 actionC reed rules him! and a thirst 3or sensation drives him on! and he little heeds that he is unjust and cruel to others as he lives throu h his ni hts and days o3 sel3ishness and sel3; assertion. He seems stron ;willed! 3or he is able to crush the wea:er be3ore him. 4ut in reality he has no will at all! 3or he is but the playthin o3 an animal heredity which he cannot control. He has no more 3reedom o3 will than the water;wheel which turns at the biddin o3 the descendin stream. He is but the tool o3 a Ewill to liveA which accomplishes a purpose not his own. $illions o3 men and women around us are at this 3irst sta e. Their cra3tiness! hardly deservin the name o3 intellect! is that o3 *alsta33 3or whom Ethe world is mine oyster which & with sword will open.A &n their least animal phases! com3ort is their aim in li3e@ EThey dressed! di ested! tal:ed! articulated wordsC other vitality showed they almost none.A The universe around them is meanin less! and they are scarce capable o3 wonder@ ELet but a Risin o3 the 1un! let but a creation o3 the world happen twice ! and it ceases to be marvellous! to be noteworthy or noticeableA. The centre o3 the circle o3 the cosmos is in themselves! and they neither :now nor care i3 another truer centre is possible. Iet when we reco niDe that each o3 these souls is immortal! and that his 3uture is Ethe 3uture o3 a thin whose rowth and splendour have no limit!A we be in to understand why! at this early sta e! sel3ishness plays such a prominent part in his li3e. *or in sta es to come! he must be capable o3 standin alone 3irm on the basis o3 a coherent individualityC now is the time 3or him to develop initiative and stren th. He is ?uic: to retaliate! but the erms o3 swi3t decision are rown therebyC he is domineerin and cruel! but the seeds o3 intelli ent enterprise result 3rom the animal cunnin which he displays. +very evil which he does must some time be paid bac: in laborious service to his victimsC yet on the whole the evil which he does at this sta e is less in ?uantity and in 3orce! 3or all its seemin ! than that done in later sta es! where intelli ence is :eener and emotion more power3ul. "t a certain period in human evolution! sel3ishness has its place in the economy o3 thin s! 3or sel3ishness too is a 3orce used to build the battlements o3 heaven. These souls! whose youth alone is the cause o3 their sel3ishness! are in their essence divine. There is in them no evil o3 a positive :ind C their vices are but the result o3 the absence o3 virtues! ad their evil Eis null! is nau ht! is silence implyin soundA. +ach is a E ood manA who! deep down within him! has a :nowled e o3 Ethe one true wayA thou h in his attempts to tread it he seems to retro rade rather than to evolve. Li:e plants in a arden! they are all tended by Him 3rom whom they comeC He :nows the per3ect souls that He will ma:e out o3 them by chan e and rowth as the a es pass by. Thou h still con3used his service is unto $e! & soon shall lead him to a clearer mornin . 1ees not the ardener! even while he buds his tree! 4oth 3lower and 3ruit the 3uture years adornin G Li3e a3ter li3e! these souls come to birth! now as men and now as womenC they live a li3e o3 sel3ishness! and they die! and hardly any chan e will be noticeable in the character C but slowly there steals into their lives a dissatis3action. The mind is too dull to rasp the relation o3 the individual to the whole! and the Pa e ,L

ima ination is too 3eeble to realiDe that Eman doth not live by bread aloneA. Hence it is that Ethe thousand natural shoc:s that 3lesh is heir toA are duly marshaled and employed to ru33le their sel3;centered contentment. Old a e and death cast over them shadows which have no power to sadden a philosophic mindC disease and accident lie in wait 3or them to wei ht down their spirits and ma:e them rebel a ainst a 3ate they do not understand. Till their hearts shall enshrine a divine purpose! a Hound o3 Heaven pursues them! and Enau ht shelters thee! who wilt not shelter $e.A Thus are they made ready to pass on to the ne9t sta eC the 3oundations o3 abilities have been laid! and the individual is 3irm on a basis built throu h sel3ishness. /ow has come the time to be in the laborious wor: o3 Ecastin out o3 the sel3A and so there opens be3ore the soulFs aDe the vision o3 the ne9t sta e. "ccordin to the type o3 soul! this vision is either the 2ision o3 the $ind or the 2ision o3 the +motions. There are in li3e two main types o3 souls! the one in whom intelli ence controls emotion! and the other in whom emotion sways the mind. One type is not more evolved than the other C they are both sta es to pass throu h in order to row a hi her 3aculty! that o3 &ntuition. The vision o3 the third sta e is the 2ision o3 the &ntuition! but to it souls come 3rom the 3irst sta e either throu h intellect or throu h emotion. Let us 3irst consider those souls whose evolution is by way o3 intellect. #HE %$"$O( O) #HE M$(* We shall see in the past o3 these souls that much intelli ence has been developed in the 3irst sta e C their sel3ishness has made them ?uic: and cunnin to adapt opportunities to minister to their com3ort. This intelli ence is now ta:en up by the unseen =uides o3 evolution! and the soul is placed in environments that will chan e mere animal cunnin into true intellect. The past ood and evil sown by him will be adjusted in its reapin ! so as to ive him occupations and interests that will 3orce him to thin: o3 men and thin s around him apart 3rom their relation to himsel3. &nstead o3 wei hin e9periences in terms o3 personal com3ort! he be ins to roup them in types and cate ories C little by little he be ins to see a material and moral order in the cosmos which is more power3ul than his will. +ach law o3 /ature! when 3irst seen! is 3eared by him! 3or it seems to e9ist only to thwart him. 4ut later! with more e9perience o3 their wor:in ! he be ins to trust laws and to depend upon them to achieve his aim. " love o3 learnin appears in him! and /ature is no lon er a blan: pa e C he has ceased to be Ea pair o3 spectacles behind which there is no eyeA. "t this sta e! we shall see that the sel3ishness still in him will warp the jud ments o3 his mind. He will be a doctrinaire! a pedant! combative and 3ull o3 prejudice C 3or all his intellect! his character will show mar:ed wea:nesses! and he will o3ten see and propound principles o3 conduct which he will not be able to apply to himsel3. " ain and a ain he will 3ail to see how little he understands the world! since the world is the embodiment o3 a li3e which is more than mind! and whoso understands it with mind alone will always misunderstand. +9cess o3 intellect will become in him de3ect o3 intelli ence! and he will see all thin s as throu h a lass dar:ly. $any a li3e will pass while he slowly ains e9periences throu h the mind! and assimilates them into a truer conception o3 li3e. 4y now he will have be un to ta:e part o3 the intellectual li3e o3 the world and when he is on the threshold o3 the ne9t sta e! we shall 3ind him as a wor:er o3 science! philosophy or Pa e ,-

literature. 4ut his intellect has too reat a personal bias still! and it must be made impersonal and pure be3ore the ne9t vision! that o3 the intuition! can be his. Once a ain! we shall see that there enters into his li3e a dissatis3action. The structure which he builds so laboriously! as the results o3 years o3 wor:! will crumble one by one! because /ature reveals new 3acts to show the world that his eneraliDations were only partly true. The world 3or which he toiled will 3or et him! and youn er wor:ers will receive the honors which are his due. He will be misunderstood by his dearest 3riends! and Ehe is now ! i3 not ceasin ! yet intermittin to eat his own heart! and clutches round him outwardly on the /ot;me 3or wholesomer 3oodA. 4ut this su33erin ! thou h the reapin o3 sad sowin s o3 injustice to others throu h prejudice! brin s in its train a hi h puri3ication sooner or later. "t last the soul learns the reat lesson o3 wor:in 3or wor:Fs sa:e and not 3or the 3ruit o3 action. /ow he :nows the joy o3 altruistic dedication o3 himsel3 to the search 3or truth. " student o3 philosophies but slave o3 none! he now watches nature Eas it isA and in a per3ect impersonality o3 mind solves her mysteries one by one. O3 him now can it be said with 1e9tus the Pytha orean that Ea reat intellect is the chorus o3 divinity.A Thus dawns 3or him the 2ision o3 &ntuition. #HE %$"$O( O) #HE EMO#$O(" & mentioned when describin the transition 3rom the 3irst sta e to the second! that there were in the world two main types o3 souls K those who pass 3rom the 2ision o3 the 1eparated 1el3 to the 2ision o3 the &ntuition by way o3 the mind! and those others who develop alon a parallel path and pass 3rom the emotions to the &ntuition. We have just seen how souls are trained throu h the intellect to cast out the sel3 C we shall now see how the same result is achieved 3or those in whom emotions sway the mind. < "s the intellectual type showed in the 3irst sta e a mar:ed development o3 intelli ence o3 a low :ind! so similarly shall we 3ind that the souls whom we are oin to consider show durin the same sta e a reat deal o3 3eelin . /ot that this 3eelin will be re3ined or unsel3ish C indeed it will be mostly be lust and jealousy! with perhaps a little crude reli ious emotion thrown in. 4ut the character will be obviously easily swayed by emotions! and this trait in the soul is now ta:en up! and wor:ed upon to enable him to pass to the ne9t sta e. *ollowin his emotional bent! and sel3ish and oblivious o3 the 3eelin s o3 those around him! the soul will compel others wea:er than himsel3 to be the slaves o3 his desires. 4ut the passion and the sense o3 possession which he has o3 those who minister to his lusts will lin: him to them li3e a3ter li3e! till slowly he be ins to 3eel that they are necessary to his emotional li3e! and not dispensable at will. =radually his impure passions will be trans3ormed into purer a33ections! and then he will be brou ht a ain and a ain into contact with them! so that his emotions shall o out impulsively towards them. 4ut the evil which he wrou ht them in the past will now cast a veil over their eyes! and ma:e them indi33erent to him. He will be 3orced to love on! to atone 3or past evil by service! but despair will be his only reward. When in resentment he tries to brea: the bond which ties him to them! he will 3ind he cannot. He will curse love! only to return a ain and a ain to loveFs altar with his o33erin s. Thou h li3e now becomes 3ull o3 disappointment and despair! in his serener moments he will ac:nowled e that! in spite o3 the su33erin entailed! his emotional li3e has slowly opened a new sense in him. He catches now and then limpses o3 an undyin youth in all thin s! and the world that seems Pa e )(

dreary and a in will reappear under certain emotional stress as he :new it be3ore li3e became a tra edy. These limpses are transitory at 3irst! lastin indeed only so lon as the love emotion colors his bein C but there is 3or him a time! K O When all the world is youn ! lad! "nd all the trees are reen! "nd every oose a swan! lad! "nd every lass a ?ueen. Li3e a3ter li3e! 3ostered by his transitory loves! this sense will row in him till it blossoms into a sense o3 wonder. The /ature reveals in all thin s in li3e new values! whose si ni3icance he can hence3orth never wholly 3or et. While love sways his bein ! each blade o3 rass and lea3 and 3lower has to him a new meanin C he sees beauty now where he saw none be3ore. +verythin beauti3ul around him K a 3ace! a 3lower! a sunset! ; will lin: him in mysterious ways to those he lovesC the world ceases to be a blan: pa e. Love wa:es men once each li3etime each. They li3t their heavy lids and loo:C "nd loB What one sweet pa e can teach. They read with joy! then close the boo: "nd some ive than:s! and some blaspheme. "nd most 3or et. 4ut either way! That and the childJs unheeded dream &s all the li ht o3 all their day. &t will happen that this sense o3 wonder is intermittent and that there comes periods when the world is veiled C but the veil is o3 his own ma:in ! and must be torn asunder i3 he is to possess the 2ision o3 the &ntuition. Once more there enters into his li3e a dissatis3action K a discontent that love itsel3 is transitory a3ter all. Those whom he loves and who love him in return will be ta:en 3rom him just when li3e seems in 3lower C 3riends he idealiDes will shatter the ideals so lovin ly made 3or them. Cruel as it all seems! it is but the reapin o3 sad sowin s in past lives. 4ut the reapin has a meanin ! now as always. He has so 3ar been lovin not Love but its shadow! not the &deal 3rom which nothin can be ta:en away! but its counter3eit which su33ers diminution. He must now see clearer and see truer. The character must be studied! so that it shall not rebound 3rom enthusiasm to depression! nor be satis3ied with a va ue mysticism! which pre3ers to revel in its own 3eelin s rather than evaluate what causes them. Hence the inevitable puri3ication throu h su33erin C the dross o3 sel3 is burned away till there remains the old o3 divine desire. He then discovers that the truest 3eelin s are only those which have in them the spirit o3 o33erin . /ow 3or him thus puri3ied in desire! and 3or that other type o3 soul made impersonal in intellect! there dawns the 2ision o3 the &ntuition. #HE %$"$O( O) #HE $(# $#$O( 4e3ore the eyes can see! they must be incapable o3 tears. 4e3ore the ear can hear! it must have lost its Pa e ),

sensitiveness.A "ll souls who have come to this sta e have learned by now the bitter lesson that Eit is only in Renunciation that Li3e! properly spea:in ! can be said to be in.A 4ut they have also proved in their own e9perience that what once seemed death was but a Erepentance unto li3e.A They have now discovered the meanin o3 li3e K that man is a child o3 =od come 3orth to li3e to be a co;wor:er with his *ather. &t matters not that a soul does not state to himsel3 his relation to the whole in these terms C it only matters that he should have discovered that his part in e9istence is to be a wor:er in a Wor:! and that nothin happenin to himsel3 matters! so lon as that Wor: proceeds to its inevitable end. He :nows that the end o3 thou ht and 3eelin is action 3or his 3ellow;men! and that this action must be either dispassionate and without thou ht o3 reward! or 3ull o3 a spirit o3 rate3ul o33erin . He possesses now the 3aculty o3 intuition! which transcendin both reason and emotion! yet can justi3y its jud ments to either. He rows past Ecommon sense!A the criterion 3or common thin s! into an unco!!on senseC 3or li3e is 3ull o3 uncommon thin s! o3 whose e9istence others are not aware. &n men and women! he discerns those invisible 3actors which are inevitable in human relations! and hence his jud ment o3 them is Enot o3 this world.A &n all thin s! he see and 3eels One Li3e. Whatever unites attracts him C i3 intellectual! he will love to synthesiDe in science or philosophyC i3 emotional! he will dedicate himsel3 to art or philanthropy. /ow slowly 3or him $any become the One. The 0nity will be :nown only in the vision o3 the ne9t sta e C but! preparin 3or it! science and art! reli ion and philosophy! will deduce 3or him eternal 3undamental types 3rom the :aleidoscope o3 li3e. Types o3 3orms! types o3 thou ht! types o3 emotions! types o3 temperament K these he sees everywhere round him! and li3e in all its phases becomes trans3ormed! because it re3lects as in a mirror "rchetypes o3 a realm beyond time and space and mutability. +verythin o3 mortal birth ;&s but a typeC What was o3 3eeble worth ;Here becomes ripe. What was a mystery ;Here meets the eyesC The +ver;womanly ;7raws us on hi h. The +ver;womanlyA now shows him everywhere one Wisdom. 1cience tells him o3 the oneness o3 /ature! and philosophy that man is a consciousness creatin his worldC art reveals in all thin s youth and beauty! and reli ion whispers to his heart that Love broods over all. His sympathies o to all! as his will is ever at their service. /ot 3ar now is the time when 3or him shall dawn the 2ision o3 the 1pirit. 4ut to brin him to its portal! a dissatis3action once more enters his soul. /o lon er can that dissatis3action be personal C the sad reapin o3 sorrow 3or evil done is over! and Eonly the sorrow o3 others casts its shadow over me.A /or is it caused by any sense o3 the mutability o3 thin s! 3or! absolutely! without ?uestion! he :nows his immortality! and that! thou h all thin s chan e! there is behind them TH"T which chan es never. Iet he climbs to his appointed oal! dissatis3action must always be. Pa e ))

&t comes to him now! as a creator. *or with intuition to uide him! he creates in that 3ield o3 endeavor in which he has trained himsel3 in past lives. "s poet! artist! statesman! saint! or scientist! he is one o3 the worldFs eniuses. 4ut thou h his creations are a miracle to all! yet to him they are only partly true and only partly beauti3ul! 3or he sees the ideal which he would 3ain brin down to men! and :nows his 3ailure as none others can :now. Li3e is teachin him Eto attain by shadowin 3orth the unattainable.A "nd thus he rows li3e a3ter li3e! scientist! poet! artist and saint now mer e into a new type o3 bein who sees with Elar er! other eyes than ours.A He has re ained his inte rity o3 heart and his innocency o3 hands! and is become Ea little childAC Eby pity enli htenedA. He is now Parsi3al! the EPure *ool!A who enters upon his herita e. Then it is that at its threshold there meets him One who has watched him climbin 3or many a li3e! and all unseen has encoura ed him. This is the $aster! one o3 that E oodliest 3ellowship o3 3amous :ni hts whereo3 the world holds recordA. &n Him the soul sees in realiDation all those ideals which have drawn him onward and upward. Hand in hand with this E*aith in =od!A he now treads Mthe WayA while the 2ision o3 the 1pirit is shown him by his $aster. Who shall describe that 2ision but those who have it! and how may one less than a $aster here spea: with authorityG "nd yet since $asters o3 the Wisdom have moved amon men! since 4uddha! 8rishna and Christ have shown us! in Their lives somethin o3 what that vision is! surely 3rom Their lives we can deduce what the vision must be. &n that 2ision o3 the 1pirit! the $any is One. E"lone within this universe he comes and oesC it is He who is the 3ire! the water He pervadeth C Him and Him only :nowin ! one crosseth over deathC no other path at all is there to o.A /ow 3or the soul who has come to the end o3 his climbin ! each man is only Ethe spirit he wor:ed in! not what he did but what he becameA. There is no hi h nor low in li3e! 3or in all he sees a ray 3rom the 7ivine *lame. "s throu h the hi hest so throu h the lowest too! to him E=od stoopin shows su33icient o3 His li ht 3or us in the dar: to rise by.A Li3e is hence3orth become a 1acrament! and he is its celebrant C with lovin thou hts and deeds! he celebrates and at;ones man with =od and =od with man. He discerns! puri3ies in himsel3! and o33ers to =od Ein3inite passion and the pain o3 3inite hearts that yearnA. *rom =od on hi h! he brin s to men what alone can satis3y that yearnin . He has renounced Ethe will to live!A and thereby has made its purpose his ownC E*ore oin sel3! the universe rows &.A Iet he :nows with rapture that! thatK E&E is but a tiny lens in a reat Li ht. Hence3orth he lives only in order that a =reater than he may live throu h him! love throu h him! act throu h him. +vermore shall his heart whisper! in heaven or in hell! whithersoever his wor: may ta:e him C Ehim :now &! the $i hty $an! resplendent li:e the 1un! beyond the 7ar:nessC Him and Him only :nowin one crosseth over death C no other path at all is there to o.A Thus do we! happy 3ew! the precursors o3 a new a e! see li3e in the li ht o3 reincarnation. "s the evolutionist sees all nature lin:ed in one ladder o3 li3e! and s:y and sea testi3y to him o3 evolution! so do we all men lin:ed in one common purpose! and their hopes and 3ears! their sel3;sacri3ice and their sel3ishness! testi3y to us o3 reincarnation. Li3e and its e9periences have ceased to be 3or usK
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"n arch wherethroF =leams that untravellFd world! whose mar in 3ades *or ever and ever when & move. /o lon er can the world be 3or us as the poet san @ "ct 3irst this +arth! a sta e so loomFd with woe! Iou all but sic:en at the shi3tin scenes. "nd yet be patient. Our Playwri ht may show &n some 3i3th "ct what this wild 7rama means. The *i3th "ct is here be3ore your eyes. &t is that 2ision o3 the 1pirit which is the herita e o3 every soul! and thither all men are slowly treadin ! 3or Eno other path at all is there to o.A
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How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa #HE L!W O) RE( (C$!#$O(
The joy o3 li3eB &s it not everywhereG &n plant and animal and man! do we not see an instinct 3or happiness which impels all creation to rise 3rom ood to better! 3rom better to bestG 1ince =od said! ELet there be li htBA are not all men see:in to step out o3 dar:ness into li ht H blindly! dimly 3eelin that happiness must be their oalG Iet how 3ew 3ind happiness in li3eB &t is easy to sin @K =odFs in his heaven! "llFs ri ht with the worldB 4ut to sin so 3or lon ! one must be blind to the 3acts. Li3e is a tra edy to many! and 3ar more truly is it described by Tennyson@K "ct 3irst! this +arth! a sta e so loomFd with woe Iou all but sic:en at the shi3tin scenes! "nd yet be patient. Our Playwri ht may show &n some 3i3th "ct what this wild 7rama means. /evertheless all 3eel that happiness must be the oal o3 li3e! and humanity never errs in its deepest 3eelin s. 4ut then why should not the attainment o3 happiness be easier than it is G M!( !( E%OL%$(+ "O L There is a philosophy o3 li3e which holds that man is an immortal soul! livin not one li3e on earth but many! rowin throu h the e9periences which he ains in them mani3old capacities and virtues. This philosophy 3urther postulates that all men are the children o3 One 3ather! who has created a universe! in order that working therein His children may :now somethin o3 Him! and come to Him in joy. "ccordin to this theory! the purpose o3 li3e is not to achieve a stable condition o3 happiness 3or any individual! but rather to train him to wor: in a Plan o3 an &deal *uture! and 3ind in that wor: an ever;chan in and ever; rowin contentment. *rom the standpoint o3 the Theosophist! all men are indeed wor:in 3or a 3oreordained ideal 3uture C but they wor: at di33erent sta es! accordin to their di33erin capacities. " reco nition o3 these sta es! and the laws o3 li3e appropriate to each! ma:es li3e less the riddle that it is. There are three broad sta es on the Path o3 4liss which leads to the Hi hest =ood! and they are happiness! renunciation! and trans3i uration. #HE "#!+E O) H!PP$(E"" =od calls upon all His children at this sta e to co;operate with Him! by o33erin them happiness as the aim o3 li3e. He has implanted in them a cravin 3or happiness! and He provides wor: 3or them which shall ma:e them happy. Love o3 wi3e and child and 3riend! 3ame and the ratitude o3 men! success and ease K Pa e ).

these are His rewards 3or them that serve Him. $any are the pleasant paths in li3e 3or the youn souls at this sta e! to reap happinesses as they prove those pleasures. That hills and valleys! dale and 3ield! "nd all the cra y mountains yield. 0se3ul up to a point as men are in the =reat Wor: at this sta e! yet so lon as a man deliberately see:s happiness! his capabilities as a worker are soon e9hausted. *or soon he Esettles down in li3eA C the precious i3t o3 wonder slowly 3ades away! and his happiness ceases to be dynamic. 1el3;centred! he calls on the universe to ive. 4ut the Path to 4liss is by wor:! and i3 he is to o ever on! he must 3it himsel3 3or a larger wor: than has so 3ar 3allen to his share. He must enter on the ne9t sta e! but 3or that he must chan e utterly. Hither;to he has measured men and thin s by the standard o3 his little sel3C hence3orth the =reat 1el3 must be his measure. He must brea: the sway o3 himsel3! and realiDe that evermore what is important in li3e is not he! nor his happiness! but a Wor:. 4e3ore this realiDation can be in! there must be a conversion$ CO(%ER"$O( &n many ways are men converted 3rom the interests o3 the little sel3 to the wor: o3 the =reat 1el3. 1ome! lovin Truth in reli ious arb! open their hearts to a Personality who daDDles their ima ination. Thence3orth they must serve Him! and be li:e Him! and one 3orever is the standpoint o3 the little sel3. 1ome study science and philosophy! and discover a ma ni3icent plan o3 evolution! with the inevitable result that they :now that the individual is but a unit in a reat Whole! and not the centre o3 the cosmos. &3 they set to study ri htly! they see! too! that there is a Will at wor:! and that! cost what it may! they must co;operate with that Will. " 3ew there are to whom comes some mysterious e9perience 3rom the hidden side o3 thin s! and li3e spea:s to them a trans3ormin messa e. Out o3 the invisible comes a E1aul! 1aul! why persecutest thou $eGA and a persecutor o3 Christians is chan ed into an "postle o3 Christ. $ani3old are the ways o3 conversion! the same in all lands and in all 3aiths. One 3actor is common @ the old personality is disinte rated! and a new one is reinte rated in the service o3 a Wor:. When! throu h conversion! the new personality is ready 3or a lar er wor:! the tools which he uses must be made pure. They are his thou hts and 3eelin s! and slowly a process o3 puri3ication is be un. 7isappointment and pain and rie3 are his lot H the sad harvest o3 a sowin o3 sel3ishness in the unseen past o3 many lives! 3or we reap as we have sown. When the wor:er is ready! swi3t is /atureFs response to 3ree him 3rom the burden o3 his past! in order that he may be 3it to achieve the reat wor: which she has prepared 3or him. #HE ME!($(+ O) P!$( With some! sorrow hardens the character! but with those who are ready to enter on the second sta e! it ever puri3ies. 7oes not the very te9ture and the 3lesh o3 a su33erer! who has in patience and resi nation borne his pain! seem luminous and pure! as thou h throu h every cell there leamed the li ht o3 a hidden 3ireG How much more so is it with mental su33erin G "re we not irresistibly drawn to reverence one Pa e )'

who has su33ered much and nobly! and sometimes to love! tooG & saw my lady weep! "nd 1orrow proud to be advanced so &n those 3air eyes where all per3ection :eep. Her 3ace was 3ull o3 woe@ 4ut such a woe #believe me% wins more hearts Than $irth can do with her enticin parts! 1orrow was there made 3air! Passion wise C tears a deli ht3ul thin C 1ilence beyond all speech a wisdom rare. 1he made her si hs to sin ! "nd all thin s with so sweet a sadness move "s made a heart at once both rieve and love. #HE "#!+E O) RE( (C$!#$O( Li3e seems 3ull o3 evil days to those who come to the end o3 the 3irst sta e! but its lesson is clear. That lesson is! EThou must o without! o withoutBA That is the everlastin son ! which every hour! all our li3e throu h! hoarsely sin s to us. Truly does Carlyle voice the wisdom o3 the a es when he says! EThe *raction o3 Li3e can be increased in value not so much by increasin your numerator as by lessenin your denominator. /ay! unless my al ebra deceive me! unit divided by a Dero will ive in3inity. $a:e thy claim o3 wa es a Dero then C thou hast the world under thy 3eet.A #HE L!W O) RE( (C$!#$O( "ll reat wor:ers :now that the Law o3 renunciation is true! and that Eit is only with renunciation that li3e! properly spea:in can be said to be inA. There are no reat souls who are completely happy! can ever beB Once more let the reat apostle o3 Wor: spea: to us@ Ethe happy man was never yet createdC the virtuous man! thoF clothed in ra s and sin:in under pain! is the jewel o3 the +arth! however & may doubt it! or deny it in bitterness o3 heart. O never let me 3or et itB Teach me! tell me! when the *iend o3 1u33erin and the base 1pirit o3 the World are ready to prevail a ainst me! and drive me 3rom this last stron hold.A Ta:e whom you will who has done a reat wor:! and he :nows that renunciation is the law. &n bitterness o3 heart Rus:in cries out @ E& have had my heart bro:en a es a o! when & was a boy! then mended! crac:ed! beaten in! :ic:ed about old corridors! and 3inally! & thin:! 3lattened 3airly outA. 4ut he persevered in his wor: all the same. There is no reater name in the world o3 art than $ichael "n elo! Ethis master3ul and stern! li3e;wearied and labor;hardened manA! whose history Eis one o3 indomitable will and almost superhuman ener y! yet o3 will that had hardly ever had its way! and o3 ener y continually at war with circumstanceA. &t is the same with all who have been reat.
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#HE ME!($(+ O) L$)E 4ut throu h renunciation the soul on the threshold o3 reatness discoverFs li3eJs meanin . &3 reli ious! he will state it! EThy will be doneA C i3 scienti3ic or artistic he will say! E/ot &! but a Wor:A. He is now as *aust who sou ht happiness in :nowled e! and 3ailed C sou ht it in the love o3 $ar uerite! and reaped a tra edy C and only as he planned to reclaim waste lands 3or men! and lost himsel3 in the dream o3 that work! 3ound that lon ;sou ht;3or happy moment when he could say! E"h! tarry a while! thou art so 3airBA 1o! renouncin live the souls o3 the second sta e! lovers o3 a Wor:. 1ad at heart they areC but i3 they are loyal to their wor:! then comes to them in 3leetin moments more than happiness C it is the joy o3 creation. 1uch wonders they now body 3orth that to themselves their masterpieces are eni mas. &n 3it3ul leams they see a Li ht! and :now that now and then it shines throu h them to the world. Per3ect masters o3 techni?ue they are now! in reli ion! in art! in science! in every department o3 li3e. 4ut alasB Just as they have discovered what it is to live! what it is to create! they are old! and li3e comes to a close! be3ore it seems hardly be un. 1hall the path o3 renunciation brin nothin but despairG 7espair was never yet so deep. &n sin:in as in seemin C 7espair is hope just droppFd asleep *or better chance o3 dreamin . #HE "#!+E O) #R!(")$+ R!#$O( Hope just droppFd asleep 3or better chance o3 dreamin A H that! truly! is death. The reat wor:er leaves li3e but to return a ain! with every dream old and new nearer realiDation. He returns! with the inborn mastery o3 techni?ue o3 the enius! to achieve now where once he only dreamed. The joy o3 creation is now his sure and priceless possession! that wondrous joy which only those who :now can o33er all i3ts o3 heart and mind! and stand apart 3rom them! while a =reater than they creates throu h them. E1ee:in nothin ! he ains al C 3ore oin sel3! the universe rows &A. /ow has he 3ound that li3e which he lost in the sta e o3 renunciation C hence3orth! in all places and at all times is he become Ea pillar in the temple o3 my =od! and he shall no more o outA. #HE P!#H O) BL$"" 1o li3e ives o3 its best to all K happiness to some! renunciation to others! and! to a 3ew! trans3i uration. What i3 now most o3 us! who love Truth! must Edo withoutAG Let us but dedicate heart and mind to a Wor:! and we shall 3ind that renunciation leads to trans3i uration. There is but one road to =od ! 3or all to tread. &t is the Path o3 4liss. &t has steps K happiness! renunciation! and trans3i uration. Whoso will o33er up all that he is to a Wor:! thou h he Elose his li3eA thereby! yet shall he 3ind it soon! and Ecome a ain rejoicin ! brin in his sheaves with him.A
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How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa #HE H$**E( WOR, O) (!# RE
/ever! in the history o3 man:ind! has there been a time as to;day when it could be so truly said that! The old order chan eth! yieldin place to new! "nd =od 3ul3ils Himsel3 in many ways! Lest one ood custom should corrupt the world. &t is true that Ethe man in the streetA :nows o3 no such reat chan e C li3e 3or him moves as o3 old in its 3i9ed rooves! and i3 the worldFs pro ress has multiplied 3or him li3eFs conveniences! it has also multiplied 3or him li3eFs needs. Chan e to him is lar ely a matter o3 a surplus o3 com3orts over pains! and in this re ard the old order has chan ed but little 3or him. 4ut the man in the library! the laboratory! the studio! the pulpit! is aware o3 the reat chan e! and he :nows that it be an with the wor: o3 7arwin and his school. The importance o3 the wor: o3 modern scientists lies in the 3act that they have marshaled 3or us the events o3 nature into an orderly pa eant o3 evolution. What e9oteric reli ion has not been able to do! science has achieved! and that is to show Li3e as one. Technolo ical trinities o3 Creator! Creation! and Creature! or dualities o3 =od and $an! have not uni3ied li3e 3or us in the way science has done. $ysticism alone! with its truth o3 the &mmanence! has revealed to men somethin o3 that uni3ied e9istence o3 all that is! which is the lo ical deduction 3rom modern evolutionary theories. When we contemplate the pa eant o3 nature! we see her at a wor: o3 buildin and un;buildin . *rom mineral to bacterium and plant! 3rom microbe to animal and man! nature is busy at a visible wor:! step by step evolvin hi her and more comple9 structures. Thou h she may seem at 3irst si ht to wor: blindly and mechanically! she has in reality a coherent plan o3 action. Her plan is to evolve structures sta e by sta e! so that the amount o3 time needed by a iven creature 3or its sel3;protection and sustenance may be less and less with each successive eneration. The hi her the structure is in its or aniDation and adaptability! the more time! and hence more ener y! there is 3ree 3or other purposes o3 li3e than sustenance and procreation. Two elements in li3e arise 3rom the per3ection o3 the structural mechanism which the hi her order o3 creatures reveals. *irst! they have time 3or play! 3or it is in play that such ener y mani3ests as is not re?uired 3or ainin 3ood and shelter. The second element mani3ests itsel3 only when human bein s appear in evolution! and men be in to show a desire 3or adaptability. "daptability to environment e9ists in the plant and in the animal! but it is in them purely instinctive or mechanicalC with man on the other hand there is an attempt at conscious adaptability. When this desire 3or adaptability increases! nature reveals a new principle o3 evolution. To the principle o3 the survival o3 the 3ittest by a stru le 3or e9istence! she adds the new one o3 evolution by interdependence. There3ore we 3ind human units a re atin themselves into roups! and primitive men or aniDin themselves into 3amilies and tribes.
Pa e )-

Once more this means a savin o3 labor and time in the material stru le 3or e9istence. 1ome o3 both is now at natureFs disposal! to train men to discover new ways o3 li3e and action. To the play o3 the individual! there is added a communal li3e which ma:es civiliDation possible. *or civiliDation means that some individuals in a community are dissatis3ied with what contents all the others! and that there3ore they are burnin with a Deal 3or re3orm! and the spirit o3 re3orm sooner or later is inevitable in evolution. The survival o3 the 3ittest can only come about by that mysterious arrival o3 the 3ittest which no scientist can e9plain. /ature now ushers in Ethe 3ittestA in the 3ew who are plannin 3or re3orm. *or re3orm means that or anisms will consciously adapt themselves more and more to the e9i encies o3 environment! 3or to each successive chan e to reater adaptability nature has somethin new to ive. Thus individual men and women become natureFs toolsC she wor:s with their hearts and minds and hands to create social and political activities. Reli ion and science and art appear amon menC the stru le 3or e9istence is no lon er natureFs sole means 3or brin in to realiDation her aim C interdependence o3 units! and therewith re3orm! are the means which she uses now. Then it is that nature proclaims to men that messa e which she has :ept 3or them throu h the a es. &t is the joy o3 social service. 1tran e and unreal! as yet! to most men is the thou ht o3 such joy. 4ut evolution has only lately entered on this phase o3 her wor:! and a es must yet elapse be3ore social service becomes instinctive in men as are now sel3;assertion and sel3ishness. That day must inevitably be the hand3ul o3 re3ormers today are as the Emissin lin:sA o3 a chain which stretches 3orward 3rom man to superman. "s! 3rom the isolation and sel3ishness o3 the o3 the brute! nature has evolved the interdependence o3 men! so too! is sel3;sacri3ice the ne9t lo ical step in her evolutionary 1el3;revelation. " more inspirin picture there could hardly be than this! o3 nature at wor: on her buildin and un;buildin . Iet there are not a 3ew dar: shadows in the picture. 1o lon as the individual lives only the 3ew brie3 years o3 his li3e! so lon as nothin o3 him remains as an individual a3ter his death! there is a ruthlessness about nature which is appallin . Where is today Ethe lory that was =reece and the randeur that was RomeAG 1ome day there must be an end to natureFs wor:! in this planet at least where we live. There are dead suns in space! and some day our sun will die out! and every satellite o3 his will be a 3roDen world. Care3ul o3 the type! nature truly builds 3orm a3ter 3orm! and will build 3or many an a e yet to come. There is indeed a 3ar;o33 event Eto which the whole creation movesA! but it is to that state when livin or anisms shall lac: the warmth 3rom the sun which they need 3or li3e. 1o lon as we contemplate natureFs visible wor: only! not the reatest altruist but must now and then 3eel the shadow o3 reat despair. That which alone ma:es li3e and sel3;sacri3ice real and inspirin to reat souls K the thou ht and the 3eelin that their wor: will endure 3orever K is lac:in when we consider natureFs wor: in the li ht o3 modern science alone. Iet many an altruist would be content to die! and be nothin therea3ter! i3 he could but 3eel that nature had some pity 3or his 3ate. Well the poet voices the 3eelin which arises 3rom the conception o3 nature! or o3 a deity who is as passionless as natureC ; Li3e is pleasant! and 3riends may be ni h! *ain would & spea: one word and be spared C Iet & could be silent and cheer3ully die! &3 & were only sure =od caredC &3 & had 3aith and were only certain Pa e 5(

That li ht is behind that terrible curtain. &t is here that Theosophy steps in to continue the wor: o3 science! and e9plain the true si ni3icance o3 natureFs mani3estations. "s modern science points to natureFs visible wor:! so Theosophy points to a Hidden Wor: o3 /ature. There is a hidden Li ht which reveals to men that nature is but one e9pression o3 a Consciousness at wor: C that this Consciousness is at wor: with a Plan o3 evolutionC and that this Consciousness carries out its plan throu h us and throu h us alone. The moment that we realiDe the si ni3icance o3 this messa e o3 the Hidden Li ht! that men are immortal souls and not perishable bodies! we be in to see that! while care3ul o3 the type! nature is not less care3ul o3 the sin le li3e too. *or then we see that natureFs latest phase! a 3ullness o3 li3e throu h social service! necessarily involves the reco nition o3 men as soulsC 3or it would be useless 3or nature slowly to 3ashion a re3ormer! unless she could utiliDe his ability and e9perience 3or reater re3orms in the 3uture. That his specialiDed abilities shall not be dissipated would surely then be lo ical! in a nature 3or which we postulate an aim which persists 3rom a e to a e. &t does not re?uire much pro3ound thou ht or speculation to deduce 3rom this view o3 natureFs wor: that men live 3or ever as souls! and that! throu h reincarnation! they become 3itter tools in natureFs hands to achieve her purpose o3 evolution. Let but reincarnation be considered a part o3 natureFs plan! and at once the tra edy o3 nature trans3orms itsel3 into an inspirin and stately pa eant. *or then the 3uture is ourselves C it is we who shall ma:e the lorious utopias o3 dreamsC we who pain3ully toil today to 3ashion bric:s 3or natureFs beauti3ul edi3ice in 3ar;o33 daysC we! and not others! shall see that edi3ice in its splendor! and be its very possessors. Thou h the spirit o3 action o3 the best o3 us is ever a sic vos non vobis! Ethus ye wor:! but not 3or yourselvesA! yet in reality! li:e bread cast upon the waters! our wor: shall reet us a es hence! and we shall then be lad that we have toiled so well now. 1o comes to us the messa e o3 the Hidden Li ht that nature is consciously oin 3rom ood to better! 3rom better to best! and that she wor:s out her splendid purpose throu h us! who may become her ministers! or must be her slaves. The spirit o3 re3orm! then! bein a part o3 the evolutionary process! the ne9t point to note is that in all e33ective re3orm there are two elements@ 3irst the re3orm is brou ht about by individuals wor:in as a roup! and second! the roup has a leader. &t is 3airly easy to understand the roupin o3 individuals to co;operate 3or a common aim as a part o3 natureFs evolutionary planC their united action but e9presses the social instinct. 4ut it is perhaps less easy to see that nature selects the leader! and sends him to a particular roup to crystalliDe its dreams and plans into or aniDation and action. Iet this is the messa e o3 the Hidden Li ht K that a leader does not appear by a mere concatenation o3 chance circumstances! but only because he is selected 3or a particular wor:! and is sent to do it. *or a leader does not come in evolution as a EsportA H a passin variant produced nobody :nows howC he is 3ashioned by a slow laborious process lastin thousands o3 years. Li3e a3ter li3e! in a process o3 rebirth! the would;be leader must earn his 3uture position by dedication to wor:s o3 re3orm C by little actions 3or re3orm as a sava e! by lar er actions as a civiliDed man! he trains himsel3 3or the role which nature has written 3or him. Pa e 5,

&3 we loo: at re3ormers in the li ht o3 reincarnation! we shall see that their present ability to lead is simply the result o3 wor: done in past lives. 1ince biolo ists are a reed that ac?uired characters are not transmissible! we must loo: 3or that rare inborn capacity to lead! not in the heredity o3 the or anism! but in a spiritual heredity which is in the li3e and in the consciousness o3 the individual. This is e9actly what reincarnation says C the individual ac?uired his ability to lead today only be endeavors to lead many a past li3e! and by partial successes at least in so doin . *urthermore! the Hidden Li ht reveals to us that each present movement 3or re3orm was rehearsed in many a primitive settin lon a o! with the present leaders and their coadjutors as actors. We need but loo: at the re3orm movements 3or the amelioration o3 the lot o3 the wor:in classes in +urope! to see how the leaders o3 today in the various countries were tribunes o3 the Plebs in Rome! or Edema o uesA in "thens! or leaders o3 the masses in Cartha e. /ay! 3urthermore! it is not di33icult to note how some o3 the politicians and statesmen o3 =reece and Rome and elsewhere! who wor:ed to abolish abuses and to 3ree the oppressed! have chan ed se9 in their present incarnations! and are with us today as leaders o3 the various su33ra ist and 3eminine movements o3 the world. Where else but in past lives did these women learn the tactical strate y and mastery o3 leadership which they evince in their campai ns 3or re3ormG Why should certain men and women! and not all! labor and toil 3or their 3ellow;men! renouncin all and covetin martyrdom! unless they had learnt by past e9periences the lory o3 action 3or re3ormG *or the born leaders in every re3orm are eniuses in their way C they o unerrin ly to an aim! with the conviction o3 success C where did they develop this 3aith in themselvesG They are in reality the Emissin lin:sA 3rom men o3 today to the supermen o3 the 3uture! and it is nature hersel3 with her Hidden Wor: who has so 3ashioned them li3e a3ter li3e. 1o nature plans and achieves! and the stately pa eant moves on. 4ut her purpose is not achieved slowly and leisurely ! addin chan e to chan eC she does not brin about a new order o3 thin s by an accumulation o3 small chan es. /ature oes by leaps! per saltu!C and as in the biolo ical world crises appear! and nature ma:es a leap and ushers in new species! so too is it in the world o3 human a33airs. Thou h there is a slow steady upward movement 3or pro ress throu h re3orm! yet now and then there is a crisis in the a33airs o3 men. Then thin s happen! and a3ter the crisis is over! there is! as it were! a new species o3 human activity. Re3orm ta:es a new trend! and a whole host o3 new re3orms are ushered in to ma:e li3e 3uller and nobler. One such crisis in human a33airs came in Palestine! with the comin o3 Christ. *or thou h men :new not that it was a crisis! thou h =reece and Rome dreamed and planned o3 philosophy and dominion without end! a dawn had be un o3 a new era! and an a e was ushered in! in the heyday o3 which =reece and Rome should be mere names. Christ ministered in Palestine! spo:e to peasant and priest! and ave His sermons Eon the $ountA! and a 3ew men :new not then that with his messa e He ave birth to new species o3 idealism in action. 4ut a3ter two thousand years have elapsed! we o3 another eneration can see that when Christ lived in Palestine! and the Roman +mpire was be innin its day o3 lory! then indeed was the be innin too o3 the end o3 a world o3 thou ht and action K o3 that E lory that was =reece and the randeur that was RomeA H and that Christ ave His messa e not so much to the men o3 His day as to those who were to come. 1o too was it in &ndia! si9 centuries be3ore Christ C another EdreamerA appeared! 1iddhartha! Prince o3 the 1atya clan. $en listened to Him and loved Him and 3ollowed Him! but they little dreamed that He was in reality buildin an +mpire o3 Ri hteousness! which even a3ter twenty;3ive centuries should embrace Pa e 5)

within it 3ive hundred millions o3 souls. To the critics o3 His time! he was but another ETeacherA! one o3 hundreds then livin in &ndia pointin out EThe Way.A &t is only a3ter the lapse o3 centuries that later enerations :new that He was a teacher o3 teachers! a *lower on our human tree! the li:e o3 which had never been. +very so o3ten! then! there is a clima9 in human a33airs! and always such a clima9 is preceded by an a e when men Edream dreams.A &n Palestine! prophet a3ter prophet dreamed o3 Ethe reat and dread3ul day o3 the Lord!A be3ore Christ came! and proclaimed its comin and wor:ed 3or it. &n &ndia! many a sa e and philosopher prepared the way with his solutions 3or the messa e o3 the 4uddha. &n every such clima9! small or reat! the resolution o3 the crisis comes throu h the intermediary o3 a Personality. *or as nature weaves the tan led :not o3 human 3ate! Enowise moved e9cept unto the wor:in out o3 doom!A she plans too the 1olver o3 the :not. *or every crisis which is o3 her plannin ! she has prepared the $an who holds the solution in his heart and brain. &n this out twentieth century! men dream dreams as never hereto3ore. +ast and West! /orth and 1outh! the machinery o3 human li3e rates on the ear! and there is not a sin le man or woman o3 true ima ination who can say! E=odFs in his heaven! "llFs ri ht with the worldBA e profundis cla!ari better describes the wail o3 every nation. $illions are spent on armies and navies! while the poor are clamourin 3or bread C and statesmen themselves are wrin in their hands that they cannot ive a nationFs wealth bac: to the nation in hospitals and schools and 3air ardens and clean habitations. *or there are Ewars and rumors o3 wars.A The spirit o3 charity rows year by year! but it seems as thou h charity but added patches to a rottin arment! and the more the patches which are put on the more the rents appear. 1tri3e between capital and labor! race hatred between white and brown and yellow and blac:! a deadloc: between science and reli ion! and more than all else! the increasin lu9ury o3 the 3ew and the increasin misery o3 the many! these are but a 3ew o3 the problems 3acin philanthropists today. +very re3ormer realiDes! in whatever department he wor:s! that 3or lastin re3orm a complete reconstruction is needed o3 the whole social structure! i3 poverty! disease and i norance and misery shall be as a ni htmare that has been but shall never be a ain. "ll are ea er 3or re3orm C thousands are willin to co;operate. 4ut none :nows where to be in! in the true reconstruction. +ach is indeed terri3ied! lest in tryin to pull one bric: out o3 the social edi3ice! to replace it by a better! he may pull the whole structure down! and so cause misery instead o3 joy. This is the crisis present be3ore our eyes! con3rontin not one nation! but all. EOut o3 the depths have & cried unto Thee! O Lord!A is true today as never be3ore. +verywhere! in every department where men wor: 3or re3orm! mean are loo:in 3or a Leader. Where is He whom nature has selected!in whose mind is the Plan! in whose is the spirit and in whose hand is the PowerG Let him but appear! let him but say! EThis is how you shall wor:!A and thousands will 3loc: to Him in joy. "nd it is this messa e o3 the Hidden Li ht that He is ready! 3or when 3rom the hearts o3 men a cry oes 3orth! 3rom the bosom o3 =od a 1on shall come. The world is in the birth throes once a ain 3or the comin o3 the 1on o3 $an! and the youn men who see visions today shall in their prime 3ind Him in their midst! the Wonder3ul! the Councillor! the Prince o3 Peace. Pa e 55

/ever an a e! when =od has need o3 him! 1hall want its man! predestined by that need! To pour his li3e in 3iery word and deed! The reat "rchan el o3 the +lohim. When He! whom the world waits 3or! and whom nature has planned to come Eunto this hour!A shall appear! what will be His wor:G What but to carry on natureFs wor: one step 3urtherG The day is past when men can o 3orward with competition as their cry o3 pro ress C nothin lastin can now come 3or men unless it is brou ht about by interdependence and co;operation. The best o3 men today see the inevitable comin o3 this new a e! when men shall be sons o3 =od in deed and not merely in nameC but their cry 3or altruism and co;operation is as a voice cast in the teeth o3 the tempest. They can but ather round them here an enthusiast and there a disciple C but they accomplish little! 3or they lac: the character which compels the world to listen. Till comes that Personality who is not o3 one nation but o3 all! whose messa e is not 3or this century alone but 3or all others to come C till then the dawn o3 the new day will dra its slow len th alon . 4ut when He comes! then indeed what He says and what He does will be the proo3 to us that it is He and not another! whom nature has planned to be the 1hadow o3 =od upon earth to men! the 1avior who is born unto them this day. Then once more shall the Hidden Li ht be revealed to men! that Li ht that Eshineth in dar:ness! and the dar:ness comprehended it not.A Then science shall be our reli ion! and reli ion our art C then shall we cease to be natureFs slaves! and enter upon our herita e! and become her councillors and uides. Then shall we :now! not merely believe! that behind the seemin pitiless plan o3 nature there is a most piti3ul $ind! care3ul o3 the type and care3ul o3 the sin le li3e too. /evermore shall our eyes be blinded by passionate tears as we loo: at the misery o3 men! and 3eel the utter hopelessness o3 its e33ective diminution C 3or we shall :now that nature but veils an +ye that sees! a Heart that 3eels! and a $ind that plans! 3or One shall be with us to be a %artyros! a Witness! o3 that Li ht that shineth in dar:ness! even when the dar:ness comprehends it not. He will call on the many to co;operate in all ood wor:s Ein His name and 3or the love o3 man:indAC He will teach them the ne9t lesson which nature has planned 3or them! the joy o3 nei hbourly service. 4ut to a 3ew He will ive the call to 3ollow Him throu h the a es. *or He comes to usher in a new a e C that a e must be tended and 3ostered decade a3ter decade! century by century! till the seed becomes the tree and the tree bears 3lowers! and by the per3ectin o3 man comes the 3ul3illment o3 =od. "s He is natureFs husbandman! so will he need helpers in those 3ields 3rom whence alone comes the 7aily 4read 3or men. The many will love Him 3or the peace and joy which He will brin C but a 3ew will answer the call to 3ollow Him li3e a3ter Li3e! toilin ! toilin in a wor: seemin ly without end. To these 3ew alone will be it iven to :now the inwardness o3 the messa e o3 the Hidden Li ht. &t is that nature :eeps her diadems not 3or those who reap happiness in her pleasant 3ields and ardens! but 3or those who co;operate with her in her Hidden Wor:! and try Eto li3t a little o3 the heavy :arma o3 the world.A *or this is /atureFs Hidden Wor:! to weave a vesture out o3 the :armas o3 men which shall re3lect the pattern iven her 3rom on hi h C and the weavin halts! unper3ected! till throu h the actions o3 all men there shall shine one reat "ction. When the per3ect vesture is woven 3or him who desires it! and the :armas o3 all men act in unison! then! and not be3ore! will come Ethat dayA when /ature can say to all men! as now to her =od @ E& am in my *ather! and ye in me and & in you.A 0nto that hour she toils at her Hidden Wor:! and it is the Hidden Li ht which reveals to men her process o3 evolution as she shapes in moulds o3 dust immortal 1ons o3 =od. Pa e 56

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How We Remember Our Past Lives by C.

How We Remember Our Past Lives

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

How We Remember Our Past Lives by C. Jinarajadasa

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