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- Lucifer, vol. 4, no. 20, April 1889, pp. 122-126
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Title for references: Kingsland W. - Some Thoughts on Reincarnation
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THE doctrine of reincarnation may be said to be the key note of Theosophical teachings. It embodies a principle so far-reaching in its action, that once a man has grasped and apprehended that principle, it enables him at one step to rise above the influence of those conditions of life and death which appear such a vast and insoluble problem when viewed from the standpoint of a single individual mortal existence.
The doctrine is one that has been taught in all ages under a great variety of forms, but in this, as in everything else, we must be careful to distinguish form from the principle; the one is that which adapts itself to transient conditions of the human mind, the other is independent of the form, and when perceived by the intuition is recognised under whatever form it may for the time being appear.
It is with the principle rather than with the doctrine that we are now dealing. This principle will come to our unconsciousness as the result of a number of facts in our experience which require a key note to harmonize them, rather than as the result of any evidence or arguments which appeal to our mere intellectual faculties.
We find that everyone, even the man of the world, has some such similar perception of principles which lie deeper than his power of analysis can carry him, but which have become so much a part of his consciousness that he recognises them as a fundamental basis of his actions, even though he may not be able to formulate them, or give them a definite shape or name.
There is a faculty of the mind which synthesizes our various experiences, and gives us the power of recognising in a more or less perfect manner, according to our degree in the scale of evolution, those universal principles which underlie matter and form. In its highest aspect this faculty is that of Intuition, or the power of immediately perceiving the whole bearing, aspect, or truth of things without reasoning or analysis. Intuition is the basis of all our thoughts and actions, and lies too deep for analysis, for if we regard it as the synthesis of all our past experiences, it is evident to the most casual observer that that experience is not the result of this present existence merely. We easily recognise this faculty when developed to a marked degree in any particular direction, and we then call it genius. The man who is born a genius knows intuitively that which can only be arrived at in a lesser degree by other men by deductive methods and long training. He starts at the point where other men leave off.
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What is it that gives him the power to do this? From whence comes the knowledge which other men have to acquire by painful toil and long experience? and we may further ask: from whence comes that which exists – the same in kind though in varying degrees – in every man, and constitutes the essence of his character, in other words his real Ego?
Each man will answer this question according to his light. The materialist will give one answer, the religionist another. The one believes neither in a heretofore nor a hereafter, the other in a hereafter but not in a heretofore. But to those who are students of the deeper mysteries of humanity, who have penetrated behind the veil of matter and assured themselves of the reality of the inner hidden universe of spiritual activity, and learnt the connection between this and the outward material world, there is but one answer to the question.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit,” said one who had learnt the mystery of “Christ.” The real Ego is immortal, and is neither born nor conditioned of matter in the physical plane, but takes to itself the experience of each successive earth life, and becomes responsible for deeds done in the body, and for the helping or hindering of the progress of humanity as a whole. It must work out its own salvation, it must assimilate its own experience, it must pass by its own choice and effort from the lower to the higher, that which it sows it shall also reap.
This is the law of Karma, and is so intimately related to that of reincarnation that the two must be considered as one. Karma is the law of compensation, or of cause and effect in its inter-relation on the various planes of consciousness, from the purely spiritual and subjective down to the lowest planes of matter and consciousness. In relation to rebirth, it is the aggregate of those forces (skandhas) generated in a previous incarnation, by reason of which another earth-life under certain definite conditions becomes inevitable. These two constitute the key to the position which each individual occupies in his present life on this earth.
The realization of what is involved in these principles will carry the individual an immense step forward in the attainment of that far-reaching spiritual insight which alone can raise us to the level of conscious spiritual beings, living above the attractions of the material plane, the strife of human passions, and uninfluenced by the ever changing opinions, creeds and dogmas of exoteric religions. To know in full is probably synonymous with adeptship. There is mystery within mystery which can only be penetrated as the spiritual instinct is developed. Nature speaks to us in her own language, and we must learn that language if we would know her secrets; they cannot be translated.
But let a man have once firmly grasped the principles of reincarnation and Karma, and there can no longer remain any doubt in his mind 124concerning his course of action, for he has begun to understand the laws of his spiritual being, those universal and unalterable principles upon which depends alike the existence of a single atom and of the whole universe, and which are co-related and correspondential on every plane of consciousness.
Those whose intuition can recognise in the laws of our physical life the reflection and counterpart of the laws which operate on the higher planes, possess the key to the whole mystery of life, for they will be able to apprehend that which is the unity of all diversity, and which harmonizes and synthesizes all the various aspects and conditions of things, uniting even such apparent opposites as good and evil, light and darkness, sorrow and joy.
Science and religion, these two also – having so long stood in opposition – will be harmonized and united. Long and bitter has been the struggle, and black and foul the history of dogma and priestcraft. But now science has forced home to the minds of men those laws which condition the physical world, but which when first enunciated in this our Christian era, were met by deadly opposition and bitter hatred on the part of the Church.
But, alas, for the dogmatism of the day. That which was heterodox yesterday is orthodox to-day, and history repeats itself. It is no longer orthodox religion, but orthodox science that represents the dogmatism of the age. The battle which the scientists have fought and won against the powers of superstition has now to be fought and won against the powers of Materialism and Atheism. Those who will lead mankind to the larger knowledge in store for them, have to fight over again the battles of the scientists on a higher plane, and force home to the minds of men the laws which condition their spiritual nature. These laws being the counterpart of those which exist on the material plane, we see the possibility that exists for a scientific religion, a religion based on principles as firmly established as those which we act upon every day of our lives in dealing with physical forces.
An understanding of the principle of reincarnation cannot fail to give us a clear perception of the relativity of form, whether in the outward physical world, or in the inner world of thought as represented in those various systems and doctrines, creeds, dogmas and mental paraphernalia in general, in which men dress up their ideas, and endeavour to make others wear them, and which they even take for verities, and bow down and worship.
In the physical world there is nothing permanent; the mightiest hills endure but for a day. Nations and races, forms of government, civilization, society, religion – all these are but as the mote that dances in the sunshine. And yet while they last, men centre in them their energies and passions, and they only change amidst a horrid dim of human strife, pain and delusion. To-day a man will fight with bitter 125sentiment, against those who appear likely to upset his doctrine of atonement or his Athanasian creed. But where were these doctrines when 2,000 years ago this same individual lived in quite a different state of society, or 200,000 years ago, which yet is but as yesterday if a man can but comprehend?
To-day in the so-called Christian Church it is possible for a bishop to stand in danger of imprisonment if he administer his office in one form rather than another. And human passions are roused, and envy, malice, and all uncharitableness are brought to light in the name of religion, and for the sake of – form! Truly the Devil – having somewhat of a larger view of humanity than these his dupes – must laugh to see how men practise the religion of Christ, mistake the husk for the kernel, and place themselves in the very position of those pharisees whom Christ so vehemently denounced.
One of the first lessons which we are taught by the doctrine of reincarnation is this: – that however different may be the ideas, conceptions, states, or conditions of our fellow men from that which we find in our selves, any one of these conditions may have been ours yesterday, may be ours to-morrow. Humanity as a whole, in its mental and spiritual aspects, finds as many conditions of life as that which exists on the face of the globe in flora or fauna, and we must view humanity as a whole, and apart from any one section of it, or from our own individuality, before we can understand those principles which govern our evolution, and which necessitate that we should pass through every state, degree, and condition of life in our progress towards those higher states of spiritual selfconsciousness, which are independent of the conditions which pertain to our present physical life.
There is no room here for either self-righteousness or dogmatism. Each man must decide for himself what form is most in harmony with the highest perceptions of truth, what best helps him to realise his spiritual aspirations. But if he would understand something of those principles which govern the human heart, he must be able to view humanity – not through the coloured glasses of his own particular creed, but with an universal sympathy which embraces all creeds. This is the basis and root idea of Theosophy, founded on a knowledge of that which has been is, and will be.
Many thoughts, too deep for words, come crowding into our minds when we reflect upon what we may have done and suffered in those past lives, the memory of which is mercifully hidden from our present consciousness. The burden of our mistakes and failures, of hopes blighted, of bitter experience, apparently fruitless struggles, and often in suffering which appears so absolutely unmerited and unjust that we are in danger of losing all hope and faith; these things, which come to all men in greater or lesser degree as the experience of a single life time, are ofttimes too heavy a burden for us to bear, and we gladly close our eyes in 126the sleep of death, with an instinctive feeling that this is Nature’s remedy for the worn and suffering soul.
If from this sleep we were to awake, as we awake every morning, with the recollection of the previous day, and the full weight of our responsibilities and cares, which of us would be able to take up once more the burden of life? It can only be when we have learnt to distinguish the reality from the illusion, the true from the false, the spiritual from the material; when we have raised our consciousness above the level of time and space, and learnt to dwell in the eternal consciousness of the absolute reality, that we shall be able to stand face to face with the ghosts of our former selves, and read our record in the book of life; for then we shall know in full that what we now call good and evil are but the opposite poles of manifestation, and have no existence, save on the plane of illusions.
“Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never; |
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