The Idea of Reincarnation
FORTY years ago, working in the London slums,. seeing occasionally, when the public-houses closed, the mob of rowdy, swearing, animalized men and. women hurtling out into the grimy street, or when. toiling in the sordid courts, I would think : " For these hopeless, helpless ones, what can be done ? Better an earthquake should swallow them up, and leave none, of their type. They and generations after them can never know the beauty, the joy of really human life." One worked on. What else could one do ? The work would have helped one day in a far-off future, in a world renovated which did not admit slums. But I would say with Swinburne :— " There is no God, son, If thou be none."
Then came the Secret Doctrine, and all was changed. The Sun had risen. These congenital criminals were only reborn savages. The people who seemed so helpless, so hopeless, had in them a seed of the Divine Life, and therefore of Divine perfection, as the acorn which grows into the image of its parent oak. Re- incarnation was the law of the developing individual, as Evolution was the law of developing bodies.
What then is Reincarnation ? Here is the hypothesis,- to be studied, understood, and then tested by appli- cation to human lives, to see if it serves as a key to their riddles.
The " Spirit " in man is the Life of God, individualized in the human form, when that form has evolved to a stage which made it possible that the three basic qualities of Divine Consciousness- manifested in our worlds, Power, Wisdom, and Creative Activity (or Love) could germinate within his material- form as Will, Self-realization, and Intellect. In the higher animals, from whom the form had • evolved, these could only faintly be shadowed forth, as germinal mind, desire, and action.
Reincarnation is to the individualized Spirit,--the Soul.or Ego—what evolution -is to- bodies, and, continues from the beginning of the human stage to its ending in the superhuman, freed from death and re-birth.
These facts can only be verified when the human being has outstripped the present normal stage of evolution ; this can now be done by study and practice of the science of Yoga, as the scientific gardener can produce the present wonderful roses from the ordinary garden blossoms, themselves evolved from the wild ones. In this statement I speak from personal experience, having practised the science for thirty-eight years, and I am still continuing its practice.
The human being lives in three worlds which form the several encasements of his actions, his emotions, and his thoughts. During the period between birth and death these show as his waking consciousness. The " dream consciousness " works in subtler matter (as indicated by the different measures of space and time in the second world) and in deep trance in the third. Modern psychology has to some extent penetrated the three. After putting off the physical body, the soul, wearing its emotional and mental encasements, passes into the second or intermediate world—purgatory and paradise ; the length of his stay in the former, during which he experiences the cravings of the lower passions, depends on the extent to which he has allowed them to dominate him in his physical life ; he cannot satisfy them, having lost his physical body, and he thus learns the lesson of self-control. Then while still in the second world, he passes on to the enjoyment of good though partially selfish emotions ; during these stages he can communicate with those living on the earth, and give his personal experience. Lastly he carries these emotions, refined and purified, with his good and uplifting thoughts, into the third or mental world —Heaven. There he remains for shorter or longer periods, depending on the amount of good and useful thought during the earth period, living there among his friends, as he knew them, in unbroken happiness, until he has built into capacities and powers, mental and emotional, all the unselfish and ennobling experiences he gathered while on earth. I have known an instance where the Heaven stay lasted for 2,000 years. When all the experiences are assimilated, the soul feels hunger, as it were, for new experiences, and this desire draws him back to earth. The devas (angels) guide him to parents who can give him the physical body most suitable for his needs, and he is re-born.
Such is " the wheel of births and deaths." We cannot leave it while we are bound by desires, or until we have gained human perfection. When the pilgrim has learned all that earth can teach, then his bonds are broken, and he can choose his future path. Among such conquerors are found those whom we Theosophists call Masters.
Reincarnation follows the Law of Readjustment (Karma), or in Christian phrase : "'Be not deceived ; God is not mocked ; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The Soul can retard his evolution, but if he clings to ignorance, suffering at last becomes intolerable. Obedience to Law means growth and happiness. Reincarnation is a message of Hope. The worst criminal embodies the Light " which lighteth every man who cometh into the world." He is only ignorant and is in a low class in the Divine School. Our congenital criminals are very likely the murdered savages of our Colonial bush, returning to us to profit by our civilization ; they should be reformed, not punished, though kept under restraint (for the guarding of society) and taught. And Reincarnation is a message of Joy. Our most wonderful -sages and saints were once as we are to-day. We suffer because we have wronged. Let us cheerfully pay our debt, by right service. When our will is in accord with the Divine we give the service which is perfect Freedom.
Moreover, Reincarnation makes life intelligible. If every soul is newly created, why is one embodied in a congenital criminal and another in a saint ; one in an imbecile, another in a genius ; one in a happy home, another in a miserable ; one of pure and noble parents, and trained in virtue and honour ; one of a ruffian and a harlot, joined by lust or violence, and trained in vice ? It is no answer to say : ".Nay, but, 0 man, who art thou that repliest against God ; has not the potter power over the clay ? " I answer " No, if the clay be sentient ; surely with perfection, noblesse oblige."
By our thoughts we build our characters ; if we have built badly in the past, why not build better to-day ? By our desires we attract opportunities ; why not desire the more permanent rather than the transient ? By spreading happiness among others we reap happy circumstances for ourselves. With Reincarnation, we have as much time as we need. Our talents may be • small ; but our aspirations will make them into great capacities in the heaven, world, and we shall bring these back with us to our next earth-life. We can create a full and splendid Heaven if we will ; it depends on our studies, our thoughts, our aspirations here. Our future is in our own hands. Let us sow good seed. The Law ensures the harvest.
ANNIE BESANT.
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