VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY

FIVE LECTURES ON REINCARNATION

BY

SWAMI ABHEDANANDA

_Author of "India and her People", "Self-Knowledge", "How to be aYogi", "Divine Heritage of Man", etc. _

CONTENTS

 I. --REINCARNATION

 II. --HEREDITY AND REINCARNATION

III. --EVOLUTION AND REINCARNATION

 IV. --WHICH IS SCIENTIFIC, RESURRECTION OR REINCARNATION?

 V. --THEORY OF TRANSMIGRATION

I. REINCARNATION

The visible phenomena of the universe are bound by the universal lawof cause and effect. The effect is visible or perceptible, while thecause is invisible or imperceptible. The falling of an apple from atree is the effect of a certain invisible force called gravitation. Although the force cannot be perceived by the senses, its expressionis visible. All perceptible phenomena are but the various expressionsof different forces which act as invisible agents upon the subtle andimperceptible forms of matter. These invisible agents or forcestogether with the imperceptible particles of matter make up the subtlestates of the phenomenal universe. When a subtle force becomesobjectified, it appears as a gross object. Therefore, we can say, that every gross form is an expression of some subtle force actingupon the subtle particles of matter. The minute particles of hydrogenand oxygen when combined by chemical force, appear in the gross formof water. Water can never be separated from hydrogen and oxygen, whichare its subtle component parts. Its existence depends upon that of itscomponent parts, or in other words, upon its subtle form. If thesubtle state changes, the gross manifestation will also change. Thepeculiarity in the gross form of a plant depends upon the peculiarnature of its subtle form, the seed. The peculiar nature of the grossforms in the animal kingdom depends upon the subtle forms whichmanifest variously in each of the intermediate stages between themicroscopic unit of living matter and the highest man. The gross humanbody is closely related to its subtle body. Not only this, but everymovement or change in the physical form is caused by the activity andchange of the subtle body. If the subtle body be affected or changed alittle, the gross body will also be affected similarly. The materialbody being the expression of the subtle body, its birth, growth, decayand death depend upon the changes of the subtle body. As long as thesubtle body remains, it will continue to express itself in acorresponding gross form. 

Now let us understand clearly what we mean by a subtle body. It isnothing but a minute germ of a living substance. It contains theinvisible particles of matter which are held together by vital force, and it also possesses mind or thought-force in a potential state, justas the seed of a plant contains in it the life force and the power ofgrowth. According to Vedanta, the subtle body consists of_Antahkaranam_, that is, the internal organ or the mind substancewith its various modifications, mind, intellect, egoism, memory, thefive instruments of perception: the powers of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching; the five instruments of action, suchas the powers of seizing, moving, speaking, evacuating, andgenerating, and the five _Prānas. Prāna_ is a Sanskrit word whichmeans vital energy or the life-sustaining power in us. Although_Prāna_ is one, it takes five different names on account of thefive different functions it performs. This word _Prāna_ includesthe five manifestations of the vital force: First, that power whichmoves the lungs and draws the atmospheric air from outside into thesystem. This is also called _Prāna_. Second, that power whichthrows out of the system such things as are not wanted. It is calledin Sanskrit _Apāna_. Third, it takes the name of _Samāna_, as performing digestive functions and carrying the extract of food toevery part of the body. It is called _Udāna_ when it is the causeof bringing down food from the mouth through the alimentary canal tothe stomach, and also when it is the cause of the power of speech. Thefifth power of _Prāna_ is that which works in every part of thenervous system from head to foot, through every canal, which keeps theshape of the body, preserves it from putrefaction, and gives healthand life to every cell and organ. These are the various manifestationsof the vital force or _Prāna_. These subtle powers together withthe non-composite elements of the gross body, or the etherealparticles of subtle matter, and also with the potentialities of allthe impressions, ideas and tendencies which each individual gathers inone life, make up his subtle body. As a resultant of all thedifferent actions of mind and body which an individual performs in hispresent life, will be the tendencies and desires in his future life;nothing will be lost. 

Every action of body or mind which we do, every thought which wethink, becomes fine, and is stored up in the form of a _Samskāra_or impression in our minds. It remains latent for some time, and thenit rises up in the form of a mental wave and produces newdesires. These desires are called in Vedanta, _Vāsanās_. Vāsanāsor strong desires are the manufacturers of new bodies. If Vāsanā orlonging for worldly pleasures and objects remains in anybody, evenafter hundreds of births, that person will be born again. Nothing canprevent the course of strong desires. Desires must be fulfilled sooneror later. 

Every voluntary or involuntary action of the body, sense or mind mustcorrespond to the dormant impressions stored up in the subtlebody. Although growth, the process of nourishment and all the changesof the gross physical body take place according to the necessarilyacting causes, yet the whole series of actions, and consequently everyindividual act, the condition of the body which accomplishes it, nay, the whole process in and through which the body exists, are nothingbut the outward expressions of the latent impressions stored up in thesubtle body. Upon these rests the perfect suitableness of the animalor human body to the animal or human nature of one's impressions. Theorgans of the senses must therefore completely correspond to theprincipal desires which are the strongest and most ready tomanifest. They are the visible expressions of these desires. If therebe no hunger or desire to eat, teeth, throat and bowels will be of nouse. If there be no desire for grasping and moving, hands and legswill be useless. Similarly it can be shown that the desire for seeing, hearing, etc. , has produced the eye, ear, etc. If I have no desire touse my hand, and if I do not use it at all, within a few months itwill wither away and die. In India there are some religious fanaticswho hold up their arms and do not use them at all; after a few monthstheir arms wither and become stiff and dead. A person who lies on hisback for six months loses the power of walking. There are many suchinstances which prove the injurious effects of the disuse of our limbsand organs. 

As the human form, generally, corresponds to the human will, generally, so the individual bodily structure corresponds to thecharacter, desires, will and thought of the individual. Therefore theouter nature is nothing but the expression of the inner nature. Thisinner nature of each individual is what re-incarnates or expressesitself successively in various forms, one after another. When a mandies the individual ego or _Jīva_ (as it is called in Sanskrit), which means the germ of life or the living soul of man, is notdestroyed, but it continues to exist in an invisible form. It remainslike a permanent thread stringing together the separate lives by thelaw of cause and effect. The subtle body is like a water-globule whichsprang in the beginningless past from the eternal ocean of Reality;and it contains the reflection of the unchangeable light ofIntelligence. As a water-globule remains sometimes in an invisiblevapory state in a cloud, then in rain or snow or ice, and again assteam or in mud, but is never destroyed, so the subtle body sometimesremains unmanifested and sometimes expresses itself in gross forms ofanimal or human beings, according to the desires and tendencies thatare ready to manifest. It may go to heaven, that is, to some otherplanet, or it may be born again on this earth. It depends on thenature and strength of one's life-long tendency and bent of mind. Thisidea is clearly expressed in Vedanta. "The thought, will or desirewhich is extremely strong during lifetime, will become predominant atthe time of death and will mould the inner nature of the dyingperson. The newly moulded inner nature will express in a new form. "(Bhagavad Gītā. ) The thought, will or desire which moulds the innernature has the power of selecting or attracting such conditions orenvironments as will help it in its way of manifestation. This processcorresponds in some respects to the law of "natural selection. "

We shall be better able to understand that process by studying how theseeds of different trees select from the common environments differentmaterials, and absorb and assimilate different quantities ofelements. Suppose two seeds, one of an oak and the other of achestnut, are planted in a pot. The power of growth in both the seedsis of the same nature. The environments, earth, water, heat and lightare the same. But still there is some peculiarity in each of theseeds, which will absorb from the common environments differentquantities of elements and other properties which are fit to help thegrowth of the peculiar nature and form of the fruit, flower, leaves ofeach tree. Suppose the chestnut is a horse-chestnut. If, underdifferent conditions, the peculiar nature of the horse-chestnutchanges into that of a sweet chestnut, then, along with the changes inthe seed, the whole nature of the tree, leaves, fruits will also bechanged. It will no more attract, absorb or assimilate thosesubstances and qualities of the environments which it did when it wasa horse-chestnut. Similarly, through the law of "natural selection"the newly moulded thought-body of the dying person will choose andattract such parts from the common environments as are helpful to itsproper expression or manifestation. Parents are nothing but theprincipal parts of the environment of the re-incarnatingindividual. The newly moulded inner nature or subtle body of theindividual will by the law of "natural selection" involuntarilychoose, or be unconsciously drawn to, as it were, its suitable parentsand will be born of them. As, for instance, if I have a strong desireto become an artist, and if after a life-long struggle I do notsucceed in being the greatest, after the death of the body I will beborn of such parents and with such environments as will help me tobecome the best artist. 

The whole process is expressed in Eastern philosophy by the doctrineof the Reincarnation of the individual soul. Although this doctrineis commonly rejected in the West, it is unreservedly accepted by thevast majority of mankind of the present day, as it was in pastcenturies. The scientific explanation of this theory we find nowhereexcept in the writings of the Hindus; still we know that from veryancient times it was believed by the philosophers, sages and prophetsof different countries. The ancient civilization of Egypt was builtupon a crude form of the doctrine of Reincarnation. Herodotus says:"The Egyptians propounded the theory that the human soul isimperishable, and that where the body of any one dies it enters intosome other creature that may be ready to receive it. " Pythagoras andhis disciples spread it through Greece and Italy. Pythagoras says:"All has soul; all is soul wandering in the organic world, and obeyingeternal will or law. "

In Dryden's Ovid we read:--

 "Death has no power the immortal soul to slay, That, when its present body turns to clay, Seeks a fresh home, and with unlessened might Inspires another frame with life and light. "

It was the keynote of Plato's philosophy. Plato says: "Soul is olderthan body. Souls are continually born over again into this life. " Theidea of Reincarnation was spread widely in Greece and Italy byPythagoras, Empedocles, Plato, Virgil and Ovid. It was known to theNeo-Platonists, Plotinus and Proclus. Plotinus says: "The soul leavingthe body becomes that power which it has most developed. Let us flythen from here below and rise to the intellectual world, that we maynot fall into a purely sensible life by allowing ourselves to followsensible images. . . . " It was the fundamental principle of the religionof the Persian Magi. Alexander the Great accepted this idea aftercoming in contact with the Hindu philosophers. Julius Caesar foundthat the Gauls had some belief regarding the pre-existence of thehuman soul. The Druids of old Gaul believed that the souls of mentransmigrate into those bodies whose habits and characters they mostresemble. Celts and Britons were impressed with this idea. It was afavorite theme of the Arab philosophers and many Mahomedan Sufis. TheJews adopted it after the Babylonian captivity. Philo of Alexandria, who was a contemporary of Christ, preached amongst the Hebrews thePlatonic idea of the pre-existence and rebirth of human souls. Philosays: "The company of disembodied souls is distributed in variousorders. The law of some of them is to enter mortal bodies, and aftercertain prescribed periods be again set free. " John the Baptist wasaccording to the Jews a second Elijah; Jesus was believed by many tobe the re-appearance of some other prophet. (See Matt, xvi, 14, alsoxvii, 12. ) Solomon says in his Book of Wisdom: "I was a child of goodnature and a good soul came to me, or rather because I was good I cameinto an undefiled body. "

The Talmud and Cabala teach the same thing. In the Talmud it is saidthat Abel's soul passed into the body of Seth, and then into that ofMoses. Along with the spread of the Cabala this doctrine (which wasknown as Transmigration and Metempsychosis) "began to take root inJudaism and then it gained believers even among men who were littleinclined towards Mysticism. Juda ben Asher (Asheri) for instance, discussing this doctrine in a letter to his father endeavored to placeit upon a philosophical basis. " (Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XII, p. 232. ) We also read, "The Cabalists eagerly adopted the doctrine onaccount of the vast field it offered to mystic speculations. Moreoverit was almost a necessary corollary of their psychological system. Theabsolute condition of the soul is, according to them, its return, after developing all those perfections, the germs of which areeternally implanted in it, to the Infinite Source from which itemanated. Another term of life must therefore be vouchsafed to thosesouls which have not fulfilled their destiny here below, and have notbeen sufficiently purified for the state of union with the PrimordialCause. Hence if the soul, on its first assumption of a human body andsojourn on earth, fails to acquire that experience for which itdescended from heaven and becomes contaminated by that which ispolluting, it must reinhabit a body till it is able to ascend in apurified state through repeated trials. " This is the theory of theZohar, which says: "All souls are subject to transmigration; and mendo not know the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He! They do not knowthat they are brought before the tribunal both before they enter intothis world and after they leave it; they are ignorant of the manytransmigrations and secret probations which they have to undergo, andof the number of souls and spirits which enter into this world andwhich do not return to the palace of the Heavenly King. Men do notknow how the souls revolve like a stone which is thrown from asling. But the time is at hand when these mysteries will bedisclosed. " (Zohar, II, 99 _b_. )

Like many of the Church Fathers the Cabalists used as their mainargument in favor of the doctrine of metempsychosis the justice ofGod. But for the belief in metempsychosis, they maintained, thequestion why God often permits the wicked to lead a happy life whilemany righteous are miserable would be unanswerable. Then too theinfliction of pain upon children would be an act of cruelty unless itis imposed in punishment of sin committed by the soul in a previousstate. Isaac Abravanel sees in the commandment of the Levirate a proofof the doctrine of metempsychosis for which he gives the followingreasons: (1) God in His mercy willed that another trial should begiven to the soul, which having yielded to the sanguine temperament ofthe body had committed a capital sin, such as murder, adultery, etc. ;(2) it is only just that when a man dies young a chance should begiven to his soul to execute in another body the good deeds which ithad not time to perform in the first body; (3) the soul of the wickedsometimes passes into another body in order to receive its deservedpunishment here below instead of in the other world where it would bemuch more severe. (Commentary on Deuteronomy, XXV, 5. )

Christianity is not exempt from this idea. Origen and other ChurchFathers believed in it. Origen says: "For God, justly disposing of hiscreatures according to their desert, united the diversities of mindsin one congruous world, that he might, as it were, adorn his mansion(in which ought to be not only vases of gold and silver, but of woodalso and clay, and some to honor and some to dishonor) with thesediverse vases, minds or souls. To these causes the world owes itsdiversity, while Divine Providence disposes each according to histendency, mind and disposition. " He also says: "I think this is aquestion how it happens that the human mind is influenced now by thegood, now by the evil. The causes of this I suspect to be more ancientthan this corporeal birth. " The idea of Reincarnation spread so fastamongst the early Christians that Justinian was obliged to suppress itby passing a law in the Council of Constantinople in 538 A. D. The lawwas this: "Whoever shall support the mythical presentation of thepre-existence of the soul, and the consequently wonderful opinion ofits return, let him be Anathema. " The Gnostics and Manichaeanspropagated the tenets of Reincarnation amongst the mediaeval sectssuch as the Bogomiles and Paulicians. Some of the followers of thisso-called erroneous belief were cruelly persecuted in 385 A. D. 

In the seventeenth century some of the Cambridge Platonists, asDr. Henry More and others, accepted the idea of rebirth. Most of theGerman philosophers of the middle ages and of recent days haveadvocated and upheld this doctrine. Many quotations can be given fromthe writings of great thinkers, like Kant, Scotus, Schelling, Fichte, Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, Giardano Bruno, Goethe, Lessing, Herder and ahost of others. The great skeptic Hume says in his posthumous essay on"The Immortality of the Soul, " "The metempsychosis is therefore theonly system of this kind that philosophy can hearken to. " Scientistslike Flammarion and Huxley have supported this doctrine ofReincarnation. Professor Huxley says: "None but hasty thinkers willreject it on the ground of inherent absurdity. Like the doctrine ofevolution itself, that of transmigration has its roots in the world ofreality. " ("Evolution and Ethics, " p. 61. )

Some of the theological leaders have preached it. The eminent Germantheologian Dr. Julius Müller supports this theory in his work on "TheChristian Doctrine of Sin. " Prominent theologians, such as Dr. Dorner, Ernesti, Rückert, Edward Beecher, Henry Ward Beecher, Phillips Brooks, preached many a time touching the question of the pre-existence andrebirth of the individual soul. Swedenborg and Emerson maintainedit. Emerson says in his essay on Experience, "We wake and findourselves on a stair. There are stairs below us which we seem to haveascended; there are stairs above us, many a one, which go upward andout of sight. "

Almost all of the poets, ancient or modern, profess it. WilliamWordsworth says in "Intimations of Immortality:"--

 "The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar. "

Tennyson writes in the "Two Voices;"

 "Or, if through lower lives I came-- Tho' all experience past became, Consolidate in mind and frame-- I might forget my weaker lot; For is not our first year forgot? The haunts of memory echo not. "

Walt Whitman says in "Leaves of Grass:"

 "As to you, Life, I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths, No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before. "

Similar passages can be quoted from almost all the poets of differentcountries. Even amongst the aboriginal tribes of Africa, Asia, Northand South America, traces of this belief in the rebirth of souls is tobe found. Nearly three-fourths of the population of Asia believe inthe doctrine of Reincarnation, and through it they find a satisfactoryexplanation of the problem of life. There is no religion which deniesthe continuity of the individual soul after death. 

Those who do not believe in Reincarnation try to explain the world ofinequalities and diversities either by the one-birth theory or by thetheory of hereditary transmission. Neither of these theories, however, is sufficient to explain the inequalities that we meet with in oureveryday life. Those who believe in the one-birth theory, that we havecome here for the first and last time, do not understand that theacquirement of wisdom and experience is the purpose of human life; norcan they explain why children who die young should come into existenceand pass away without getting the opportunity to learn anything orwhat purpose is served by their coming thus for a few days, remainingin utter ignorance and then passing away without gaining anythingwhatever. The Christian dogma, based on the one-birth theory, tells usthat the child which dies soon after its birth is sure to be saved andwill enjoy eternal life and everlasting happiness in heaven. TheChristians who really believe in this dogma ought to pray to theirheavenly Father for the death of their children immediately aftertheir birth and ought to thank the merciful Father when the gravecloses over their little forms. Thus the one-birth theory of Christiantheology does not remove any difficulty. 

Two great religions, Judaism with its two offspring--Christianity andMahomedanism--and Zoroastrianism, still uphold the one-birth theory. 

The followers of these, shutting their eyes to the absurdity andunreasonableness of such a theory, believe that human souls arecreated out of nothing at the time of the birth of their bodies andthat they continue to exist throughout eternity either to suffer or toenjoy because of the deeds performed during the short period of theirearthly existence. Here the question arises why should a man be heldresponsible throughout eternity for the works which he was forced orpredestined to perform by the will of the Lord of the universe? Thetheory of predestination and grace, instead of explaining thedifficulty, makes God partial and unjust. If the omnipotent personalGod created human souls out of nothing, could He not make all soulsequally good and happy? Why does He make one to enjoy all theblessings of life and another to suffer all miseries throughouteternity? Why is one born with good tendencies and another with evilones? Why is one man virtuous throughout his life and another bestial?Why is one born intelligent and another idiotic? If God out of His ownwill made all these inequalities, or, in other words, if God createdone man to suffer and another to enjoy, then how partial and unjustmust He be! He must be worse than a tyrant. How can we worship Him, how call Him just and merciful?

Some people try to save God from this charge of partiality andinjustice by saying that all good things of this universe are the workof God, and all evil things are the work of a demon or Satan. Godcreated everything good, but it was Satan who brought evil into thisworld and made everything bad. Now let us see how far such a statementis logically correct. Good and evil are two relative terms; theexistence of one depends upon that of the other. Good cannot existwithout evil, and evil cannot exist without being related togood. When God created what we call good, He must have created evil atthe same time, otherwise He could not create good alone. If thecreator of evil, call him by whatever name you like, had brought evilinto this world, he must have created it simultaneously with God;otherwise it would have been impossible for God to create good, whichcan exist only as related to evil. As such they will have to admitthat the Creators of good and evil sat together at the same time tocreate this world, which is a mixture of good and evil. Consequently, both of them are equally powerful, and limited by each other. Therefore neither of them is infinite in powers or omnipotent. So wecannot say that the Almighty God of the universe created good aloneand not the evil. 

Another argument which the Vedantists advance in support of the theoryof Reincarnation is that "Nothing is destroyed in the universe. "Destruction in the sense of the annihilation of a thing is unknown tothe Vedantic philosophers, just as it is unknown to the modernscientists. They say "non-existence can never become existence andexistence can never become non-existence;" or, in other words, thatwhich did not exist can never exist, and conversely that which existsin any form can never become non-existent. This is the law ofnature. As such, the impressions or ideas which we now have, togetherwith the powers which we possess, will not be destroyed but willremain with us in some form or other. Our bodies may change, but thepowers, Karma, Samskaras or impressions and the materials whichmanufactured our bodies must remain in us in an unmanifestedform. They will never be destroyed. Again science tells us that thatwhich remains in an unmanifested or potential state must at some timeor other be manifested in a kinetic or actual form. Therefore we shallget other bodies, sooner or later. It is for this reason said in the"Bhagavad Gītā": "Birth must be followed by death and death must befollowed by birth. " Such a continuously recurring series of births anddeaths each germ of life must go through. Another consideration isthat the beginning, ending and continuing are conceptions of the humanmind; their significance depends entirely upon our conception oftime. But we all know that time has no absolute existence. It ismerely a form of our knowledge of our own existence in relation tothat of nature. The conception of time vanishes at the sleep ofdeath, just as it does every night when we are in sound sleep. Deathresembles the state of our sound sleep. The soul wakes up from thesleep of death just in the same manner as the insects awake in springafter sleeping the long and rigid winter-sleep, as a chrysalis in thebed of a cocoon spun by itself in autumn. Nature teaches us the greatlesson of rebirth and the similarity between sleep and death by therejuvenation of the chrysalis in the spring. After death the soulwakes up and puts on or manufactures the garment of a new body, justin the same manner as we put on new clothes after throwing away theold and worn-out ones. Thus the soul continues to manifest itself overand over again either on the human or any other plane of existence, being bound by the Law of Karma or of Cause and Sequence. 

 "Death, so called, is but older matter dressed In some new form. And in a varied vest, From tenement to tenement though tossed, The soul is still the same, the figure only lost. "

 _Poem on Pythagoras, Dryden's Ovid. _

Here it may be asked, if we existed before our birth why do we notremember? This is one of the strongest objections often raised againstthe belief in pre-existence. Some people deny the existence of thesoul in the past simply because they cannot remember the events oftheir past. Others, again, who hold memory as the standard ofexistence, say, if our memory of the present ceases to exist at thetime of death, with it we shall also cease to be; we cannot beimmortal; because they hold that memory is the standard of life, andif we do not remember then we are not the same beings. 

Vedanta answers these questions by saying that it is possible for usto remember our previous existences. Those who have read "Raja Yoga"will recall that in the 18th aphorism of the third chapter it is said:"By perceiving the Samskāras one acquires the knowledge of pastlives. " Here the Samskāras mean the impressions of the past experiencewhich lie dormant in our subliminal self, and are never lost. Memoryis nothing but the awakening and rising of latent impressions abovethe threshold of consciousness. A Raja Yogi, through powerfulconcentration upon these dormant impressions of the subconscious mind, can remember all the events of his past lives. There have been manyinstances in India of Yogis who could know not only their own pastlives but correctly tell those of others. It is said that Buddharemembered five hundred of his previous births. 

Our subliminal self, or the subconscious mind, is the storehouse ofall the impressions that we gather through our experiences during ourlifetime. They are stored up, pigeon-holed there, in the _Chitta, asit is called in Vedanta. "Chitta" means the same subconscious mind orsubliminal self which is the storehouse of all impressions andexperiences. And these impressions remain latent until favorableconditions rouse them and bring them out on the plane ofconsciousness. Here let us take an illustration: In a dark roompictures are thrown on a screen by lantern-slides. The room isabsolutely dark. We are looking at the pictures. Suppose we open awindow and allow the rays of the midday sun to fall upon thescreen. Would we be able to see those pictures? No. Why? Because themore powerful flood of light will subdue the light of the lantern andthe pictures. But although they are invisible to our eyes we cannotdeny their existence on the screen. Similarly, the pictures of theevents of our previous lives upon the screen of the subliminal selfmay be invisible to us at present, but they exist there. Why are theyinvisible to us now? Because the more powerful light ofsense-consciousness has subdued them. If we close the windows anddoors of our senses from outside contact and darken the inner chamberof our self, then by focusing the light of consciousness andconcentrating the mental rays we shall be able to know and rememberour past lives, and all the events and experiences thereof. Those whowish therefore to develop their memory and remember their past shouldpractice Raja Yoga and learn the method of acquiring the power ofconcentration by shutting the doors and windows of their senses. Andthat power of concentration must be helped by the power ofself-control. That is, by controlling the doors and windows of our ownsenses. 

These dormant impressions, whether we remember them or not, are thechief factors in moulding our individual characters with which we areborn, and they are the causes of the inequalities and diversitieswhich we find around us. When we study the characters and powers ofgeniuses and prodigies we cannot deny the pre-existence of thesoul. Whatever the soul has mastered in a previous life manifests inthe present. The memory of particular events is not so important. Ifwe possess the wisdom and knowledge which we gathered in our previouslives, then it matters very little whether or not we remember theparticular events, or the struggles which we went through in order togain that knowledge. Those particular things may not come to us in ourmemory, but we have not lost the wisdom. Now, study your own presentlife and you will see that in this life you have gained someexperience. The particular events and the struggles which you wentthrough are passing out of your memory, but the experience, theknowledge which you have gained through that experience, has mouldedyour character, has shaped you in a different manner. You will nothave to go through those different events again to remember; how youacquired that experience is not necessary; the wisdom gained is quiteenough. 

Then, again, we find among ourselves persons who are born with somewonderful powers. Take, for instance, the power of self-control. Oneis born with the power of self-control highly developed, and thatself-control may not be acquired by another after years of hardstruggle. Why is there this difference? Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna wasborn with God-consciousness, and he went into the highest state ofSamādhi when he was four years old; but this state is very difficultfor other Yogis to acquire. There was a Yogi who came to seeRamakrishna. He was an old man and possessed wonderful powers, and hesaid: "I have struggled for forty years to acquire that state which isnatural with you. " There are many such instances which show thatpre-existence is a fact, and that these latent or dormant impressionsof previous lives are the chief factors in moulding the individualcharacter without depending upon the memory of the past. Because wecannot remember our past, because of the loss of memory of theparticular events, the soul's progress is not arrested. The soul willcontinue to progress further and further, even though the memory maybe weak. 

Each individual soul possesses this storehouse of previous experiencesin the background, in the subconscious mind. Take the instance of twolovers. What is love? It is the attraction between two souls. Thislove does not die with the death of the body. True love survives deathand continues to grow, to become stronger and stronger. Eventually itbrings the two souls together and makes them one. The theory ofpre-existence alone can explain why two souls at first sight know eachother and become attached to each other by the tie of friendship. Thismutual love will continue to grow and will become stronger, and in theend will bring these lovers together, no matter where theygo. Therefore, Vedanta does not say that the death of the body willend the attraction or the attachment of two souls; but as the soulsare immortal so their relation will continue forever. 

The Yogis know how to develop memory and how to read past lives. Theysay, time and space exist in relation to our present mental condition;if we can rise above this plane, our higher mind sees the past andfuture just as we see things before our eyes. Those who wish tosatisfy the idle curiosity of their minds may spend their energy bytrying to recollect their past lives. But I think it will be much morehelpful to us if we devote our time and energy in moulding our futureand in trying to be better than we are now, because the recollectionof our former condition would only force us to make a bad use of thepresent. How unhappy he must be who knows that the wicked deeds of hispast life will surely react on him and will bring distress, misery, unhappiness or suffering within a few days or a few months. Such a manwould be so restless and unhappy that he would not be able to do anywork properly; he would constantly think in what form misery wouldappear to him. He would not be able to eat or even sleep. He would bemost miserable. Therefore we ought to regard it as a great blessingthat we do not recollect our past lives and past deeds. Vedanta says, do not waste your valuable time in thinking of your past lives, do notlook backward during the tiresome journey through the different stagesof evolution, always look forward and try first to attain to thehighest point of spiritual development; then if you want to know yourpast lives you will recollect them all. Nothing will remain unknown toyou, the Knower of the universe. When the all-knowing Divine Self willmanifest through you, time and space will vanish and past and futurewill be changed into the eternal present. Then you will say as SriKrishna said to Arjuna, in the "Bhagavad Gita:" "Both you and I havepassed through many lives; you do not recollect any, but I know themall. " (Ch. Iv. , 5. )

II. HEREDITY AND REINCARNATION. 

Those who accept the theory of heredity deny the existence of thehuman soul as an entity separable from the gross physicalorganism. Consequently they do not discuss the question whether theindividual soul existed in the past or will continue to exist afterthe death of the body. This kind of question does not disturb theirminds. They generally maintain that the individual soul is inseparablefrom the body or the brain or nervous system; consequently what wecall soul or the conscious entity or the thinker is produced alongwith the birth of the organism or brain, lasts as long as the bodylasts and dies when the organism is dissolved into its elements. Butthose, on the other hand, who accept the theory of Reincarnation admitthe existence of soul as a conscious entity which is independent ofthe physical organism, that it continues to live after death and thatit existed before the birth of the body. The theory of heredity hasalways been supported by the materialistic scientists, atheists andagnostics of all ages and also by those who believe in the specialcreation of the first man and woman at a certain definite time andthat their qualities, character, life and soul have been transmittedto all humanity through successive generations. The commonly acceptedmeaning of the theory of heredity is that all the well-markedpeculiarities, both physical and mental, in the parents are handed onto the children; or, in other words, heredity is that property of anorganism by which its peculiar nature is transmitted to itsdescendants. 

In the whole history of humanity there has never been a time when thisquestion of heredity has been discussed so minutely and in so manydifferent ways as it has been in the present century. Although thistheory was known in the East by the ancient Vedanta philosophers, bythe Buddhists of the pre-Christian era and by the Greek philosophersin the West, still it has received a new impetus and has grown withnew strength since the introduction of the Darwinian theory of theevolution of species. Along with the latest discoveries inphysiology, biology, embryology and other branches of modern science, the popular simple meaning of heredity--that the offspring not onlyresemble their parents among animals as well as among men, but inheritall the individual peculiarities, life and character of theirparents--has taken the shape of the most complicated and difficultproblem which it is almost impossible to solve. Our minds are nolonger satisfied with Haeckel's definition that heredity is simply anovergrowth of the individual, a simple continuity of growth; but wewant to know the particular method by which hereditary transmissiontakes place. We ask, how can a single cell reproduce the whole bodyof the offspring, its mind, character and all the peculiarities of anorganism? Out of the myriads of cells of which a body is composed, what kind of cell is that which possesses the power of reproducing thepeculiarities, both mental and physical, which are to be found in theform of the new-born babe? This is the most puzzling of all theproblems which the scientific mind has ever encountered. Thefundamental question connected with the theory of heredity is: How cana single cell of the body contain within itself all the hereditarytendencies of the hypothesis of the continuity of the germ-plasm givesan identical starting-point to each successive generation, and thusexplains how it is that an identical product arises from all ofthem. In other words, the hypothesis explains heredity as part of theunderlying problems of assimilation and of the causes which actdirectly during ontogeny. (Vol. I, p. 170. )

According to Weismann, all the peculiarities which we find in anorganism are not inherited by the organism from that of the parents, but he says: "Nothing can arise in an organism unless thepredisposition to it is pre-existent, for every acquired character issimply the reaction of the organism upon a certain stimulus. " (Vol. I, p. 172. ) Therefore the germ-cells do not inherit all the peculiaritiesof the parents, but possess the predisposition or a potentiality ofthe tendencies which gradually develop into individual characters. 

We will be able to understand his theory better from the followingquotations, which give his own words. He says: "I have called thissubstance 'germ-plasm, ' and have assumed that it possesses a highlycomplex structure, conferring upon it the power of developing into acomplex organism. " ("Heredity, " Vol. I, p. 170. ) Again he says:"There is, therefore, continuity of the germ-plasm from one generationto another. One might represent the germ-plasm by the metaphor of along, creeping rootstock from which plants arise at intervals, theselatter representing the individuals of successive generations. Henceit follows that the transmission of acquired characters is animpossibility, for if the germ-plasm is not formed anew in eachindividual, but is derived from that which preceded it, its structure, and, above all, its molecular constitution, cannot depend upon theindividual in which it happens to occur, but such an individual onlyforms, as it were, the nutritive soil at the expense of which thegerm-plasm grows, while the latter possessed its characteristicstructure from the beginning, viz. , before the commencement of growth. But the tendencies of heredity, of which the germ-plasm is the bearer, depend upon this very molecular structure, and hence only thosecharacters can be transmitted through successive generations whichhave been previously inherited, viz. , those characters which werepotentially contained in the structure of the germ-plasm. It alsofollows that those other characters which have been acquired by theinfluence of special external conditions, during the lifetime of theparent, cannot be transmitted at all. " (Vol. I, p. 273. ) Inconclusion, Weismann writes: "But at all events we have gained thismuch, that the only facts which appear to directly prove atransmission of acquired characters have been refuted, and that theonly firm foundation on which this hypothesis has been hitherto basedhas been destroyed. "(Vol. I, p. 461. )

Thus we see how far the theory of heredity has been pushed by thegreat scientific investigators of the present age. We have no longerany right to believe in the old oft-refuted hypothesis which assumesthat each individual organism produces germ-cells afresh again andagain and transmits all its powers developed and acquired by theparents; but, on the contrary, we have come to know to-day thatparents are nothing but mere channels through which these germ-plasmsor germ-cells manifest their peculiar tendencies and powers whichexisted in them from the very beginning. The main point is that thegerms are not created by the parents, but that they existed inprevious generations. 

Now, what are those germs like? Wherefrom do they acquire thesetendencies, these peculiarities? That is another very difficultproblem. Dr. Weismann and his followers say that these peculiaritiesare gained or inherited "from the common stock, " but what that commonstock is they do not explain. Where is that common stock and why willcertain germs acquire certain tendencies and other germs retain otherpeculiarities? What regulates them? These questions are not solved. Sofar we have gathered from Dr. Weismann's explanation that the parentsare not the creators of the germs but, on the contrary, that the germsexisted before the birth of the body, before the growth of the body, in previous generations, or in the common stock of the universe. Theprevious generations are dead and gone, so we may say that theyexisted in the universe. We cannot now believe the old, crude, often-refuted idea that God creates the germ at the time of birth andputs into it all the powers and peculiarities of the parents. Thistheory makes God unjust and partial, so it does not appeal to us anymore. We need better and more rational explanations. The one-birththeory, which has been preached by Christian ministers and otherreligionists for so many years, does not remove the difficulties, doesnot explain the cause of the inequalities and diversities, does notanswer the question whether we acquire all the tendencies andpeculiarities of the parents or whether acquired characters cannot betransmitted. We have already seen that these questions are leftunsolved by the one-birth theory of Christianity and of Judaism. Butthis theory of "continuity of the germ-plasm" pushes the question ofheredity to the door of Reincarnation. If modern science can explainwhat that common stock is and why and how these germs retain thosepeculiarities and tendencies, then the answer will be complete and notuntil then. The Vedanta philosophy, however, has already explained thecause of the potentiality in the germ of life or "germ-plasm" orgerm-cell. 

Vedanta solves this difficulty by saying that each of thesegerm-plasms or germ-cells is nothing but the subtle form of areincarnating individual, containing potentially all the experiences, characters, tendencies, and desires which one had in one's previouslife. It existed before the birth of the body and it will continueafter the death of the body. This germ or subtle body is not the sameas the astral body of the Theosophists, or the double of themetaphysical thinkers or the disembodied spirit of the Spiritualists;but it is an ethereal center of activity-physical, mental andorganic. It is a center which possesses the tendency to manifest thesepowers on different planes of existence. It contains the minuteparticles of matter or ethereal substance and the life principle orvital energy by which we live and move. It also possesses the mentalpowers and sense powers; but all these remain latent, just as in aseed we see that the powers of growth, of assimilation and ofproducing flowers and fruits are latent. 

At the time of death the individual soul contracts and remains in theform of a germ of life. It is for this reason, Vedanta teaches, thatit is neither the will of God nor the fault of the parents that formsthe characters of children, but each child is responsible for itstendencies, capacities, powers and character. It is its own "Karma" orpast actions that make a child a murderer or a saint, virtuous orsinful. The stored-up potentialities in a subtle body manifest in thecharacter of an individual. 

The argument advanced by the supporters of the theory of hereditarytransmission does not furnish a satisfactory explanation of the causeof the inequalities and diversities of the universe. Why is it thatthe children of the same parents show a marked dissimilarity to theirparents and to each other?

Why do twins develop into dissimilar characters and possess oppositequalities, although they are born of the same parents at the same timeand brought up under similar conditions and environments? How canheredity explain such cases? Suppose a man has five children; one ishonest and saintly, another is an idiot, the third becomes a murderer, the fourth a genius or prodigy, and the fifth a cripple anddiseased. Who made these dissimilarities? They cannot beaccidents. There is no such thing as an accident. Every event of theuniverse is bound by the law of cause and effect. There must be somecause of these inequalities. Who made one honest and saintly, anotheran idiot, and so forth? Parents? That cannot be. They never dreamedthat they would beget a murderer or a villain or an idiot. On thecontrary, all parents wish their children to be the best andhappiest. But in spite of such desires they get such children. Why?What is the cause? Does the theory of heredity explain it? No, not atall. Suppose a man, twenty-four years old, who has certain traits, like musical or artistic talents, such as painting and so on, has acrooked nose and other peculiarities, like cross-eyes, which resemblethose of his grandfather. Suppose his grandfather died six yearsbefore he was born. Now, those who believe in the theory of hereditywill say that this young man inherited all these peculiarities fromhis grandfather. When did he inherit? His grandfather had died sixyears before he was born. He inherited, of course, in the form of thatgerm. What is that germ like? A minute protoplasm, a jelly-likesubstance, and if you examine it with a powerful microscope you willhardly find any difference between it and the proto-plasmic germ of adog, or of a cat, or of a tree. It is smaller than a pin's head. Andin that state this young man inherited all these peculiarities fromhis grandfather; or, in other words, before he had a nose, he got acrooked nose; before he had eyes, he inherited cross-eyes, and beforehe had any brain, he inherited all the wonderful powers-his musicaland artistic talents. Does it not seem absurd to you? Even if we admitthis theory of heredity, then what do we understand? That the whole ofthis young man existed in the form of a protoplasm before he wasborn. His cross-eyes, his crooked nose, his artistic talents--allthese pre-existed in the form of a protoplasmic cell. This leads up tothe same thing which is taught by the theory of Reincarnation, or, inother words, if it be possible for this young man to remain in theform of a protoplasm and inherit all these things before his birth, why cannot we believe that the soul or the subtle body of this youngman possessed them from the very beginning? According to Vedanta thisyoung man was not the creature of his grandfather, but he had his ownindependent existence; only by coming through the channel of hisparents he had received certain characteristic impressions, just as atree in its process of growth will receive from the environmentscertain peculiarities when it assimilates those properties. 

The doctrine of Reincarnation alone can explain satisfactorily andrationally the diversities among children and the reason of the manyinstances of uncommon powers and genius displayed in childhood. Thetheory of heredity has up to this time failed to give any good reasonfor them. Why is it that Pascal, when twelve years old, succeeded indiscovering for himself the greater part of plane geometry. How couldthe shepherd Mangiamelo, when five years old, calculate like anarithmetical machine. Think of the child Zerah Colburn: when he wasunder eight years of age he could solve the most tremendousmathematical problems instantly and without using any figures. "In oneinstance he took the number 8 and raised it up progressively to thesixteenth power and instantly mentioned the result which contained 15figures--28l, 474, 976, 710, 656. " Of course he was right in everyfigure. When asked the square root of numbers consisting of sixfigures, he would state the result instantly with perfect accuracy. Heused to give the cube root of numbers in the hundreds of millions thevery moment when it was asked. Somebody asked him once how manyminutes there were in 48 years, he answered, 25, 288, 800. 

Mozart, the great musician, wrote a sonata when he was four years oldand an opera in his eighth year. Theresa Milanolla played the violinwith such skill that many people thought that she must have playedbefore her birth. There are many such instances of wonderful powersexhibited by artists and painters when they were quite young. Sankarācharya, the great commentator of the Vedanta philosophy, finished his commentary when he was twelve years old. How can suchcases be explained by the theory of hereditary transmission? Many ofyou have heard of the wonderful musical talents of Blind Tom. Thisblind negro slave was born on his master's plantation and was broughtup as a typical negro. He received no training in music or in anyother line. One day when his master's family were at dinner hehappened to come into his master's parlor and displayed his marvelousmusical power for the first time by playing on his master'spiano. Afterwards he was exhibited in different states of thiscountry. Physically he was nothing but a typical negro. His intellectwas very poor, but in music he was a master. His musical talents wereso great that he composed music for himself and played his owncompositions. Sometimes after hearing a new piece of rapid music once, he could reproduce it note for note. Where did he get all thesepowers? From whom did he inherit them? His parents perhaps never heardof a piano. He never had a lesson in his life, and he could not haveunderstood even if he had had any. Not long ago I saw a girl of aboutsix years, who played the piano most beautifully and who couldreproduce the most difficult music after hearing it once. It seems tome that she must have played the piano in her previous incarnation. This is the only explanation that we can give. 

Does heredity explain such cases? No. These illustrations aresufficient to disprove the theory of "cumulative heredity". "Cumulative" means gradualness. The believers in this theory say thata genius is the result of cumulative heredity, that is, it presentsitself by degrees from less genius to greater and still greater and soon. In the whole history of the genealogy of geniuses, like Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, Goethe, Raphael, there never was in their familiesalmost Plato, almost Shakespeare, or almost Goethe. Neither is itpossible to trace the extraordinary powers of any of these back to anymember of their ancestral line. Therefore we can say that no othertheory than that of Reincarnation can explain satisfactorily thecauses which produce geniuses and prodigies in this world. 

Those who accept the truth of Reincarnation do not blame their parentsfor their poor talents, or for not possessing extraordinary powers, but they remain content with their own lot, knowing that they havemade themselves as they are to-day by their own thoughts and deeds intheir previous incarnations. They understand the meaning of the saying"what thou sowest thou must reap, " and always endeavor to mould theirfuture by better thoughts and better deeds. They explain all theinequalities and diversities of life and character by the law of"Karma, " which governs the process of Reincarnation as well as thegradual evolution of the germs of life from lower to higher stages ofexistence. 

III. EVOLUTION AND REINCARNATION. 

The amazing achievements of modern science have been opening every daynew gates of wisdom and slowly bringing human minds nearer and nearerto the ultimate reality of the universe. The fire of knowledge kindledby science has already burnt down many dogmas and beliefs, held sacredby the superstition of the past, which stood in the way oftruth-seeking minds. In the first place science has disproved thetheory of the creation of the universe out of nothing by the action ofsome supernatural power. It has shown that the universe did not appearin its present form or come into existence all of a sudden only a fewthousand years ago, but that it has taken ages to pass throughdifferent stages before it could reach its present condition. Each ofthese stages was directly related to a previous stage by the law ofcausation, which always operates in accordance with definiterules. The phenomena of the universe, according to science, aresubject to evolution, or gradual change and progressive developmentfrom a relatively uniform condition to a relative complexity. From thegreatest solar system down to the smallest blade of grass, everythingin the universe has taken its present shape and form through thiscosmic process of evolution. Our planet earth has gradually evolved, perhaps out of a nebulous mass which existed at first in a gaseousstate. The sun, moon, stars, satellites and other planets have comeinto existence by going through innumerable changes produced by theevolutionary process of the Cosmos. Through the same process plants, insects, fishes, reptiles, birds, animals, man, and all living matterthat inhabit this earth have evolved from minute germs of life intotheir present forms. The theory of Evolution says that man did notcome into existence all of a sudden, but is related to lower animalsand to plants, either directly or indirectly. The germ of life hadpassed through various stages of physical form before it could appearas a man. That branch of science which is called Embryology has provedthe fact that "man is the epitome of the whole creation. " It tellsthat the human body before its birth passes through all the differentstages of the animal kingdom--such as the polyp, fish, reptile, dog, ape, and at last, man. If we remember that nature is alwaysconsistent, that her laws are uniform and that whatever exists in themicrocosm exists also in the macrocosm, and then study nature, weshall find that all the germs of life which exist in the universe arebound to pass through stages resembling the embryonic types beforethey can appear in the form of man. 

In explaining the theory of Evolution, science says that there are twoprincipal factors in the process of evolution; the first is thetendency to vary, which exists in all living forms whether vegetableor animal; the second is the tendency of environment to influence thatvariation, either favorably or unfavorably. Without the first, evolution of any kind would be absolutely impossible. But the cause ofthat innate tendency to vary is still unknown to science. Upon thesecond depends the law of natural selection. The variation must beadapted to favorable conditions of life; consequently either the germof life will select suitable environments or vary itself in order tosuit the surrounding conditions, if they are unfavorable. But theagent of this selective process is the struggle for existence, whichis a no less important factor. Thus Evolution depends on these threelaws: Tendency to vary, or variation, natural selection, and strugglefor existence. Science tries to explain through these three laws thephysical, mental, intellectual, moral and spiritual evolution ofmankind. But the theory of Evolution will remain unintelligible untilscience can trace the cause of that innate "tendency to vary" whichexists in every stage of all living forms. 

If we study closely we find that man's "self" consists of two natures, one animal and the other moral or spiritual. Animal nature includesall the animal propensities, desire for sense enjoyments, love ofself, fear of death and struggle for existence. Each of these is to befound in lower animals as well as in human beings, the differencebeing only in degree and not in kind. In a savage tribe the expressionof this animal nature is simple and natural, while in a highlycivilized nation it is expressed not in a simple and straightforwardmanner, but in an artful and refined way. In a civilized community thesame nature working through varied device, policy and plan brings thesame results in a more polished form. In the struggle for existenceamongst lower animals and savage tribes, those who are physicallystrong survive and gain advantage over those who are physically weak;while in the civilized world the same result is obtained, not bydisplaying physical force, but by art, diplomacy, policy, strategy andskill. Various kinds of defensive and offensive weapons have beeninvented to conquer those who are less skillful in using them, although they may be physically stronger. The simple expression ofanimal nature which we notice in savages and lower animals, by thenatural process of evolution has gradually become more and morecomplex, as we find in the civilized nations of the world. The energyof the lower human nature is spent chiefly in the struggle formaterial existence. 

But there is another nature in man which is higher than this. Itexpresses itself in various ways, but on a higher plane. Love oftruth, mastery over passion, control of the senses, disinterestedself-sacrifice, mercy and kindness to all creatures, desire to helpthe distressed, forgiveness, faith in a Supreme Being and devotion;all these are the expressions of that higher moral and spiritualnature. They cannot be explained as developed from animal nature bymeans of the struggle for material existence. For these qualities arenot to be found in lower animals, although the struggle for existenceis there. The moral and spiritual nature of human beings cannot betraced as the outgrowth or gradual development of the animalnature. There is a dispute among the Evolutionists as to the method ofexplaining their cause. Some say that these higher faculties haveevolved out of the lower ones and have developed by variation andnatural selection; while others hold that some other higher influence, law or agency is required to account for them. 

Professor Huxley says: "As I have already urged, the practice of thatwhich is ethically best--what we call goodness or virtue--involves acourse of conduct which in all respects is opposed to that which leadsto success in the cosmic struggle for existence. In place of ruthlessself-assertion, it demands self-restraint; in place of thrusting asideor treading down all competitors, it requires that the individualshall not merely respect, but shall help his fellows; its influence isdirected not so much to the survival of the fittest as to the fittingof as many as possible to survive. It repudiates the gladiatorialtheory of existence. It demands that each man who enters into theenjoyment of the advantages of a polity shall be mindful of his debtto those who have laboriously constructed it, and shall take heed thatno act of his weakens the fabric in which he has been permitted tolive. Laws and moral precepts are directed to the end of curbing thecosmic process, and reminding the individual of his duty to thecommunity, to the protection and influence of which he owes, if notexistence itself, at least the life of something better than a brutalsavage. " ("Evolution and Ethics, " pp. 81-82. )

Prof. Calderwood says: "So far as human organism is concerned, thereseem no overwhelming obstacles to be encountered by an evolutiontheory, but it seems impossible under such a theory to account for theappearance of the thinking, self-regulating life distinctly human. "Thus, according to some of the best thinkers, the explanation of themoral and spiritual nature of man as a development of the animalnature, is quite insufficient and unsatisfactory. The theory ofnatural selection in the struggle for existence cannot explain thecause of the higher nature of man. We cannot say that a theory iscomplete because it explains many facts. On the contrary, if it failsto explain a single fact, then it is proved to be incomplete. As such, the theory that cannot explain satisfactorily the cause of the moraland spiritual nature of man cannot be accepted as a completetheory. That explanation will be considered as complete which willexplain most satisfactorily all the various manifestations of theanimal, moral and spiritual nature. Moreover, supposing the "tendencyto vary" has evolved into the moral and spiritual nature of man, science does not explain the cause of that tendency to vary, nor howanimal nature can be transformed into moral and spiritual nature. Isthat "tendency to vary" indefinite, or is it limited by any definitelaw? Science does not say anything about it. 

The explanation of the theologians, that the spiritual nature has beensuperadded to the animal nature by some extra-cosmic spiritual agencyis not scientific, nor does it appeal to our reason. Now let us seewhat Vedanta has to say on this point. Vedanta accepts evolution andadmits the laws of variation and natural selection, but goes a stepbeyond modern science by explaining the cause of that "tendency tovary. " It says, "there is nothing in the end which was not also in thebeginning. " It is a law which governs the process of evolution as wellas the law of causation. If we admit this grand truth of nature, thenit will not be difficult to explain by the theory of Evolution thegradual manifestation of the higher nature of man. The tendency ofscientific monism is towards that end. 

Some of the modern scientists who hold the monistic position havefound out the same truth which was discovered long ago by the Vedanticphilosophers in India. J. Arthur Thomson, an eminent English scientistof the present day, in his book on "The Study of Animal Life, " says:"The world is one, not two-fold-, the spiritual influx is the primalreality and there is nothing in the end which was not also in thebeginning. " But the evolutionists do not accept this truth. Let usunderstand it clearly. It means that that which existed potentially atthe time of the beginning of evolution has gradually manifested in thevarious stages and grades of evolution. If we admit that a unicellulargerm of life or a bioplasm, after passing through various stages ofevolution, has ultimately manifested in the form of a highly developedhuman being, then we shall have to admit the potentiality of all themanifested powers in that germ or bioplasm, because the law is "thatwhich exists in the end existed also in the beginning. " The animalnature, higher nature, mind, intellect, spirit, all these existpotentially in the germ of life. If we do not admit this law then theproblem will arise: How can non-existence become existent? How cansomething come out of nothing? How can that come into existence whichdid not exist before? Each germ of life, according to Vedanta, possesses infinite potentialities and infinite possibilities. Thepowers that remain latent have the natural tendency to manifestperfectly and to become actual. In their attempt they vary accordingto the surrounding environments, selecting suitable conditions orremaining latent as long as circumstances do not favor them. Thereforevariation, according to Vedanta, is caused by this attempt of thepotential powers to become actual. When life and mind began to evolve, the possibilities of action and reaction hitherto latent in the germof life became real and all things became, in a sense, new. Nobody canimagine the amount of latent power which a minute germ of lifepossesses until it expresses in gross form on the physical plane. Byseeing the seed of a Banyan tree, one who has never seen the treecannot imagine what powers lie dormant in it. When a baby is born wecannot tell whether he will be a great saint, or a wonderful artist, or a philosopher, or an idiot, or a villain of the worst type. Parentsknow nothing about his future. Along with his growth certain latentpowers gradually begin to manifest. Those which are the strongest andmost powerful will overcome others and check their course for sometime; but when the powers that remain subdued by stronger ones getfavorable conditions they will appear in manifested forms. As, forinstance, chemical forces may slumber in matter for a thousand years, but when the contact with the re-agents sets them free, they appearagain and produce certain results. For thousands of years galvanismslumbered in copper and zinc, which lay quietly beside silver. As soonas all three are brought together under the required conditions silveris consumed in flame. A dry seed of a plant may preserve theslumbering power of growth through two or three thousand years andthen reappear under favorable conditions. Sir G. Wilkinson, the greatarchaeologist, found some grains of wheat in a hermetically sealedvase in a grave at Thebes, which must have lain there for threethousand years. When Mr. Pettigrew sowed them they grew into plants. Some vegetable roots found in the hands of an Egyptian mummy, whichmust have been at least two thousand years old, were planted in aflower-pot, and they grew and flourished. Thus, whenever the latentpowers get favorable conditions, they manifest according to theirnature, even after thousands of years. 

Similarly, there are many instances of slumbering mental powers. Afterremaining dormant for a long period in our normal condition, they may, in certain abnormal states--such as madness, delirium, catalepsy, hypnotic sleep and so forth-flash out into luminous consciousness andthrow into absolute oblivion the powers that are manifesting in thenormal state. Talents for eloquence, music, painting, and uncommoningenuity in several mechanical arts, traces of which were never foundin the ordinary normal condition, are often evolved in the state ofmadness. Somnambulists in deep sleep have solved most difficultmathematical problems and performed various acts with results whichhave surprised them in their normal waking states. Thus we canunderstand that each individual mind is the storehouse of many powers, various impressions and ideas, some of which manifest in our normalstate, while others remain latent. Our present condition of mind andbody is nothing but the manifested form of certain dormant powers thatexist in ourselves. If new powers are roused up and begin to manifestthe whole nature will be changed into a new form. The manifestation oflatent powers is at the bottom of the evolution of one species intoanother. This idea has been expressed in a few words by Patanjali, thegreat Hindu evolutionist who lived long before the Christianera. [Footnote: The reader ought to know that the doctrine ofEvolution was known in India long before the Christian era. About theseventh century, B. C. , Kapila, the father of Hindu Evolutionists, explained this theory for the first time through logic andscience. Sir Monier Monier Williams says: "Indeed if I may be allowedthe anachronism, the Hindus were Spinozites more than 2, 000 yearsbefore the existence of Spinoza; and Darwinians many centuries beforeDarwin; and Evolutionists many centuries before the doctrine ofEvolution had been accepted by the scientists of our time and beforeany word like Evolution existed in any language of the world. " (P. 12, "Hinduism and Brahminism. ") Prof. Huxley says: "To say nothing ofIndian Sages to whom Evolution was a familiar notion ages before Paulof Tarsus was born. " (P. 150, "Science and Hebrew Tradition. ")] In thesecond aphorism of the fourth chapter (see "Raja Yoga, " by SwamiVivekananda, p. 210) it is said, "The Evolution into another speciesis caused by the in-filling of nature. " The nature is filled not fromwithout but from within. Nothing is superadded to the individual soulfrom outside. The germs are already there, but their developmentdepends upon their coming in contact with the necessary conditionsrequisite for proper manifestation. We sometimes see a wicked mansuddenly become saintlike. There are instances of murderers androbbers becoming saints. A religionist will explain the cause of theirsudden change, by saying that the grace of the Almighty has fallenupon them and transformed their whole nature. But Vedanta says thatthe moral and spiritual powers that remained latent in them have beenroused up, and the result is the sudden transformation. None can tellwhen or how the slumbering powers will wake up and begin tomanifest. The germ of life, or the individual soul as it is ordinarilycalled, possesses infinite possibilities. Each germ of life isstudying, as it were, the book of its own nature by unfolding one pageafter another. When it has gone through all the pages, or, in otherwords, all the stages of evolution, perfect knowledge is acquired, andits course is finished. We have read our lower nature by turning eachpage, or, in other words, by passing through each stage of animal lifefrom the minutest bioplasm up to the present stage of existence. Nowwe are studying the pages which deal with moral and spiritual laws. Ifany one wants to read any page over again he will do it. Just as inreading a book, if anybody feels particularly interested in any pageor chapter he will read it over and over again and will not open a newpage or a new chapter until he is perfectly satisfied withit. Similarly, in reading the book of life, if the individual soullikes any particular stage, he will stay there until he is perfectlysatisfied with it; after that he will go forward and study otherpages. One may read very slowly, and another very fast; but whether weread slowly or rapidly each one of us is bound to read the whole bookof nature and attain to perfection sooner or later. 

According to Vedanta, the end and aim of Evolution is the attainmentof perfection. Physical evolution of animal life reached itsperfection in human form. There cannot be any other form higher thanhuman on this earth under present conditions. It is the perfection ofanimal form. From this we can infer that the tendency of the law ofEvolution is to reach perfection. When it is attained to, the wholepurpose is served. Do we see in nature any other higher form evolvedout of the human body? No. Shall we not be justified if we say thatthe end of physical evolution is the attainment of the perfection ofanimal form? Again as the purpose and method of natural laws areuniform throughout the universe, the end of intellectual, moral andspiritual evolution will be attained when intellectual, moral andspiritual perfection are acquired. Intellectual perfection meansperfection of intellect; and intellect is perfect when we understandthe true nature of things and never mistake the unreal for the real, matter for spirit, non-eternal for eternal, or _vice versa_. Moralperfection consists in the destruction of selfishness; and spiritualperfection is the manifestation of the true nature of spirit which isimmortal, free, divine and one with the Universal Spirit orGod. Evolution attains to the highest fulfilment of its purpose whenthe spirit manifests perfectly. The tendency of nature is to haveperfect manifestation of all her powers. When certain powerspredominate they manifest first while the others remain dormant. As wefind in the process of evolution, when animal nature manifestsperfectly the moral and spiritual nature remain latent. Again whenmoral and spiritual nature manifest fully, the animal is inabeyance. It is for this reason we do not find expressions of moraland spiritual nature in lower animals or in those human beings wholive like them. Man is the only animal in whom such perfectexpressions of moral and spiritual nature are possible. When theindividual soul begins to study its spiritual nature, its lower oranimal nature is gradually eclipsed. As the higher nature becomespowerful the lower nature dwindles into insignificance; its energy istransformed into that of the higher nature, and ultimately itdisappears altogether and rises no more. Then the soul becomes freefrom the lower or animal nature. There are many stages in the highernature, as well as in the lower. Each of these stages binds theindividual soul so long as it stays there. As it rises on a higherplane the lower stages disappear and cease to bind. But the momentthat any individual, after passing through all the stages of thespiritual nature, reaches the ultimate point of perfection, herealizes his true nature which is immortal and divine. Then his trueindividuality manifests. For lack of true knowledge, he identifiedhimself with each stage successively and thought that hisindividuality was one with the powers which were manifested in eachstage. Consequently he thought by mistake that he was affected by thechanges of each stage. But now he realizes that his real individualityalways remained unaffected. He sees that his true individualityshines always in the same manner, although the limiting adjuncts mayvary. As the light of a lamp appears of different colors, if it passesthrough glasses of different colors, so the light of the trueindividual appears as animal or human when it passes through theanimal or human nature of the subtle body. The subtle body of anindividual changes from animal nature through moral and spiritual intodivine. As this gradual growth cannot be expected in one life we shallhave to admit the truth of Reincarnation, which teaches gradualevolution of the germ of life or the individual soul through manylives and various forms. Otherwise the theory of Evolution will remainimperfect, incomplete and purposeless. The doctrine of Reincarnationdiffers from the accepted theory of Evolution in admitting a gradualbut continuous evolution of the subtle body through many grossforms. The gross body may appear or disappear, but the subtle bodycontinues to exist even after the dissolution of the gross body andre-manifests itself in some other form. 

The theory of Reincarnation when properly understood will appear as asupplement to the theory of Evolution. Without this most importantsupplement the Evolution theory will never be complete andperfect. Evolution explains the process of life, while Reincarnationexplains the purpose of life. Therefore, both must go hand in hand tomake the explanation satisfactory in every respect. 

James Freeman Clarke says: "That man has come up to his present stateof development by passing through lower forms, is the popular doctrineof science to-day. What is called Evolution teaches that we havereached our present state by a very long and gradual ascent from thelowest animal organizations. It is true that the Darwinian theorytakes no notice of the evolution of the soul, but only of thebody. But it appears to me that a combination of the two views wouldremove many difficulties which still attach to the theory of naturalselection and the survival of the fittest. If we are to believe inEvolution let us have the assistance of the soul itself in thisdevelopment of new species. Thus science and philosophy willco-operate, nor will poetry hesitate to lend her aid. " (P. 190, "TenGreat Religions, " II. ) Evolution of the body depends upon theevolution of the germ of life or the individual soul. When these twoare combined the explanation becomes perfect. 

The theory of Reincarnation is a logical necessity for the completionof the theory of Evolution. If we admit a continuous evolution of aunit of the germ of life through many gross manifestations then weunconsciously accept the teachings of the doctrine of Reincarnation. In passing through different forms and manifestations the unit of lifedoes not lose its identity or individuality. As an atom does not loseits identity or individuality (if you allow me to suppose an atom hasa kind of individuality) although it passes from the mineral, throughthe vegetable, into the animal, so the germ of life always preservesits identity or individuality although it passes through the differentstages of evolution. 

Therefore it is said in the "Bhagavad Gītā, " as in our ordinary lifethe individual soul passes from a baby body to a young one and from ayoung to an old, and carries with it all the impressions, ideas andexperience that it has gathered in its former stage of existence andreproduces them in proper time, so when a man dies the individual soulpasses from an old body into a new one, and takes with it the subtlebody wherein are stored up all that it experienced and gathered duringits past incarnations. Knowing this, wise men are never afraid ofdeath. They know that death is nothing but a mere change from one bodyinto another. Therefore, if any one does not succeed in conquering thelower nature by the higher, he will try again in his next incarnation, after starting from the point which he reached in his past life. Hewill not begin again from the very beginning, but from the last stageat which he arrived. Thus we see that Reincarnation is the logicalsequence of evolution. It completes and makes perfect that theory andexplains the cause of the moral and spiritual nature of man. 

IV. WHICH IS SCIENTIFIC--RESURRECTION OR REINCARNATION?

The students of history are interested to know where the idea ofresurrection first arose and how it was adopted by other nations. Ifwe read carefully the writings ascribed to Moses and other writers ofthe Old Testament we find that the ancient Israelites did not believein the Christian heaven or hell, nor in reward or punishment afterdeath. It is doubtful whether they had any clear conception of theexistence of soul after the dissolution of the human body. They had nodefinite idea of the hereafter. They did not believe in theresurrection either of the soul or body. Job longed for death thinkingthat it would end his mental agony. In Psalms we read, "Wilt Thou shewwonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise Thee?"(Ps. Lxxxviii, 10. ) "In death there is no remembrance of Thee; in thegrave who shall give Thee thanks?" (Ps. Vi, 5. ) Again (Ps. Cxlvi, 4)it is said about princes and the son of man, --"His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish. " "Thedead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. "(Ps. Cxv, 17. ) Solomon speaks boldly: "All things come alike to all;there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good andto the clean and to the unclean. . . As is the good, so is the sinner. "(Eccl. Ix, 2. ) "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy winewith a merry heart. . . . Live joyfully with thy wife. . . For there is nowork, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thougoest. " (Eccl. Ix, 7, 9, 10. ) Again in verse 5 it is said: "The deadknow not anything, neither have they anymore a reward, for the memoryof them is forgotten. " Solomon says: "For that which befalleth thesons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as theone dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath, so thata man hath no pre-eminence above a beast. " "All go into one place; allare of the dust and all turn to dust again. " "Who knoweth the spiritof man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goethdownward to the earth?" (Eccl. Iii, 19-21. ) There are many suchpassages which show clearly that before the Babylonian captivity theIsraelites had no belief in reward or punishment, neither in heavennor hell nor in the resurrection of the soul. Some say that they had abelief in a sheol or pit where departed souls remained after death, but were never resurrected. But when the ancient Jews were conqueredby the Persians, 536 B. C. , they came in contact with a nation whichhad developed a belief in one God, in a heaven and a hell, in theresurrection of the dead, in reward and punishment after death, and inthe last day of judgment. Under the dominion of Persia, whose rulebegan with the capture of Babylon and lasted from 536-333 B. C. , theJews were greatly influenced by the Persian religion. They gave uptheir idolatry, gradually developed social organization and hadconsiderable liberty. About that time the Jews were divided into twoclasses, the Pharisees and Sadducees. Those who adopted the religiousideas of the Parsees were called Pharisees (according to someauthorities the word Pharisee was the Hebrew form of Parsee), andthose who followed strictly the Jewish ideas, ceremonies, rituals andbeliefs were called Sadducees. The former were sharply opposed to thelatter in their doctrinal beliefs. They believed in angels andspirits, they expected the resurrection of the dead and believed infuture reward and punishment and also in Divine pre-ordination. TheSadducees did not step beyond the bounds of ancient Judaism. Theywere Orthodox and very conservative in their views. They denied theexistence of angels and spirits, the resurrection of the dead, andreward and punishment after death. In Matt, xxii, 23, we read, "Thesame day came to him the Sadducees which say that there is noresurrection. " The Sadducees were fewer in number than thePharisees. Gradually the latter grew very powerful and after the deathof Jesus their doctrines of the resurrection of the dead, and ofreward and punishment after death, and the belief in angels andspirits, became the cardinal principles of the new Christian sect. Thus we see that the idea of resurrection first arose in Persia andafterwards took a prominent place in the writings of the NewTestament, and since then it has been largely accepted by theChristians of the Western countries. The Zoroastrians believed thatthe soul of the dead hovers about the body for three nights and doesnot depart for the other world until the dawn after the third night. Then the righteous go to heaven and the wicked to hell. There thewicked remain until the time of renovation of the universe, that is, the judgment day. After the renovation, when Ahriman or Satan iskilled, the souls of the wicked will be purified and have everlastingprogress. [Footnote: "Sacred Books of the East, " Vol. Xvii, pp. 27, 34, 46. ] The question was asked, "How shall they produceresurrection?" Ahura Mazda says: "The reply is this, that thepreparation and production of the resurrection are an achievementconnected with miracle, a sublimity, and afterwards also a wondrousappearance unto the creatures uninformed. The secrets and affairs ofthe persistent Creator are like every mystery and secret. " [Footnote:_Ibid_. , p. 80. ]

The Zoroastrians believed in the resurrection, not of the physicalbody, but of the soul, and that it was an act of miracle. Similarlymiraculous was the resurrection of Jesus. Although Jesus Himself nevermentioned what kind of resurrection, whether of body or of soul thatHe meant and believed in, the interpretation of the writers of theGospels shows that His disciples understood Him to mean bodilyresurrection and the re-appearance of His physical form. The threedays remained, just as the Zoroastrians believed. The miraculous andwondrous appearance of Jesus before His disciples was preached mostvigorously by Paul. In his Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul declaresemphatically that the whole of the Christian religion depends upon themiraculous resurrection and re-appearance of Jesus. Although Paulsaid the spiritual body of the risen dead is not the same as flesh andblood body (I Cor. , XV), still that important point is generallyoverlooked, and the result is the belief which we find amongst some ofthe Christian sects; that at the call of the angels, the body willrise from the grave and the mouldering dust of bones and flesh will beput together by the miraculous power of the Almighty God. Paul says:"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits ofthem that slept" (I Cor. , XV, 20). He preached that Christ was thefirst born from the dead, that those who believe in Christ would riseas He did and that those who would not believe in Him or in Hisresurrection should not rise. 

We have already noticed that the Parsees believed in a miraculousresurrection; that the same miracle became more definite in the caseof Jesus; and that the Christian faith was afterwards founded uponthat miraculous event. Both the Parsees and the followers of Christdid not mean by resurrection any universal law, but a miracle done bycertain supernatural powers. They did not give any scientific reasonsfor such a miracle. 

But modern science denies miracles. It teaches that this universe isguided, not by miracles as the old thinkers used to believe, but bydefinite laws which are always consistent and universal. There cannotbe any exception to those laws which are uniform throughout. Ifresurrection be one of those laws, then it must have existed beforethe birth of Jesus; as such, how could He be the first born from thedead, as described by Paul. Conversely, if Jesus was the first whorose from the dead, then resurrection cannot be a universallaw. Scientists would not believe in anything which is not based uponuniversal laws. Some of the agnostics and materialists have gone sofar as to say that Jesus did not die on the cross, but his animationwas suspended when his body was taken down from the cross by Joseph ofArimathsea. When Joseph went to Pilate and craved the body of Jesus, Pilate marvelled if He were dead (Mark XV, 44), because it was onlysix hours after the crucifixion. Some of the modern physiologists areof opinion that temperate and strong men might live for several dayson the cross. These heretical agnostics and skeptical scientists saythat the body of Jesus revived after a few hours in the cool, rock-cuttomb, that he walked out of the tomb, went to Galilee and appearedbefore his disciples. [Footnote: Vide "Science and ChristianTradition, " by Prof. Huxley, pp. 279-280. ] Whatever the facts may be(nobody can now tell exactly what actually happened), it is clear thatthe scientists are not ready to take anything upon authority. They donot care to believe in anything because it is written in this book orthat. They must have convincing proofs and a rational explanation ofevery phenomenon of nature. They want to penetrate into miracles inorder to discover the universal laws that govern them. If they do notfind any such laws, they will surely reject every event that issupposed to be caused by miraculous or supernatural powers. 

The theory of a miraculous resurrection is attended with the beliefthat the individual soul does not exist before birth. The supportersof this theory hold that at the time of birth, the individual, beingcreated out of nothing, comes fresh into existence. But science tellsus that sudden creation out of nothing and a total destruction ofanything are both impossible. Matter and force are indestructible. Science teaches evolution and not creation, and denies theintervention of any supernatural being as the cause of phenomenalchanges. The theory of Resurrection ignores all these ultimateconclusions of modern science. On the contrary, the doctrine ofReincarnation, after accepting all the truths and laws of nature thathave been discovered by modern science, carries them to their properlogical conclusions. Reincarnation is based upon evolution. It meansa continuous evolution of an individual germ of life, and a gradualre-manifestation of all the powers and forces that exist in itpotentially. Moreover, the doctrine of Reincarnation is founded on thelaw of cause and effect. It teaches that the cause is not outside ofthe effect, but lies in the effect. The cause is the potential orunmanifested state of the effect, and effect is the actual ormanifested cause. There is one current of infinite force or powerconstantly flowing in the ocean of reality of the universe, andappearing in the innumerable forms of waves. We call one set of wavesthe cause of another set, but in fact that which is the cause is thepotentiality of the future effect and the actuality of a previouspotential cause. The underlying current is one and the samethroughout. Reincarnation denies the idea that the soul has come intoexistence all of a sudden or has been created for the first time, butit holds that it has been existing from the beginningless past, andwill exist all through eternity. The individual soul enjoys orsuffers according to the acts it performs. All enjoyment and sufferingare but the reactions of our actions. Actions are the causes and thereactions are the results. Our present life is the result of our pastactions, and our future will be the result of the present. The actionswhich we are now doing will not be lost. Do you think that thethought-forces of one life-time will end suddenly after death?No. They will be conserved and remain potentially in the center andre-manifest under suitable conditions. Each human soul is nothing buta center of thought-force. This center is called in Sanskrit_Sūkshma Sarīra_ or the subtle body of an individual. The subtlegerm of life or, in other words, the invisible center ofthought-forces, will manufacture a physical vehicle for expressing thelatent powers that are ready for manifestation. This process willcontinue until the germ can express most perfectly all the powers thatare coiled up in its invisible form. As the doctrine of Reincarnationis in agreement with all the physical laws, so it is based uponpsychical, moral and ethical laws. As on the objective plane the lawof action and reaction governs the objective phenomena, so on thesubjective plane of consciousness, if the mental action or thought begood, the reaction will be good, and the reaction will be evil if themental action be evil, because every action produces a similarreaction, A good reaction is one which makes us happy and bringspleasant sensations or peace of mind, while an evil reaction bringssuffering, unpleasant sensations, and makes one miserable. ThusReincarnation makes us free agents for action, as well as for reapingthe results or reactions of those actions. In fact, we mould our ownnature, according to our desires, tendencies and works. 

The theory of Resurrection, as commonly understood, does not explainwhy one man is born with a sinful nature and another with a virtuousone. It contents itself with saying as Luther said: "Man is a beast ofburden who only moves as his rider orders; sometimes God rides him andsometimes Satan. " But why God should allow Satan to ride His owncreature nobody can tell. At any rate, man must suffer eternally forthe crimes which he is forced by Satan to commit. Moreover this theorypre-supposes predestination and that the individual soul isfore-doomed to go either to heaven or to hell. St. Augustine firststarted this doctrine of Predestination and Grace to explain why oneis born sinful and another sinless. According to this theory, God, themerciful, favors somebody with His grace at the time of his birth andthen he comes into this world ready to be saved, but the mass ofhumanity is born sinful and destined for eternal damnation. Very fewindeed receive the gift of grace and are predestined to besaved. Moreover, this doctrine tells us that God creates man out ofnothing, forbids him something, but at the same time He does not givehim the power to obey His commands. Ultimately God punishes him witheternal torture on account of his weakness. The body and soul will notbe separated. He will not be set free from his body, because, if itbe so, there will be the end of his suffering, which God does notlike. All these sufferings and punishments are predestined before hisbirth. Thus, St. Augustine's dogma of Predestination and Graceinstead of explaining the difficulty satisfactorily brings horror anddread to human minds, while the doctrine of Reincarnation teachesgradual progress from lower to higher, through ages until theindividual reaches perfection. It holds that each individual willbecome perfect like Jesus or Buddha or like the Father in heaven andmanifest divinity either in this life or in some other. One span oflife is too short for developing one's powers to perfection. If youshould try to train an idiot to become a great artist or aphilosopher, would you ever succeed in your attempt to make him soduring his lifetime? No. And will you punish him because he cannotbecome so? Can a man who possesses the slightest common sense be sounreasonable? Similarly what would you think if God punishes a manbecause he cannot become perfect within a lifetime? It is a poorargument to say that God has given us free-will to choose betweenright and wrong, and we are responsible for our choice; if we choosewrongly we must be punished. The advocates of such an argument forgetthat at the same time God has let loose His powerful Satan to corruptHis creatures. 

It reminds me of an old story. Once on a time at a certain place aprisoner was released and set free through the kindness of atyrant. The tyrant said to the prisoner "Look here, wicked man, I giveyou freedom, you can go to any place; but there is one condition; ifyou are attacked by any wild animal you will be put in the dungeon andthere will be no end to your torture. " So saying he gave him freedom, but at the same time ordered his servants to let loose a hungry wolfto chase the man. You can imagine what became of the prisoner. Can wecall this an act of mercy!

The doctrine of Reincarnation says that each individual soul ispotentially perfect and is gradually unfolding its powers and makingthem actual through the process of Evolution. At every step of thatprocess it is gaining different experiences which last only for atime. Therefore neither God nor Satan is responsible for our good orevil actions. Good and evil are like the up and down or the crest andhollow of a wave in the sea. A wave cannot rise without making ahollow somewhere in the sea. So in the infinite ocean of realityinnumerable waves are constantly rising. The summit of each wave iscalled good, while the hollow beside it is evil or misery and thecurrent of each individual life is constantly flowing towards theultimate destination which we call perfection. Who can tell how longit will take to reach that goal? If anybody can attain to perfectionin this life, he is no longer bound to reincarnate. If he fails hewill continue to progress by taking some other body. Reincarnationdoes not teach, as many people think, that in the next incarnation onewill begin from the very beginning, but it says that one will startfrom that point which one reaches before death and will keep thethread of progress unbroken. It does not teach that we go back toanimal bodies after death, but that we get our bodies according to ourdesires, tendencies and powers. If any person has no desire to comeback to this world or to any other and does not want to enjoy anyparticular object of pleasure, and if he is perfectly free fromselfishness that person will not have to come back. The theory ofReincarnation is logical and satisfactory. While the theory ofResurrection is neither based on scientific truths nor can itlogically explain the cause of life and death, Reincarnation solvesall the problems of life and explains scientifically all the questionsand doubts that arise in the human mind. 

"Reincarnation is not easily understood by a thoughtless child deludedby the delusion of wealth, name or fame. Everything ends with death, he thinks, and thus falls again and again under the sway of death. "

V. THEORY OF TRANSMIGRATION. 

The theory of transmigration is one of the oldest theories accepted bythe people of the Orient to solve the problems concerning life anddeath as well as to explain the continuity of existence after death. This theory presupposes the existence of the soul as an entity whichcan live even when the gross material body is dead or dissolved intoits elements. Those who deny the existence of the soul, of theself-conscious thinker and actor, as an entity distinct from the grossmaterial body, necessarily deny this theory of transmigration. Thematerialistic thinkers of all ages have refused to accept this theory, because they do not admit the existence of a soul or a self-consciousthinker and actor as an entity, separate from the gross materialbody. Consequently they do not ask or discuss whether the soul willexist after death or not, whether it will continue to live or not. Such materialists are not the creatures of the twentieth century, butthey have lived in all ages, in all countries. In India and in othercivilized countries of ancient times you will find that materialisticthinkers prevailed and they gave the same arguments which we hear nowfrom the agnostics and scientists of to-day. Their arguments aregenerally one-sided and unsatisfactory. They try to deduce the soul orself-conscious entity from the combination of matter or materialforces, but they have not succeeded in giving a scientific proof ofit. No arguments in favor of the existence of a soul as an entity willconvince them, because they deny the existence of anything that cannotbe perceived by sense powers. If we could bring the soul down on thesense plane and make it visible to these materialistic thinkers, andif they could make experiments upon it, then perhaps they would beconvinced to a certain extent, but not until then. But how can webring the soul down on the sense plane when it is ethereal and finerthan anything that we can perceive with our senses?

Those who try to explain the cause of our earthly life by the theoryof heredity do not believe in the truth of transmigration. The modernscientists, agnostics and materialists generally accept the theory ofheredity and endeavor to explain everything by it; but if we examinetheir arguments for the theory of heredity, we shall find that thetheory of transmigration is much more satisfactory, much more rationalthan that of heredity. 

Among the followers of the great religions of the world, the majorityof Christians, Jews, Mohammedans and Parsees deny the truth oftransmigration. Of course, there was a time when the Christiansbelieved in this transmigration theory. Origen and other ChurchFathers accepted it until the time of Justinian, who anathematized allthose who believed in Reincarnation or the pre-existence of the soul. Among the Jews we find that in the Cabala this idea of transmigrationplays the most important part. In fact the Cabalists accepted thistheory to explain all the difficulties that could not be explained byany other theory. But those Jews, Christians, Mohammedans and Parseeswho do not believe in the theory of transmigration accept theone-birth theory; that is, that God creates the souls at the time ofbirth out of nothing, and these souls, having come into existence outof nothing, continue to live forever; that this is our first and lastbirth that we receive; we did not exist before, we are suddenlycreated by God, and after death each one of us will continue to liveeither in heaven or hell to enjoy or to suffer throughouteternity. Among the modern Spiritualists we find that those who areborn and brought up with this idea of one birth do not accept thetheory of transmigration. Still there are millions and millions ofpeople all over the world who do believe in transmigration and whohave found comfort and consolation in their lives as well as asatisfactory solution of the problems of life and death. 

The theory of Transmigration, or Metempsychosis, as it has been calledby many philosophers, originally meant the passing of a soul from onebody after death into another; or, in other words, it meant that thesoul after dwelling in one particular body for a certain length oftime leaves it at the time of death, and in order to gain experienceenters into some other body, either human, animal or angelic, which isready to receive it. It may migrate from the human body to an angelicbody and then come down on the human plane, or to the animal plane andbe born again as an animal. So the original meaning of transmigrationor metempsychosis was the revolution of the soul from body to bodywhether animal, human, angelic or of the gods. The migrating substancebeing a fixed quantity, with fixed qualities, chooses its formaccording to its taste, desire and bent of character. This ideaprevailed among the ancient Egyptians, according to whom the soul, after leaving the dead body, would travel from one body to another forthousands and thousands of years in order to gain experiences in eachof the different stages of life. 

Among the Greek philosophers we find that Pythagoras, Plato and theirfollowers believed in this theory of Metempsychosis or Transmigrationof souls. Pythagoras says: "After death the rational mind, havingbeen freed from the chains of the body, assumes an ethereal vehicleand passes into the region of the dead where it remains till it issent back to this world to inhabit some other body human oranimal. After undergoing successive purgations, when it issufficiently purified, it is received among the gods and returns tothe eternal source from which it first proceeded. " Plato also believedin this theory. Of course we cannot tell exactly from whencePythagoras and Plato got these ideas. Some say that they learnedthese doctrines from Egypt; others believed that, either directly orindirectly, they learned the theory of transmigration fromIndia. Plato describes in "Phaedrus, " in mythological language, whyand how the souls take their birth upon this plane, either as human oranimal. He says: "In the heaven Zeus, the Father and Lord of allcreatures, drives his winged car, ordering all things andsuperintending them. A host of deities and spirits follow him, eachfulfilling his own function. Whoever will and can follows them. Aftertaking this round, they advance by a steep course along the innercircumference of the heavenly vault and proceed to a banquet. Thechariots of the gods, being well balanced and well driven, advanceeasily; others with difficulty; for the vicious horse, unless thecharioteer has thoroughly broken him, weighs down the car by hisproclivity towards the earth, whereupon the soul is put to theextremity of toil and effort. The souls of gods reach the summit, gooutside and stand upon the surface of heaven, and enjoy celestialbliss. Such is the life of the gods; other souls which follow God bestand are likest to Him succeed in seeing the vision of truth and inentering into the outer world with great difficulty. The rest of thesouls longing after the upper world all follow; but not being strongenough, they are carried round in the deep below, plunging, treadingon one another, striving to be first, and there, in confusion andextremity of effort, many of them are lamed and have their wingsbroken. Thus when the soul is unable to follow and fails to behold thevision of Truth, sinks beneath the double load of forgetfulness andvice, her feathers fall from her and she drops to earth and is bornagain and again as human beings or as animals. " Plato says: "Tenthousand years must elapse before the soul can return to the placefrom whence she came, for she cannot grow her wings in less. " "At theend of the first thousand years, the souls of the good and of the evilkind come together to draw lots, and choose their bodies according totheir tendencies and the bent of their characters. They may take anythey like. Instead of receiving the natural consequences of theirdeeds and misdeeds of their previous lives they are allowed to choosetheir own lot, according to their experience and bent ofcharacter. Some, being disgusted with mankind, prefer to be born asanimals, such as lions and eagles or some other animals. Othersdelight in trying their luck as human beings. " From this mythologicaldescription we gather what Plato meant by transmigration. 

This Platonic idea of transmigration or of successive lives of thosewho inhabit this earth has been criticized by various thinkers ofmodern times; and referring to this idea the late Doctor Myers, of thePsychical Research Society of London, writes in his second volume of"Human Personality": "The simple fact that such was probably theopinion of both Plato and Virgil shows that there is nothing herewhich is alien to the best reason or to the highest instincts ofmen. Nor, indeed, is it easy to realize any theory of the _directcreation_ of spirits at such different stages of advancement asthose which enter upon the earth in the guise of mortal man. There_must_, one feels, be some kind of continuity--some form ofspiritual past. " (P. 134. ) Why does He not create all souls equal?Why will one soul be highly advanced spiritually while another isentirely ignorant and idiotic? This question cannot be answered, thisproblem cannot be solved by the special creation theory, and thereforeDoctor Myers says that there is no doubt that there was some previouscontinuity or spiritual past of each individual soul, and therefore hetacitly admits the theory of Transmigration. Although from ascientific viewpoint he could not give any direct proof regarding thisidea of a pre-existence of the soul, still he could not deny itentirely when he said: "The shaping forces which have made our bodiesand our minds what they are may always have been psychicalforces--from the first living slime-speck to the complex intelligencesof to-day. " "The old transmigrationist's view would thus possess ashare of truth and the actual man would be the resultant not only ofintermingling heredities on father's and mother's sides, but ofintermingling heredities, one of planetary and one of cosmic scope. "("Human Personality, " Vol. II, p. 267. )

But this theory of Transmigration, as described by Plato, is a littledifferent from a similar theory which existed in India before histime. In the Platonic idea of transmigration, as we have already seen, the souls were allowed to choose their own lot according to theirexperience or bent of character, but not to receive the naturalconsequence of their deeds and misdeeds. Plato did not say anythingabout the law which governs souls; but in ancient India the greatthinkers and philosophers explained that each individual soul is boundby the inexorable law of nature to receive its body as a naturalconsequence of its former deeds and misdeeds, and not to have freechoice of its lot according to its bent of character. The greatthinkers and philosophers of ancient India discovered the universallaw of cause and effect, of action and reaction, and called it by theSanskrit term "Karma, " which means the law of cause and sequence; thatevery cause must be followed by an effect of a similar nature, thatevery action must produce similar reaction, and conversely everyreaction or effect is the result of an action or cause of a similarcharacter. Thus there is always a balance and harmony between causeand effect, between action and reaction. This law of Karma has nowbecome a fundamental verity of modern science. It is called bydifferent names: the scientists call it the law of causation, the lawof compensation, the law of retribution, the law of action andreaction, but they all refer to the same idea, --that every cause mustproduce a similar result and every action must produce a similarreaction. 

Now these ancient thinkers of India applied this law of Karma toexplain the destiny of human souls, and it was upon this law theybased the theory of Transmigration. They maintained that human soulsare bound by this irresistible law and cannot get out of it; theirthoughts and deeds are the causes which produce results of similarnature. So their future birth does not depend upon their whimsical, free choice, but it is limited by the thoughts and deeds or misdeedsof their previous lives. In the Platonic idea we find that the soulsgo according to their choice. They may not take a human form if theyprefer an animal form, but in the Hindu idea of transmigration we findthat it is not a result of free choice, but, if our thoughts and deedsforce us to take a particular form, then we are subject to the law ofKarma, which governs our future birth and the evolution of oursouls. Consequently the Hindu theory of Transmigration differsfundamentally from the Platonic as well as from the Egyptian idea ofTransmigration. In the Platonic and Egyptian theories we see that thesouls, after leaving the body, enter into another body which iswaiting to receive the migrating soul, but in the Hindu theory ofTransmigration the body is not waiting to receive the migrating soul, but on the contrary the soul, being subject to the laws of evolution, manufactures the gross material body according to its desires andtendencies. Just as a germ of life will develop a grosser form bycellular subdivision, by growth, and by assimilation of theenvironmental conditions, so the germ of the human soul willmanufacture the body by obeying the laws which govern the physicalplane. Parents are nothing but the channels through which themigrating souls receive their material forms. Parents do not createthe souls; they have no power to create. They can only give thesuitable environments necessary for manufacturing a gross physicalbody. The souls come with their tendencies, with their desires, andthey remain as germs of life. 

Now these germs of life contain vital forces, sense powers, psychicpowers, and ethereal particles of matter. At the time of death thesoul contracts and withdraws all its powers from the sense organs toits innermost center, and in that contracted state it leaves thebody. But these powers do not leave the soul. By the law ofpersistence of force and conservation of energy they remain latent inthat center until environmental conditions become favorable for theirremanifestation. Rebirth means the manifestation of the latent powerswhich exist in the germ of life or in the individual soul. These germsof life are called by different names. Leibnitz called them monads andmodern scientists call them bioplasms or some such name, but theVedanta philosophers describe them as subtle bodies. These germs orsubtle bodies are subject to evolution and growth; they arise fromlower to higher stages of development, from the mineral through thevegetable to the animal kingdom and eventually they become humanbeings and then they go on progressing. 

In the Platonic theory the idea of progress, growth or gradualevolution of the soul from the lower to higher stages of existence isentirely excluded, because, as I have already said, the migratingsubstance is of a fixed quantity with fixed qualities, that is, thesequalities do not change and are not affected by either growth orevolution. They are constant quantities. In order to differentiatethese two ideas we should call the Hindu theory of Transmigration bythe term "Reincarnation. " The Hindu or Vedantic theory ofReincarnation, however, is not the same as the Buddhistic theory ofRebirth, for the Buddhists do not believe in the permanence of thesoul entity. There is another point where the Reincarnation theorydiffers from Platonic transmigration. According to this theory ofReincarnation there is growth and evolution of each individual soulfrom the lower to higher stages of development. The soul or germ oflife, after passing through the lower stages, comes to the human planeand gains experience and knowledge; and after coming to the humanplane, it does not retrograde to animal bodies. The Platonic theoryteaches that human souls migrate into animal bodies or angelic bodiesand return from the angelic to the human or the animal, and that someof them prefer to become animals; while the theory of Reincarnation, taking its stand upon the scientific truth of gradual evolution, teaches that the human souls have already passed through differentgrades of the animal, nay, of the vegetable kingdom, by the naturalprocess of evolution. After having once received the human organism, why should a soul choose to go back to the lesser and more imperfectorganism of an animal? How is it possible for a lesser manifestationto hold a greater one? Why should a greater manifestation choose morelimited forms in preference to those of others? This question arisesin the Platonic theory of Transmigration. Therefore, the Reincarnationtheory, or the theory of Transmigration according to the Hindus, rejects this idea of the going back of human souls to animal forms. We have already passed in the evolutionary process through the lowergrade of animal organisms. Now that we have outgrown them why shouldwe go back to them?

It is true, however, that in India there are many uneducated peopleamong the Hindus who believe that human souls do migrate into animalbodies after death to gain experience and reap the results of theirwicked deeds, being bound by the law of Karma; but in the Platonictheory the law of Karma plays no part in the transmigration ofsouls. The educated and thoughtful minds of India, however, accept themore rational and scientific theory of Reincarnation. Although thereare passages in the scriptural writings of the Hindus which apparentlyrefer to the retrogression of the human soul into animal nature, stillsuch passages do not necessarily mean that the souls will be obligedto take animal bodies. They may live like animals even when they havehuman bodies, as we may find among us many people like cats and dogsand snakes in human form and they are often more vicious than naturalcats, dogs or snakes. They are reaping their own Karma and manifestingtheir animal nature, though physically they look like humanbeings. This kind of retrogression is possible for one who afterreaching the human plane goes backward on account of wicked thoughtsand deeds on the animal plane. Such a temporary retrogression bringsknowledge and helps it in its onward progress toward the manifestationof higher powers on the higher plane of consciousness. All the wickedthoughts and wicked deeds are nothing but the results of our ownmistakes. What is sin? Sin is nothing but a mistake and it proceedsfrom ignorance. For instance, if I do not know that fire burns, I mayput my finger into it and get burned. The result of this mistake isthe burning of the finger and this has taught me once for all thatfire burns; I shall never again put my finger into fire. So everymistake is a great teacher in the long run. No one is born so highand perfect as not to commit any mistake or any sin. Every mistakelike this opens our eyes to the laws of the universe by bringing to ussuch results as we do not desire. As one life is not enough to gainexperience in all the stages of evolution, we must have to admit thedoctrine of the Reincarnation of the soul for the fulfillment of theultimate purpose of earthly life. Professor Huxley says: "None buthasty thinkers will reject it on the ground of inherent absurdity. Like the doctrine of evolution itself that of transmigration has itsroots in the world of reality. "