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And these laws were the compelling causes of the Great Involu- tion. For before Evolution was possible, Involution was necessary. We have explained that the word "involve" means "to wrap up; to cover; to hide, etc." Before a thing can be "evolved," that is "unfolded," it must first be "involved," that is "wrapped up." A thing must be put in, before it may be taken out. Following the laws of Involution imposed upon it, the Universal Mental Principle involved itself in the Universal Energy Principle ; and then in obedience to the same laws, the latter involved itself in the Uni- versal Material Principle. Each stage of Involution, or wrapping-up, created for itself (out of the higher principle which in being involved) the wrapper or sheath which is to be used to wrap-up the higher prin- METEMPSYCHOSIS 205 ciple. And the higher forms of the Material Princi- ple formed sheaths of lower forms, until forms of Matter were produced far more gross than any known to us now, for they have disappeared in the Evolu- tionary ascent. Down, down, down went the process of Involution, until the lowest point was reached. Then ensued a moment's pause, preceding the begin- ning of the Evolutionary Unfoldment. Then began the Great Evolution. But, as we have told you, the Upward movement was distinguished by the "Tendency toward Individualization." That is, while the Involuntary Process was accomplished by Principles as Principles, the Upward Movement was begun by a tendency toward "splitting up," and the creation of "individual forms," and the effort to per- fect them and build upon them higher and still higher succeeding forms, until a stage was reached in which the Temple of the Spirit was worthy of being occu- pied by Man, the self-conscious expression of the Spirit. For the coming of Man was the first step of a higher form of Evolution — the Spiritual Evolu- tion. Up to this time there had been simply an Evo- lution of Bodies, but now there came the Evolution of Souls. And this Evolution of Souls becomes possible only by the process of Metempsychosis (pronounced me- temp-si-ko-sis) which is more commonly known as Reincarnation, or Reembodiment. It becomes necessary at this point to call your at- tention to the general subject of Metempsychosis, for 208 GNANI YOGA again on the wide ocean of human belief. But strang- er things have happened in the history of human opinions." — James Freeman Clarke. "If we could legitimately determine any question of belief by the number of its adherents, the * * * * would apply to metempsychosis more fitly than to any other. 1 think it is quite as likely to be revived and to come to the front as any rival theory." — Prof. Wm. Knight. "It seems to me, a firm and well-grounded faith in the doctrine of Christian metempsychosis might help to regenerate the world. For it would be a faith not hedged around with many of the difficulties and objec- tions which beset other forms of doctrine, and it offers distinct and pungent motives for trying to lead a more Christian life, and for loving and helping our brother- man." — Prof. Francis Bowen. "The doctrine of Metempsychosis may almost claim to be a natural or innate belief in the human mind, if we may judge from its wide diffusion among the na- tions of the earth, and its prevalence throughout the historical ages." — Prof. Francis Bowen. "When Christianity first swept over Europe, the inner thought of its leaders was deeply tinctured with this truth. The Church tried ineffectually to eradicate it, but in various sects it kept sprouting forth beyond the time of Erigina and Bonaventura, its mediaeval advocates. Every great intuitional soul, as Paracelsus, Boehme, and Swedenborg, has adhered to it. The Italian luminaries, Giordano Bruno and Campanella, embraced it. The best of German philosophy is en- METEMPSYCHOSIS 209 riched by it. In Schopenhauer, Lessing, Hegel, Leib- nitz, Herder, and Fichte, the younger, it is earnestly advocated. The anthropological systems of Kant and Schelling furnish points of contact with it. The younger Helmont, in De Revolutione Animarum, ad- duces in two hundred problems all the arguments which may be urged in favor of the return of souls into human bodies according to Jewish ideas. Of English thinkers, the Cambridge Platonists defended it with much learning and acut?ness, most conspicu- ously Henry More; and in C-ut>orth and Hume it ranks as the most rational theory of immortality. Glanvil's Lux Orientalis devotes a curious treatise to it. It captivated the minds of Fourier and Leroux. Andre Pezzani's book on The Plurality of the Soul's Lives works out the system on the Roman Catholic idea of expiation." — E. D. Walker, in "Re-Incarna- tion, a Study of Forgotten Truth." And in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century, and this the early part of the Twentieth Century, the general public has been made familiar with the idea of Metempsychosis, under the name of Re-incarna- tion, by means of the great volume of literature issued by The Theosophical Society and its allied following. No longer is the thought a novelty to the Western thinker, and many have found within themselves a corroborative sense of its truth. In fact, to many the mere mention of the idea has been sufficient to awaken faint shadowy memories of past lives, and, to such, many heretofore unaccountable traits of character, 210 GNANI YOGA tastes, inclinations, sympathies, dislikes, etc., have been explained. The Western world has been made familiar with the idea of the re-birth of souls into new bodies, under the term of "Re-incarnation," which means "a re-entry into flesh," the word "incarnate" being derived from the words "in," and "carnis," meaning flesh — the English word meaning "to clothe with flesh," etc. The word Metempsychosis, which we use in this les- son, is concerned rather with the "passage of the soul" from one tenement to another, the "fleshly" idea being merely incidental. The doctrine of Metempsychosis, or Re-incarnation, together with its accompanying doctrine, Karma, or Spiritual Cause and Effect, is one of the great founda- tion stones of the Yogi Philosophy, as indeed it is of the entire system of systems of Oriental Philosophy and Thought. Unless one under- stands Metempsychosis he will never be able to understand the Eastern Teachings, for he will be without the Key. You who have read the Bhaga- vad Gita, that wonderful Hindu Epic, will remem- ber how the thread of Re-Birth runs through it all. You remember the words of Krishna to Arjuna : "As the soul, wearing this material body, experienceth the stages of infancy, youth, manhood, and old age, even so shall it, in due time, pass on to another body, and in other incarnations shall it again live, and move and play its part." "These bodies, which act as envelop- ing coverings for the souls occupying them, are but METEMPSYCHOSIS 211 finite things — things of the moment — and not the Real Man at all. They perish as all finite things perish — let them perish." "As a man throweth away his old garments, replacing them with new and brighter ones, even so the Dweller of the body, having quitted its old mortal frame, entereth into others which are new and freshly prepared for it. Weapons pierce not the Real Man, nor doth the fire burn him; the water affecteth him not, nor the wind drieth him nor bloweth him away. For he is impregnable and impervious to these things of the world of change — he is eternal, permanent, unchangeable, and unalterable — Real." This view of life gives to the one who holds to it, an entirely different mental attitude. He no longer identifies himself with the particular body that he may be occupying, nor with any other body for that mat- ter. He learns to regard his body just as he would a garment which he is wearing, useful to him for certain purposes, but which will in time be discarded and thrown aside for a better one, and one better adapted to his new requirements and needs. So firm- ly is this idea embedded in the consciousness of the Hindus, that they will often say "My body is tired," or "My body is hungry," or "My body is full of ener- gy," rather than that "I am" this or that thing. And this consciousness, once attained, gives to one a sense of strength, security and power unknown to him who regards his body as himself. The first step for the student who wishes to grasp the idea of Metempsycho- sis, and who wishes to awaken in his consciousness a 212 GNANI YOGA certainty of its truth, is to familiarize himself with the idea of his "I" being a thing independent and a part from his body, although using the latter as an abiding place and a useful shelter and instrument for the time being. Many writers on the subject of Metempsychosis have devoted much time, labor and argument to prove the reasonableness of the doctrine upon purely specu- lative, philosophical, or metaphysical grounds. And while we believe that such efforts are praiseworthy for the reason that many persons must be first con- vinced in that way, still we feel that one must really feel the truth of the doctrine from something within his own consciousness, before he will really believe it to be truth. One may convince himself of the logical necessity of the doctrine of Metempsychosis, but at the same time he may drop the matter with a shrug of the shoulders and a "still, who knows?" But when one begins to feel within himself the awakening conscious- ness of a "something in the past," not to speak of the flashes of memory, and feeling of former acquaintance with the subject, then, and then only, does he begin to believe. Many people have had "peculiar experiences" that are accountable only upon the hypothesis of Metem- pyschosis.