English
But even these few are the leaven that shall lighten the mass of the race in due time. Even now the evidences of the work of those who have attained Spiritual Consciousness is being manifested. On all sides one may see signs of spiritual unrest and distress affecting even those who know not the meaning of 246 GNANI YOGA the term. Men are forsaking old ideals, creeds and dogmas, and are running hither and thither seeking something they feel to be necessary, but of the nature of which they know nothing. They are feeling the hunger for Peace — the thirst for Knowledge — and they are seeking satisfaction in all directions. This is not only the inevitable working of the Law of Evolution, but is also a manifestation of the power and love of the great souls that have passed on to higher planes of existence, and who have become as angels and arch-angels. These beings are filled with the love of the race, and are setting into motion in- fluences that are being manifest in many directions, the tendency of which are to bring the race to a reali- zation of its higher power, faculties, and destiny. As we have said in other places, one of the greatest difficulties in the way of the seeker after Truth in his consideration of the question of Spiritual Evolution is the feeling that rebirth is being forced upon him, without any say on his part, and against his desires. But this is far from being correct. It is true that the whole process is according to the Great Law, but that Law operates through the force of Desire and Attrac- tion. The soul is attracted toward rebirth by reason of its desire or rather the essence of its desires. It is reborn only because it has within itself the desire for further experience, and opportunity for unfoldmept. And it is reborn into certain environments solely be- cause it has within itself unsatisfied desires for those environments, etc. The process is just as regular and SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION 247 scientific as is the attraction of one atom of matter for another. Each soul has within itself certain elements of de- sire and attraction, and it attracts to itself certain con- ditions and experiences, and is in turn attracted by these things. This is the law of life, in the body and out of it. And there is no injustice in the law — it is the essence of justice itself, for it gives to each just what is required to fill the indwelling desires, or else the conditions and experiences designed to burn out the desires which are holding one back, and the de- struction of which will make possible future advance- ment. For instance, if one is bound by the inordinate de- sire for material wealth, the Law of Karma will attract him to a rebirth 'n conditions in which he will be sur- rounded by wealth and luxury until he becomes sick- ened with them and will find his heart filled with the desire to flee from them and toward higher and more satisfying things. Of course the Law of Karma acts in other ways, as we shall see in our next lesson — it deals with one's debts and obligations, also. The Law of Karma is closely connected with Metempsychosis, and one must be considered in connection with the other, always. Not only is it true that man's rebirths are in strict accordance with the law of Attraction and Desire, but it is also true that after he attains a certain stage of spiritual unfoldment he enters into the conscious stage of rebirth, and thereafter he is reborn consciously and 248 GNANI YOGA ^vith full foreknowledge. Many are now entering into this stage of development, and have a partial con- sciousness of their past lives, which also implies that they have had at least a partial consciousness of ap- proaching rebirth, for the two phases of consciousness run together. Those individuals of a race who have outstripped their fellows in spiritual unfoldment, are still bound by the Karma of the particular race to which they be- long, up to a certain point. And as the entire race, or at least a large proportion of it, must move forward as a whole, such individuals must needs wait also. But they are not compelled to suffer a tiresome round of continued rebirths amid environments and condi- tions which they have outgrown. On the contrary, the advanced individual soul is allowed to wait until the race reaches its own stage of advancement, when it again joins in the upward movement, in full conscious- ness, however. In the interim he may pass his well earned rest either on some of the higher planes of rest, or else in conscious temporary sojourn in other mate- rial spheres helping in the great work as a Teacher and worker for Good and Spiritual Evolution among those who need such help. In fact there are in the world to-day, individual souls which have reached similar stages on other planets, and who are spending their rest period here amidst the comparatively lower Earth conditions, striving to lift up the Earth souls to greater heights. So long as people allow themselves to become at- SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION 249 tached to material objects, so long will they be reborn in conditions in which these objects bind them fast. It is only when the soul frees itself from these en- tangling obstructions that it is born in conditions of freedom. Some outgrow these material attachments by right thinking and reasoning, while others seem to be compelled to live them out, and thus outlive them. before they are free. At last when the soul realizes that these things are merely incidents of the lower personality, and have naught to do with the real in- dividuality, then, and then only, do they fall from it like a wornout cloak, and are left behind while it bounds forward on The Path fresh from the lighter weight being carried. The Yogi Philosophy teaches that Man will live forever, ascending from higher to higher planes, and then on and on and on. Death is but the physical symbol of a period of Soul Rest, similar to sleep of the tired body, and is just as much to be welcomed and greeted with thanks. Life is continuous, and its object is development, unfoldment and growth. We are in Eternity now as much as we ever shall be. Our souls may exist out of the body as well as in it, al- though bodily incarnation is necessary at this stage of our development. As we progress on to higher planes of life, we shall incarnate in bodies far more ethereal than those now used by us, just as in the past we used bodies almost incredibly grosser and coarser than those we call our own to-day. Life is far more than a thing of three-score and ten years — it is really 250 GNANI YOGA a succession of such lives, on an ascending scale, that which we call our personal self to-day being merely the essence of the experiences of countless lives in the past. The Soul is working steadily upward, from higher to higher, from gross to finer forms and manifesta- tions. And it will steadily work for ages to come, al- ways progressing, always advancing, always unfold- ing. The Universe contains many worlds for the Soul to inhabit, and then after it has passed on to other Universes, there will still be Infinitude before it. The destiny of the Soul of Man is of wondrous promise and possibilities — the mind to-day cannot begin to even dream of what is before the Soul. Those who have already advanced many steps beyond you — those Elder Brethren — are constantly extending to you aid in many directions. They are extending to you the Unseen Hand, which lifts you over many a hard place and dangerous crossing — but you recognize it not except in a vague way. There are now in ex- istence, on planes infinitely higher than your own, in- telligences of transcendent glory and magnificence — but they were once Men even as you are to-day. They have so far progressed upon the Path that they have become as angels and archangels when compared with you. And, blessed thought, even as these exalted ones were once even as you, so shall you, in due course of Spiritual Evolution, become even as these mighty ones. The Yogi Philosophy teaches that You who are reading these lines have lived many lives previous to SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION 251 the present one. You have lived in the lower forms, and have worked your way arduously along the Path until now you are reaching the stage of Spiritual Consciousness in which the past and future will begin to appear plain to you for the first time. You have lived as the cave-man — the cliff-dweller — the savage — the barbarian. You have been the warrior — the priest — the Medieval scholar and occultist — the prince — the pauper. You have lived in Lemuria — in Atlantis — in India — in Pereia — in Egypt — in ancient Rome and Greece — and are now playing your part in the West- ern civilization, associating with many with whom you have had relations in your past lives. In closing this lesson, let us quote from a previous writing from the same pen that writes this lesson : "Toward what goal is all this Spiritual Evolution tending? What does it all mean? From the low planes of life to the highest — all are on The Path. To what state or place does The Path lead? Let us at- tempt to answer by asking you to imagine a series of millions of circles, one within the other. Each circfe means a stage of Life. The outer circles are filled with life in its lowest and most material stages — each circle nearer the Centre holds higher and higher forms — until Men (or what were once Men) become as gods. Still on, and on, and on, does the form of life grow higher, until the human mind cannot grasp the idea. But what is the Centre? The MIND of the entire Spiritual Body— the ABSOLUTE!