(p. 79)

16. SOBRE A HISTÓRIA

E PROGRESSO DA ALMA (1)

            “SOULS (…) work upwards from plants and animals to man. In man they attain their perfection and the power to dispense altogether with material bodies. Their ability to do this is the cause and consequence of their perfection. And it is the attainment of this that is the object of the culture of the soul – the object, that is, of religion. Spirit alone is good, is God. Matter is that whereby spirit is limited, and is therein the cause of evil; for evil is the limitation of good. Wherefore, to escape from matter and its limitations and return to the condition of spirit is to be superior to the liability

(p. 81)

to evil. Formerly the way of escape for human souls was more open than now, and the path clearer. Because although ignorance of intellectual things abounded, especially among the poorer folk, yet the knowledge of divine things and the light of faith were stronger and purer. The anima bruta, or earthly mind, was less strongly defined and fixed, so that the anima divina, or heavenly mind, subsisted in more open conditions. Wherefore the souls of those ages of the world, not being enchained to earth as they are now, were enabled to pass more quickly through their avatârs; and but few incarnations sufficed where now many are necessary. For in these days the mind’s ignorance is weighted by materialism instead of being lightened by faith; and the soul is sunk to earth by love of the body, by atheism, and by excessive care for the things of sense. And being crushed thereby, it lingers long in the atmosphere of earth,

(p. 83)

seeking many fresh lodgments, and so multiplies bodies, the circumstances of each of which are influenced by the use made of the previous one.

            “For every man makes his own fate, and nothing is truer than that Character is Destiny. It is by their own hands that the lines of some are cast in pleasant places, of some in vicious, and of some in virtuous ones, so that there is nothing arbitrary or unjust. But in what manner soever a soul conduct itself in one incarnation, by that conduct, by that order of thought and habit, it builds for itself its destiny in a future incarnation. For the soul is enchained by these pre-natal influences, which irresistibly force it into a new nativity at the time of such conjunction of planets and signs as oblige it into certain courses and incline it strongly thereto. But if the soul oppose itself to these influences and adopt some other course – as it well may

(p. 85)

to its own real advantage – it brings itself under a “curse” for such period as the planets and ruling signs of that incarnation have power. But though this means misfortune in a worldly sense, it is true fortune for the soul in a spiritual sense. For the soul is therein striving to atone and make restitution for the evil done in its own past; and thus striving, it advances towards higher and happier conditions. Wherefore man is, strictly, his own creator, in that he makes himself and his conditions according to the tendencies he encourages. The process of such reformation, however, may be a long one. For tendencies encouraged for ages cannot be cured in a single life-time, but may require ages for their cure. And herein is a reflection to make us as patient towards the faults of others, as it ought to make us impatient of our own.

            “The doctrine of the soul is embodied in the parable of the talents

(p. 87)

as thus explained: – Into the soul of the individual is breathed the Spirit of God, divine, pure, and without blemish. It is God. And the individual has in his earth-life to nourish that Spirit, and feed it as a flame with oil. When you put oil into a lamp the essence passes into and becomes flame. So is it with the soul of him who nourishes the Spirit. It grows gradually pure and becomes the spirit. By this means the Spirit becomes the richer. And as in the parable of the talents, where God has given five talents, man gives back ten, or he returns nothing, and perishes.”

            “Some oils are finer and more combustible than others. The finest is that of the soul of the poet: and in such a medium the flame of God’s Spirit burns more clearly and powerfully and brightly, so that sometimes mortal eyes can hardly endure its lustre. Of such an one the soul is filled with holy rapture. He sees as no other man sees, and the atmosphere

(p. 89)

about him is enkindled. His soul becomes transmuted into flame; and when the lamp of his body is shattered, his flame mounts and soars and is united to the Divine Fire.” (1)

            (2) “The reason why the doctrine of Metempsychosis is not put forward as an article of faith in the Christian dispensation appears to be because there is no more death or birth for the man who is united with God in Christ. The Christian religion was addressed to this end, and he who enters the kingdom of heaven is saved for ever from that of earth. But very few realise this blessed state, therefore says the Lord – “Few there be that find it.” Not, assuredly, that all the majority are lost, but that they return to the necessary conditions again and again till they find it. When once the life of union is achieved the wheel of existence ceases to revolve. Now the Church

(p. 91)

takes it for granted that every Christian desires in this existence to attain to union, such union with Christ being, in fact, the sole subject and object of Christian faith and doctrine. Therefore, of course, she does not preach the Metempsychosis. But as a matter of fact very few so-called Christians do attain union; therefore they return until the capacity for union is developed. Such development must be reached in mundane conditions; the cleansing fires of an after-world are incapable of more than purification, they do not supply the necessary conditions for evolution, found only and granted only in this life. Now the dispensation of Christ is the highest there is, because regeneration begins for the Christian in the interior principle and works outwardly. In other dispensations it begins outwardly and works towards the interior.”

            “Buddha, in whose system the Metempsychosis is most conspicuous,

(p. 93)

is in the mind; Christ is in the soul. Therefore Buddha preaches no soul, and Christ preaches no mind. “Who are born,” says St. John, speaking of the servants of Christ, “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

NOTES

(79:1) The Perfect Way. Lect. 2, Part 3.

(89:1) The Story of Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland and of the New Gospel of Interpretation. Chapter IV, p. 119.

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