Lessons in Gnani YogaTheosophy / New ThoughtMystical / EsotericEnglishShareLessons in Gnani Yoga 36Project Gutenberg #13407 - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableProject Gutenberg #13407LanguageEnglishEspañol‹Lessons in Gnani Yoga 3Lessons in Gnani Yoga 5Lessons in Gnani Yoga 7Lessons in Gnani Yoga 8Lessons in Gnani Yoga 10Lessons in Gnani Yoga 11Lessons in Gnani Yoga 12Lessons in Gnani Yoga 14Lessons in Gnani Yoga 16Lessons in Gnani Yoga 18Lessons in Gnani Yoga 19Lessons in Gnani Yoga 20Lessons in Gnani Yoga 23Lessons in Gnani Yoga 24Lessons in Gnani Yoga 26Lessons in Gnani Yoga 28Lessons in Gnani Yoga 29Lessons in Gnani Yoga 30Lessons in Gnani Yoga 31Lessons in Gnani Yoga 32Lessons in Gnani Yoga 34Lessons in Gnani Yoga 35Lessons in Gnani Yoga 36Lessons in Gnani Yoga 38Lessons in Gnani Yoga 40Lessons in Gnani Yoga 41Lessons in Gnani Yoga 42›Lesson--It Deals With One'S Debts And Obligations, Also. The Law OfLessons in Gnani Yoga 36ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Karma is closely connected with Metempsychosis, and one must be considered in connection with the other, always. 2Not 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 with full foreknowledge. Many are now entering into this stage of development, and have a partial consciousness of their past lives, which also implies that they have had at least a partial consciousness of approaching rebirth, for the two phases of consciousness run together. 3Those 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 belong, 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 conditions 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 consciousness, 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 material 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. 4So long as people allow themselves to become attached 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 entangling 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 individuality, 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. 5The 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, although 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 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. 6The Soul is working steadily upward, from higher to higher, from gross to finer forms and manifestations. And it will steadily work for ages to come, always progressing, always advancing, always unfolding. 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 existence, on planes infinitely higher than your own, intelligences 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. 7The Yogi Philosophy teaches that You who are reading these lines have lived many lives previous to 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 Persia--in Egypt--in ancient Rome and Greece--and are now playing your part in the Western civilization, associating with many with whom you have had relations in your past lives. 8In closing this lesson, let us quote from a previous writing from the same pen that writes this lesson: 9"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 attempt to answer by asking you to imagine a series of millions of circles, one within the other. Each circle 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! And we are traveling toward that Centre!" 10"But beyond your plane, and beyond mine, are plane after plane, connected with our earth, the splendors of which man cannot conceive. And there are likewise many planes around the other planets of our chain--and there are millions of other worlds--and there are chains of universes just as there are chains of planets--and then greater groups of these chains--and so on greater and grander beyond the power of man to imagine--on and on and on and on--higher and higher--to inconceivable heights. An infinity of infinities of worlds are before us. Our world and our planetary system and our system of suns, and our system of solar systems, are but as grains of sand on the beach of the mighty ocean. But then you cry, 'But what am I--poor mortal thing--lost among all this inconceivable greatness?' The answer comes that You are that most precious thing--a living soul. And if you were destroyed the whole system of universes would crumble, for you are as necessary as the greatest part of it--it cannot do without you--you cannot be lost or destroyed--you are a part of it all, and are eternal. 'But,' you ask, 'beyond all of this of which you have told me, what is there--what is the Centre of it All?' Your Teacher's face takes on a rapt expression--a light not of earth beams forth from his countenance. 'THE ABSOLUTE!' he replies. ‹Previous chapterLessons in Gnani Yoga 35Next chapterLessons in Gnani Yoga 38›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the USA