To this
question, William Atkinson in his book entitled "Life beyond death"
answered the following:
« Those who
imagine that the Yogi Philosophy teaches that before the soul there is an
endless chain of earthly re-births, or
series of reincarnations, have failed to grasp the real spirit of the teaching.
When it is remembered that the earth is but one of a countless number of
preparatory worlds, having its beginning in time and its ending in time, the
folly of such a doctrine becomes apparent.
The earth is but one
of the many schools, which have been from time to time formed in the Cosmos,
and which, at the best, are but mere lower grade abodes. The soul of man will
persist aeons after this earth, and millions of others like it, will have
vanished into the ether of space from which it originally emerged. To assign to
earth-life any such importance in the Cosmic
order is contrary to the teachings of the wise.
Moreover, it is a
false teaching which holds that even in the present era and phase of the soul’s
existence the soul can progress no further than earthly incarnation. Even
though the majority of the race must undergo many earthly incarnations before
freedom and liberation is found, still it is equally true that when a soul
reaches the stage of spiritual development in which the ties of earth-life
no longer bind it, then it is impossible that such a soul can be held to the
round of earthly incarnation for even a moment of time.
There are many souls
which are now on the Astral Plane, undergoing the final stages of the casting
off of the earthly bonds.
(This is incorrect as most souls are
on the mental plane, while the astral plane is only a transition plane.)
And there are many
souls now in earth-life which
will never again return to earth, but which, after their next sojourn on the
Astral Plane, will rise to the higher planes of existence, leaving the earth
and all earthly things behind forever.
Moreover, there are
to‑day, on earth, thousands of souls
which are well on the way to freedom, and which will have but one more earth-life
to undergo — and that one life will be passed in an exalted state of
understanding and wisdom. At the present time we are nearing the end of a cycle
in which a very great number of souls are preparing for their upward flight,
and many who read these lines may be well advanced in that cyclic movement.
(This is false because even the most
advanced masters continue to reincarnate and only a few great enlightened ones
like Jesus and Buddha have already been able to transcend the cycle of
reincarnations.
In addition, theosophical teaching
explains that humans will be liberated from the cycle of reincarnations in a
massive way until the end of the seventh root race, and currently we are in the
fifth root race, that is, there is still a very long time for that event
occurs.)
It would be the
veriest folly for human pen to attempt to picture the nature of the existence
on the higher spheres — even those spheres only one grade higher than the
earth. For there are no words which would convey the meaning — no mental
concepts which would embody the idea. Nay, more, the majority of the race have
not even the mental machinery which would enable them to even think of the
nature of such a life. The average human mind cannot begin to think even of the
middle planes of the Astral, and the concept of the higher Astral is far beyond
them.
What then must be
their position regarding the thought of realms of being to which even the
highest Astral planes are but as dung‑hills
compared with the world’s greatest palaces?
Enough to know that
there exists an infinite scale of being, composed of realm after realm, ever
rising higher and higher and higher — and that the soul is destined to move on
and on and on toward the Infinite.
Escape from the round
of earthly reincarnation is possible when the soul learns the truth regarding
its own nature and its relation to the Whole. When it perceives the illusory
nature of the phenomenal universe, and realizes that the spiritual world is the
only real one, then do the ties of the material life begin to slip away, and
the soul begins to struggle from its confining bonds.
This liberation is
the great end aimed at in the Yogi Philosophy. This is the reason, end, and
aim, of Yoga. Some attain it by faithful works; others by love of the divine and
of the divine fragment in their fellow human beings; others by the use of the
intellect and the attainment of wisdom; others by development of the intuitive
faculties; but all these are but different roads leading to the same end.
When the nature of earthly
things is realized, they lose their hold upon the human soul. Desire then dies
away, and the soul is liberated and attains spiritual freedom. Loosened from
the attraction of earth, the soul takes higher flights, and soars to the higher
regions of being. The philosophies of the Orient are filled with this idea.
Under various guises it appears. To the initiated occultist the sacred
teachings of the world —of all religions— are seen to have their esoteric side.
And the spirit of the esoteric teaching is always Liberation.
As we write these
words, our eyes fall upon a book lying on our table — a little story of the
East, told by a Western writer. This writer has caught the spirit of the East
and expresses it well. Listen to his words, and see how true they are to the spirit
of the teaching:
« The object of the
Sage, according to the old Hindu doctrine, is to become absolute master of
himself (jitama), to render himself
completely superior, or rather indifferent to the ‘attachment’ of all mundane
clogs. The ordinary mortal is a prisoner, tied, bound in bondage, or attached (sakta), to and by the objects of
delusion and sense.
Whoever aims at
emancipation must first, by a long and strenuous course of penance and
austerity, sever these attachments, till even though he still remains among
them, they run off him like water from a duck; and he goes on living, according
to the classic formula, like a wheel that continues to revolve when the
original impetus has ceased; or like a branch that goes on swaying after the
departure of the bird. He is awake, as opposed to those who still remain
blinded by illusion; he is free, as contrasted with the bound. »
The above writer,
however, has erred when he speaks of the “long and strenuous course of penance and
austerity,” necessary to sever the material attachments. The best authorities
frown upon these ascetic practices and austerities, and do not encourage them.
The true practice is that of the attainment of wisdom, and the opening of the
heart to the inflow of the Divine Wisdom which comes in the form of Intuition.
It needs but to perceive the real nature of material things in order to lose
desire for them; therefore Knowledge is the great Liberator.
It is true that great
unselfish love (Bhakti Yoga) will cause the scales to fall from the eyes of the
soul; it is likewise true that faithful works and duty performed without hope
of reward (Karma Yoga), will cause the eyes to see clearly; but the greatest of
all Yoga is Gnani Yoga, the Way of Wisdom.
To those who yearn
for release, we recommend a careful study of the Yogi Philosophy, or any of the
other great forms of the Wisdom‑Religion,
and the careful following of the Life of the Spirit which is common to all
religions, rightly understood.
We think that the
best little guide on The Path in the English language, is that little manual “Light on the Path,” which is founded on
occult axioms current even in ancient Atlantis.
In this valuable
little manual are to be found “The Rules which are written on the Walls of the
Hall of Learning,” by the “Rulers of the Golden Gate.” As a writer has said:
“What Parsifal is to lovers of music, that ‘Light
on the Path’ is to aspiring souls — a never-ending
source of inspiration and wonder.”
The following axioms,
taken from its pages, give the keynote, when rightly understood — the balance
of the manual is but an explanation of the axioms:
- Kill out ambition.
- Kill out desire of life.
- Kill out desire of comfort.
- Kill out all sense of separateness.
- Kill out desire for sensation.
- Kill out the hunger for growth.
- Desire only that which is within you.
- Desire only that which is beyond you.
- Desire only that which is unattainable.
- Desire power ardently.
- Desire peace fervently.
- Desire possessions above all.
- Seek out the way.
- Seek the way by retreating within.
- Seek the way by advancing boldly without.
- Stand aside in the coming battle; and though thou fightest, be not thou the warrior.
- Look for the warrior, and let him fight in thee.
- Take his orders for battle, and obey him.
- Listen to the song of life.
- Store in your memory the melody you hear.
- Learn from it the lesson of harmony.
- Regard earnestly all the life that surrounds you.
- Learn to look intelligently into the hearts of men.
- Regard most earnestly your own heart.
- Inquire of the earth, the air, and the water, of the secrets they hold for you.
- Inquire of the holy ones of the earth, of the secrets they hold for you.
- Inquire of the inmost, the one, of its final secret, which it holds for you throughout the ages.
- Hold fast to that which has neither substance nor existence.
- Listen only to the voice which is soundless.
- Look only on that which is invisible alike to the inner and the outer sense.
These axioms have
seven several and distinct meanings, superimposed one upon the other, and which
are uncovered only by the unveiling of the eyes of the soul as it unfolds.
Blessed is he who is able to comprehend even the first set of meanings, for he
is on The Way.
The commentor upon
these axioms, in the little manual, gives the following valuable advice to
those who seek out the Way of Liberation and Peace:
« Seek in the heart
the source of evil, and expunge it. It lives fruitfully in the heart of the
devoted disciple, as well as in the heart of the man of desire. Only the strong
can kill it out. The weak must wait for its growth, its fruition, its death.
And it is a plant that lives and increases throughout the ages. It flowers when
the man has accumulated unto himself innumerable existences. He who will enter
upon the path of power must tear this thing out of his heart. And then the
heart will bleed, and the whole life of the man seem to be utterly dissolved.
This ordeal must be
endured: it may come at the first step of the perilous ladder which leads to
the path of life: it may not come until the last. But, O disciple, remember
that it has to be endured, and fasten the energies of your soul upon the task.
Live neither in the present nor the future, but in the eternal. This giant weed
cannot flower there: this blot upon existence is wiped out by the very
atmosphere of eternal thought. »
The same commentor
utters the following additional advice:
« Look for the flower
to bloom in the silence that follows the storm; not till then. It shall grow,
it will shoot up, it will make branches and leaves and form buds, while the
storm continues, while the battle lasts. But not till the harassed spirit. And
in the deep silence, and melted not until
it is held by the divine fragment which has created it, as a mere subject for
grave experiment and experience — not until the whole nature has yielded, and
become subject unto its higher self, can the bloom open.
Then will come a calm
such as comes in a tropical country after a heavy rain, when Nature works so
swiftly that one may see her action. Such a calm will come to the mysterious
even will occur which will the whole personality of the man is dissolved prove
that the way has been found. Call it by what name you will; it is a voice that
speaks where there is none to speak; it is a messenger that comes, —a messenger
without form of substance,— or it is the flower of the soul that has opened.
It cannot be
described by any metaphor. But it can be felt after, looked for, and desired,
even amid the raging of the storm. The silence may last a moment of time, or it
may last a thousand years, but it will end. Yet you will carry its strength
with you. Again and again the battle must be fought and won. It is only for an
interval that nature can be still. »
In conclusion, let us
again quote from the writer of the words above quoted — words also inspired by
a higher source of authority and wisdom:
«
Three Truths
There are three
truths which are absolute, and which cannot be lost, but yet may remain silent
for lack of speech:
1)
The soul of man is immortal, and its future
is the future of a thing whose growth and splendor have no limit.
2)
The principle which gives life dwells in us,
and without us, is undying and eternally beneficent, is not heard or seen or
felt, but is perceived by the man who desires perception.
3)
Each man is his own absolute law‑giver,
the dispenser of glory or gloom to himself, the decreer of his life, his
reward, his punishment.
These truths, which
are as great as is life itself, are as simple as the simplest mind of man. Feed
the hungry with them. »
_ _ _
And now, friend and
reader, we leave you once more. We trust that what we have said will prove to
be as the seeds of future trees of knowledge within you. For this is the most
that the teacher may hope to do — to plant seeds.
We trust that we have
at least brought you to the doors of the perception of the truth that there is
no Death — that what we call Death is but “the other side” of Life, and one
with it. May your own spiritual eyes become opened, that you may perceive these
truths for yourself, and through your own experience. And now, once more, good
student, we say to thee:
Peace Be Unto Thee!
»
(Chapter 20)
OBSERVATION
William
Atkinson gave a complicated explanation, but in summary,
to free yourself from the cycle of reincarnations, you have to develop your
qualities and eliminate your defects, until you reach a high degree of holiness
and purity that radiates throughout your being.
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