On this subject, William Atkinson in his book “Life beyond death” mentioned the following:
« In the preceding chapter we have explained
that the soul, falling into the second soul-slumber, is caught up by the currents
of the Karmic attraction, and is carried on toward re‑birth in an environment, and with ties, in accordance with the sum of its character and desires. As we shall see in the succeeding
chapter, some souls escape
this current of rebirth, and are, instead, carried on to higher
spheres of activity and being. But,
by far, the great
majority of the souls on the Astral Plane move
forward toward earthly
rebirth — such being their Karma.
(In reality, souls pass from the mental plane to the physical plane
—crossing the astral plane— and karma is only one of the factors that propels
souls towards reincarnation, while another factor is the desire that souls have
for more earthly experiences to live, and another factor is the necessity to acquire
further development.)
But here, we must caution
the student against
falling into the far
too common error of supposing
that this Karma is a stern
something meting out rewards and punishments according to some established code.
Instead, Karma is simply the law of spiritual cause and effect — we are punished not because
of our sins, but by them; we are rewarded not because of our good deeds, but by them.
In short, our rewards and punishments arise
by the very nature of our character, and our character
is the sum total of our desires. Therefore, desire is the motive power of Karma, and, through Karma,
of our rebirths.
(Here, Atkinson is getting confused, because karma is not simply the law
of cause and effect, since karma is governed by the motives and the level of
consciousness that the human has reached; and by this I mean that the same
action will have different karmic consequences depending on the evolutionary
development in which the person is, and the reasons why he committed it.
For example, someone who kills will have a different karmic consequence
depending on the reason he did it: whether if it was intentionally, if it was
accidental, if it was to save his life, etc. And also the karmic consequence
will vary if it is a primitive person or if it is an advanced person.)
To many, it seems as if re‑birth upon earth is something forced
upon the soul
in spite of its desires. The very opposite is true, for the sum of the desires
of the soul constitute the very
actual motive power leading to the rebirth.
(This is incorrect, because if the soul has not yet developed the level
that will allow it to free itself from the cycle of reincarnations, then even
if it does not want to be reborn, it will continue to do so.)
Those who are reborn on earth are not reborn
against their will or desire. On the contrary, they are reborn
because they actually desire it. They are carried
into the current
of rebirth because their
tastes and desires
have created longings
that can be satisfied only by renewed
life in the flesh. Although they are not conscious
of it, they instinctively place themselves again within the operations of the Law of Attraction, and are swept on to rebirth, in exactly the
environment best calculated to enable them to live out and outlive
these desires — to express and exhaust the force of desire.
(The desires are only one of the factors involved, but there are also
other parameters that influence the new life that the soul will have, such as:
karma, tests to be taken, accepted duties, the development expected to be
achieved, etc.)
They hunger to satisfy their longings,
and, until that hunger is appeased, the desires cannot be discarded. This does not mean
that every desire must necessarily be lived out, for it happens frequently that
new insight and experience causes the soul to turn with loathing from the
former object of desire, and the desire thus dies a natural death.
But so long as the desire remains
alive it tends
to attract the soul
toward objects and
environment which is likely
to satisfy it. This is true of the soul on the Astral Plane,
as well as in
earth life. Desire
is always the great motive
power of the soul
in determining rebirth.
The soul, preserving its desire for
material things —the things of flesh and the material life— and
not being able to divorce itself from these
things, will naturally fall into the current of re‑ birth which will
lead it toward
conditions in which
these desires will flourish and become manifest. It is only
when the soul,
by means of many earth lives, begins to see the worthlessness and illusory
nature of earthly desires,
that it begins
to become attracted by the
things of the life of its higher nature, and, escaping the flowing currents of earthly re‑birth, it rises
above them and is carried to higher spheres.
The average person,
after years of earthly experience, is apt to say that he or she has no more desire
for earth life, and that his
or her only desire is to leave
the same behind
forever. These persons are perfectly sincere
in their statements and beliefs, but a
glance into their
inmost soul would
reveal an entirely
different state of affairs.
They are not,
as a rule, really tired
of earth life, but merely
of the particular kind of earth-life which they
have experienced during that incarnation.
They have discovered the illusory nature
of a certain set of earthly experiences, and feel disgusted at the same.
But, they are still full of another set of desires, and of hunger for another
set of experiences on earth. They have failed to find happiness or satisfaction
in their own experience, but they will admit, if they are honest with themselves, that if they could
have had things
“so and so,” instead of “this and thus,” they would have found happiness and satisfaction.
The “if” may have been satisfied love, wealth, fame, gratified ambition, success of various kinds,
etc. — but, be it what it may, the “if” is nearly always
there and that
“if” really is the seed of their remaining desires.
And the longing
for that “if” is really the motive for the rebirth.
Very few persons would care to live over their earth life, according to
their own statements — and they are honest enough in the statement. But, like
old Omar they would be perfectly willing to remake the world according to their heart’s desire — and then live the earth life.
Do you see what we mean?
It is not earth-life that is distasteful to them, but merely the
particular experiences of earth-life which are disdained. Give to the average
man and woman
youth, health, wealth,
talent, and love, and they will be very willing to begin the round of earth-life afresh. It is only
the absence of, or failure
in, these or similar
things, which causes them to feel that life is a failure — a thing to be joyfully
left behind.
The soul, in its sojourn
on the Astral is rested,
refreshed and reinvigorated.
(Here Atkinson was wrong since this is done on the mental plane.)
It has forgotten the weariness of life which
it had experienced during
the previous incarnation. It is again
young, hopeful, vigorous, and ambitious. It feels within
itself the call to action —the urge of unfulfilled desires, aspirations and ambitions—
and it readily falls into the currents
which lead it to the scene of action in which these
desires may be manifested. We have many instances of this change of
feeling in earth life.
We feel tired, discouraged, nay, even
disgusted, with our
earthly affairs, at the close of the day, the year, or the exciting period.
But rest, sleep, change
of scene, and the influx
of new impressions, make a change,
and before long we are filled with longing for new
activities and action.
The majority of persons are not really tired of life, or disgusted with
the things of life. They
are merely experiencing the race impulse
toward “something else, some
other place” — a change
of scene and occupation would work
a speedy cure for them.
They are not world weary — they are merely mentally and emotionally tired. And thus it is with the tired
soul. Change its place of abode to the Astral,
and give it the
Elixir of Life — and it is ready
for another part to play
in the Drama of Life.
(Atkinson did not know that the astral plane is only a place of transit
for human souls between heaven and earth and not a place of residence.)
Another point upon which there is much misunderstanding
is the matter of the unconsciousness of the soul in the matter
of choice of the environment of the new birth. It is true that in souls of low
development, the process is almost wholly instinctive, and there is practically no conscious realization or choice in the matter.
But when the soul begins to develop
and unfold in spiritual knowledge, it begins
to have spiritual insight and consciousness, and in many
cases it sees
dimly as in a dream, (during the second soul-slumber) the conditions toward
which it is being drawn, and often exercises
a decided choice.
In the case of a strong
personality, provided the spiritual development is there, there is often more than a dreamlike choice,
for such a soul
does much to “make circumstances” for itself in its new birth, always within the limitations of its Karma,
of course.
Another point, which
should be cleared
up, is that regarding
the character of the desires which serve as the motive power for rebirth. It is not meant that these desires are necessarily low or unworthy desires
or longings. On the contrary, they may be of the highest
character, and
might be more
properly styled aspirations, ambitions, or high aims,
but the principle of desire is in them all.
Desires, high and low, are the seeds of action. And the
impulse toward action
is always the distinguishing feature of desire. Desire always
wants to have things, or to do things, or to be things. Love,
even of the most unselfish kind, is a form of desire; so is aspiration of the noblest
kind. A desire to benefit others is as much
a desire as its opposite.
In fact, many unselfish
souls are drawn back into rebirth simply by the insistent aspirations to accomplish some great work for the race, or to
serve others, or to fulfill
some duty inspired
by love. But, high
or low, if these desires
are connected in any way with the things
of earth, they are rebirth
motives and rudders.
But, in conclusion, let us say that no soul which
does not in its
inmost soul desire rebirth on earth will
ever be so reborn. Such a
soul is attracted toward other spheres, where the attractions of earth exist not.
(I reiterate that this asseveration is false, since it is not desire but
development that allows freedom from the cycle of reincarnations.)
Its Karma carries
it away from earth — not toward it. But this is the condition of but few, although, little by little, every
soul will experience it in the aeons to come. For all
are on The Path, and spiritual evolution
moves surely though slowly. Those who are interested in this higher
life of the soul
are invited to read the
next, the last,
chapter. If its words
appeal to you, you have already taken the first steps toward the
attainment. »
(Chapter 19)
OBSERVATION
William Atkinson's explanation of reincarnation is poorly structured,
incomplete, and he told several lies about it.
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