Unanswered Questions
Have you ever stopped to think why
the following is true: that some people are poor, some rich; some deformed, some
beautiful; some unfortunate, others lucky; some diseased and others healthy?
Have you ever tried to find a reason for the inequality which is manifested
everywhere in the world? Have you ever wondered why some members of the human
family are inhabiting black bodies, others brown, and still others white? And
then, have you ever stopped to think just why we are here at all -- what is the
meaning of life which at best is fleeting? Suppose you propound some of these
questions to your friends, tabulate their answers, and compare them. It would be
an interesting experiment. Some would say that the poor are shiftless and the
rich thrifty. Others would tell you that the poor are just naturally unlucky,
and the rich fortunate.
Again, you might be told that it is not right to question
the conditions found in God's world: that the Creator in His wisdom has ordained
them and so they just naturally must be right. Still another explanation might
be given that God is responsible for all that is good and a reprehensible being
commonly known as the devil is the cause of all evil. Many there are who will
look at you with tired eyes and make the following statements: that they do not
know; that Christian orthodoxy does not satisfy their sense of reason; that the
atheist's conclusions terrify them and consequently they are quite confused and
know not which way to turn. If God is just, why does He favor some of His
creations and not others? If He is not just, then certainly He is not God. On
the other hand, if there is no God, then how did the world and all there is
therein come into existence?
Is there an answer to these various problems which are
presenting themselves to the minds of thinking people of today -- an answer
which is logical and which will stand the test of reason? There certainly is
such an answer.
Materialistic Theory
The materialistic theory as postulated by the atheist can
never be satisfactory to mankind. It is the child of despair. When the human
mind has exhausted science, the laboratory, and the chemical retorts in its
eager search for that intangible something which animates the human form, and
has failed to discover it, in despair it declares that the illusive something
for which it has so diligently searched is really nothing more than the result
of certain correlations of matter, designated as mind, which perishes when the
body disintegrates. Just why some individuals should possess a better quality of
these "certain correlations" (mind) than others, this theory does not
attempt to explain.
Orthodox Religious Theory
The theory postulated by the orthodox theologist is but
little better. It asserts that all living things were created by God and have
but one Earth life to live, that man alone was endowed with a Spirit which is
immortal and, regardless of the station to which he was born, he is responsible
for the deeds performed during that life; that his happiness or misery after
death for all eternity is determined by his actions during the short period
which intervenes between birth and death. Animals, planets -- in fact all else
that exists --are supposed to have been created for his express convenience and
use.
Is it any wonder that the man who really thinks ultimately
rejects this theory also, and finally decides to indulge in any and all things
which produce a sense of pleasure for the time being, and help him to forget
that at some time he must face death, which at best is a plunge in the dark.
Doctrine of Rebirth
Fortunately there is another theory, a theory which is
founded on truth. It is known by the name "rebirth." The doctrine of
rebirth postulates a slow process of development carried on with unwavering
persistence through repeated embodiments in forms or bodies of increasing
efficiency. Through this process, all created beings will in time develop their
latent potentialities into god-like powers.
Life Waves
The God of our solar system creates in life waves and the
beings belonging to each particular life wave do not cross into others. The life
waves with which we are most familiar are the mineral, plant, animal, and human.
Each life wave is composed of a large number of Virgin Spirits endowed in
potentiality with all the powers of their Divine Creator, and the beings of each
life wave will ultimately attain godhood. Each life wave develops in a manner
particularly suited to its own inherent nature. The beings belonging to the
angelic life wave will never become archangels. They will attain godhood by
working along an entirely different line of development. Our humanity will never
become angels; our development will be entirely different. The animals will
never become human beings such as we are, although they will pass through a human-like
stage.
Developmental Stages
We have never been animals, yet we have passed through an
animal-like stage. Similarly, the plants will pass through an animal-like stage
in a later period, and the minerals will reach the plant stage. In neither case,
however, will they be of the same type as our present animals and plants. Each
life wave has its own separate and distinct method of development, but
eventually the Virgin Spirits composing it will attain perfection, for that is
the ultimate object of evolution.
Life as a School
Now let us see how the theory of rebirth answers the
problems of life:
Why are some people poor and others rich? Each life is one
day in God's great school. Some of us are learning one kind of lesson and some
are learning others. Those who are poor in one particular life are learning
lessons pertaining to the true value of certain commodities, lessons in
inventiveness which pertain to the best way to get the greatest amount of
benefit out of the smallest amount of supply. They are learning how to plan and
to appreciate everything which they possess.
Those who have wealth are learning what its true value is
to them. They are learning its real purchasing power; whether it can exalt or
degrade, whether it is a blessing or a curse. They are learning that it can
sometimes buy a man's honor and a woman's virtue; that it may result in its
owner's downfall, but that it can never purchase the things which are of true
value to the Spirit. Eventually, all people entrusted with money must learn the
lesson that they are only stewards of their possessions and that it behooves
them to use wisely and well that with which they have been entrusted.
Deformities and Diseases
Why are some deformed in body? Generally speaking, no
Spirit can inhabit a better body than it has learned to build during its
previous lives, but the following is the exception to the rule: with regard to
physical abnormalities and deformities, the rule seems to be that indulgence in
passion in one life reacts on the mental state in a later existence; and abuse
of mental powers in one life leads to physical disabilities in later existences.
On the other hand, a beautiful form denotes that the owner has done expert work
in body building during previous lives, sometimes to the detriment of the mental
processes.
Unfortunate people are those who have willfully neglected
opportunities in previous lives. Now they are deprived of the very thing they
once held lightly in order to teach them to appreciate opportunities when they
are again presented. The lucky man or woman in one life has earned that which
seems to come to him or her so easily in this life. It is in reality a reward of
merit.
The individual whose body is diseased has broken the laws
of nature either in this life or some other one and is now paying the penalty.
The healthy man or woman has paid much attention to perfect organ formation in
the past.
Race
Why is one born in a particular race? Each race is
following a definite line of evolution. We all have certain lessons to learn and
the Egos inhabiting bodies of various colors do so in order to experience soul
growth, which can only be attained under the particular conditions supplied by
these race differences. We should, therefore, make every attempt to profit by
the conditions of our birth and regard each situation as a privilege accorded to
us for spiritual advancement. When we fail to make the best use of our
embodiments, we take a step backward in our evolutionary development and
increase the time needed to free ourselves from the cycle of rebirth.
Conditions are Results
Rebirth intelligently accounts for all the inequalities in
life. Conditions as we find them are the composite results of all our past
endeavors or lack of endeavors. Each man or woman is an exact sum of all his or
her past activities and not the victim of a capricious God or scheming evil one.
We have no one to blame but ourselves if we have made a mess of things. If we
are not satisfied with life as we find it, now is the time to begin to prepare
an improved environment for future lives; and if we are really wide awake at
last and desperately in earnest, it is quite possible for us to improve our
surroundings in the present incarnation.
The intelligent person of today is no longer satisfied
with platitudes when searching for truth in relation to life. Therefore, we ask
each reader who is seeking for a solution to the many problems which life
presents to apply this master key, rebirth, and prove for himself its true
efficacy.
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