New Testament
The New Testament is far more explicit than the Old, even though
we find the teachings of reincarnation indicated in only a vague,
indirect fashion. All the same, it must not be forgotten that the
canonical Gospels have suffered numerous suppressions and
interpolations. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the
early Fathers of the Church made use of gospels that are now either
lost or have become apocryphal.[1
Jesus nor his disciples wrote a single word, and that no version of
the Gospels appeared earlier than the second century.[168] It was at
that time that religious quarrels gave birth to hundreds of gospels,
the writers of which signed them with the name of an apostle or even
with that of Jesus, after forging them in more or less intelligent
fashion.
Celsus, Jortin, Gibbons, and others have shown that Christianity is
directly descended from Paganism; it was by combining the doctrines of
Egypt, Persia, and Greece with the teachings of Jesus that the
Christian doctrine was built up. Celsus silenced all the Christian
doctors of his time by supplying evidence of this plagiarism; Origen,
the most learned doctor of the age, was his opponent, but he was no
more fortunate than the rest, and Celsus came off victorious.
Thereupon recourse was had to the methods usual in those days; his
books were burnt.
And yet it is evident that the author of the Revelation was a
Kabalist; and the writer of the Gospel of Saint John a Gnostic or a
Neoplatonist. The Gospel of Nicodemus is scarcely more than a copy
of the Descent of Hercules into the Infernal Regions; the Epistle
to the Corinthians is a distinct reminiscence of the initiatory
Mysteries of Eleusis; and the Roman Ritual, according to H. P.
Blavatsky, is the reproduction of the Kabalistic Ritual.
One gospel only was authentic, the secret or Hebrew Gospel of
Matthew, which was used by the Nazareans, and at a later date by
Saint Justin and the Ebionites. It contained the esoterism of the
One-Religion, and Saint Jerome, who found this gospel in the library
of Caesarea about the end of the fourth century, says that he "received
permission to translate it from the Nazareans of Beroea."
These considerations prove that interested and narrow-minded writers
selected from the mass of existing traditions whatever seemed to them
of a nature to support their spiritual views as well as their material
interests, and that they constructed therefrom not only what has come
down to us as the four canonical gospels, but also the whole edifice
of Christian dogma.
Consequently, we need not be surprised to find in the New Testament
only unimportant fragments dealing with reincarnation; but even these
are not to be despised, for they prove that the doctrine was, to a
certain extent at all events, known and accepted in Palestine.
Reincarnation in the Gospels.
Saint Mark, Chapter 6.
v. 14. And King Herod heard of him; and he said, That John the Baptist
was risen from the dead....
v. 15. Others said, That it is Elias; and others said, That it is a
prophet, or as one of the prophets.
v. 16. But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John whom I
beheaded; he is risen from the dead.
Saint Matthew, Chapter 14.
v. 1. At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus.
v. 2. And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is
risen from the dead....
Saint Luke, Chapter 9.
v. 7. Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he
was perplexed because it was said of some that John was risen from the
dead.
v. 8. And of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of
the old prophets was risen again.
v. 9. But Herod said, John have I beheaded; but who is this of whom I
hear such things?
The account here given proves that the people as well as Herod
believed in reincarnation, and that it applied, at all events, "to the
prophets" and to those like them.
Saint Matthew, Chapter 16.
v. 13. When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked
his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?
v. 14. And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some,
Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
The same account is given in Saint Luke, chapter 9, verses 18, 19.
Saint Matthew, Chapter 17.
v. 12. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew
him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall
also the Son of man suffer of them.
v. 13. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John
the Baptist.
He continued in Saint Matthew, Chapter 11.
v. 7. Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What
went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
v. 8. But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?
Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
v. 9. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you,
and more than a prophet.
v. 14. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come.
Here we have a distinct declaration: Reincarnation is a fact; John is
the rebirth of Elias.[169]
Judging from these texts, one might be tempted to think that
reincarnation was confined to the prophets or to people of importance,
but Saint John shows us that the Jews, though perhaps ignorant that it
was a law of universal application, recognised, at any rate, that it
might happen in the case of any man.
Saint John, Chapter 9.
v. 1. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his
birth.
v. 2. And his disciples asked him, saying: Master, who did sin, this
man or his parents, that he was born blind?
v. 3. Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents;
but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Here we are dealing with a man blind from birth, and the Jews ask
Jesus if he was blind because he sinned; this clearly indicates that
they were referring to sins committed in the course of a former
existence[170]; the thought is, therefore, quite a natural,
straightforward one, referring to something well known to everyone and
needing no explanation.
As one well acquainted with this doctrine of Rebirth, without
combating it as an error or as something doubtful which his disciples
ought not to believe, Jesus simply replies:
"Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents; but that the works of
God should be made manifest in him."
And yet it appears as though this answer must have been distorted, as
so many others have been, otherwise it would mean that the only reason
for this man's blindness was the caprice of the Deity.
Reincarnation in the Apocalypse.
The Apocalypse, an esoteric book par excellence, confirms the
doctrine of Reincarnation, and throws considerable light on it:
"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and
he shall go no more out...."[171]
In another verse it is stated that to him who overcometh "I will give
the morning star."[172] In the language of theosophy, this means: He
who has overcome the animal soul, shall, by mystic Communion, be
united to the divine soul, which, in the Apocalypse, is the symbol
of the Christ:
"I, Jesus, am the bright and morning star."[173]
Another verse clearly characterises the nature and the cost of
victory:
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I
will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."[174]
The hidden manna is the ambrosia of the Greeks, the kyteon of the
mysteries of Eleusis, the soma of the Hindus, the eucharist of the
Christians, the sacred drink offered to the disciples at Initiation,
which had the Moon as its symbol, conferred the gift of divine
clairvoyance and separated the soul from the body.
The "white stone" is none other than the alba petra, the white
cornelian, the chalcedony, or stone of Initiation. It was given to the
candidate who had successfully passed through all the preliminary
tests.[175] The "Word" written on the stone is the sacred Word, the
"lost Word" which Swedenborg said was to be sought for amongst the
hierophants of Tartary and Tibet, whom theosophists call the Masters.
"He who overcometh" is, therefore, the disciple ready for initiation;
it is of him that "a pillar in the temple of God" will be made. In
esoteric language, the column signifies Man redeemed, made divine and
free, who is no longer to revolve on the wheel of Rebirths, who "shall
no more go out," as the Apocalypse says, i.e., shall not again
leave Heaven.
If we examine the text of both Old and New Testament by the light
of esoteric teaching, the dead letter, often absurd and at tunes
repellent and immoral, would receive unexpected illumination, and
would fully justify the words of the great rabbi, Maimonides, quoted a
few pages back.[176]
Origen, the most learned of the Fathers of the Church, adds in his
turn:
"If we had to limit ourselves to the letter, and understand after the
fashion of the Jews or the people, what is written in the Law, I
should be ashamed to proclaim aloud that it was God who gave us such
laws; I should find more dignity and reason in human laws, as, for
instance, in those of Athens, Rome, or Sparta...." (Homil 7. in
Levit.)
Saint Jerome, in his Epistle to Paulinus, continues in similar
fashion:
"Listen, brother, learn the path you must follow in studying the Holy
Scriptures. Everything you read in the divine books is shining and
light-giving without, but far sweeter is the heart thereof. He who
would eat the nut must first break the shell."
It is because they have lost the Spirit of their Scriptures that the
Christians--ever since their separation from the Gnostics--have
offered the world nothing more than the outer shell of the World
Religion.
More
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A Few Deductions
The Germ. From the facts established in the course of this comprehensive view of the Universe, we are enabled to draw important deductions. For instance, as the basis of every "cycle of life" is found the egg or germ, that strange microcosm whi... Ancient Greece (magna Graecia)
In Greece, the doctrine of Rebirths is met with in the Orphic tradition, continued by Pythagoras and Plato. Up to the present time, this tradition has probably found its best interpreter in Mr. G. R. S. Mead, an eminent theosophist and a scholar o... Arguments Against Reincarnation
The honest consideration of any subject necessitates the examination of "the other side of the case," as well as the affirmative side. We have given much space to the presentation and consideration of the arguments advanced by those convinced of t... Between And Beyond Incarnations
One of the first questions usually asked by students of the subject of Reincarnation is: "Where does the soul dwell between incarnations; does it incarnate immediately after death; and what is its final abode or state?" This question, or questions... Chaldaea
It is said that the Magi taught the immortality of the soul and its reincarnations, but that they considerably limited the number of these latter, in the belief that purification was effected after a restricted number of existences on the soul retur... Egypt
If we pass from India to Egypt, the land of mystery, we again find the world-wide doctrine of palingenesis hidden beneath the same veil. According to Egyptian teaching, the theory of the "fall of the angels" was accepted; the fallen angels were hu... India
Northern India was the cradle of the present race--the fifth--the Eden of our humanity, our physical, moral, mental, and spiritual mother.[81] From her womb issued the emigrant hordes that peopled Europe after spreading over Egypt, Asia Minor, and S... Islamism
It has been said that the Arabs believed in Reincarnation before Mohammed forbade it. Some, however, think that the Koran was written only after the death of the Prophet, and that the latter committed nothing to writing, but taught by word of mouth.... Manifestation Of The Higher Consciousness In The Phenomena Of Possession And Materialisation
In these strange phenomena, not only manifestations of the higher consciousness, analogous with or similar to those just cited, have been noted, but also a number of facts which prove, to some extent, the casual presence in a normal human body or in... Manifestation Of The Higher Consciousness In Various Cases Of Mental Faculties Lost To Normal Consciousness
A rather large number of people born blind have images in dreams, and can see with the higher consciousness, when placed in a state of somnambulism. This proves that the higher consciousness possesses the power of vision on its own plane, and can im... Manifestations Of The Higher Consciousness During The Different Kinds Of Sleep
Normal dream. During normal sleep there exists a special consciousness which must not be confounded either with waking consciousness or with that of the astral body. It is due to the automatic, cerebral vibration which continues during sleep, and wh... Manifestations Of The Higher Consciousness In Apparitions
A final group of phenomena to which I wish to call attention is the one which goes under the name of apparitions. A considerable number of these are to be found; we will confine ourselves, however, to referring the reader to a volume entitled Phanta... Manifestations Of The Higher Consciousness In Phenomena Of Double Consciousness
The "strata of memory" met with in many cases also prove the existence of the second vehicle of consciousness which we are trying to demonstrate. Certain dreams continue night after night, beginning again just where they stopped the previous nigh... Manifestations Of The Higher Consciousness Indicating Not Only That It Extends Farther Than Normal Consciousness
The Soul functioning in the finer body sees the physical body in a state of coma. Dr. Abercrombie relates the case of a child aged four, who was trepanned as the result of fracture of the skull, and whilst in a stale of coma. He never knew what happ... Manifestations Of The Higher Consciousness Under The Form Of Memory
The memory that is lost by the brain is preserved in its entirety by the finer vehicle. A musician, a friend of Hervey's, once heard a remarkable piece of music; he remembered it on awaking, and wrote it down, regarding it as his own inspiration.... Metempsychosis
After the disintegration of the body, the kamic[92] elements continue for some time, us a "shade"[93] or a "phantom,"[94] in the finer and invisible atmosphere;[95] then they, in turn, become disintegrated by the various forces of this environment,[... Neoplatonism
The great philosophic body that formed a bridge, as it were, between the Old World and the New was the famous School of Alexandria, founded about the second century of our era by Ammonius Saccas and closed in the year 429 A.D. through the intoleranc... New Testament
The New Testament is far more explicit than the Old, even though we find the teachings of reincarnation indicated in only a vague, indirect fashion. All the same, it must not be forgotten that the canonical Gospels have suffered numerous suppression... Objection
An apparently serious objection to the doctrine of Rebirth is constantly being made. It is unjust and useless, people say, to be punished for misdeeds that are forgotten. As this objection has reference to moral proofs, we must deal with it here. ... Objection
Reincarnation is not necessary, it has been alleged; the soul's evolution is continued after death in the invisible worlds in finer bodies; consequently it is needless to return to the denser bodies of earth. In our opinion, the trials of life, s... Objection
Reincarnation and Forgetfulness of the Past. Sceptics are ever bringing forward against reincarnation the absence of all memory of past lives, convinced that there can be no answer to this argument. They do not reflect that human ignorance is a... Old Testament
H. P. Blavatsky tells us that the Old Testament is not a homogeneous composition; that Genesis alone is of immense antiquity; that it is prior to the time when the Libra of the Zodiac was invented by the Greeks, for it has been noticed that the chap... Progress
The observer of Nature makes a third discovery. Every fresh cycle of life is characterised by an advance on the preceding cycle; every stage brings the end nearer. This represents progress, and it is seen everywhere; when it does not appear, it is b... Proofs Of The Astral Body
Certain normal and abnormal or morbid phenomena in man have proved the existence of this vehicle, which we will call the higher consciousness, for it is far greater than normal, waking consciousness, that of the brain. In the somewhat rare cases in ... Reincarnation
The process of disintegration[97] which, after disincarnation, destroys the physical, astral, and mental bodies of the man leaves the Soul--or, to be more exact, the causal body, for the soul is not the causal body any more than it is any of the oth... Reincarnation And Science
The secret of the Universe lies in observation; it is for man to develop his senses and patiently to search into the hidden things of Nature. All science proceeds thus, and the reason that savants have not unearthed the precious object for which ... Reincarnation And The Moral Law
The Goodness, justice, and Omnipotence of God are the guarantees of Providence. It is absolutely impossible that the faintest breath of injustice should ever disturb the Universe. Every time the Law appears to be violated, every time Justice se... Reincarnation And The Religious And Philosophic Consensus Of The Ages
In the rapid review we are now about to make of the religion and philosophy of the past, we shall find that, under many and divers names and veils, the doctrine of Rebirths has been taught from the farthest antiquity right up to the present time. Th... Resurrection
The human body is a species of polyp colony, a kind of coral island like those that emerge above the waves of the Pacific, by reason of the collective efforts of lower organisms. The most numerous of the compounds of the human aggregate are known ... Rome
Although Rome, above all else, was a warlike republic, and religion principally a State cult, that allowed but slight opportunity for the outer expression of spirituality, none the less did it inherit the beliefs of Egypt, Greece, and Persia; the Ba... The Argument For Reincarnation
In addition to the consideration of Justice, there are many other advantages claimed by the advocates of Reincarnation which are worthy of the careful consideration of students of the problem of the soul. We shall give to each of these principal p... The Celts
Sacerdotal India--and perhaps also Atlantis--in early times sent pioneers into the West to spread religious teachings amongst their energetic inhabitants; those who settled in Gaul and the British Isles were the Druids. "I am a serpent, a druid," th... The Cyclic Process Of Evolution
Another fact strikes the observer: the cyclic march of evolution. After action comes reaction; after activity, rest; after winter, summer; after day, night; after inspiration--the breath of life during which universal Movement works in a molecular a... The Doctrine Of Rebirth In Modern Philosophy
In antiquity, science and philosophy were scarcely anything else than parts of religion[223]; the most eminent scientists and the greatest philosophers alike were all supporters of the established form of religion, whenever they did not happen to be... The Early Christian Church
The documents to which we have access, dealing with the philosophical and religious history of Christianity in the first few centuries of our era, are so questionable, that we can place but faint reliance upon them, if we would really become acquain... The Early Races
By "Reincarnation" we mean the repeated incarnation, or embodiment in flesh, of the soul or immaterial part of man's nature. The term "Metempsychosis" is frequently employed in the same sense, the definition of the latter term being: "The passage ... The Egyptians Chaldeans Druids Etc
After considering the existence of the doctrines of Reincarnation among the primitive peoples, and its traditional existence among the vanished peoples of the past, we find ourselves irresistibly borne toward that ancient land of mystery--the home... The Evolutionary Series
If we look attentively at the totality of beings we perceive a progressive series of forms expressing a parallel series of qualities and states of consciousness. The portion of this scale we are able to compass extends from the amorphous state[42]--... The Goal Of Evolution
The Formation of Centres of Consciousness that become "Egos." Through innumerable wanderings this general progress traces a clear, unwavering line. Those capable of following evolution on the planes of finer matter at once perceive, as it were, wi... The Hindus
While Reincarnation has been believed and taught in nearly every nation, and among all races, in former or present times, still we are justified in considering India as the natural Mother of the doctrine, inasmuch as it has found an especially fav... The Jews Essenes And Early Christians
The early Jewish people had an Inner Teaching which embraced certain ideas concerning Reincarnation, although the masses of the people knew nothing of the doctrine which was reserved for the inner circles of the few. There is much dispute concerni... The Justice Of Reincarnation
There are three views entertained by men who believe in the existence of the soul--there are many shades of belief and opinion on the subject, but they may be divided into three classes. These three views, respectively, are as follows: (1) That th... The Kabala
Contact with the Babylonians, during the Captivity, brought about a rapid development in the Hebrews, who were at that time far more advanced souls than those that animated the bodies of their fathers,[156] and taught them many important details of ... The Law Of Causality (karma)
Karma is the Law of the Universe, the expression of divine Will. Its seemingly essential attributes are Justice and Love; it neither punishes nor rewards, but adjusts things, restores disturbed balance and harmony, brings back evolving souls to the ... The Law Of Karma
"Karma" is a term in general use among the Hindus, and the Western believers in Reincarnation, the meaning of which is susceptible of various shades of definition and interpretation. It is most important to all students of the subject of Reincarna... The Modern West
In the modern thought of the Western world, we find Reincarnation attracting much attention. The Western philosophies for the past hundred years have been approaching the subject with a new degree of attention and consideration, and during the pas... The Problem Of Human Heredity
If materialism were the whole truth, it ought to explain the whole of heredity; instead of that it clashes with almost all the problems of life. Physical substance offers for analysis none but physical phenomena: attraction, repulsion, heat, electri... The Problem Of The Inequality Of Conditions
If suffering in general is the child of Necessity--since it is born of multiplicity and the limitation of the Infinite, without which the Universe could not exist--it would seem that we ought to find it falling upon all beings without distinction, i... The Proofs Of Reincarnation
To many minds the "proof" of a doctrine is its reasonableness and its adaptability as an answer to existing problems. And, accordingly, to such, the many arguments advanced in favor of the doctrine, of which we have given a few in the preceding ch... The Romans And Greeks
One unfamiliar with the subject would naturally expect to find the Ancient Romans well advanced along the lines of philosophy, religion, and spiritual speculation, judging from the all-powerful influence exerted by them over the affairs of the who... The Soul And The Bodies
In a book dealing with the resurrection of bodies and the reincarnations of the Soul, a chapter must be devoted to the fundamental elements of the question. We will give the name of Soul to abstract Being, to the Unknown, that unmanifested Prin... Why Does Pain Exist?
To admit, as do certain ignorant fatalists, that the Universe was created by the stroke of some magic wand, and that each planet, kingdom, and being is condemned, so to speak, to a definite crystallisation in the state in which it has pleased God to...