The Rosicrucians hold as a very important part of the teaching the occult doctrine of Metempsychosis, Reincarnation, or Transmigration of Souls, the essence of which doctrine is the survival of the individual soul after it passes from the physical body in death, and its reembodiment in a physical body by rebirth after a sojourn in the resting place of the souls. The doctrine of Metempsychosis is one of the oldest of the human race. Traces of the teaching are found in the records of practically every one of the ancient races in all parts of the globe. In one form or another it has existed in the esoteric circles to be found at the heart of each of the world's great religions, including Christianity. It has always been a cardinal doctrine in the religions of the Orient, and during the past twenty-five years has attained a wonderful revival of popularity among the thinkers of the Occident. The Rosicrucians’ teachings hold that the Evolution of Man has been accomplished not alone by the general evolutionary trend of the race by which it moves forward from generation to generation, but also by the advance and ascent caused by the improvement in the reincarnating individual soul, each step of rebirth tending upward and onward. As a writer has said: "The teachings hold that Evolution The Rosicrucians have no special, distinctive theories concerning Metempsychosis, but, on the contrary, accept the general teaching of the ancient occultists concerning reembodiment of the soul. They regard re-birth as just as natural as birth, and consider that the race has at its disposal a vast volume of actual experiences of individuals which conclusively proves the truth of the doctrine. In fact, the Rosicrucian teachers make no attempt to argue the question with the student; but, rather, present the teaching as it comes to them, backed up by the wealth of authority on the part of the ancient schools, and fortified by the innumerable personal recollections on the part of individuals—in most cases the student himself has an intuition of the truth of the doctrine, in the first place, and often has a greater or less degree of recollection of his former lives on earth. Metempsychosis has always been the accepted belief of many of the most intelligent members of the ace. It is found to have been the inner doctrine The Hindu philosophies are based upon it. The Persian Magi held implicitly to it. The ancient Druids, and the Priests of Gaul taught it. Traces of the doctrine are found in the records of the ancient races of the Aztecs, the Peruvians, and other old peoples of the New World. The Eleusinian Mysteries of Greece, the Roman Mysteries of the Temple, the Inner Doctrines of the Kabbala of the Hebrews, all were based upon the doctrine of Metempsychosis. The early Christian Fathers, the Gnostics and Manicheans and other early Christian sects, believed in it. The great philosophers, ancient and modern, treated it with respect if indeed they did not fully accept it in many cases. The following quotations from modern authorities give an idea of the importance attached to the doctrine by modern thinkers: Hedge says: "Of all the theories respecting the origin of the soul, Metempsychosis seems to me the most plausible and therefore the one most likely to throw light on the question of the life to come." James Freeman Clarke says: "It would be curious if we would find science and philosophy taking up again the old theory of metempsychosis, remodeling it to suit our present modes of religious and scientific thought, and launching it again on the wide ocean of human belief. But stranger things have happened in the history of human opinions." Professor Knight says: "If we could legitimately determine any question of belief by the number of its adherents, the decision would be in favor of metempsychosis
But, better than all the opinions and shades of belief found among the great writers and teachers concerning this important subject, is the inner conviction of all souls which have reached a certain stage of spiritual enfoldment—the conviction that "I have lived before." Such a conviction and intuitive belief based upon the reawakening of dim memories, is worth more to an individual than tons of printed opinions on the subject. A writer has said on this point: "Who has not experienced the consciousness of having felt the thing before—of having thought it at some time in the dim past? Who has not witnessed new scenes that appear old, very old? Who has not met persons for the first time, whose presence has awakened memories of a past lying far back in the misty ages of long ago? Who has not been seized at times with the consciousness of a mighty 'oldness' of soul? Who has not heard music, often entirely new compositions, which somehow awakened memories of similar strains, scenes, places, faces, voices, lands, associations and events, sounding dimly on the strings of memory as the breezes of the harmony float over them? Who has not gazed at some old painting, or piece of statuary, with the sense of having seen it all before? Who has not lived through events which brought with them a certainty of their being merely a repetition of some shadowy occurrences away back in lives lived long ago? Who has not felt the influence of the mountain, the sea, Sir Walter Scott once made the following observation in his diary: "I cannot, I am sure, tell if it is worth marking down, that yesterday, at dinner time, I was strangely haunted by what I would call the sense of preexistence, viz.: a confused idea that nothing that passed was said for the first time; that the same topics had been discussed and the same persons had stated the same opinions on them. The sensation was so strong as to resemble what is called a mirage in the desert, and a calenture on board ship. * * * Why is it that some scenes awaken thoughts which belong as it were to dreams of early and shadowy recollections, such as the old Brahmins would have ascribed to a state of previous existence? How often do we find ourselves in society which we have never before met, and yet feel impressed with a mysterious and ill-defined consciousness that neither the scene nor the speakers nor the subject are entirely new; nay, feel as if we could anticipate that part of the conversation which has not yet taken place." Bulwer says: "There is a strange kind of inner and spiritual memory which so often recalls to us places and persons we have never seen before, and which Platonists would resolve to be the unquenched consciousness of a former life. How strange is it that at times a feeling comes over us as we gaze upon certain places, which associates the scene either with some dim remembered and dreamlike images of the Past, or with a prophetic and fearful omen of the Future. Everyone has known a similar
If evidence of the truth of Metempsychosis other than personal intuition and glimpses of memory of past lives were needed, we would find such evidence in the phenomena of the infant prodigies, and cases of childhood genius, instance of which abound on all sides. Children at a very early age manifest evidences of a deep knowledge of mathematics, music, art, etc., even in cases where the explanation of heredity fails to fit the case. The case of Mozart gives us a typical case of this kind. The child, Mozart, at the age of four was able not only to perform difficult pieces of music on the piano, but also to compose original works of merit. Not only did he manifest The Rosicrucians teach that the human soul is on the path of progress, learning the lessons of life and Each soul contains within itself the attracting force of certain sets of desires, and this force attracts to the soul certain conditions and experiences and also attracts such experiences and conditions to the soul. There is no element of punishment, or of injustice, in the operation of this law, for it gives to each soul just what the soul requires to meet its indwelling unsatisfied desires, or else the conditions and experiences which will serve to burn out of the soul certain desires which are holding it back in its progress, the destruction of which will make possible future advancement. The Rosicrucians teach that the individuals of any sub-race who have outstripped their fellows in spiritual unfoldment, are still bound by race ties to their brothers left behind—that is, up to a certain point. In many cases such individuals are compelled until the great body of the sub-race moves up to the position of the individual. But such individuals are not compelled to undergo a needless repetition of births The body of the Rosicrucian teachings includes very close and detailed instruction concerning the The disembodied soul passes then on to what occultists know as the Astral Plane, which however is not a place in any sense of the word, but is rather "a state or condition of being" having nothing to do with space limitations. The Astral Plane manifests its phenomena by means of a higher rate of vibrations than those concerned in the phenomena of the Earth Plane. Different planes of being may occupy the same space at the same time without interfering one with the other. Reaching the vibrations of the Astral Plane, the Newly disembodied soul falls into a deep sleep, or state of coma, resembling the condition of the unborn Some souls require a long period of soul sleep on the Astral Plane before awakening into new activities, while others require only a comparatively short time. The general rule is that the higher the spiritual development of the soul, the longer is its period of soul sleep. The period of soul-sleep bears a close relation to the period of the sojourn of the soul on the Astral Plane—the less developed souls rushing speedily to rebirth while the more developed ones spend a much longer time on the Astral Plane between births. In the soul sleep a strange process occurs, namely, the preparation for the sloughing off of the lower sheaths of the soul, leaving it free to enter the life on the Astral Plane clad only in the garments of its highest stage of spiritual attainment reached by it. Each soul awakens on the Astral Plane prepared to By certain fixed natural laws each soul is restricted to the realms of its own sub-plane or division of the Astral Plane, except that it may, if it desires, visit the planes beneath its own—but it cannot visit those higher than its own. The law of vibrations acts as the astral policemen in these matters. Disembodied souls may thus communicate with and have converse and association with each other, but only by the higher soul visiting the lower, and never the reverse. The "scenery" and environment of the various sub-planes of the Astral Plane correspond with the ideas and beliefs of the souls occupying them. The Indian may find his "happy hunting ground" much more truly than some people would have us think. The thoughts and ideals of the soul is reflected upon On the Astral Plane the soul also receives the aid and assistance of some of the great spiritual teachers of the race, whose chosen occupation is to administer to the wants of the pained and suffering souls who are striving to find the way out of their troubles and mistakes. Not only do these teachers administer to the strictly spiritual wants of the souls seeking their help, but in many cases the soul is given the advantage of great assistance in chosen occupations, such as art, science, music, invention, etc., from advanced congenial souls ready and willing to help strugglers on the path. Many an artist, musician, writer, or inventory has come into rebirth greatly benefited and improved by reason of contact with such helpers of the Astral Plane. Finally, after the longer or short period of sojourn of the soul upon the Astral Plane—the duration of which depends upon the degree of spiritual development of the soul—there comes to it the first dawn of a new state or condition, known to occultists as "the
The same writer says: "The soul may have passed by a few years, or perhaps a hundred or a thousand years, of earth-time, on the Astral Plane, according to its degree of development and unfoldment. But, be its stay short or long, the feeling of weariness reaches it at last, and, like many aged persons in earth-life, it feels that 'my work is over—let me pass on.' So sooner or later the soul feels a desire to gain new experience, and to manifest in a new life some of the advancement which has come to it by reason of its unfoldment on the Astral Plane. And, from There is another fact concerned with the awakening of the soul at rebirth, however, which is seldom mentioned by writers upon the subject, and which is consequently not known to many persons familiar with the other facts concerning rebirth. This fact is as follows: Strictly speaking, the soul continues in a condition of partial slumber even after it has been re-born in earth life. It does not fully awaken at once in the body of the new-born child in which it has been reincarnated, but on the contrary it awakens only gradually during the early childhood and youth of the child. A writer, speaking of the above important fact concerning rebirth, says: "A soul does not fully awaken from its second soul-slumber immediately upon rebirth, but exists in a dream-like state during the days of infancy, its gradual awakening being evidenced by the growing intelligence of the babe, the brain of the child keeping pace with the demands made upon it. In some cases, however, the awakening is premature, and we see cases of prodigies, child-geniuses, etc., but such cases are more or less abnormal Here we ask the student to carefully consider another point concerning the need of and consequences of the second soul-slumber. Just as in the first soul-slumber the soul underwent a period of spiritual digestion and assimilation of the experiences of its earth-life, so in the second soul-slumber it undergoes a period of digestion and assimilation of its experiences on the Astral Plane. In both of these periods of spiritual digestion and assimilation the soul converts the substance of the experience into the solid flesh, bone, and blood of its "character." It has outlived many things during its sojourn on the Astral Plane, and has left many undesirable qualities behind it. In moving on toward rebirth during the second soul-slumber each soul goes to where it belongs, by reason of what it is. There is no favoritism shown, nor any injustice done it. The soul is not forced to reincarnate against its desires—in fact, it reincarnates because of its unsatisfied desires. It is carried into the current of rebirth because its tastes and desiresMETEMPSYCHOSIS
The Life After Death
