Reincarnation and the Law of Karma

This is a general statement of the doctrine as it is held by the most learned of its followers.

E. D. Walker, a well-known English writer on the subject, gives the following beautiful description of the general teachings: "Reincarnation teaches that the soul enters this life not as a new creation, but after a long series of previous existences on this earth and elsewhere. During these lives, it acquired its present inherent personality traits, and it is currently on its way toward future transformations that the soul is shaping right now. It claims that infancy brings to earth not a blank slate original: "blank scroll" for the beginning of a record, nor a mere cluster of atoms forming a temporary personality that will soon dissolve back into the elements. Instead, it is inscribed with ancestral histories—some like the present life, but most of them unlike it—reaching back into the most distant past. These inscriptions are generally impossible to read, except for how they shape the person's new career. But like the invisible photographic images captured by the sun, when they are properly developed in the 'laboratory' of the mind original: "consciousness", they will be clearly displayed.

The current stage of life will also be stored away in the secret vaults of memory to exert an unconscious influence upon future lives. All the qualities we now possess in body, mind, and soul result from our use of ancient opportunities. We are indeed 'the heir of all the ages' This is a reference to a line in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem "Locksley Hall." and are alone responsible for what we have inherited. For these conditions arise from distant causes created by our former selves, and the future flows—by the divine law of cause and effect—from the gathered momentum of our past actions. There is no favoritism in the universe; everyone has the same eternal opportunities for growth. Those who are now high in social status may be placed in humble surroundings in the future. Only the inner traits of the soul are permanent companions. The wealthy, lazy person may be the beggar of the next life, and the industrious worker of the present is sowing the seeds of future greatness. Suffering endured bravely now will produce a treasure of patience and strength in another life; hardships will give rise to power; self-denial must develop the will; tastes cultivated in this existence will somehow bear fruit in future ones; and acquired energies will assert themselves whenever they can by the Law of Parsimony Also known as Occam's Razor; in this context, the author refers to the scientific principle that nature tends toward the most efficient or simplest path, suggesting that character traits are conserved and reused. upon which the principles of physics are based. Likewise, the unconscious habits, uncontrollable impulses, specific tendencies, favorite hobbies, and soul-stirring friendships of the present descend from activities in our distant past."