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Life is a great school for the learning of lessons. It has many
grades, many classes, many scales of progress. And the lessons must be
learned whether we will or no. If we refuse or neglect to learn the
lesson we are sent back to accomplish the task, again and again, until
the lesson is finally learned. Nothing once learned is ever forgotten
entirely. There is an indelible imprint of the lesson in our character,
which manifests as predispositions, tastes, inclinations, etc. All that
goes to make up that which we call "Character" is the workings
of the Law of Karma. There is no such thing as Chance. Nothing ever
"happens." All is regulated by the Law of Cause and Effect or
Karma. As a man sows so shall he reap, in a literal sense. You are what
you are to-day, by reason of what you were in your last life. And in
your next life you will be what you are making of yourself to-day. You
are your own judge, and executioner--your own bestower of rewards. But
the Love of the Absolute is ever working to lead you upward to the
Light, and to open your soul to that knowledge that, in the words of the
Yogis, "burns up Karma," and enables you to throw off the
burden of Cause and Effect that you have been carrying around with you,
and which has weighted you down.
In the Fourteen Lessons we quoted from Mr. Berry Benson, a writer in
the _Century Magazine_ for May, 1894. The quotation fits so beautifully
into this place, that we venture to reproduce it here once more, with
your permission. It reads as follows:
"A little boy went to school. He was very little. All that he
knew he had drawn in with his mother's milk. His teacher (who was God)
placed him in the lowest class, and gave him these lessons to learn:
Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing. Thou
shalt not steal. So the man did not kill; but he was cruel, and he
stole. At the end of the day (when his beard was gray--when the night
was come) his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned not to kill,
but the other lessons thou hast not learned. Come back tomorrow.
"On the morrow he came back a little boy. And his teacher (who
was God) put him in a class a little higher, and gave him these lessons
to learn: Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing. Thou shalt not
steal. Thou shalt not cheat. So the man did no hurt to any living thing;
but he stole and cheated. And at the end of the day (when his beard was
gray--when the night was come) his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast
learned to be merciful. But the other lessons thou hast not learned.
Come back tomorrow.
"Again, on the morrow, he came back, a little boy. And his
teacher (who was God) put him in a class yet a little higher, and gave
him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not cheat.
Thou shalt not covet. So the man did not steal; but he cheated and he
coveted. And at the end of the day (when his beard was gray--when the
night was come) his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned not to
steal. But the other lessons thou hast not learned. Come back, my child,
tomorrow.
"This is what I have read in the faces of men and women, in the
book of the world, and in the scroll of the heavens, which is writ with
stars."
Under the operation of the Law of Karma every man is master of his
own destiny--he rewards himself--he punishes himself--he builds, tears
down and develops his character, always, however, under the brooding
influence of the Absolute which is Love Infinite and which is constantly
exerting the upward spiritual urge, which is drawing the soul toward its
ultimate haven of rest. Man must, and does, work out his own salvation
and destiny, but the upward urge is always there--never tiring--never
despairing--knowing always that Ultimate Victory belongs to the soul.
Under the Law of Karma every action, yea, every thought as well, has
its Karmic effect upon the future incarnations of the soul. And, not
exactly in the nature of punishment or rewards, in the general
acceptation of the term, but as the invariable operation of the Law of
Cause and Effect. The thoughts of a person are like seeds which seek to
press forward into growth, bud, blossom and fruit. Some spring into
growth in this life, while others are carried over into future lives.
The actions of this life may represent only the partial growth of the
thought seed, and future lives may be necessary for its full blossoming
and fruition. Of course, the individual who understands the Truth, and
who has mentally divorced himself from the fruits of his actions--who
has robbed material Desire of its vital force by seeing it as it is, and
not as a part of his Real Self--his seed-thoughts do not spring into
blossom and fruit in future lives, for he has killed their germ. The
Yogis express this thought by the illustration of the baked-seeds. They
show their pupils that while ordinary seeds sprout, blossom and bear
fruit, still if one bakes the seeds their vitality is gone, and while
they may serve the purposes of a nourishing meal still they can never
cause sprout, blossom or fruit. Then the pupil is instructed in the
nature of Desire, and shown how desires invariably spring into plant,
blossom and fruit, the life of the person being the soil in which they
flourish. But Desires understood, and set off from the Real Man, are
akin to baked-seeds--they have been subjected to the heat of spiritual
wisdom and are thus robbed of their vitality, and are unable to bear
fruit. In this way the understood and mastered Desire bears no Karmic
fruit of future action.
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