Author: William Walker Atkinson

Publisher:

Published: 2013-05-21

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 9781489523785

Does the soul survive death? Are we reborn again and again, and can we access the knowledge and the memories acquired in earlier lives? Followers of New Thought, the early-20th-century "New Age" philosophy, believed so, and here, in Reincarnation and the Law of Karma, William Walker Atkinson, one of the most influential New Thought voices, explores the concept of reincarnation throughout history, from the Egyptian idea of the soul through Plato's teachings on the subject and on to modern spiritual outlooks on eternal life. Originally published in 1908 , it remains a fascinating and insightful document on the theory of rebirth and the principles of spiritual cause and effect. With arguments and proofs supporting the idea that the soul is a "traveler on a long journey," Atkinson covers ancient races, Egyptians, Jews, Romans, Hindus, the modern West, justification for reincarnation, proofs of reincarnation, arguments against reincarnation, and karma. This is a fascinating and immensely readable look at a question that has haunted humanity since antiquity.What is Reincarnation?--Transmigration of Souls--The Something That Persists After Death--The Soul Not a Fresh Creation, but a Traveler on a Long Journey.THE EGYPTIANS, DRUIDS, ETC.The Egyptian Idea of the Soul--Forty Centuries of Occult History--The Ancient Chinese Teachings and Doctrine--The Druids and Their Teachings.The Reasons of Rome's Backwardness in Spiritual Knowledge--Why the Greeks were Advanced--Pythagoras; Orpheus; Plato.THE JEWS, ESSENES, AND EARLY CHRISTIANS The Jewish Rabbins and Their Secret Doctrines--The Kaballah, the Zahar, Nichema; Ronach; and NepheshThe Christian Inner Doctrine-- Mysteries of Jesus.THE HINDUS India the Mother of Reincarnation, Past and Present--The Aryan Teachings.Reincarnation in the Modern Western World--The Revival of Interest and Its Cause--Theosophical Society--Madame Blavatsky--The Teachings of the "Elect Few" in Their Secret Societies--Is Earth a Hell?--Christian Reincarnationists. How Long Between Incarnations?--The Advanced Teachings--Earth-bound Souls--Advanced Souls and Their Rest Period--Where Does the Soul Dwell Between Incarnations?--What Happens at Death--The Great Astral World and Its Planes and Sub-planes--Where the Soul Goes After Death and What It Does There--Rebirth and Its Laws--What is the Final State of the Soul?--The Message of the Illumined.THE JUSTICE OF REINCARNATION The Contrasting Theories of the Soul and Its Future Life--Doctrine of Reincarnation the Only Philosophical Theory that Reconciles Facts with Theory--The Law of Karma Automatic and Enforces Itself--Every One Their Own Judge and the Executor of Their Own Destiny--The Opinions of the World's Great Thinkers.THE ARGUMENT FOR REINCARNATION Natural Laws Universal--If the Soul is Immortal, it Must Have Always Been So--A Mortal Thing Cannot be Made Immortal Any More Than Nothing Can be Made Something--Future Life Implies Past Life--Varient Experiences Necessary for the Soul's Education--Advancement Necessary to Enjoyment of the Soul's Higher States of Being--The True Teaching.THE PROOFS OF REINCARNATION Actual Proofs of Personal Conscious Experience Demanded by Science--Such Proofs Possible and Have Occurred to Many of the Race--The Remembrance of the Details of Past Existence Common to the Race--Interesting Cases Given on Good Authority--Messages from the Past.ARGUMENTS AGAINST REINCARNATION Why Reincarnation is Opposed by Some--The Answers to the Objections--The Proof of the Existence of the Soul--Is Reincarnation Un-Christian and Derived from Pagan and Heathen Sources?THE LAW OF KARMA What Karma Means--Does Karma Punish or is it but the Workings of a Natural Law?--The Various Kinds of Karma--The Advanced Mystical Doctrine--The End is Absolute Good--There is No Devil but Fear and Unfaith.