Rosicrucian Fellowship Online Magazine Archives
Rebirth: The Master Key
Have you ever stopped to think why the following is true: that some people
are poor, some rich; some deformed, some beautiful; some unfortunate, others
lucky; some diseased and others healthy? Have you ever tried to find a reason
for the inequality which is manifested everywhere in the world? Have you ever
wondered why some members of the human family are inhabiting black bodies, others brown, and still others white? And then, have you ever stopped to think
just why we are here at all--what is the meaning of life which is at best is
fleeting? Suppose you propound some of these questions to your friends, tabulate their answers and compare them. It would be an interesting experiment.
Some would say that the poor are shiftless and the rich thrifty. Others would
tell you that the poor are just naturally unlucky, and the rich fortunate.
Again, you might be told that it is not right to question the conditions
found in God's world: that the Creator in His wisdom has ordained them and
so they just naturally must be right. Still another explanation might be
given that God is responsible for all that is good and a reprehensible being
commonly known as the devil is the cause of all evil. Many there are who
will look at you with tired eyes and make the following statements: that
they do not know; that Christian orthodoxy does not satisfy their sense of
reason; that the atheist's conclusions terrify them and consequently they
are quite confused and know not which way to turn. If God is just, why does
He favor some of His creations and not others? If He is not just, then
certainly He is not God. On the other hand, if there is no God, then how did
the world and there is therein coming to existence?
Is there an answer to these various problems which are presenting
themselves to the minds of the thinking people of today--an answer which is
logical and which will stand the test of reason? There certainly is such an
answer.
The materialistic theory as postulated by the atheist can never be
satisfactory to mankind. It is the child of despair. When the human mind has
exhausted science, the laboratory, and the chemical retorts in its eager
search for that intangible something which animates the human form, and has
failed to discover it, in despair it declares that the illusive something
for which it has so diligently searched is really nothing more than the
result of certain correlations of matter, designated as mind, which perishes
when the body disintegrates. Just why some individuals should possess a
better quality of these "certain correlations" (mind) than others, this
theory does not attempt to explain.
The theory postulated by the orthodox theoligist is but little better. It
asserts that all living things were created by God and have but one Earth
life to live; that man alone was endowed with a Spirit which is immortal
and, regardless of the station to which he was born, he is responsible for
the deeds performed during life; that his happiness or misery after death
for all eternity is determined by his actions during the short period which
intervenes between birth and death. Animals, plants--in fact all else that
exists--are supposed to have been created for his express convenience and
use.
Is it any wonder that the man or woman who really thinks ultimately
rejects this theory also, and finally decides to indulge in any and all
things which produce a sense of pleasure for the time being, and help him to
forget that at some time he must face death, which at best is a plunge in
the dark?
Fortunately, there is another theory, a theory which is founded on truth.
It is known by the name "rebirth." The doctrine of rebirth postulates a slow
process of development carried on with unwavering persistence through repeated
embodiments in forms or bodies of increasing efficiency. Through this process,
all created beings will in time develop their latent potentialities into god-like powers.
The God of our solar system creates in life waves and the beings belonging
to each particular life wave do not cross into others. The life waves with
which we are most familiar are the mineral, plant, animal, and human. Each
life wave is composed of a large number of Virgin Spirits endowed in
potentiality with all the powers of their Divine Creator, and the beings of
each life wave will ultimately attain godhood. Each life wave develops in a
manner particularly suited to its own inherent nature. The beings belonging
to the angelic life wave will never become archangels. They will attain
godhood by working along an entirely different line of development. Our
humnaity will never become angels; our development will be entirely
different. The animals will never become human beings such as we are,
although they will pass through a "human-like" stage.
We have never been animals, yet we have passed through an animal-like
stage. Similarly, the plants will pass through an animal-like stage in a
later period, and the minerals will reach the plant stage. In neither case,
however, will they be of the same type as our present animals and plants.
Each life wave has its own separate and distinct method of development, but
eventually the Virgin Spirits composing it will attain perfection, for that
is the ultimate object of evolution.
Now let us see how the theory of rebirth answers the problems of life: Why
are some people poor and others rich? Each life is one day in God's great
school. Some of us are learning one kind of lesson and some are learning others. Those who are poor in one particular life are learning lessons
pertaining to the true value of certain commodities, lessons in
inventiveness which pertain to the best way to get the greatest amount of
supply. They are learning how to plan and to appreciate everything which
they possess.
Those who have wealth are learning what its true value is to them. They
are learning its real purchasing power; whether it can exalt or degrade,
whether it is a blessing or a curse. They are learning that it can sometimes
buy a man's honor and a woman's virtue; that it may result in its owner's
downfall, but that it can never purchase the things which are of true value
to the Spirit. Eventually, all people entrusted with money must learn the
lesson that they are only stewards of their possessions and that it behooves
them to use wisely and well that with which they have been entrusted.
Why are some deformed in body? Generally speaking, no Spirit can inhabit a
better body than it has learned to build during its previous lives, but the
following is the exception to the rule: with regard to physical abnormalities
and deformities, the rule seems to be that indulgence in passion in one life
reacts on the mental state in a later existence; and abuse of mental powers
in one life leads to physical disabilities in later existences. On the other
hand, a beautiful form denotes that the owner had done expert work in body
building during previous lives, sometimes to the detriment of the mental
processes.
Unfortunate people are those who have wilfully neglected opportunities in
previous lives. Now they are deprived of the very thing they once held
lightly in order to teach them to appreciate opportunities when they are
again presented. The lucky man or woman in one life has earned that which
seems to come to him or her so easily in this life. It is in reality a
reward of merit.
The individual whose body is diseased has broken the laws of nature either
in this life or some other one and is now paying the penalty. The healthy
man or woman has paid much attention to perfect organ formation in the past.
Why is one born in a particular race? each race is following a definite
line of evolution. We all have certain lessons to learn and the Egos
inhabiting bodies of various colors do so in order to experience soul
growth, which can only be attained under the particular conditions supplied
by these race differences. We should, therefore, make every attempt to
profit by the conditions of our birth and regard each situation as a
privilege accorded to us for spiritual advancement. When we fail to make the
best use of our embodiments, we take a step backward in our evolutionary
development and increase the time needed to free ourselves from the cycle of
rebirth.
Rebirth intelligently accounts for all the inequalities in life.
Conditions as we find them are the composite results of all our past
endeavors or lack of endeavors. Each man or woman is an exact sum of all his
or her past activities and not the victim of a capricious God or scheming
evil one. We have no one to blame but ourselves if we have made a mess of
things. If we are not satisfied with life as we find it, now is the time to
begin to prepare an improved environment for future lives; and if we are
really wide awake at last and desperately in earnest, it is quite possible
for us to improve our surroundings in the present incarnation.
The intelligent person of today is no longer satisfied with platitudes
when searching for truth in relation to life. Therefore, we ask each person
who is seeking for a solution to the many problems which life presents to
apply this master key, rebirth, and prove for himself or herself its true
efficacy.
This article was adapted from a pamphlet of the same name, published
by The Rosicrucian Fellowship.