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24
ROSICPJJCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 9.
Do we keep the same temperament through
lives?
all our
Answer: The Ego may be likened unto a precious stone,
a diamond in the rough. When it is taken out of the
earth the stone is far from beautiful ; a rough coating hides
the splendor within, and before the rough diamond becomes
a gem, it must be polished upon the hard grindstone. Each
application to the stone removes a part of the rough coat
arid grinds a facet through ^vhich the light enters and is
refracted at a different angle from the light thrown back
by
the other facets.
So it is with the Ego. A diamond in the rough, it enters
the school of experience, the pilgrimage through matter,
and each life is as an application of the gem to the stone.
Each life in the school of experience removes part of the
roughness of the Ego and admits the light of ,
intelligence
at a new angle, giv,ing a different experience, and thus
as the angles of light vary in the many facets of the diamond,
so the temperament of the Ego differs in each life.
In each life we can show forth only a small part of our
spiritual natures, we can realize only a small part of the
splendor of our divine possibilities, but every life tends
to make us more rounded and our temperaments become
more even. In fact, it is the work upon the temperament
that is the principal part of our lesson, for self-mastery
is the goal. As Goethe says,
"From every power which all the world enchains,
Man liberates himself when self-control he gains."