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Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism198
them continue with you, now and forever. It is these past experiences which
give you “predispositions” in certain directions—which make it very difficult
for you to do certain things, and easy to do others—which cause you to
“instinctively” recognize certain things as unwise or wrong, and to cause
you to turn your back upon them as follies. They give you your “tastes” and
inclinations, and make some ways seem better than others to you. Nothing is
lost in life, and all the experiences of the past contribute to your well-being
in the present—all your troubles and pains of the present will bear fruit in
the future.
We do not always learn a lesson at one trial, and we are sent back to our
task over and over again, until we have accomplished it. But not the slightest
effort is ever lost, and if we have failed at the task in the past, it is easier for
us to accomplish it to-day.
An American writer, Mr. Berry Benson, in the Century Magazine, of May,
1894, gives us a beautiful illustration of one of the features of the workings
of the law of Spiritual Evolution. We reprint it, herewith:
“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 he 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.