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The Ninth Lesson: Metempsychosis.849
mortal frame, entereth into others which are new and freshly prepared for
it. Weapons pierce not the Real Man, nor doth the fire burn him; the water
affecteth him not, nor the wind drieth him nor bloweth him away. For he is
impregnable and impervious to these things of the world of change—he is
eternal, permanent, unchangeable, and unalterable—Real.”
This view of life gives to the one who holds to it, an entirely different
mental attitude. He no longer identifies himself with the particular body that
he may be occupying, nor with any other body for that matter. He learns to
regard his body just as he would a garment which he is wearing, useful to
him for certain purposes, but which will in time be discarded and thrown
aside for a better one, and one better adapted to his new requirements
and needs. So firmly is this idea embedded in the consciousness of the
Hindus, that they will often say “My body is tired,” or “My body is hungry,”
or “My body is full of energy,” rather than that “I am” this or that thing. And
this consciousness, once attained, gives to one a sense of strength, security
and power unknown to him who regards his body as himself. The first step
for the student who wishes to grasp the idea of Metempsychosis, and who
wishes to awaken in his consciousness a certainty of its truth, is to familiarize
himself with the idea of his “I” being a thing independent and a part from his
body, although using the latter as an abiding place and a useful shelter and
instrument for the time being.
Many writers on the subject of Metempsychosis have devoted much
time, labor and argument to prove the reasonableness of the doctrine upon
purely speculative, philosophical, or metaphysical grounds. And while we
believe that such efforts are praiseworthy for the reason that many persons
must be first convinced in that way, still we feel that one must really feel the
truth of the doctrine from something within his own consciousness, before
he will really believe it to be truth. One may convince himself of the logical
necessity of the doctrine of Metempsychosis, but at the same time he may
drop the matter with a shrug of the shoulders and a “still, who knows?” But
when one begins to feel within himself the awakening consciousness of a