Reincarnation and the Law ofKarma

Chapter II

The Egyptians, Chaldeans, Druids etc.

After considering the existence of the doctrines of Reincarnation among the primitive peoples, and its traditional existence among the vanished peoples of the past, we find ourselves irresistibly borne toward that ancient land of mystery - the home of the mystics and occultists of the past - the land of Isis - the home of the builders of the Pyramids - the people of the Sphinx. Whether these people were the direct descendents of the people of destroyed Atlantis, the home of Ancient Wisdom - or whether they were a new people who had rediscovered the old doctrines - the fact remains that when tracing back any old occult or mystic doctrine we find ourselves gradually led toward the land of the Sphinx as the source of that hidden truth. The Sphinx is a fit emblem of that wonderful race - its sealed lips seem to invite the ultimate questions, and one feels that there may be a whispered answer wafted from those tightly closed lips toward the ear that is prepared to hear and receive it. And so, in our search for the origin of Reincarnation, we find ourselves once more confronting the Egyptian Sphinx as we have done so often before in our search after Truth.

Nothwithstanding its obvious prehistoric origin, many have claimed that Metempsychosis has its birthplace in old Egypt, on the banks of the Nile. India disputes this claim, holding that the Ganges, not the Nile, gave birth to the doctrine. Be that as it may, we shall treat the Egyptian conception at this place, among the ancient lands holding the doctrine, for in India it is not a thing of the past, but a doctrine which has its full flower at the present time, and which flower is sending forth its subtle odor to all parts of the civilized world. And so we shall defer our consideration of India's teachings until we reach the present stage of the history of Reincarnation. Herodotus, many centuries ago, said of the Egyptians that: "The Egyptians are the first who propounded the theory that the human soul is imperishable and that where the body of anyone dies it enters into some other body that may be ready to receive it; and that when it has gone the round of all created forms on land, in water and in air, then it once more enters the human body born for it; and that this cycle of existence for the soul takes place in three thousand years."

The doctrine of Reincarnation is discernable though hidden away amidst the mass of esoteric doctrine back of the exoteric teachings of the Egyptians, which latter were expounded to the common people, while the truth was reserved for the few who were ready for it. The inner circles of the Egyptian mystics believed in and understood the inner truths of Reincarnation, and although they guarded the esoteric teachings carefully, still fragments fell from the table and were greedily taken up by the masses, as we may see by an examination of the scraps of historical records which have been preserved, graven in stone, and imprinted on the bricks. Not only did these people accept the doctrine of Reincarnation, but Egypt was really the home of the highest occult teachings. The doctrines and teachings regarding several 'sheaths' or 'bodies' of man, which are taught by occultists of all times and races, are believed to have been fully taught in their original purity on the banks of the Nile, and in the shadow of the Pyramids - yes, even before the days of the Pyramids. Their forty centuries of history saw many modifications of the philosophical and religious beliefs, but the fundamental doctrine of Reincarnation was held to during the entire period of history in Ancient Egypt and was not discarded until the decadent descendents of the once mighty race were overwhelmed by stronger races, whose religions and beliefs superseded the vestiges of the Ancient Doctrine. The Egyptians held that there was 'Ka,' the divine spirit in man; 'Ab,' the intellect or will; 'Hati,' the vitality; 'Tet,' the astral body; 'Sahu,' the etheric double; and 'Xa,' the physical body (some authorities forming a slightly different arrangement), which correspond to the various 'bodies of man' as recognized by occultists today.

The Ancient Chaldeans also taught the doctrine of Rebirth. The body of Persian and Chaldean mystics and occultists, known as 'the Magi,' who were masters of the Hidden Wisdom, held to the doctrine of Reincarnation as one of their fundamental truths. In fact, they managed to educate the masses of their people to a much higher point than the masses of the Egyptians and, escaping the idolatrous tendancies of the Egyptian populace, they manifested a very high degree of pure philosophical, occult and religious knowledge. The Magi taught that the soul was a complex being and that certain portions of it perished, while certain other parts survived and passed on through a series of earth and 'other-world' existences, until finally it attained such a degree of purity that it was relieved of the necessity for further incarnation and thenceforth dwelt in the region of ineffable bliss - the region of light eternal. The teaching also held that just before entering into the state of bliss, the soul was able to review its previous incarnations, seeing distinctly the connection between them, and thus gaining a store of the wisdom of experience, which would aid it in its future work as a helper of future races which would appear on the face of the earth. The Magi taught that as all living things - nay, all things having existence, organic or inorganic - were but varying manifestations of the One Life and Being, therefore the highest knowledge implied a feeling of conscious brotherhood and relation toward and with all.

Even among the Chinese there was an esoteric teaching concerning Reincarnation, beneath the outer teaching of ages past. It may be discerned in the teachings of the early philosophers and seers of the race, notably in the work of Lao-Tze, the great Chinese sage and teacher. Lao-Tze, whose great work, the 'Tao-Teh-King,' is a classic, taught Reincarnation to his inner circle of students and adherents, at least so many authorities claim. He taught that there existed a fundamental principle called 'Tao,' which is held to be identical with the 'primordial reason,' a manifestation of which was the 'Teh,' or the creative activity of the universe. From the union and action of the 'Tao' and the 'Teh' proceeded the universe, including the human soul, which he taught was composed of several parts, among them the 'huen,' or spiritual principle; and the 'phi,' or semi-material vital principle, which together animate the body. Lao-Tze said: "To be ignorant that the true self is immortal, is to remain in a grievous state of error and to experience many calamities by reason thereof. Know ye, that there is a part of man that is subtle and spiritual and which is the heaven-bound portion of himself; that which has to do with flesh, bones and body, belongs to the earth; earthly to earth - heavenly to heaven. Such is the Law." Some have held that Lao-Tze taught the immediate return of the 'huen' to the 'tao' after death, but from the writings of his early followers it may be seen that he really taught that the 'huen' persisted in individual existence, throughout repeated incarnations, returning to the 'tao' only when it had completed its round of experience-life. For instance, in the Si Haei, it is said that: "The vital essence is dispersed after death together with the body, bones and flesh; but the soul, or knowing principle of the self, is preserved and does not perish. There is no immediate absorbtion of the individuality into the Tao, for individuality persists, and manifests itself according to the Law." And Chuang-Tze said: "Death is but the commencement of a new life." It was also taught by the early Taoists, that the deeds, good and evil, of the present life would bear fruit in future existences; in addition to the orthodox heavens and hells, in which the Chinese believed and of which they had a great variety adapted to the requirements of the various grades of saints and sinners, the minute details of which places being described with that attention to minor details and particulars peculiar to the Chinese mind. The teachings of a later date, that the soul of the ancestor abided in the hall of the ancestors, etc., were a corruption of the ancient teaching. Other Chinese teachers taught that the soul consists of three parts, the first being the 'kuei,' which had its seat in the belly and which perished with the body; the second being the 'ling,' which had its seat in the heart or chest, and which persisted for some time after death, but which eventually disintegrated; and the third, or 'huen,' which had its seat in the brain and which survived the disintegration of its companions and then passed on to other existences.

As strange as it may appear to many readers unfamiliar with the subject, the ancient Druids, particularly those dwelling in ancient Gaul, were familiar with the doctrine of Reincarnation and believed in its tenets. These people,generally regarded as ancient barbarians, really possesed a philosophy of a high order, which merged into a mystic form of religion. Many of the Romans, upon their conquest of Gallia, were surprised at the degree and character of the philosophical knowledge possesed by the Druids and many of them have left written records of the same, notably in the case of Aristotle, Cæsar, Lucan and Valerius Maximus. The Christian teachers who succeeded them also bore witness to these facts, as may be seen by reference to the works of St. Clement, St. Cyril and other of the early Christian Fathers. These ancient 'barbarians' entertained some of the highest spiritual conceptions of life and immortality - the mind and the soul. Reynaud has written of them, basing his statements upon a careful study of the ancient beliefs of this race: "If Judea represents in the world, with a tenacity of its own, the idea of a personal and absolute God; if Greece and Rome represent the idea of society, Gaul represents, just as particularly, the idea of immortality. Nothing characterized it better, as all the ancients admit. That mysterious folk was looked upon as the privileged possessor of the secrets of death and its unwavering instinctive faith in the persistence of life never ceased to be a cause of astonishment and sometimes of fear, in the eyes of the heathen." The Gauls possesed an occult philosophy and a mystic religion, which were detroyed by the influences of the Roman Conquest.

The philosophy of the Druids bore a remarkable resemblance to the Inner Doctrine of the Egyptians and their successors, the Grecian Mystics. Traces of Hermeticism and Pythagorianism are clearly discernible, although the connecting link that bound them together has been lost to history. Legends among the Druids connected their order with the ancient Aryan creeds and teachings and there seems to have been a very close connection between these priests and those of Ancient Greece, for there are tales of offerings being sent to the temples of Greece from the priests of Gaul. And it is also related that one the island of Delphos there was once a Druidic tomb in the shape of a monument, believed to have been erected over the remains of Druid priestesses. Herodotus and others speak of a secret alliance between the priests of Greece and those of the Druids. Some of the ancient legends hold that Pythagoras was the instructor of the Druidic priests and that Pythagoras himself was in close communication with the Brahmins of India and the Hermetists of Egypt. Other legends have it that the Druids received their first instruction from Zamolais, who had been a slave and student of Pythagoras. At any rate, the correspondence between the two schools of philosophy is remarkable.

Much of the Druidic teachings has been lost and it is difficult to piece together the fragments. But enough is known to indicate the above-mentioned relationship to the Pythagorean school and of the firm hold of the doctrine of Reincarnation upon the Druids. The preserved fragments show that the Druids taught that there was in man an immaterial, spiritual part, called 'Awen,' which proceeded from a Universal Spiritual Principle of Life. They taught that this 'Awen' had animated the lower forms of life, mineral, vegetable and animal, before incarnating as man. In these conditions it was entangled and imprisoned in the state of 'abysmal circling,' called 'Anufu,' from which it finally escaped and entered into the 'circle of freedom,' called 'Abred,' or human incarnation and beyond. This state of 'Abred' includes life in the various human races on this and other planets, until finally there is a further liberation of the 'Awen,' which then passes on to the 'Circle of Bliss,' or 'Gwynfid,' where it abides for æons in a state of ecstatic being. But beyond even this transcendent state, there is another, which is called the 'Circle of the Infinite,' or 'Ceugant,' which is identical with the 'Union with God' of the Persians and Greek Mystics, or the 'Nirvana' of the Hindus. Rather an advanced form of philosophy for 'barbarians' is it not? Particularly when contrasted with the crude mythology of the Roman conquerors!

The Gauls were so advanced in the practical phases of occultism that they gave every condemned criminal a respite of five years, after sentance of death, before execution, in order that he might prepare himself for a future state by meditation, instruction and other preparation; and also to prevent ushering an unprepared and guilty soul into the plane of the departed - the advantages of which plan is apparent to every student of occultism who accepts the teaching regarding the astral planes.

The reader will understand, of course, that the degree of advancement in spiritual and philosphical matters evidenced by the Gauls was due not to the fact that these people were generally so far advanced beyond their neighbors, but rather to the fact that they had been instructed by the Druid priests among them. Tradition has it that the original Druidic priests came to Gaul and other countries from some far-off land, probably from Egypt or Greece. We have spoken of the connection between their teachings and that of the Pythagoreans and there was undoubtedly a strong bond of relationship between these priests and the occultists of other lands. The Druidic priests were well versed in astronomy and astrology and the planets had an important part in the teachings. A portion of their ritual is said to have correspondences with the early Jewish rites and worship. Their favorite symbol - the mistletoe - was used as indicating rebirth, the mistletoe being the new life springing forth from the old one, typified by the oak. The Druids travelled into Ancient Britain and Ireland and many traces of their religious rites may still be found there, not only in the shape of the stone places-of-worship, but also in the many curious local customs among the peasantry. Many a bit of English folk-lore - many an odd Irish fancy concerning fairies and the like; symbols of good-luck; banshees and 'the little-folk' - came honestly to these people from the days of the Druids. And from the same source came the many whispered tales among both races regarding the birth of children who seemed to have remembrances of former lives on earth, which memory faded away as they grew older. Among these people there is always an undercurrent of mystic ideas about souls 'coming back' in some mysterious way not fully understood. It is the inheritance from the Druids.