CAUSE AND EFFECT.
Man is the cause of the disasters in his life. He reaps through the
ages exactly as he sows. Life is perfectly just and rewards every
man according to his works. The fate of the present is the reaping
of his sowing in, it may be, a distant past. Therefore, the disasters
and sufferings of this life, must not be attributed to the
interference of a capricious and unreasonable God, for the truth is,
they are due to the exact working of a perfectly just law. Fate, once
created, is irrevocable. It can neither be fought nor evaded. By
fighting against fate, man merely smashes himself to pieces. To do
so, is equivalent to running his head against a stone cliff: the
harder he charges, the greater the damage to his head--but the cliff
is unaffected. Fate, although largely self-created, is really the
Divine purpose of life: therefore, to resist it is to fight against
God. Fate, again is not punishment, in any vindictive sense, it is
the drawing together of certain remedial experiences, through which
the soul can learn the lessons it has failed to learn in past ages
and thus attain wisdom. The object of fate is the highest good of
the individual, although it may entail suffering and painful
experiences.
Because the disasters in man's life are due to past wrong doing, it
naturally follows that his future depends upon the kind of life that
he lives to-day. If, in the past, he has created for himself a
sequence of events and experiences, from which it is impossible for
him to escape, it is obvious that his future lives depend entirely
upon how he lives the present one. It will be seen that if man can
learn the lessons of the present life, and live in such a way as to
cease creating trouble for the future, he is beginning to climb the
Path of Liberation, which is the road all advanced souls have to
follow, or, rather, have the privilege of following. By following
this path, man ceases to be bound to the wheel of fate.
This little work does not teach reincarnation, but its teaching is
based on a belief that man, in reality, is a spiritual being, a Divine
Spark from the Sacred Fire. Spirit being immortal has no beginning
or end therefore always lives. This present life is one of countless
experiences, each one of which helps to build up character. There
is no death, but only changes from one vehicle to another. There is
no beginning, or end, or time in reality, these are mere limitations
of the human mind. It is impossible for man to die: he can only leave
his body. He cannot kill himself, try how he will: he can only force
himself out of his body. Man must always go on, whether he likes it
or not: he proceeds through the ages, _reaping exactly as he sows_.
We have already seen that man cannot avoid or fight successfully
against fate, but that he can become free from the wheel of fate by
living a life in harmony with Divine Law. [5] At this point it is
necessary to point out that most of man's troubles are not caused
by fate at all, but are due to his fighting against or trying to
resist the great plan. If the experiences of life are resisted, or
an attempt is made to evade its discipline, troubles and difficulties
will repeat, becoming more painful and insistent until their lesson
is learnt and the life changed accordingly. Therefore man has it in
his power greatly to improve his present life, as well as to create
a far better future, simply by living his life to-day in harmony with
Divine Law. Further, it is necessary to point out that all thought
and action have an _immediate_ as well as a far reaching effect. It
is true that the full effect of life here is not reaped until after
our little course on this plane has been run, but great differences
are effected in the present life nevertheless. The way a youth makes
use of, or throws away his opportunities, either makes or mars, to
a very large extent, his adult career. Opportunities, once allowed
to pass, can never be recalled. Sins committed and wrongs done to
our fellow men have an unpleasant habit of repeating themselves in
a reversed way later in life. For instance, a man may get on in life,
and, in his selfish climb, may trample on one weaker than himself,
ruining him and driving him to despair. Years afterwards, he will
probably be treated in exactly the same way by someone stronger and
more favourably situated than himself. Therefore, there is an
immediate sowing and reaping that finds fruition in this life. By
"immediate" is meant, within the compass of this life. The reaping
may be delayed ten or twenty years, but in the writer's experience,
it not infrequently comes. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap." Those, therefore, who think that life is not just, and
who whine and complain about the way they are treated, are simply
increasing their own troubles. Until man realizes that the cause of
all his troubles is within himself he can never do anything to remedy
matters, because, obviously, the only thing that is required is for
him to change within. Man has to become changed within before his
life can be altered. His thoughts, his ideals, his attitude towards
life must all become transformed. When this change has been effected,
he not only begins to repair his present life, but he creates a fairer
and nobler life for the future.
[5] This is the inner secret of all esoteric teaching. The new
birth, or regeneration, means the awakening of the soul to
conscious immortality. The old self, that was bound to the
wheel of fate and the plane of cause and effect from which it
could never free itself, owing to the fact that it was
continually binding itself to the wheel afresh, through
following selfish desires, dies, and a new self is born. In
other words, the consciousness is raised from the plane of sin
and death, of sensuality and desire, of restriction and
captivity, to the higher plane of Spirit, where man realizes
that he is a son of God. He discovers that the Divine Spark
within is his true self. He realizes also that he has always
lived--in his real Spiritual Self. Beginning and end, like
change and decay, belong purely to the material plane and have
no place in Reality. They form part of this present three
dimensional existence but have no reality. Endless being is
the reality. Anything short of this is mere illusion. It is
not necessary, therefore, to believe in the theory of
reincarnation or that all our experiences must of necessity
take place on this plane. Sufficient to know that we can never
die, that we cannot escape from ourselves, and that to neglect
seeking with all our heart for union once again with our Divine
Source, is merely to prolong our sufferings.
Man, then, has to change. His desires and aspirations, instead of
being directed towards hate and evil must be transformed to love and
good. Instead of wallowing in lust and selfishness he must lift
himself to higher and better things. How can this be done? It cannot
be accomplished by the finite man at all, but it can be achieved by
the Infinite Power within. It is only when man realizes his oneness
with the Infinite and _believes_ that Omnipotent Power is at his
disposal, that the Spiritual Power within becomes available. So long
as man has doubts and fears or disbeliefs, this special power is not
available. It is his, but his state of heart and mind prevents him
from either realizing the presence of the Power or making use of it.
Before the machinery of a workshop can run it must be connected up
with the engine room. In the same way, man, before he can live the
new life, must become one with the Infinite Life and Power.
Entering this new life of power, does not take away life's
experiences, its trials, troubles and adversities, but the change
within does prevent the creation of unnecessary troubles and
suffering. Also even a so-called unkind fate loses much of its power
to wound, for the higher man rises into union with God and Infinite
Love, the less power it has in his life. It still operates, but it
fails to wound so deeply, for man, seeing with illumined eyes, knows
that it is good that has come to bless; and not evil that has come
to slay. Painful fate loses its power to hurt when man ceases to
resist it and meets it with open arms, seeking to learn the lessons
that it has to teach.